China

Well it's been about two weeks since I went to China and I finally feel like things have settled down. It was difficult coming back to a newly renovated apartment (that I had to clean and unpack), figure out my lost phone situation, and manage a week of school with lesson plans due. I've finally found some time to update this thing! With that being said, let's start from the top. 

The night before summer vacation, we had to just about pack up our whole apartments in order to get new floors. So, I had to pack up my room in boxes, as well as my trip my luggage... and wake up at three in the morning for the airport shuttle! Ann and I were both ridiculously exhausted. 

To start the vacation off right... I lost my phone. I remember listening to music on it in the airplane... but once I got through the long line at immigration, I realized it was missing. I ran around frantically asking security to let me go back and look for it (which they graciously did), however by the time I reached the airplane... it had taken off again. We went to lost and found and they said they would e-mail us if it ever showed up, but it didn't. That was a real damper to start off the trip, but I was determined to have a good time. I e-mailed my mom later that evening on Ann's phone telling her what happened... she made me feel a lot better (Moms always do right?). She reassured me that I was very lucky to have the opportunity to go to China... and that lots of people have never, or perhaps will never, experience. Phones are just material items that can be replaced. She was right, I already have an iPhone 5 to replace my iPhone 4 that I lost... and I already love it so much more. 

Day 1

We were picked up from the airport in Beijing, dropped off at our first hotel, and picked up in the evening for an acrobat show. We weren't allowed to pictures during the show, but let me tell you... I was saying, "What?! NO! How? Is this real life? Ahhh!" the whole time... it was phenomenal. It was one of the most awesome displays of human talent I've ever seen! 

First hotel: the Howard Johnson in Beijing. 

Right outside our hotel... the whole building lit up when the clock reach the hour. 

Look closely... the Lay's in the red bag were "Texas Grilled BBQ Flavor"! Represent! It was pretty good too :D

Day 2

The next day, we had to wake up really early and head to our first destination, Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. 

Chairman Mao

Random Chinese people coming up to take a picture... this happened quite a bit.

The Forbidden City, stunning! Where emperors lived... common people were forbidden to come in and royal family forbidden to leave. 

The throne...

The Imperial Garden 

Lianli tree... for happiness and love. 

Grand exit of the Forbidden City.

The moat surrounding the city. 

Next, we went to a Chinese traditional medicine clinic. Apparently it's so famous, Michelle Obama went there when she visited Beijing. Ann met with a doctor and bought Chinese medicine, but I went ahead and got a massage. Afterwards, we had lunch in a very shady restaurant, but the food was excellent! 

Entrance into the clinic.

Massage... super cheap! 10 minutes for like 30 yuan! That's a little less than 5 bucks.

Lunch with our group. 

After lunch, we were super hot, but still went to The Temple of Heaven and the Queen's Summer Palace. Both of which were extraordinarily beautiful. 

The Temple of Heaven.

A peak inside.

The entrance into the Summer Palace, where the Dragon Lady Empress would spend her hot summers. It's built on an island in the middle of a man made lake. 

Bridge to the island.

This dress up station was in the Summer Palace... it was fun watching this girl take her pictures. However, most of the famous attractions in China were overly infested with people trying to sell you stuff. 

Dinner... dumpling feast! 

Ice cream that I almost cost me 10 dollars... Baskin Robbins is much more expensive in China than in Korea! ( I didn't realize that when I was buying it...)

Day 3

We woke up super early yet again to make our way to the Badaling Great Wall! Apparently, we were lucky because the weather was misty and cool...plus, we only had to wait in about an hour of traffic. We had a take a gondola up (which was probably my favorite part) and were given time to explore the wall by ourselves. It was really difficult! I couldn't believe the massiveness of it... it stretched on forever! Truly amazing. However, there were some disappointing moments. It was so busy and smelly! Also, the history behind how the wall was built is very dark. Afterwards, we went to a jade factory, the Ming Dynasty tombs, and then a silk factory. That evening was our last night in Beijing, so we set out to find Peking Duck! After lots of walking and exploring, we found a place. It was really expensive, but very good! 

Gondolas up and down.

These bad boys didn't stop, you have to run in and out of them! 

Wahhhh! All the people! 

Ann is so cute!

Jade sculpting. 

Lunch at the jade factory, it was really good! Except the soup... it was horrible.

Ming Tombs and our tour guide, Lily. 

Zhu Di, the first of thirteen emperors to build their tombs here. 

Zhu Di's tomb and our two Swedish tour mates. 

Here's the tomb! It's basically a great, big man made hill with the emperor and his possessions inside. 

An over 400 year old tree.

Silk worm cocoons! 

An emperor's silk robes. 

We went to Wangfujing to find duck. It slightly reminded me of Myeongdong in Seoul. 

Our duck restaurant.

Peking duck!

Once again, navigating the subways of China. First, in Guangzhou. Then, in Beijing. 

No protective glass in front of the subway doors... unlike Korea. It felt rather unsafe. 

