China

China China China… Lets just say our trip was very very interesting. For almost an entire month, the field office (the people who set up Semester at Sea trips) was telling us not to do china independently because it is too hard to get around and no one understands English. By the time they made that announcement, we had already booked our flight to Beijing, so like or not, we were going to China independently. I felt better about our trip when I asked my mom to send me point books. These are books with lots of pictures that you can basically just point to in order to show someone else what you want. If I want chicken and ramen noodles, I just point to each thing, and then the waiter brings it to me. Unfortunately, due to India’s terrible postal services, I never got my books. Thanks Mumma for sending them at the appropriate time, but screw you India for not being sufficient at anything except the culinary arts. Anyways, 7 of us were going to go to China independently, and we were gonna have a good time. About a week before we got to China they made us fill out an independent travel form. They had these in every port but China was the first port that it was mandatory to fill out where you were going and when you were going to be back. In the previous ports, it was more so if you didn’t come back to the boat, semester at sea could look at this form and at least have an idea of what part of the country to start looking for you in. We didn’t know at first, but in China, it was actually used to compile a list of people that were going to return to the boat between the 3rd and the 8th and people that were going to stay somewhere in the country. Unfortunatly, because they didn’t know you HAD to fill out the form, the two alexes (long and short haired) didn’t fill out the form. In short, they weren’t allowed to travel with us from Hong Kong to Shanghai. They had to return to the boat every night. Weird huh? Sucks for them and the $300 plane ticket that they had to eat. Since the other people that were supposed to be going with us were friends with the alexs, it ended up just being me Tea (my roommate) and Christine.
It actually worked out perfectly and was the best number of people to travel with. The trip in general was sooo much fun and I learned a ton. China was the first country that we went to where a majority of the population isn’t bi-lingual. I’m not sure why, but pretty much everyone in China only speaks Mandarin. They are starting to teach English in school now and most college kids know enough to get by. Fortunately for us, that was enough to get train tickets, dinner, and answer other questions that we had.
First, some geography. Hong Kong is in the very very south of China. It hasn’t officially been a part of China for very long. It was under brittish rule, and now it’s technically a part of China, but it’s allowed to make it’s own economic decisions about trade and stuff. Shanghai is, don’t take my word for it, most populated city in the world and is located on the eastern coast of China. Beijing is to the west and north of Shanghai. If you traveled to Beijing from Hong Kong by train- it would take over a day. To take a train from Beijing to Shanghai, it would take 13 hours. That just gives you a little idea of what we’re working with.
Our plan was to get into Hong Kong then that night take a train to Shenzen where we would take a flight to Beijing the next day. The reason we were going to Shenzen was because the flights to Beijing were like $200 cheaper. From Beijing, we were going to hang out for a couple days, then sleeper train it back to Shanghai to meet the boat by the 6th. Since we weren’t leaving Shanghai till the 8th, we could hang out in Shanghai for a couple days. Perfect plan. Only problem is we had concrete plans besides our plane ticket. No worries tho, we were on our way.
Shenzen was pretty cool. We easily found a hotel and it was super nice. Shenzen is one of the fastest growing cities in the world. Because it’s close to the huge city of Hong Kong, lots of people live in Shenzen and work in the city. Apparently, the country has a ridiculous genie coefficient, the difference between the really rich and really poor people. Hahaha, I forgot to mention, during one our preport meetings, our interport student (the kid from china that comes on our boat until we get to the country to answer our questions) said something about being careful in Shenzen because people’s organs get stolen. That’s so absurd, but still hilarious. So we stayed there for the night, then flew to Beijing the next day.
Beijing was very much unlike what I expected. I expected something like New York because everyone said it’s a huge and very populated. To be honest, as I walked down the street, I would never have guessed that its one of the most populated cities in the world. We decided because the city is so spread out, it seems like there are not as many people as there actually are. It was odd. Another thing that we just could not get over the whole visit was the pollution. You could see the smog in the sky. You could only see buildings for a certain distance then they vanished into the pollution. I assume its what Pittsburgh was like when we were making steel for the war. It really made us sick. We all came home with sinus problems and sore throats. In school, we learned that American’s make more pollution per person than any other country in the world. After going to China, I cannot possibly believe that any more. I understand they have more people so there is going to be more pollution but the fact that right now, sailing a couple hours away from China, the air is still smoggy and polluted. I guess the only time you can see very far in China is when it’s windy. It was my least favorite part of the whole trip. Matea suggested that the reason the statistics say we produce more waste than anyone else is because we keep more accurate records of what we are putting out. If a country has no filters on any of their factories, as long as they don’t keep records, they technically producing that waste. It is an interesting concept that I didn’t think of until we had almost left.
