Day 10: Welcome Home

Prompt: Did your views on travel change?

I do not really know if my views on why I travel changed. Before this I never really have traveled by myself, I have traveled once before in 7th grade but it was to Virgina. Also before this I did not know why I travel, I knew why people travel frin reading that essay in the class. So this trip was a good chance for me to understand why I travel.

I learned that I travel to have fun. I know this is not what Pico Iyer said why people travel, but that is something else I learned doing this trip, is that Iyer was wrong, at least in my mind. He said that people travel to escape and learn, and what he wrote about tourist seemed very nagative, saying "a tourist is just someone who complains". This made me mad, not everyone is or can be a world travelor. I personally think everyone is a tourist becuase travelors go and see the same things that tourist do.

Getting back to why I travel, I travel to have fun and experience. Every trip I have ever been on I always have many funny stories to tell. I have many different experiences to share as well. These experiences range from seeing popular sights to going to not so traveled on hikes to going to popular local resturuants.

Going into this trip I wanted to have fun. I wanted to have fun in everything we did, I knew we had to be serious at certain places, but still I wanted to have a smile and try to experience it in a light and happy way. I never wanted to be mad and have a dark mood on the trip, becuase I knew it would ruin that place, meal, or moment in time for me. Which I knew would happen because that is the type of person I am, but when I did get mad it didn't ruin things for me it made it more fun because I get snippy when I am mad, which makes people laugh.

Overall, I think that I found out why I travel and I think it is a good way to travel. I enjoyed this trip, I had fun, and I think I experienced everything I could except for the food. I hope that future I take will be on or above the level of this trip!

Day 9: Top Ten's

Prompt: Top Ten Moments, Learning, Funny, and Food

Top Ten Experiences:

1. Climbing the Great Wall outside of Beijing


2. Seeing the Terra-Cotta Warriors in Xi'an


3. Swimming in the Atlantic Ocean in Hong Kong


4. Seeing the Big Wild Goose Pagoda at night, with the light show in Xi'an


5. Possible Illegal Taxi Ride in Xi'an


6. House Visit in Shanghai


7. Driving Past the Water Cube and the Birds Nest in Beijing


8. 8. Acrobat Show in Shanghai


9. 9. First Time Bartering


10. 10. Going to the school in Beijing
    

Top Ten Learning Moment

1. The Great Wall was constructed with Sticky Rice


2. The Forbidden City has 15 or more layers of brick underneath it


3. What a dragon consist of


4. A few words in Mandarin


5. How to Barter


6. Seeing the school and how it is different from our


7. The Tallest Building is in Shanghai


8. Longest Suspension Bridge that carries both road and rail traffic in Hong Kong.


9. Magnum and Tea Flavor Gatorade exist


10. That Happy Valley closes all the roller coasters at night!
    

Top Ten Funny

1. Playing Shuffle


2. Taking pictures of Chinese people taking pictures of us


3. Possible illegle taxi ride in Xi'an


4. Getting semi-lost in Hong Kong with Jennifer


5. The Bus Ride back from the Tang Dynasty Show in Xi'an


6. Karaoke on the Bus in Beijing


7. Conversations at breakfast/lunch/dinner table


8. David laughing at at taking off your shoes at security in Beijing Airport


9. Scott falling asleep while standing up in Xi'an


10. Lexa breaking the hotel room phone in Hong Kong

Top Ten Food

1. Chicken and the uncooked macaroni thing during the last night in Shanghai


2. Lychees in Xi'a
   
3. Magnum in Xi'an and Shanghai


4. Peeking Duck in Beijing


5. Sesame Seed Fried Dough during the last night in Shanghai


6. Sweet and Sour Chicken in multiple places


7. Lemon Chicken in Shanghai


8. Melon everywhere


9. Dragon Fruit in Beijing


10. Rice everywhere
    

Day 8: Goodbye Shanghai, Hello Hong Kong

Prompt: First thought on Hong Kong and how Western it is, compare it is to other cities

When we first got to Hong Kong I thought it was so pretty and tropical. Once we got outside it was horrible humid and it was gross. I liked the palm trees in Hong Kong because I never really see palm trees because I do not really go to tropical places for vacations. I also thought that Hong Kong was very interesting with all the boats and the ports. The two suspension bridges were very awesome because they hold records and now I can say that have ridden on them.

