Made in China

There is no where in the world where the stars are as bright as they were sleeping under then on the Great Wall of China.

 

There is also no where in the world that I have ever felt so close to freezing to death...

I had 4 pairs of pants, 3 sweaters, 2 scarves, a jacket, a hat (...vodka.) and I still froze. But I made it through the night and I can now say “I have slept on the Great Wall of China”

 

SAAAWWWEEEEET!

 

On top of that, China was amazing for so many reasons-

 

1. Hong Kong. It was like New York City on steroids. Our ship was docked in the perfect location that over looked the massive skyline of futuristic architecture. And at night, the city literally lit up the sky with a light show of lasers and flashing neon lights from every building. Fireworks are so amateur these days.

Unfortunately, we were only in Hong Kong for about a half a day and then one night. The next day, I was on a flight for Beijing...which brings me to number 2.

 

2. Cold Weather. We haven’t had a day that the temperature went below 80 degrees. Hong Kong was hot, but Beijing and Shanghai we not at all! As our plane was landing in Beijing, there was a layer of snow covering the ground. Talk about mass panic. You could look around and tell who was from California and who was from Colorado. A lot of the students were loading on jackets, hats, and scarves (just to walk off the plane!). I threw my sandals in my bag and threw on my Ugg boots, but I refused to put on a jacket until my skin turned blue. It was so good to see my breath again.

 

3. The sights. My breath was not the only amazing thing I got to see in China. We went to the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, and the Bird's Nest (the stadium where the 2008 Olympics were held). The buildings in the Forbidden City were incredible, and the snow made it even more beautiful. And then came the best sight of all...

 

4. The Great Wall of China. There are two things that pictures don’t do for the Great Wall- and that’s how beautiful and incredible it actually is, and how intense it is to climb. We arrived at the wall at night time and hiked it for about 30-45 minutes (to tower 9 to be exact). All you could see were the silhouettes of mountains, the stars, and about 20 feet in front of you. Therefore, when the sun came up over the mountains in the morning, I was face to face with the most incredible views. And then we hiked it for 5 hours (to tower 37). It was hard work to climb that thing, even harder to take it all in. It was like nothing I have ever seen before.

 

5. The food! Authentic Chinese food? Yes please! Speaking of food...

 

6. McDelivery. Yes, that is correct. McDonald's has a delivery service. Except that they don't deliver to the Great Wall. Believe me, we tried.

 

I also discovered that the ‘peace sign’ is a universal viscous cycle. You know when Asians come to America and do the peace sign in every picture? Well, when the Americans go to China, we also do the peace sign. They see us, we see them…get it?

 

I can sit here forever and talk about how crazy the Asian culture is and how differently yet similarly things are done over here. It wasn’t exactly culture shock, but more like a culture “Ah ha…”. It was defiantly the biggest change from all the other countries we have been to. We were back in the land of shopping malls, subway systems, and Starbucks. There was very little poverty, and people did not hound us to buy things from their shops. Wait a minute, you mean if I decided not by this dress, you are not going to chase me down the street yelling out a lower price?? Weird. Easing us back to life in the States I guess.

 

The only real problem we faced in this country was the language barrier. It got very frustrating at times and Japan is going to be even worse. Guess I have about 12 hours to learn a few quick phrases.

 

We have five days in Japan and then it’s back to the home land (with pit stop in Hawaii of course). I’m looking forward to it. China was all decked out in Christmas gear, and the city and the snow defiantly made me feel at home. And then a woman spit in my walking path and brought me back to the reality that is Asia…