China has many beautiful sights with amazing architecture. It was such a fun trip and I was really happy I got a chance to go.
Shanghai- day 1
Landing in China was a breeze, only a two hours flight from S. Korea, pretty sweet. It's almost like flying to San Francisco or Vegas from LA. Korean Air is a great airline, I would definitely fly with them again. Going to Nanji was really fun, it's a huge pedestrian shopping district. The only thing I disliked was how many people approach you trying to sell you swag and scam tourists. You have to play it cool there, that's why I put my aviators on and kept on walking. Later it was time to go to the Bund. What a great view of what Shanghai has to offer. The Pearl Tower looked surreal. Went to a brewery there which was really nice and then it was time to head inside the Pearl Tower. Talk about crowds. It was at this moment when I realized that the fact that China houses 20% of the world's population was no joke. The pushing, cutting, and length of lines were discouraging but that all went away when we reached the top. It was beautiful. The view was amazing.
Shanghai- day 2
The Jade Buddha temple was amazing. As stated in an earlier blog, I had an experience with some Spaniards there. The temples that surrounds the Jade Buddha has huge statues that are just out of this world. I caught a musical number by some monks.
Although I took many pictures of the property it was a shame that pictures of the Jade Buddha itself were not allowed, but it was a great sight. Then it was time to head to the World Financial Building, the highest building in all of China. This tourist sight was WAY MORE organized than the Pearl Tower and the view just baffled me, and it still does. The Pearl Tower looked like a toy from up there and it had a good view of the world's tallest hotel.
Ended the night at the Bund, which was all lit up in a mesmerizing sight. I was glad to see a Subway sandwich shop, eat fresh!
Shanghai- day 3
The Shanghai World Expo 2010. This expo is just gargantuan, too much to see in one day. It is a large property of many buildings, each building devoted to a country. I like to call it "United Nations Land" or "It's a big world after all". Seeing all of these countries and what they had to offer was amazing. I got to see real Guatemalans in Asia, that was pretty cool. Here's the video from the USA building, they show it to you when you first enter. Go Lakers!
Shanghai- day 4 & Beijing Day 1
This day consisted of mostly killing some time and catching the train from Shanghai to Beijing. That was a ten hour ride, but luckily I got a train ticket for a sleeper. After sleeping on the train I got to Beijing, got to my hotel, showered and had my first event: the Hutong tour. This was aboard a bike taxi. I learned about about Chinese architecture and got schooled about what different symbols represent. I got to see the Drum Tower and the highest bell tower in all of China. I booked my tour for the next day...the most important thing to do in China and a focal point in human history....
Beijing Day 2
The Great Wall of China. It was great to get to visit this wonder of the world, the only one visible from space. The walk to the highest point on the wall has intense, but well worth it. The whole time I just could not believe I was there. ME! The ride up and the ride down was not what I was expecting as it was something out of Disneyland:
We then headed over to the Jade Museum for lunch, and I must say that it was the best meal I had on the whole trip. We then saw the Jade Museum and went on to a tour of the Silk Factory...but that's when things turned........turned into Mission: Nearly-Impossible.
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The flight was set for the night of the last day in Beijing, which was cool because the brochure said we would be back at our hotels by 6p.m. the latest and my flight was at 9:15 p.m. Everyone who knows me knows that I'm a real pain in the ass about punctuality. So it was 6:10 p.m. and we're still on this Silk Factory tour, which was not on the brochure and our tour guide thought it would be something cool to see. I had talked to tour guide about the flight and how there was still luggage that needed to be picked up from the hotel that they were holding. He then told the bus driver to go to the hotel. It was all haul-ass from that point on. From the hotel, to the subway, to the airport express train, to finding out what terminal stop I needed to get off at (which was made possible by a Chinese man who allowed me to use his cell phone to call the train support line, luckily he spoke English), to getting to the airport and realizing it was all okay. Made it to the gate with an hour to kill....phew!
A special thanks goes to Lizelle and Hunter, thanks for all your help!
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