Hong Kong is very Western because of the way the city is laid out. The driving system is like the European driving system, driving on the left side of the rode and the left side of the car. It is also more Western because of the way the streets are laid out in curves like the European streets and not like a checker board like in Beijing and Xi'an.

Compared to Beijing, Hong Kong is a lot more hot and less crowded. But it is more expensive to shop here in Hong Kong then the other cities we have been to. Compared to Beijing and Xi'an Jong Kong is a lot less historical and that is due to the fact that Hong Kong was ruled by England and was given back to China. But China still really doesn't accept Hong Kong because we had to fill out a new arrival card and turn in a departure card when we left Shanghai. Hong Kong is also different then the other cities in China because Hong Kong is a group of islands strung together by bridges and tunnels. Also Hong Kong seems to more clean then other places we have visit but this is also due to the face that until the early 2000s it was under British rule.

Day 7: New Meets Old

Prompt: What did you learn about the history of the city through temple and the old city and culture through bartering

From going to the old city and the Temple I learned and saw how heavily influenced by European architecture and how the Chinese history effected Shanghai. The people here believe the same things as the rest of China, in religion and mythical creatures. In the temple we learned about the history of Buddhism and a lot about the religion and how it is celebrated there in Shanghai. Going to the old city also reminded me how crowded the city and how big the population is. Seeing this also reminded that Xi'an and Beijing has around the same amount of people and they have bigger streets which foes to show how Shanghai was influenced by European architecture.

Thew the new culture of bartering we can learn that in China, people who are very young and do not go to school will do a lot of things to tourist to get money. It also shows how they do not care if they rip people off, which shows they need money. It shows how different the United States of America and the Chinese economy culture is different because in the United States the people who sell things sell them with little influence and have here in China they put a lot of inflation on the products. But the again it is okay and sometimes socially acceptable to barter in China. The bartering shows that they are finding ways to get around laws with backrooms and secret cabinets just to get the much needed money

Day 6: Goodbye Xi'an, Hello Shanghai

Prompt: Initial reaction to Shanghai, describe east meets west in Shanghai, describe the home visit, the market visit, and you favorite acrobat act at the show

My first thoughts of Shanghai were that it looked like a China Town maybe in England because of the English architecture and the dialect our tour guide, Sandy, was telling us about. I also thought that it was a little nicer then Xi'an and on the level of Beijing's cleanliness.

The say East meets West describes Shanghai because it has many European and American influences. These influences are here because these countries imperiled that area of China and while they were there they built many buildings while they were there with their architecture style. Also the English language is found in their dialect of Mandarin, because the English were settled here for so long. The Jewish religion is found here, which is not common in the East. Judaism came to Shanghai during WWII when they were trying to escape.

The home visits were very interesting. It was a shock to see how small an average home is for three people. My family has three people and the whole apartment was the size of our living room and half of our dinning room. It was also amazing how open she was so open to us being there and all our questions. I did not know what to ask at first, but later on I did and the answers were surprising.

The market was not what I expected or was used to. Just seeing what I am going to eat move disturbs me. I like things dead when I am going to but them. But the fruits and vegetables looked very tasty. Some people bought cherries, grapes, and bananas.

The acrobats show was pretty cool. The tumbling I found neat but the choreography in between the stunts was so-so, but maybe that is because I am a dancer. I enjoyed the blue cloth thing most, were the people were spinning in the air with the aid of the blue cloth. The motorcycles were cool but did not really interest me.

Day 5: Terra-Cotta Warriors!

Prompt: What happened today?

Today we got to wake u later than usual. The breakfast at the hotel was pretty good. We then headed out to some ancient ruins, called the Bang Po, ancient river people. It was interesting because it was a lot of dirt and it was surprising that some of the structures were still standing.