Day 4

We left our favorite hotel and were picked up by a different tour guide. This one took us to the Yonghe Lama Temple. Next, the Bird's Nest and Water Cube. Then, we went to a traditional tea ceremony, took a rickshaw ride through a rather unpleasant part of town, had lunch in a stranger's house, and met a master of calligraphy (Michelle Obama has been there too). Last, we saw the giant pandas at the Beijing Zoo. We had lots of confusion in the afternoon getting our bullet train tickets to Xian. Our guide was rather unpleasant during this experience and we had to wait a long time in the station before our departure. We were glad it was only a 5 hour ride to Xian. We were picked up late at night and dropped off at our hotel (our least favorite one) and got ready for the next adventure in a new city. 

Lama Temple

26 meter Buddha! Apparently, one of the largest in the world. 

Olympic walkway.

Water Cube.

Bird's Nest.

Tea building. 

Tea ceremony, refreshing!

Nervous about our ride...

And very nervous about lunch... :D

Not as exciting as I was hoping :(  It was smelly, hot, and sooo busy. Plus, only three pandas! One of which, I'm pretty sure, had an eye infection. 

Waiting for our train.

That brown mound is dirt... and they were cleaning with it. It made no sense!

Day 5

This day we went to the Xian City Wall. It obviously wasn't as exciting as the Great Wall, but it was still very grand. I wish we were able to have had more time there, to rent a bike and ride around it. Instead, we walked along it, creeped on people in the park below, and learned about Feng shui. After the wall, we went to the busiest museum in the world (that was my opinion of it) and the Wild Goose Pagoda. We saw a fountain show, had lunch, and went to the Muslim's quarter. That evening, we went to a Tang Dynasty show and dumpling dinner. The show was more historically and musically based than the acrobat show, but it was still amazing!

Entrance to the City Wall.

Old ladies dancing and clapping in large groups. We saw these kinds of groups a lot! It's a very popular way to exercise among the ajumas. 

Doing tai chi. 

No face is the same. All were based off of real warriors. 

Silk road route.

So many Buddhas! 

Wild Goose Pagoda...

... and fountain show! 

Lunch buffet! 

Muslim's Quarter. A street full of the most amazing sights, smells, and sounds! I loved it! 

Fire!

Taffy!

Dumplings! Excuse the nap hair and face... I was tired! 

Duck dumpling, so cute!

2nd round of dumplings! Each were so different.

Soup after dumplings.  

Dessert!

I didn't think this show would be any good at first. It seemed to be rather cheesy, but it just got better and better!

The costumes were beautiful! 

Wahhh! I couldn't keep my jaw locked! It was so great...

Day 6

Our second day in Xian was all Terracotta warriors! First, we went to a factory that produced replicas the same way the original warriors were made. Then, we took a pretty long ride out to the actual site. We even saw a family there that we took a tour with in Beijing! It was crazy, CRAZY busy, but definitely worth being shoved and pushed to see. After, we were dropped off at the railway station to take our sleeper train to Shanghai. We waited over 5 hours for the train, which we spent talking, eating, and in the bathroom (I got food poisoning!). The sleeper train is something I would not choose to do again, unless with only family and friends. There were six of us in a four bed car (four women and two children, grr!). Luckily, I slept fine thanks to sleeping pills, but Ann wasn't so lucky. 

At the replica factory.

The real deal!

I really liked the horses :D

Looks so sad!

Xian Railway Station.

Delicious ramen with beef neck. 

Top bunk!

I had to put my massive luggage at the end of my bed. By the way, the TV did NOT work. 

Day 7

We got terribly turned around in the Shanghai Railway station and it took our driver an hour to find us. Ky was his name and he was our driver the whole time in Shanghai. He was pissed at us for getting lost, but once we became friends, he was the coolest dude ever! (Ann teased me over my infatuation with him...) We met up with our awkward, but very enduring tour guide (Frank) at the Shanghai Museum. Then, we went to a famous jade Buddha temple, another pearl factory, AND yet another silk factory. We saw the Bund and took a walk along the Huangpu River. We had lunch and went to Old Town Market and Yu Garden... which I really enjoyed. That night, we had a river cruise along the Huangpu to view all the city lights.

Shanghai Museum. 

Massive coin!

Jade Buddha Temple... we were actually prohibited to take pictures of the jade buddhas... :(

East side!

The Bund... buildings based on European architecture. 

Old Town Market, very cool!

WHAT?!

Yu Garden.

River cruise. 

Day 8

We wish we could have stayed longer in Shanghai. It was definitely our favorite city... reminding us a lot of Seoul. If I were to go to back China, I would go there again. I was very satisfied by the trip and felt like I got to do so much in such a short period of time. There were many things about China that made me really grateful to live in Korea. If someone wants to experience Asian culture for the first time, I think Korea is a better beginners gateway. China takes more patience... and an open mind. Anyways... to top the vacation off, Ky drove us to the airport :) We did some shopping and treated ourselves to some final dumplings and Chinese beer!