Week 2 China

Happy Chinese New Year!!! This is the first time, I have ever experienced the New Year twice in one year in two separate countries.

The Chinese Spring Festival is January 22-28. The last day of the year is Jan. 22 and the Chinese New Year is Jan. 23 rd. This is the time when the people of China rest for 7 days and majority of the businesses close. The festival consists of the Lion/dragon dance, cosmic dialogue, and family celebrations.  It's not even the New Year yet and the people have been celebrating every since I arrived on the 16^th. All day and all night…fireworks are going off. It sounds like a mass production of canons being fired. I was told that it will become more frequent once the festival begins, because people across the country will fire off firecrackers when the first person in the family leaves the house each day, to ward off the bad spirits.

-Week two started (Jan. 23^rd), when Kellie and I began our journey back to Beijing to pick up our friend Jimele from the airport. We took the bullet train to Beijing and the express train to the airport. Our timing was perfect because we only waited 20 minutes before Jimele walked through the customs exit doors. We gave her a warm hearty greeting and began our journey through the Beijing transit systems. To make good use of our time, we stayed in Beijing a couple days to do some sightseeing. We stayed at the Renaissance Beijing Capital Hotel which was absolutely beautiful inside and out. The next morning on Jan.24^th, we went on an 8 hour tour where we visited The Ming Tombs, we ate at a traditional Chinese Restaurant, and went to The Great Wall. That day the winds were so high and it was so cold, that my fingers and toes were at the point of hurting. I believe I was on the verge of getting frost bite. I had the opportunity to ride  a cable car up the Great Wall and the view was absolutely amazing. After, seeing different areas of the Great Wall, took the Tabagon car, in which I had a long slide down the side of the mountainside.  On Jan. 25^th, we took it upon ourselves to sight see without a tour guide. We went to the Silk Market and The Temple of Heaven. After we finished, our day we caught a bullet train back to Tangau/ Tainjin City.  The rest of the week we rested and listened to the constant ongoing sounds of fireworks going off throughout the city.

Week 1 in China

I didn’t know what to expect when I began my travel day to China. The only thing that was on mind, knowing I had to exercise patience. My journey began on Jan. 13^th, when I had a 3 & 1/2 hour drive to Atlanta so I could catch my flight the next morning. When the morning the 14^th came, I was very excited but a little nervous. That day, I flew from Atlanta to Chicago, Chicago to S. Korea, and S. Korea to Beijing. Once I arrived in Beijing, my journey did not end there. I stayed the night in Beijing, and before going to bed I went to a local restaurant called Helen’s and it was filled with foreigners (people from all over the world). I was somewhat surprised.  The entire time I was there, only American music was being played. I was beginning to feel disappointed, because I felt like my entire experience would consist of everything being catered towards foreigners. I tried to keep an open mind that night and I hoped that the rest of my trip will be different. The next day, I had to catch the fast train to Tangu which is only an hour by train but 3 hours by car. Prior to catching my train, I went to a Chinese restaurant and the Russian Shopping Market. On the way, back from the Russian Market we (Kellie, Tawanda, and I) got caught up in the subway system for hours due rush hour traffic and so many Chinese citizens taking the subways home from work. Oh my goodness, it was so many people, I could not believe my eyes. We were underground in the subway system majority of the day. It was exhausting and on top of that we missed our bullet (fast) train to Tangu. By this point, I felt my patience leaving because I had been traveling since the 13^th and it is now the 16^th and I had not made it to my final destination. Since we missed the bullet train, we had to exchange our tickets for Tianjin city because the last bullet train to Tangu was the train we missed. So we took the 30 minute bullet train to Tianjin City instead, and then we took a taxi to Kellie’s apartment….which was my final destination for the next few months. Whew…I can now breathe. On the morning of the 17^th, Kellie went to work and I slept all day without eating. I was terribly tired. On the 18^th, I went to Kellie’s job to observe, it took us 2 buses to get there. It was so crowded on the buses that it is truly a safety hazard. After Kellie got off work, we went to TESCO, which is a Chinese grocery store. It was huge and it had several levels. It was jammed packed with people. It took a couple of hours just to get everything we needed. I definitely don’t want to go there anymore. I am ok with going to a local side store. The next day, the 19^th, I didn’t want to stay inside so I went to Kellie’s job again. While was there, I read a book for awhile and I observed some as well. Every day, so far has been extremely cold and foggy. I have not seen the Sun, the moon, or stars since I been here. It’s gloomy and sad. I also notice, I have not seen any houses either. It looks like majority of the people live in apartments. I found out from one of the Chinese college students who spoke English that only the farmers and extremely wealthy own land and houses but the common people could not because China has a 1.4 billion people and Tianjin city has 14 million people alone. He said there was not enough land for the amount of people. This is also why the one child per family is in affect.

Side Note: Many of the Chinese people in Tangu & Tianjin City are looking at me strangely. Long glaring stares, with quick turn aways when I notice them looking.  Also some people are very pushy and rude when traveling the transit systems. Sometimes, it’s difficult to catch a cab because some cab drivers don’t like driving foreigners in their cars. I’m not sure why this is, but it may be due to the language barriers. A few days in, and I think I have bitten off more than I can chew. At this point, I am just going to chew slowly and digest this experience. I’m not worried… because I definitely know I will adapt. … One day at a time….One day at a time.

Travel day to China! (Atlanta to Chicago, Chicago to Korea, Korea to China)

At O'Hare Airport in Chicago about to board my flight to Korea.

At Korean Air terminal in Korea...about to board my flight to Beijing.