Summer 4-Week Trip

Check out a recent New York Times article mentioning China Prep!

Our last full day in China! To distract from the impending end, we got to sleep in this morning and then set out for a fun last day.

Bargainers had one last hurrah at a multi-level market filled with purses, shoes, sunglasses, and more. The we sat down to big bowls of fat, delicious noodles for lunch. Time for packing and relaxing was nestled between lunch and an afternoon of KARAOKE! We had a room to ourselves for over three hours, with lights, screens, and several mics. And aside from a few distractions of soda and popcorn, utterly devoted ourselves to the likes of Madonna, MJ, Britney, and Beyonce! The best part was when Ann unveiled her secret skills and belted out a Chinese love song – standing ovation!

We danced and sang until hunger kicked in, then went for our final group meal. From spinach to dumplings to eggplant, all of our favorites were ordered and we filled up on one last Chinese meal. After dinner we went to the Shanghai Hyatt and up over 80 floors!! to see a great view of the city – and a dizzying glance down the center of the hotel to the lobby below.

Back at the hotel, the staff said a group goodbye, passed out certificates, and then showed a slideshow of pictures from the entire trip. From bus nappers caught in the act to goofy poses at the dinner table, it was a great way to recap our four weeks together.

Tomorrow we part ways on a few different flights: Caroline leading students back to NYC, Kelly to San Fran, and Ashley leading one to Hong Kong. But one thing is for sure – the goodbyes will be bittersweet. And no goodbyes to China – just so long until NEXT time!

Thanks for following our adventure with us.

This morning we had one final go at flexing our Chinese with a scavenger hunt at the nearby wet market! The wet market is where locals go to purchase their fruit and vegetables, meat (including pigs’ feet and jellyfish!), nuts, grains, tea, sweet cakes, and more. Four teams were sent out to complete their worksheet – asking the names of certain goods in a picture, the cost of an item, asking a child’s name, or even taking a picture with a vendor!

We then drove to Ann’s parents’ house for a visit and lunch. Her mother had made oodles of dumplings – soup dumplings, Southern style, and Northern style. She’d also made incredible fried lotus and pork patties that Camilla claimed were the best food of the entire trip. After lunch, Ann’s dad took us outside to show us their pet bird who can speak (‘Ni Hao!,’ or imitate a passing motorbike’s horn). Then he walked us to another apartment a few blocks away, and we got the special chance to see retired Chinese mastering their daily pastime – Mahjong! It was incredible to see these eight or nine people whip through games with 144 tiles, and know that this is what makes them truly happy. I think we also made for some good people-watching ourselves, being a pack of 18 Westerners oohing and ahhing over their souped up tables in a very small apartment! The visit finished after Mr. Liu showed us his top contenders in cricket fighting, and matched them up for a battle! We decided to name them – for example, Princess Fluffypants II and Rocky were the first faceoff.

After leaving Ann’s parents, we went back to the fabric market to pick up the clothes that were made for us. Many of the girls had a dress made, and they look fantastic! From there we went to Tai Kang Lu, a maze of wonderful boutiques in a neighborhood of old housing. The hour of free time there allowed for higher-quality purchases than the usual souvenir stalls, while the quaint Western coffee shops and mix of Europeans sitting and strolling provided a good glimpse into Shanghai’s international community.

At the end of the day we went back to our rooms to put our feet up for a few minutes, then walked a to a Hunan-style dinner. After some of our favorite dishes – broccoli, spinach, spiced ribs, and fried apple – we returned to our hotel and did a game to recap ALL of the places we’ve seen and things we’ve done on the trip. A very bittersweet feeling is sinking in as tomorrow’s our last full day!

This blog was a joint effort by several students, dictated to Lili C.

Two days to go, and we’re out with a BANG! After breakfast the 18 of us were off to Gongfu (Kung Fu) Class. We learned jumps, kicking, and posturing. We thought it was hilarious to watch everyone else do the moves. Martin called the class intense and loved it. Lily S., Maya, David and Mary-Kate were especially skilled! After Gongfu class everyone was so hungry. We went to the People Restaurant for lunch – it was the BEST place we’ve been to eat. The whole restaurant was really fun, very high ceilings and a trendy atmosphere. The food was so ‘hao chi!’ (That’s delicious, for you Americans.) We had to search for the secret front door and then also figure out how to open the tricky bathroom doors. After the amazing lunch we moved to the lounge and drank ice tea, ice coffee or hot tea.