This just in, Beijing is holding the 2008 olympics. Who knew? I wonder how those marathon runners are going to deal with that pollution…. Anyways, when we got off the boat in Hong Kong, some 8th graders were giving a survey. “did you know Beijing is holding the Olympics in 2008?” “Yes” “Do you know what day the Olympics start?” “um, no” “here are some multiple choice days” “um, okay…. August 1st” “no, pick August 8th” “okay, august 8th.” “that’s correct… do you know what the cartoon characters for the Olympics stand for.” “what cartoon characters for the Olympics?” “okay, thank you for your time. I like your hair, can I take a picture with you?” “alright.”
That’s pretty much how our whole trip was. We didn’t know anything they were talking about, then they took pictures with us. It was kinda cute but at the same time it was kinda strange. As we were walking by, a Chinese man would either ask us if they could take a picture with us, or they would just slyly stand by where we were and the other man would blatantly take a picture of us rather than the person that should have been the subject of the picture. Like the camera wouldn’t even been facing the other person it would be aimed at us. I have highlighted hair and I got a lot of photograph attention, I can only imagine what some of the really blonde girls on the boat went thru during their trip.
There are 5 little anime characters that are like the symbols for the Olympics. In class, we learned about the 5 elements that are respected in the Chinese culture. Water, metal, wood, earth, and . We figured that each of these little cartoon characters stood for one of these sacred elements. Apparently, there characters are actually just little animals. One is a panda, one is an antelope, there is some sort of bird and whatever to be honest. They are strange and I don’t really like them. They each have names and when you put all of their names together, it says ‘welcome to Beijing.’ That’s kinda cool I guess.
The Great Wall: on the way to the wall, we saw a lot of poor people. I guess the rich people live in the cities, and the poor people live on the outskirts of the cities. It was odd to see because I expected more equality in the country. I’ll talk about that next. The tour we went on for the great wall was a 10k walk from one area to the next. I would tell you the areas, but to be honest, I forget. I have it written down somewhere so just ask if you’re interested. Between the two points, about half of the wall had been reconstructed, and the other half is falling apart but was the amazing part (to me) of the hike. The wall was build to keep the Mongolians out of China and from what I hear, it really worked. As you walk on the wall, the side to the north, where Mongolia is, there are large windows so the soldiers could push rocks thru to kill intruding Mongolians. The windows on the south side were much smaller. Soldiers could speak to fellow soldiers on the ground. The part on the wall that I would describe as the railing is taller than the ‘railing’ on the south side. It was interesting to see. The day we went, it was super rainy and cold. I wore shorts because I didn’t want to climb in jeans. Everyone (including me) thought I was dumb for having shorts on, but as soon as we started hiking, I realized it was a good choice. Before we started hiking, I def thought I was an idiot. It was freezing and I thought my legs were gonna fall off. On the way to the wall I bought a hoodie that says “I climbed the great wall.” It’s tacky and I like it. When we started hiking, I realized why the great wall was a 7th wonder of the world. It is amazing and huge. The people who died during it’s construction were built right into the wall. Someone told me that each brick in the wall represents an entire day’s work for one man. That seems ridiculous considering how many bricks are in the wall itself. I’m not sure I believe that but I guess you have to consider the fact that you have to carry all the bricks to the right place and make the mortar and stuff, I guess maybe it’s not too far fetched. Its interesting because the bricks of the wall don’t stay in a straight line. They line up with contours of the mountains that the wall was built on. Super cool. At some points on the wall, you are walking up very steep steps. (Poppa Bear, someone needs to teach those ancestral Chinese people how to build some steps with the perfect ratio. I need a square and a piece of 2X12 and I’ll get them right.) The wall itself was an amazing sight. Once we got past the pollution and fog (from the rain) that blocked any of the wall that was in the distance, we were able to appreciate the greatness of the wall. I’m going to try my hardest to post a picture or two of the wall. We’ll see how that works out when I go to load them.