After that we went to a Hot Springs. The springs were really pretty. We spilt up into small groups and wandered. My group; Alexa, Jake, Nick, Sam, Shelby, Natalie, Beth, and Samie, dipped our hands into the water and it was really hot, but it felt nice. We then wandered into a building that was kind of like a museum. And then we split up and Shelby, Nick, Natalie, Alexa, and I went to a lake things. Alexa found a pillow she wanted for her grandparents and tried to barter for it, but the lady selling it got mad. Then we found a picture that was the image on the pillow, and we took turns posing like it.
Then as a group we went up on cable cars to get a pretty cool view from the top of a mountain of the hot springs. It was a pretty smooth ride up there. and the view was nice but not of the hot spring area, it was of the other side of the base of the mountain. And I asked Nick to hold my camera and he then preceded to take many pictures of himself.

Then we went to lunch. Lunch was okay, we have had better. And Scott got sick. But he powered threw so he could see the Terra-Cotta Warriors.

The Terra-Cotta Warriors were pretty awesome! And there was more than I imagined. In fact they were still excavating some. I thought that the warriors were a small amount but seeing them in real person that close made me freak out a little only because they were really impressive and you just imagine how long and how much work was put into making them. We them went back to the hotel.

We went to dinner, and I ate out with Tom, Mason, Mr. Ewen, Cladia, Lexa, Brandon, Beth, Kip, Alexa, Shelby, and Natalie out to some restaurant near the hotel. At the restaurant we had a hot pot, but I really did not enjoy it so I ate some chicken thing which tasted good.

Then Lexa, Brandon, Shelby, Natalie, Schags, Ms. T, and I went to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda fountains. There was a water show and I stayed semi dry while everyone else danced in the middle of the fountains and got soaked. Afterwards it was next to impossible to get a taxi back to the hotel. Everyone who got wet smelled like barf, it was gross. The taxi we got into we think was illegal because they did not have a meter until we got in and there was no real seats...but it was the funniest taxi ride I was ever in. Xi'an was fun, and I miss it.

Day 5: Beijing vs Xi'an

Prompt: Compare and contrast Beijing and Xi'an in history, culture, and food

Beijing's historical places are similar to Xi'an's historical places because they both involve the same Dynasty, the Qin Dynasty. The cities are almost the same because they were both old capital cities.

The two cities culture are the same cultural because they both have crazy drivers. Also, the people do not care where they drive or when they walk across a street, just as long as they get where they want.

The two cities food are similar because they use the same spices and have similar meats. Overall the serve almost the exact dishes.

The cities historical places are different because a majority of the places in Xi'an are replicated but they are also much older then the places in Beijing. While in Beijing they are more authentic but are also younger.

The Beijing and Xi'an culture is different because Beijing seems to be more developed and cleaner while Xi'an is more dirty and industrial. The culture is also different because Xi'an has a Muslim community while Beijing is all Chinese.

The cities food is different because in Xi'an they seemed to have more street vendors and more authentic Chinese food. While in Beijing the food seemed to be more Americanized for tourist and it seemed to have more restaurants as well. Overall both of the cities were alike and different, both in their own special ways.

Day 4: Goodbye Beijing, Hello Xi'an

Prompt: Free response

We woke up at 4 AM to get to the airport. The plane ride here, to Xi'an, was nice and short. While waiting for luggage to get checked at the airport we started to name all the American food we missed. The Chinese airport security is crazy, at least in Beijing, but we did not have to take our shoes off. David laughed at the idea of taking your shoes off for security. When we landed we went right on a bus and headed into Xi'an.

Our first stop was the City Wall. It was very big, bigger then I thought, and it was very interesting to me. WE had some free time to walk around the wall, so I got into a group with Alexa, Sam, Nick, Jake, and others and we walked around. After the wall we went to lunch, I had Fig Newton's because I didn't like the choices except the chicken.

After lunch we stopped by a jade shop, I bought my mom a jade cat. The shop was a little annoying because the people who worked there did not leave you alone and whenever you looked at something they thought you were going to buy it.

We then went to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. The Pagoda was really pretty and interesting. You could pay 2 Yuan to go up to the top, but I did not want to. So instead Shelby, Nick, Sam, Beth, and I wandered around the grounds of the Wild Goose Pagoda. We found a little store shack thing and I bought tea flavored Gatorade. It was the best Gatorade ever! After he Pagoda we went to the hotel.

Me and Lexa were rooming together again, which was cool. We chilled at the hotel for 2 hours and watched a Chinese soap opera, the sheep cartoon show, and a kung fu movie. We went to dinner and it was pretty tasty. We stopped by a bakery and I bought some pound cake thing. It was really good too!

