Day 1 April 1, 2012: We arrived in Hong Kong, China bright and early! Bridget and I had the day to ourselves and we were excited to explore Hong Kong. As soon as we got off the ship (into the nicest cruise terminal we have been in) we got a delicious iced coffee from Starbucks. I normally hate Starbucks, but any iced coffee is good at this point! We walked all over Hong Kong. Something I noticed is that everyone in China dresses really nice. It made me feel like what I was wearing wasn't nice enough! (which it probably wasn't because I didn't pack correctly for this trip!) We then got invited by two guys on the ship to join them for lunch at the Peninsula Hotel. We happily agreed and got picked up at the ship in a hunter green Roles Royce Phantom. What?!?! It was so awesome. It was easily the nicest car I have ever been in and I was in awe the whole way to the hotel. Once we got to the hotel we were offered tea and got seated at a really nice Chinese restaurant. The menu was awesome. It was all traditional Chinese dishes and we ordered like the oversized Americans we are. We got so much food! We ordered vegetable dumplings with black truffle sauce, pork dumplings, fried rice with sesame seeds, pork, beef, chicken with an almond crust and a lemon sauce (seriously the best chicken I have ever had in my life) and champagne and cocktails! YUM! Those who know me know that I really do not like Chinese food in the United States. I was really nervous about what I would eat in China but this was one of the best meals I have had since being on Semester at Sea. It was really good food with good company! After lunch we all walked around for a little bit then Bridget and I went back to the ship to shower and get ready for dinner. We wanted to go to this street where all the restaurants and bars were and some guy told us we had to take the subway to get there. So after many attempts at trying to find the right subway and how to buy tickets we finally found a young guy that helped us buy tickets and pointed us in the right direction. Once we got to the street it was amazing! All of the bars were so cool and we found a bar called "The China" and stayed there a lot of the night because the bartenders were really nice. We met a lot of locals and a lot of other people traveling in China. A very good first day in China! Hong Kong is an awesome city and I would love to go back! I wish I had more time to spend exploring the city.
Day 2 April 2, 2012: I woke up bright and early to get to the airport for my trip to Beijing! I was really excited to go to Beijing and after the hour bus ride to the airport, two-hour place ride I was finally there! Once we got to the airport and found our bus to take us to dinner and the hotel, I stepped out into cold weather, which was very refreshing. This is the first port, besides at night in the Vietnamese mountains, that I wore long pants, a scarf, and a jacket during the day. I loved it! It was amazing weather the whole time in Beijing. We all went to a traditional duck dinner in Beijing. We sat at a massive circular table that had a spinning plate in the middle to make sharing dishes a little bit easier. I tried everything, even the duck, which wasn't that bad. The only thing I didn't try was the duck soup and the duck liver, it didn't look too appetizing to me. After dinner we all went to the hotel, yes we stayed at the Holiday Inn Temple of Heaven. It was actually a very nice hotel and the bed was really comfortable which is all that matters! Plus they had two American channels, very exciting! Once I got to the hotel, my roommate Hannah, who I had just met on the trip headed up to the room to shower and make plans for the night. After I took a shower I realized my stomach was cramping and I felt like I had a cold sweat. I decided it would be better for me to stay in and hang out in the room in case I felt even worse. Well, good thing I decided to stay in because I either had the flue or food poisoning that night. Not a very fun night in China!
Day 3 April 3, 2012: After spending all night throwing up, having a fever, and other things that will stay between me and my hotel bathroom, there was no way I was going with the group that day. I tried to take a shower in the morning and felt miserable. My roommate laughed when I told her I was going to force myself to go with the group and she told me to go back to bed. I'm glad I took her advice because I felt so sick all morning and for the rest of the day. I slept all day and felt better later in the evening. I even ordered room service and got to eat some bread and drink some sprite! Once my roommate got back at 9:00 pm after being gone since 7:30 am I was glad I didn't convince myself I was fine to go with them, I probably would have been miserable. After taking yet another shower and feeling a lot better than I did the night before I fell asleep so I could go with the group to The Great Wall the next day. There was no way I was missing that!