Next was an hour and a half bus ride to a car factory, SMA (Shanghai Maple Automobiles). It was huge, and we walked along the whole assembly line. It was interesting seeing the specialized workers do their very specific jobs, then learning about their way of life, like their living arrangements, insurance, children’s education, etc. On the bus ride home, Ashley talked with us a lot about China’s government. Alex thought it was really interesting how a lot of the elements of communism are good in theory but not in real life. Colin thought it was an interesting conversation too, and Ashley answered a lot of our questions.

Right before dinner we spent an hour at Xin Tian Di, an old French quarter of Shanghai with a lot of Western influences. We had time to shop or grab a coffee, then we went up to the beautiful Crystal Jade Restaurant for dinner. We sat at a long table, and got some of Ann’s favorite dumplings. After dinner we had a surprise and got to ride the subway! This was a reminder that there are SO many people in China as the station was quite crowded! The cars were nice, fast – and air-conditioned. Overall, the day was great and a lot of fun. We all can’t wait for tomorrow’s lunch at Ann’s parents place.

Today’s blog was written by Maya and Alex. Or, as they identified themselves – “MyAAA & A-Sim home dog.”

Place: Shanghai
Day: Thursday, July 23, 2009- day 2
Time: 10:00AM-8:00PM

Today we were able to get a late start at 10:00. We gathered onto our small bus with jump seats, similar to the bus we had in Beijing, and set off for the Urban Planning Museum. We were able to learn about the World Expo, which lasts half a year and is featured in Shanghai in 2010. We saw a video and photos about the different countries’ exhibitions. Everyone loved the Swiss expose, a building covered in grass with ski lift chairs that twisted and turned on the roof. (The group searched for America’s but we were quickly informed that the U.S had run out of money to build and had started up again with the project a few months ago.) After Urban Planning we walked to the nearby Shanghai Museum. We were split into groups of two or three and set out through the museum with items to find and questions to answer. The museum featured bronze, ceramics, calligraphy, jade, coins, and furniture from the past 8,000 years.

The group was excited to learn that we would be able to choose our own food at a huge food court for lunch. We were all given gray, debit cards by Ann to pay for our lunch. Afterward we explored the rest of the mall and were ecstatic when we discovered a Cold Stone. Martin from Germany tried sprinkles for the first time! Colin’s ice cream was molded into a ball and thrown from one end of the counter to the other and caught in his cup. We asked the ice cream thrower to sing us a Cold Stone song and he sang something that sounded similar to an S Club 7 song. Maya gave him a tip.

After lunch we drove to the fabric market. The market was filled with booths with a wide assortment of fabrics in many different hues and textures. Each booth had fabric for the tailors to make custom fit clothes. Many people had clothes made (dresses, shirts, etc.) and we will revisit the fabric market later in the week to collect our clothes.

Later, we went to the famous bridge and teahouse of the Yuyuan Garden. Next to them was an outdoor mall type extravaganza, twists and turns of old-style shops, creating a maze like-creation within the buildings. Even in the extreme heat, the children still were able to bargain to the lowest, and buy until they were shopped out. We all met at the McDonald’s afterward, the best meeting place ever… AIR CONDITIONING.

Dinner was at a nice chain restaurant, which we also attended in Beijing. It was the best dinner ever. I don’t know why, but we were all happy, and everybody tried every dish, except the lamb. That wasn’t very popular with the students. GOOD NIGHT Y’ALL.

Today’s blog was written by Lily C. and Megan:

It was about 8:40 on a Wednesday as the 18 of us piled into the bus towards the train, or how we would say huoche (translates as ‘fire car’). We arrived at the train and we were informed that we were going to do a language activity. The purpose was to practice our Chinese and to learn where others were traveling too, so interviewing people waiting at the station. We were in the mists of a full solar eclipse! The special thing for us was that it lasted nearly 6 minutes, the longest in over a century.

Right before the train “took off” we took a group picture and into the air conditioning we went. The train seats were very comfy and spacious. Many of us listened to music, read, played games, and some even slept. Ann taught us about some the difference between Chinese and Shanghainese while we were still on the train. The ride wasn’t too long about an hour. Once we were in Shanghai it started to rain. After the train ride all of us were itching to figure out our new roommates. We were all very excited. On we went on a new bus to our new glorious hotel. We settled in for a bit; washed up and changed our clothes.