We then went to a Tang Dynasty Dance Show. It was okay, the dancing was not that impressive. But that is probably because I am a dancer. On the way back we were so loud, everyone else fell asleep but we were really slap happy. And we were waiting for the elevator Scott fell asleep standing up. All in all today was a good day!

Day 3: Great Wall and Beyond

Prompt: Impression on Great Wall, Beijing over alkl as a city-How they deal with history, do they have pride in it, most memorable: food, funny moment, hostory, culture, what are you looking foward to in Xi'an

I think that the Great Wall was really pretty and really well built becuase it was has lasted this long. I am surprised it has lasted this long because it is only held together by sticky rice, unless they have done further reapirs on it so with newer technology so that it holds longer. Climbing up the Great Wall was much MUCH harder then I thought and I did not climb very far. But I still bought a shirt that says 'I Climbed the Great Wall'.

Over all I think that Beijing was interesting. Each part of the city that we visited was very different and made me think differently about the city in gerneral. The Forbidden City made me think that it was a very historical and powerful city while the markets we went to made me think that Beijing was a very cheap dirty city. But the Oylimpic buildings, the Water Cube and the Birds Nest, made me think that it was modern and open city. Taking in all these feelings and thought, Beijing is just like any bigger American city; it has it's hisorical landmarks, which refers to when the city was in it's hayday, it has the poorer areas, becuase no city is perfect, and then it has it's modern structures, which is thriving now.

I think that Beijing keeps the historical landmarks very well kept. All of the hisorical landmarks are very heavily gaurded and very prestine. They way the Chinese keep the landmarks make me think that like us they are very proud of thier history and they love it very much as well.

Most Memorable in Beijing:

• Food: The first lunch we had at the Pearl Shop. This is the best resturant becuase I think that I ate the most there and it was pretty good food.


• Funny Moment: Just the fact that the Chinese people are taking pictures of us, it shocks me because I wouldn't think that people are surprised to see Americans, but then again my country does not shelter us as much as the Chinese Government does.


• History: The Forbidden City becuase it was so pretty and more then I imagagined it could have been.


• Culture: Haing to yell 'I'm Back' in Chinese when walking back across the gate at the Tomb
  In Xi'an I am most looking foward to seeing the Terra Cotta warriors because they most famous thing in Xi'an.

Day 2: USA vs China

Prompt: USA vs China Education, basic China history vs basic USA history, funny and interesting stories

The education of USA and China are very different. In the US the schools seem more inviting then the school we went to in China. When we first walked past it I joked that it was a prison, then we turned into the entrance and it was the school we were going to. Also, the students seem to be more interested in us and what we had to say then when the Spanish and French students came to GNHS. When we had foreign students at our school some of the students seemed to interested and others seemed to be annoyed. While in China they were all interested in us and what we had to say. Also, the Chinese students had one room for the whole day and per grade. Which is unlike in the states where there are multiple rooms for each grade and for the older kids multiple rooms for each day. A similarity between the two education systems is that the children are taught the same subjects: math, English, another language, science, and history. But was interesting is that these middle school students have learned multiple languages like English, French, and Japanese. One of the girls I talked to said that her parents did not want her to take any more languages because she wanted her to study other things. Another difference is the amount of pressure put on the students. In China they have a lot more pressure then American students in High School, but in college American students have more pressure than the Chinese students.

The basic Chinese history is very long and goes through many up and downs. The ups include the Qin, Ming, Tong, and other Dynasty. During these Dynasty the Great Wall and the Terra-Cotta Warriors were built. During these Dynasty most of China was united as well. The downs include when the Dynasty was not strong and that normally meant that China was not united. The downs of China include civil war, Opium Wars, and being imperialized. The basic US history has been through up and downs as well. The US ups does not include different government and being united as a whole country because the US unlike China has only be through one government if you do not include when they were a colony under British rule. But the US ups do include building many historical, iconic, and big places like Mt. Rushmore and the Golden Gate Bridge. The US downs include civil war as well, but the wars were fought for different reasons. In the Chinese Civil War it was between two types of government, the Kuomintang or Chinese Nationalist Party, who were ruling China, and the Communist Party of China. While in the US the Civil War was between the South and the North for the right to own slaves or not to own slaves. Overall the basic history is different, but both countries have ended up in the same spot.