Communism in practice in China was nothing like we learned in high school. In communism everyone is supposed to be equal. Equal racially, economically, politically, and pretty much every aspect. Let me tell you, there is nothing equal about the country of China. The system works for them I guess, but in no way would I call it communism. If a Chinese man says ‘the government sucks” in the streets, he isn’t black bagged and never seen again. It’s not like the book 1984 where everything is monitored and people are swept away in the middle of the night. Of course, the government has certain liberties that other political systems don’t have, but to be honest, I think governments will do whatever they want on a very normal basis. It’s interesting. People generally are okay with the system the live in and are very fluid in how they live their lives. In Beijing, they are getting ready for the Olympics. Huge hotels, airports, and sports arenas are being built. Because there is no land left, people are moved out of their home in order to build these new buildings. The people that are moved are given a small stipend and sent on their way. When we asked our friend Lily (our new Chinese friend) she said they were sad of course, but they just left like they had to. It wasn’t really an issue. They just did it. it’s part of living in China I guess. We visited an area that would not be there in less than a month. Being that the Olympics start on August 8th (thank you 8th grader surveyor) I’m not sure they are going to get all the construction done. Most building are still not finished on the outside and def. not finished on the inside. I guess if it comes down to the wire, they’ll just work 24 hours a day to get it done. I just don’t see it happening. Anyways, there are cameras in most public places, but I would hardly say the country in general is Communist in its purest form. Whatever.
We made a couple friends in China. Something I thought was very interesting was their obsession with speaking to us. Not many american’s travel to china (from what I have seen) so I think they really enjoy practicing their English with Americans. The people that spoke English were very good at it. But keep in mind that most people don’t speak English.
Out of the people we talked to, all of them asked how many brothers and sisters we each had. They thought it was interesting that Christine and Tea each had 3 siblings. Could you imagine if Ryan was there and told them about his 5 siblings? They wouldn’t even know what to do with that information. They said if a family has two children, the family pays more taxes. We asked what happens if a family has 3 children and Lily simply said ‘families don’t have 3 children.’ I think the parents are arrested, but I’m not sure about that.
We had some very good food in China. It doesn’t taste like the Chinese food from dragon on main street. There is a lot of rice and a good amount of noodles. My favorite things to eat there was spring rolls and dumplings. I like the boiled dumplings the most. They are very much like the pirogues that Poppa Bear makes but with different stuff in the inside. Then you dip them in soy sauce and fill your belly. Mmmm. Delish.
When we visited Tie’an amin square and the Forbidden City, we bought this delicious, for lack of better word, thing. It was like peanuts and peanut butter and rasins, and honey and probably tons of MSG, but it was delicious.
One of the most interesting parts of my trip was riding the 13 hour train from Beijing to Shanghai. We tried to get a sleeper train, but unfortunately, the language barrier did not allow us to by a bed for the long trip. We spent like 30 bucks, and had a seat for the whole trip. There were some people that got a ticket to sit on the train but that doesn’t guarantee you a seat. Those people stood the whole time. That would be terrible. But we sat in our seats the whole time and had a pretty good time talking to some locals from Shanghai and Beijing. After about 2 hours of riding on the train, I took some Nyquil for my cough and slept for almost 9 hours straight. Matea and Christine didn’t sleep as much as me, maybe 2 hours, so I felt lucky. I guess I’ve always been excellent at sleeping in cars and busses and stuff.
In closing, I want to thank two people for my excellent stay in China. Rannie and Ryan, my sister and brother in law, bought me a Columbia rain coat before I came on this trip. I forgot it in Malaysia when it stormed all day long. I decided I wouldn’t let that happen again. I took the coat with me to China, and I honestly believe my trip would have been miserable had I not had it. It was warm and kept me and Poppa Bear’s camera dry. Thanks so much Voss’s!! It certainly came in handy.
Today, we have 30 days left in our trip. Most of that will be spent on the boat so please sent tons of emails so I have something to do. I plan on sending lots of electronic postcards so you will all have something else to read too. Maybe if I think of something good enough to write, I’ll blog a little between Japan and Costa Rica.
Thanks to Mark for sending me a package of food to hold me over till I get home. Cheese chex mix, teriyaki beef jerkey, and some sponge bob fruit snacks. Of course, he also included tons of steelers stuff. I think I have more steelers stuff hanging on my wall next to my bed than I have in my room at home. But I’m def. not complaining- I love it.
Thanks Mumma and ‘Traveling Poppa Bear’ for sending my Myron Cope shirt. I’m wearing it right now and I can’t get enough of it. it looks like a terrible towel and towards the bottom it says “this is Myron Cope… on sports.” I sure am gonna miss that scratchy voiced little man.
Thanks to kristofer for sending me letters in China. I love how you still change the font color to keep me and you interested. (o:

Love and Miss you all!!
Sorry no pictures. i'll try again tomorrow morning