Lunch was the next thing on our mind. We headed to an Indian restaurant. No lazy susan this meal, might I add! The two of us went outside after lunch to jump in the rain. We were very excited about wearing our rain jackets for the second time in China. One group leader said we could, but Ann on the other hand was not having any of it.

The next thing on our agenda was a “surprise” but as you know it’s hard to keep a secret with 14 kids running wild and talking loudly. We saw Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. It was amazing, and all of us were so stoked to see it! Right after we went tot dinner, with not as much food as we normally get but I thought it was good. Again with the surprises, Ann told us we had a few more after dinner. The 1st one was an extravagant view of the east side of city at night. Every building was lit and so colorful. We saw the Bottle Opener, one of the building symbols of Shanghai. And Ann where a new building is breaking ground, to be the tallest in the world! The second surprise was mind blowing. It was and awesome dessert at the nicest restaurant in Shanghai, M on the Bund. It was pavlova – a cake, with fruit; like a meringue cake. Our first afternoon and night in Shanghai were great and we’re sure every one will remember it forever.

What better way to start the day than an extensive breakfast buffet! We headed over to one of Hangzhou’s nicest hotels and settled in for plates of omelets, baozi, fruit, rolls, cereal, and more. To sit back and digest, we then headed to the beautiful West Lake and relaxed on an hour-long boat ride. Surrounded by small mountains on three sides, man-made West Lake has held a prominent place in Chinese history for inspiring poets, scholars, and revolutionary martyrs. It also holds a special place for one of our students whose father proposed to her mother there many years ago!

Language class was before lunch. The beginners group learned to say dates and read train schedules and tickets. The advanced group learned occupational vocab through a few fun games. First, students used charades to act out occupations while the rest of the class guessed in Chinese. Then, each student had a career on his/her back and had to ask questions (in Chinese) to identify the occupation. The vocab was nailed in with a final round of 20 Questions!

After lunch, we went to a massive market in the city – over 5 floors of clothes, accessories, umbrellas, and more. While not all the fashions were quite up our alley, it allowed for some great people watching and conversing with vendors. Most entertaining for the students was to see many shirts with some unintentionally funny English phrases. Many did some excellent bargaining, but the ‘best buy’ award goes to Colin with the purchase of a ridiculous black, purple and gold textured button up shirt. Even for a whopping 50 RMB (that’s less $8), the laughs from the group (and even the vendors and other local shoppers) was well worth it!

The sticky heat of Hangzhou was a good excuse for another round of hair washing this afternoon. In a few small shifts, everyone got their hair washed, scalp massaged, shoulders/arms/hands massaged, and a blow dry. An hour or two of relaxing in the air conditioning followed, leading up to a rare night of a non-Chinese dinner – hotel pizza party!

We’ve enjoyed our days in Hangzhou, and are excited to take the train to Shanghai tomorrow.

*Today’s post is by Keely H.:

To start off the day we began with visiting the Lingyingsi Temple, a series of rock caves with various passages. It was a Buddhist temple that at one point housed three thousand Buddhist monks! Throughout the caves were hundreds of Buddhas carved into the walls. There were many traditions of rubbing different Buddha’s hands to achieve different results, for example, attaining a smooth year, which we got by running our hands across a monk’s bed that was carved into a wall.

After the temple visit we went to a much-needed air-conditioned lunch, a short walk from a local peacock park. The peacock park was simply a brief transitory visit after lunch on our way to Leifeng Ta (a pagoda), however it was really interesting to see them, especially those with their tails outstretched.

To reach the pagoda we went on a walk around the picturesque West Lake. We climbed to the top of the pagoda, and were greeted with a breeze – much appreciated due to the extreme heat we had been facing all day. Looking out over the city of Hangzhou was breathtaking. We were able to see both the old and the new of the city, the countless streets and exceptionally tall apartment buildings, as well as the many other pagodas scattered about the surrounding mountains… it was truly a staggering sight!

To end the day, we went back to the hotel and after relaxing and showering for a bit, had an hour-long language class. In the beginners class we learned the words for clothing and reviewed the words for colors, and played a game led by Kelly, one of our group leaders. Both fun and hysterical, the game consisted of splitting up into two teams that each had five minutes to put on as many clothes as possible. After the five minutes you got one point for every item of clothing you were able to take off, name, and say the color of. The game served as a really great way to learn the vocabulary and was a great way to end the day.

Hope you enjoyed Lillie’s post, though she’s ‘off duty’ tonight… She and a few others went to get foot massages after dinner!