Day 4 April 4, 2012: I woke up bright and early feeling a lot better, but not 100%. I showered and my roommate and I headed downstairs for breakfast. I was so happy I was feeling better because even if I were throwing up I would have made it to the Great Wall! We started the trek to the Great Wall and I was SO excited!! Once we got there we took a ski lift up to the top and it was breathtaking. The mountains were so pretty and the wall stretched on forever winding with the pattern of the rigid mountaintops. I cannot imagine what it must have been like to build it, probably horrible conditions. Our guide was telling us that the Great Wall is the longest cemetery in the world because when people died building it they would just bury the people within the wall, weird! I got to walk around and explore the Great Wall for a couple of hours and it wasn't easy! The stairs are steep and eroding in some places. The high altitude combined with my lack of energy from being sick wasn't an ideal combination, but nothing got in the way with one of the coolest experiences I've had so far on my trip. The Great Wall is hard to describe and it was very surreal that I got to hike on it. After walking around for a while we all got to toboggan down! It was hilarious and a fun way to get down from the wall. After the Great Wall we went to the Olympic Stadium in Beijing. It was such a cool array of buildings. The pool was huge and the hotels surrounding the area were really nice. I can't imagine how long it must have taken to build and how much detail went into the planning of hosting the Olympics. After walking around for a bit we all went to a Chinese acrobatic show. Since I have been to Cirque De Soleil I had high expectations. There were a lot of talented people in the show and it was surprisingly good. Nothing compared to Cirque De Soleil, but good nonetheless! After the show we all went to another traditional Chinese dinner. I nervously stayed away from the meat but ate really good rice, vegetable dumpling, and spring rolls. I didn't want to risk making my stomach upset again. After dinner we all headed back to the hotel to get ready to go out. I was excited to finally be feeling well enough to go out and not be stuck in the hotel room by myself. It was cool going on this trip because I didn't know anyone going on it besides my friend Steven. It forced me to get to know new people, which was really cool. I loved my roommate and going out with her friends that night. We went to a local bar that had live music. A few of the people I was with got up on stage and started singing and playing the tambourine, it was hilarious. Especially because one of them was a 6'5" guy, Thomas, who happily played the tambourine with people who spoke no English. After leaving the bar I randomly ran into Bridget who was traveling independently in Beijing. I was happy to see her and I think she was happier to see me because the people she was traveling with were not ideal. I went back to her hotel with her to listen about her trip and to make sure she got back to her hotel ok. She was by herself when she found me because everyone else she was with ditched her. Not cool. After she was safely in her hotel room I headed back to my own hotel. As I went down to the front desk to get a taxi, the lady informed me that there were 18 Holiday Inn Hotels in Beijing. Of course I left the address in my hotel room and had to Google image pictures of Holiday Inn hotels until I found the one that I thought looked like mine. The front desk lady printed out directions in mandarin and got a taxi for me. On the way to the hotel I was hoping it was the right one! As the taxi driver pulled up to the hotel I was relieved it was the right one. I was exhausted and as I was pulling out my room key I noticed it had the address of the hotel on it, in English and Chinese characters, ha! I felt so dumb I didn't even think to look at my hotel room key for the address. Oh well! I happily climbed into bed after a really great day!
Day 5 April 5, 2012: I woke up, showered, packed, ate breakfast, checked out of the hotel, and got on the bus to go to the Temple of Heaven. The Temple of Heaven is surrounded by a huge park where all the retired senior citizens go every morning to socialize and workout. It was very cool seeing everyone doing Tai Chi, playing Chinese board games, playing card games, or just sitting around with old fiends talking about politics. We went into the Temple of Heaven and out of all the temples I have seen on this whole voyage, which is many, this was one of the most beautiful temples on the outside. No one is allowed to go inside of it but the weather was so nice that we all sat down and enjoyed the sights and weather for a couple of hours. We then went to a teahouse for tea tasting. I LOVE tea! So I was really excited to try Chinese teas. I have realized I literally love all tea, there wasn't one tea that I didn't like throughout the tasting. It was interesting to hear why the Chinese drank certain teas. Women drink jasmine tea for healthier skin and to look younger. I cannot wait to buy all these new teas when I get home. I bought a tea set and I can't wait to use it at home either! After the teahouse we all had to head to the airport to leave Beijing and arrive in Shanghai! Two hours later we were finally in Shanghai! The bus ride to the ship was awesome. There was so much to see. I have never seen such amazing and intricate architecture within a city. There was a heavy influence of French and British influences on the older buildings mixed in with the extremely modern new skyscrapers. It was a weird combination but it seemed to fit together perfectly. On the bus ride we got to witness the sun setting and the whole city lighting up. The lights in Shanghai put every other city to shame. It was so beautiful and created an electric nighttime feel.