Today at the school it was weird because I personally found out how touchy feely the Chinese are. I really did not like it because my family is not touchy feely and it is not natural or normal to me.

When we left the Forbidden City, which was really pretty but not what I expected, we went to a park where we played hacky sack. The Chinese hacky sack is not like the US hacky sack. In China it is a metal piece with plastic rings around it and feathers coming out of it. Unlike the round bean filled ball that we play with in the US.

When we went to lunch, it was at a Pearl Market, the food was very good. But afterwards we were able to shop around for a while and a man opened an oyster for us. It was neat to watch because I have never really seen an oyster before and this one was different because it was a fresh water oyster. When the man opened the oyster it was surprising because there were so many small pearls inside of the oyster.

After lunch we went to the Summer Palace. When we were at the Summer Palace, there was a man there who was pretty cool and Lexa and I go tour picture with him. The Summer Palace was very very pretty and everything that was there had a meaning.

At the Tea House, which is where we went next, we got to try four different teas. While driving there we drove by the Birds Nest and Water Cube which was really exciting because I am overly obsessed with the Olympics. But it was kind of disappointing because I learned that we would not really be walking around near them, just driving past them. I am not the biggest tea fan but I tried some to be respectful. I did not like anything they gave us, but I did buy some tea for my dad.

That night jet lag hit Lexa and me very hard. We both crashed before 9. But it was needed because we needed sleep after how hard we are being pushed and how much we are doing each day.

Day 1: Long Plane Ride and Spicey Grandmas

Prompt: China so far

I have been awake for 24 hours, or more. This morning my family and I for to school about 6:40. The principal had doughnuts for us and they were good. We then said goodbye to our parents and boarded the big yellow bus. It took shorter then I thought to get to O'Hare. During security check I had too many liquid bags but the lady let me threw because I was freaking out and about to cry. We were early so we chilled in the terminal for awhile. I got a bagel, water, and a magazine to for waiting in the terminal and for the epically long plane ride ahead for me. When we boarded the plane we all boarded together because the we were a group and the workers saw our matching neon green t-shirts.

My plane buddy was Tyler, which was nice because he was really quiet and was fine with the window seat. The plane ride seem to never end. I knew it was going to be long but once I got bored it seemed to moving even slower. During the plane ride I watched Dear John and part of Alice in Wonderland, I read 140 pages in my summer reading book, The Kite Runner, read a whole People magazine, listened to my i-pod, ate nasty airplane food, and maybe got 2 and a half hours of sleep. Once our plane landed, I was not freaking out as much as I thought I was. Going threw customs was a pain because it was really hot in the airport and the line was really long. When Lexa got up to the counter she fainted! She did not hit her head because Schags go to her before she did. After everyone was cleared threw customs we got on a jam packed train car to get to where the tour bus and tour guide were. On the train people told me when I sleep I make a frowning face, which was interesting to know. When we got off the train we met out tour guide David and boarded our bus.

The ride to the hotel was not that bad because David was entertaining us. When we got to the hotel we learned that we were going to be in rooms of 2 not 3. That meant that me and Lexa were going to be roomies. After a 45 minute break we went to dinner which was at the hotel. Dinner was okay I had rice, sweet and sour chicken, and egg rolls. We then had 15 minutes to get ready to go to Wanfujing Street which is a giant street to go shopping.

At Wanfujing Street Team Swag, which consist of Lexa, Nick, Claudia, Sam, and me ended up in a mall and we went to look at a directory to see what stores were there and Lexa found a place called Spicy Grandma. Hearing this name we had to go and see what it was. When we found it, it was a restaurant. We then found Hagen daz and had ice cream and joined with Ewen's group to go down the food area of Wanfujing Street. There I learned that when the cooks put the scorpions on the stick, they are still alive and moving. Lexa then had her first bartering experience. She got a mini Terra-Cota warrior for 25 Yuans and the original was 65. Then the lady who was selling things almost stole Nick's calculator because it was American, even though it said Made in China on the back. Overall I am pretty happy because it is much more then I expected in cleanliness and how the people act.