We arrived Saturday night in Hangzhou, known in a Chinese saying as ‘heaven on earth.’ Even Mao was drawn to this city for it’s beautiful land (and beautiful ladies, supposedly) as Hangzhou boasts a gorgeous lake and a 10:1 ratio of trees to people! Tea is also a main draw to Hangzhou; it’s known for its endless tea fields of superior quality bushes.

The morning started with a great presentation by Kelly all about TEA – its history in China, the method of drinking and sharing, related Chinese vocab words, etc. Then we left the hotel and toured the residential palace of As Hu Xueyan, a once quite-wealthy merchant and politician in Hangzhou. The 19th-century palace was home to Hu and his mother, wives, 12 concubines, and 19 children!

After a large, delicious lunch (and sesame green tea cakes for dessert!), we headed out to the Mei family tea village to see their tea fields and be introduced to ‘Dr. Tea.’ He did a very cool demonstration about the effect of green tea as an antioxidant, then explained the proper way to pour and drink your high-quality longjing (or ‘dragon well’) tea. After we all had a few glasses, tried some green tea candy, and asked any questions, we had the chance to buy tea as he packed it in front of us. They don’t even export the kind we got – the best! Afterward, despite some hyperactivity due perhaps to a few too many longjings, we explored the Hangzhou Tea Museum and learned about the history of tea in China throughout the dynasties. The best part was probably seeing artifacts of tea pots and cups from the last few thousand years!

We then headed to a hilltop pagoda overlooking the beautiful West Lake and the once-capital city area of Hangzhou. Afterward, we strolled along the He Fang Jie pedestrian street for some shopping and cooling-off before dinner. The power of the longjing must have still held strong through dinner as one table giddily chatted with the wait staff the entire meal, and EVERYONE in the group took a turn posing for a goofy solo pic with one poor pair of retro glasses. It was a fun dinner and a fun day in a not-so-fun heat wave, and we made it a great one!

Today’s blog was written by Lillie Susman:

With minor scrapes and bruises from Yangshou, we headed to the rice terraces outside of Guilin. By bus, the journey took three hours, including a short stop at a Yao and Zhuang village. The Yao and Zhuang are two of the 56 officially recognized groups of Chinese people- as ethnic minorities, they have their own customs and dress. The women of the Yao people are noted for having extremely long hair (1-2 meters), their locks are wrapped around their heads. In the village we walked across two tedious wood bridges suspended above a river. Although some were of the belief that the bridges were “clearly unsafe”, we survived. Next, we headed up the mountain by a smaller van. Once the slightly nauseating and twisting ride had concluded, we walked the rest of the way to the hotel; with backpacks on our backs and other bags in our arms we hiked for 15 minutes up the stone stairs. Since our stay was only to be one night we did not bring our suitcases. By the time we arrived at our hotel (nestled into the mountains) we were all somewhat exhausted, hungry and sweaty. By 4:00 in the afternoon we had all been fed, watered and cooled, thus we headed out for our tour. Led by our guide, Lisa, we walked among the hills. We viewed the rice paddies for about an hour and a half. The approaching dusk and the flaxen light from the sun was ideal for seeing the landscape, which looked just like the photographs from the pages of National Geographic. From a rest stop we ate chilled watermelon and took pictures. The weather was hot, but we were still able to appreciate the beauty and hard work that has been put into the rice farming on the 700 year old terraces. After dinner we saw an hour-long folk dance/singing show, preformed by Yao and Zhuang women in the play-yard of the local school. We were asked to join and did so by singing a MammaMia/Taylor Swift/Star Spangled Banner combo. We also participated in a sort of dance/Chinese double-dutch consisting of hopping between bamboo poles. Martin in particular, took to the steps quite well. The women who controlled the speed of the game even sped it up to challenge him and others; although some tripped on the bamboo, it was a very good time for all. Weary and tired from walking on the never-ending steps, we retired to our rooms. The next morning, some of us woke a little too early due to the crowing roosters (5:40 for me!) We left the town after a “western” style breakfast at a café; excitement due to the prospect of pancakes swept through our group. Returning to what has been referred to as “civilization” (in comparison to the mountain village), I am of the belief that we descended the mountain with more than we had when climbing up (I don’t mean souvenirs): bug bites, photos, and a newfound respect (and some degree of awe) for a lifestyle so far from our own (ex. the old women who carried baskets on their backs and could be hired to help carry your belongings up and down.)

We have now arrived in Hangzhou.