China Highlights

I kept a journal while we were in China so I could share our daily adventures... we were so busy each day that I didn't want to forget anything! I hope you guys don't fall asleep reading this, but here we go...

10/31 - Traveling to China
It has been a looooong day! We arrived at Bush airport at 1:30 p.m. yesterday for our 3:40 flight to LAX. The flight to Beijing wasn't until 1:40 a.m. today... so we spent a great deal of time at LAX. We tried different restaurants, hung out in the VIP club (thanks to a friendly GHP Member), and FINALLY it was time to board the plane. Fortunately because we got to LAX so early we were first in line and managed to score seats with extra leg room. It's quite nice travelling with a 6'8" guy - after all the stressing over our seating assignment - we both got seats with plenty of leg room. We could sit on the floor in front of our seats if we wanted and still have room to stretch our legs out! Here's Reid enjoying his leg room...

The Members seem to be quite happy so far. We didnt have any troubles getting thru security and onto the flight, everyone was just really tired.
The flight from LA to Beijing is 12 hours... fortunately Reid's mom gave us sleeping pills so we slept for about 8 hours of that! As soon as we arrive in Beijing we will be visiting Tien An Men Square, so no time for rest once we're there.
Our group after arriving at the airport:

11/1 - Beijing
We arrived safe and sound! Our flight arrived at the Beijing Intl Airport around 5:20 a.m. Getting thru the airport was much easier than I anticipated. We were greeted by our tour guide, Andrea, and Peter, the tour operator's son. They were both very friendly and when I introduced myself as GHP staff, they quickly presented me with two gifts - a pearl necklace and a jade dragon. The jade is for prosperity - who couldnt use some of that?!
After a quick stop at Starbucks we boarded our buses and were off to begin the tour. Andrew gave us interested stats about Beijing and China's history on our way to Tien An Men Square. He also warned us of pick-pockets and peddlers.
The drive to Tien an Men was interesting. Traffic laws that we follow in the US seem to just be suggestions here. Like staying in your own lane, for instance. I could see Reid's blood pressure rising watching one car after another cut us off.
Tien An Men Square was huge and packed with people. During our two mile walk thru the Forbidden City I somehow managed to take 170 pictures. And Reid had paparazzi of his own that were following us. As we walked thru the crowds people would stare in amazement at the tall American... some took pictures with him commenting on how "very high" he was and others were a little more sneaky (or so they thought) trying to take pictures over their shoulder. It was quite humorous, and our fellow "yellow bus" members enjoyed it... let's see how quick that gets old!
Here are a couple pics from the Forbidden City:

 

We enjoyed our first Chinese lunch, served on a lazy susan. Lunch was delicious, and I even recognized a couple dishes that were served - like our favorite Kung Pao chicken. Maybe having Chinese every day won't be so bad...
After lunch we went back to the hotel room to rest. Reid and I got massages in our room for $25. The women made fun of him most the time they were in our room. They tried to explain a few jokes to us but the language barrier made it impossible. We had dinner at another Chinese restaurant, this one not so good, and are turning in early. More adventures tomorrow!

11/2 - Beijing
We started today with a great "western style" breakfast at the hotel. The food was deliction - in fact I really enjoyed all of our meals today. It has been pretty cool seeing so many Houstonians in China (the other half of the group arrived late the evening before)
After breakfast we loaded up and headed out for the Jade factory. The factory was pretty cool, but definitely not as cheap as we thought it would be. We got a couple small gifts. The woman that was teaching us about the jade kept calling us her "dear friends" and saying "Ida tell you" or "Ida show you" I kept waiting for Ida to come show us, then realized she was talking about herself in 3rd person. It was pretty funny.
Here's Ida showing us how to tell the different between real and fake jade:

After the jade factory we visited Mings Tombs. It was pretty similar to the Forbidden City, had alot of the same style buildings.We then had lunch at a big restaurant which was also a cloisonne factory. The workers were making the different vases... it was amazing to see the time and detail that had to be put into each one. The lunch included a tasting of "fire water," which is a very strong liquor. We bought two bottles after lunch - they were $1.50 each!
After lunch we were off to conquer the Great Wall. Reid, myself, Heather, Travis, Wes, Cassye and pamela all made it to the second highest point on the section we were on. The tour guide gave us the option of the easy or the hard route and we decided to "go big or go home" We went big alright! The steps were really uneven and some were quite steep! There were times when I stopped and thought "I can't do this, I gotta turn around!" but then I thought... when will I ever have the opportunity again? It felt amazing to finally reach the top. My legs were shaking, my face was purple, and I was sweating, but we felt so accomplished to have made it! If I had access to Facebook my status would have read "I climbed the Great Wall today... what did you do?!" The walk back down was definitely a wobbly one, but it was much easier than going up.
First milestone:

Heather and Travis on their way up:

Reid couldn't reach the handrail...