Day 6 April 6, 2012: Bridget and I woke up nice and early to explore Shanghai! The weather continued to be absolutely perfect so we decided to walk to the Bund for breakfast. The Bund is just a fancy word for waterfront. It is a beautiful waterfront and reminds me a little bit of the Chicago waterfront, except bigger and a little more modern and clean. By the time we found a place to eat it was lunchtime and we had a delicious lunch and got some local Chinese boba tea after lunch, which I wasn't a huge fan of because I don't like weird red beans floating in my tea. We got into a cab and headed to a market that we had written down in Chinese characters, compliment of Chinese students on the ship. Once we got to the market I was in heaven! It is such a cool experience to walk around to different shops and bargain for different items. After this voyage I can say I pride myself on my bargaining abilities. Every time they wouldn't come down anymore on the price I would walk away and they would run after me with the item for the price I wanted. I wish we could do this in the United States! I bought a ton of cool things and had a fun time bargaining with the locals. It was a stress-free, friendly experience, which was very different than bargaining in Ghana and even Vietnam. After this we went to the Pearl Tower (Google a picture of it…such a cool building) and walked around there for a while. It was getting late and we both needed to shower before dinner so we needed to get a taxi back to the ship. Who knew it would take thirty minutes to get a taxi? Either no one wanted to drive us or all the taxis were full. We finally found a taxi and got back to the ship a little frustrated it took so long to find a taxi. We showered and headed to a restaurant called KABB that we had researched and were excited to go to. The taxi driver had no idea where he was going and dropped us off at some random area. We happened to stumble across other kids from semester at sea and just joined them for dinner. The restaurant was really cool and it was fun eating with a big group. I had Chinese potato skins, sushi, chicken, and Chinese pork meat stuffed in pasta shells. It was interesting food but really good. After a long dinner full of food and drinks we all headed to a club called M1NT. It is supposed to be one of the coolest clubs in Shanghai. I got in and took the elevator up to the 24th floor and was greeted by a very dimly lit entrance. Once I walked in I saw shark tanks lining the wall and a club filled with the best-dressed and most attractive people in Shanghai. I realized my group wasn't with me and went back down the elevator. Apparently there was a dress code to get in, not very surprising, but some of the guys were wearing shorts and were not allowed in. So, we all went to another club called Bar Rouge. We all got split up and my group went to Club 88 and the other group with to G Plus. The clubs in Shanghai were really fun but people in China chain smoke like crazy. I could barely breathe once I got out of the club and my eyes hurt so bad because of all the smoke. It was really gross. My hair smelled like smoke for days even after I showered. Yuck! I didn't get back until the ship until really late but I had a really fun night in Shanghai!
Day 7 April 7, 2012: I woke up and got ready to go on my last FDP! I am very excited to finally be done with FDP's. Unfortunately this was the worst FDP I have had to go on and it was a complete waste of my time and I was really mad this was how I had to spend my last day in such an amazing city. We took a bus an hour away to a family planning center. It really was not a family planning center but a retirement community center. We then sat there for about three hours and listened about China's One Child Policy, which had to be translated from the family planning lady by our guide. Who knows what was lost in translation? Everything we had learned in class they said the opposite. The said the "party-line" for the benefit of protecting their country. We all knew these people weren't really telling us the truth about sex ratio imbalance, male preferences, abortions, when abortions occur, what happens when people violate the policy, and other things. It was very weird and creepy how they were lying about everything. It was interesting to head their side, even though it was a very fake explanation. It could have been shorter and I'm not sure how it helped enrich my learning in the class. My professor was disappointed in the trip as well but she didn't know we were going to be talked at for hours. On the way back to the ship we had an hour before we have to board. We got dropped off at the bund and had a quick bite to eat before heading back to the ship. I was sad to get on the ship and leave China and the beautiful weather!
China in general was a beautiful place with friendly people! There was a huge language barrier, which proved to make traveling more difficult than normal and required more planning ahead to make sure directions to places, restaurants, or markets were written in Chinese characters. Even then there was no guarantee you would get where you wanted to go! It was frustrating at first, but after while it was funny trying to explain to the taxi driver where the ship was located and as long as I was smiling and speaking calmly the taxi driver also smiled. Not all of the taxi drivers were nice and sometimes I felt as though people didn't stop to pick us up because we were Americans. It was a weird feeling to have a taxi driver with an empty car drive past us and just dismiss us with a wave of his hand. I was nervous about having to eat Chinese food but actual Chinese food from China is far better than American Chinese food! I loved it, even though I think I got sick from it. Hong Kong and Shanghai were amazing cities full of vibrant and bustling culture, businesses, fashion, and architecture. China far exceeded my expectations and I loved it!
I cannot believe I will be in Japan tomorrow and it is my last country! This semester is flying by!
Miss everyone a lot!
Much love,
Alli
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