China

I’m now done with China, and not to get repetitive, but it was incredible. The ship docked in Hong Kong for two days, then sailed to Shanghai, but we had the option of getting off to travel, as long as we got back on in Shanghai. I spent the first day in Hong Kong, with no plans, and walked around. It’s a very modern city at first glance, but when you get off of the main roads, it’s more like the “real China.” I was walking past a city park, when I noticed a banner that said Kung Fu display, Sundays 2-4. It was around three, so I went in, and found people showing their Kung Fu skills to a small crowd. I wandered around both Hong Kong Island, and Kowloon, for the day, and then returned to the ship for a small dinner before going back out. Every night, the skyline of Hong Kong is used for a light show. The largest and most architecturally interesting buildings synchronize their neon lights, floodlights, and lasers. Everything is timed to music that a radio station plays. That night was one of the finals of the Rugby 7’s in Hong Kong. Tickets sold out months ago, so most people go to Lan Kwai Fong, Hong Kong’s main bar street to watch the games. It was a party in the streets for the entire night, thousands of drunk Australians everywhere.
The next morning, I left on my trip to Beijing. I want to keep this short, so I can finish in a reasonable amount of time. Japan is only two days away. I was on a University-hosted trip, to the University of International Business and Economics. We had a get together with some of the students the night we arrived. The next day, we spent the morning seeing Tianamen Square, Mao’s tomb, and the Forbidden City. After lunch we went to the Temple of Heaven. We went to an Acrobatic Show that night, which completely blew everyone’s minds. I did not think that any of those things they did were remotely possible. The third day in Beijing, there was an optional tai chi session early in the morning, which I got up to do. Then we drove out to the Great Wall, and spent several hours at it. Again, I cannot come close to describing how incredible it is. The wall is truly a wonder of the world. That night we had dinner with some more of the Chinese students. Our last day started with Kung Fu in the early morning, the Imperial Summer Palace, and then the Olympic venues after lunch, before flying back to Shanghai late in the evening.
My last day in China, I went to the Shanghai Zoo in the morning. I could go there as a field program for one of my classes, plus zoos are usually cool. I spent a lot of time observing the primates, for the paper I now need to write. One of the highlights were definitely the Giant Pandas. After finishing the zoo, I did not have enough cash for a cab ride back to the ship. The zoo was quite a ways away, it took more than half an hour to drive there, a lot of that on a highway. I started walking, planning on finding an ATM, but then I got it in my head that I would just walk all the way back to the ship. I followed a major road all the way to downtown, and then I knew how to get back to the port. It took my three and a half hours to walk, but I got to see Shanghai on a level that I did not plan on. By the way, I did this all alone, and did not see another Semester at Sea student, or a white person in general, until I was almost at the ship. I estimated it to be about ten miles through the city.
China was our longest port, and definitely one of the best. I’d recommend it to anyone, but now I’m just too exhausted to write much more.