The uneven steps! 

 We made it!

After conquering the Great Wall we drove by to see the sight of the 2008 Olympics. Here's Reid and Wes in front of the buildings:



11/3 - Beijing

Today we went to the pearl factory! I think this was one of the things I was most excited about on the trip. The manager of the pearl factory showed us oysters with pearls in them, it was pretty cool. She was really cute, she keep cracking jokes and calling us "friend"... reminded me of Ida. Here she is with the oyster:

The factory had so many different kinds of pearls... it was overwhelming! I got a couple gifts and some pearl earrings for myself.

After the pearl factory we went to Summer Palace - the Emperors summer house on the lake. We then took a rickshaw tour... which was one of my favorite parts of the trip. We rode thru a back alley while being chased by mosquitos (peddlers who follow you around trying to sell you stufff)... they were riding alongside of us on their bikes, it was crazy. Along the way we drove by a lot of traditional Chinese houses. It was interesting to see how some of them lived in the tiny houses with community baths.



We were served lunch in one of the homes and it was the best meal yet. We ate in a tiny room just across from the kitchen and all of the dishes were prepared by the father of the house. The cook came in to talk to us and let us ask him questions that were then translated by the tour guide. He kept posing for pictures... he was so cute.

After lunch we stopped by a medicine shop. They explained to us how herbal medicines can help to prevent disease and how different parts of the body are connected to your organs. It was really interesting. Afterwards we went by the Temple of Heaven and then had a Peking duck dinner... which was delicious!



11/4 - Suzhou

Today we left Beijing and I was so sad to leave our fabulous tour guide, Andrew. We got up early this morning and flew from Beijing to Shanghai. Today I began getting a little tired of being in such a large group. In Beijing we would see the other groups coming and going but it seemed that we were all on the same schedule now, which made things a little chaotic. It has been really interesting to see the group dynamics and how everyone interacts with one another. We have such a great group of people on our bus, I'm very fortunate for that!

We visited Tiger Hill and took a boat thru the canal of Suzhou today. Tiger Hill was very pretty. The architecture and landscape of the area made for a lot of great pictures.

We then took a boat ride thru the canal. Definitely a highlight of the trip. It was crazy to see the way that people lived on the canal. They wash their clothes in the canal and had them all hanging from their windows. I must have taken 100 pictures on the boat.. it loooked like something you would see in a movie.

We docked the boat for a while to stroll thru the market, which included all sorts of foods and live animals. It is crazy to think they go to the market each day to get their food fresh. It is totally different from the lifestyle I'm used to... made me so thankful!

11/5 - Suzhou/Hangzhou

We started the day with a trip to the silk factory. It was so cool to watch them create the silk from the larvae. I think I spent more money there than any other place... they just had so many great gift items!

We then stopped by the Lingering Garden to see the plants and bonsai trees and after lunch visited the embroidery factory. I wasnt too interested in this before we got there but the artwork that they create is unbelievable.
We travelled to Hangzhou and everyone decided that we would forego the Chinese dinner (it is getting pretty old) and have dinner on our own. A large group from our bus decided to hang out in the bar and we had the best time! There was a band there singing American songs which we were dancing to. Fun night! Some of our group...

11/6 - Hangzhou
I can't believe we only have 48 hours left in China. I honestly can't decide whether I'm ready to go home or not. I know I'm ready for some chips and queso! And pizza! The last couple of days our bus has been talking about all of the foods that we miss and it has made me crave them that much more! Being here has made me realize (among other things) that we are so lucky to have a wide variety of foods in America.
Today we visited the Green Tea plantation. We had a very entertaining lesson about tea from the expert, Dr. Tea. He was pretty funny. And quite a good salesman. Somehow we walked out of there with $100 worth of tea, and neither of us drank it before this trip. I actually like it now and hope to start drinking it more often.

After the tea plantation we stopped by the Buddhist Temple. We saw monks worshipping, people bringing sacrifices, lighting incense to pray in front of the temple, and a lot of Buddha carvings...

We then took a boat ride on West Lake.

And headed to Shanghai. Today and yesterday we had 3 hour bus rides and made stops at "Chinese Bucees" on the way... we were so excited to find some American snacks... each day we searched for the most American items we could find, but there weren't many!

11/7 - Shanghai
I can't believe it's the last day in China! I have thoroughly enjoyed the trip but I am so ready to be back in the states.
Today we experienced the Maglev train. The train runs on magnets and goes up to 431 km/h, covering only 30 km of track. It was pretty cool traveling that fast!
After the train ride we stopped by the silk rug factory, had lunch at a Mongolian BBQ place, then headed to the real China Town. Talk about haggling! After 30 minutes it became a sport to talk them down to the lowest price possible. We got some great deals on a lot of items and it was a lot of fun.

11/8 - Traveled back to the US
We had such a great time... it was the trip of a lifetime and we shared with some amazing people!