China: Covered in Red- Part 1

Well, i did it.  I went to China.  I was unexpectedly excited for this trip and retained my excitement for most of the trip.  The only reason I ever lost it was due to grogginess from seeing so many awesome things and walking all over the place.

I went with 3 other people all teachers in Ulsan.  We had a private tour guide and driver for the entire trip, except for Sat.  So someone was always there to greet us and pick us up from the airport, and to take us to the airport.  The tour guides were very sweet and funny.  I enjoyed traveling this way.  It made things incredibly pleasant and very educational.

Oh ya, and i totally forgot China was a communist country.  That was a little weird.


To give you a quick recap this is what my week looked like:

Sun July 31:

Ktx Ulsan - Seoul (2 hrs)
I hr train to Seoul stn to airport.
Airport (we were there for way to long because we were quite foolish and bought tickets for Yinchuan, China NOT Incheon, South Korea.  (Way to go us)
But we made it on stand by later in the afternoon.
Arrive in Beijing, China around 5pm, got picked up and met up with the rest of our party.
Praise God
Hotel
Dinner-Hot Pot!  (like Korean Barbecue but Chinese style)

Mon Aug 1

Beijing
The Ming Tomb (Emperors are buried here, about 30 and the empresses) Has some cool treasures to see.
Jade Factory
The Great Wall (said in you best theatrical/God voice full of power and glory)
Peking Duck Dinner
Kung Fu show

Tues Aug 2


Tian'anmen Square (largest square in the world, Think like D.C. but China style)
The Forbidden City (where the Emperor used to live, biggest palace in the world)
"Small Kingdom" Restaurant (best food in Beijing!)
Temple of Heaven (where the Emperor would go twice a year and where people would go to pray)
Fresh Water Pearl Factory
China Market (?) basically they sold souvenir type things along with fake products.
Went to train Station to take a sleeper train (think Harry Potter) to Xi'an.  It was about a 12 hr train ride.  We got little sleep.


Wed Aug 3


Xi'an
Check into hotel
Wild goose pagoda
Lunch
The Terra Cotta Warriors (also say in booming, glory filled voice, maybe more eery since they are kinda ghost like)
Dinner-Subway (because Koreans don't know how good a sandwich is, therefore we are deprived)


Thurs Aug 4


Wake up early to catch a flight to Guilin
Arrive in Guilin
Visit Reed Flute Cave (huge cave, with giant stalagtites and stalagmites, and also giant columns.  Very old cave, and lit up with colored lights to appear more grand and creative.  (Think: nature+disney=this cave)
Lunch: stuffed marinated roasted duck inside bread with herbs (best meal ive had since ive been home)
Seven Star Park (a big park with seven rock hills)
Fubo Hill (a cool hill with special meaning)
Hotel (looked like the 70's)
Dreamlike Theatre- Ballet/acrobatic show (amazing!)

Friday Aug 5


Li River Cruise (4-5 hr boat ride along the Li River, spectacular scenery)
Bike ride to rice fields, stop at an old sort-of famous farm house
go to airport to go back to Beijing

Sat Aug 7


Beijing
*free day*
sleep in :)
go to the Beijing Zoo (mostly for the pandas, there was a baby panda!!!)
grab lunch
visit the Olympic Stadium
find some place for dinner

Sun Aug 8

fly back to Ulsan
Happy to arrive "home" where life is slow and the sidewalks are large and not terribly crowded




Whew!  Im exhausted just writing all of that.  So thats our trip.  Since i am so slow at blogging i will either post one day of our trip at a time or maybe one event at a time.  I have MANY photos and many historical facts and other silly things to say.  So this may take some time.  I enjoyed the trip, but China is exhausting.  China is not big enough for the amount of people it has.  Its incredible how bad the traffic is and its just plain stupid how pushy the Chinese are, but their food is even more awesome than "The Touch."  However, "The Touch" is still pretty good, but they are lacking in the duck area.  It was pretty spectacular to see all these things in person.  To see things that are incredibly ancient and almost every detail has a meaning.  It would be more powerful if we weren't having to shove our way through seas of people, but i guess that makes it all the more real.  My favorite day was the river cruise in Guilin.  The limestone mountains were incredible.  It was also nice to have some space and smell moderately fresh air.

I would recommend going to China just to see a new world.  It's night and day all rolled into one moment.  You have wealthy and poor, new and old, fresh and beyond spoiled all sharing the same space.  I think it was easier to visit coming from an Asian country.  If i came from sleepy Solvang i think i would have had a harder time with the people and their behavior.  That and I am now quite comfortable eating with chopsticks.  :)  So, enjoy learning more about China in the days to come, I certainly did.