So my plan was to go to Guilin and have an excellent time with classmates for 3 nights and 4 days in one of the prettiest places in China. Upon arriving at the train station, we decided to book tickets for our returning train (which we couldn't do earlier because you can't book tickets more than a week in advance....). and EVERYTHING was sold out. Did they have trains to nearby cities? No. Did they have seats on the trains coming in a day earlier? No. All they had was standing room. On a 22 hour train? Both the ticket sales lady and I laughed. No way that's happening. SOOOOOO, I ate a snicker's bar, went to pizza hut with my friends, and decided that we were going to have an AWESOME break in Shanghai instead. But, really? Bummer.
My room! This was my first day spent in my actual dorm room, and not the hotel room that they stuck me in the first night. It is nowhere near this clean now...haha
This is on my campus. Can you believe it? So gorgeous and greeeeeeen!!! Thank you, ECNU (East China Normal University) - the prettiest campus in Shanghai....
Out and around the corner....we are located near the downtown of Shanghai -- only a 10 min subway ride!
YuYuan -- neat, no? The Yuyuan garden in Shanhai is one of its main attractions. The bridge is literally called the 18 corner 9 side bridge.....go figure.
TheBund --- riverside view of Shanghai's TV tower....
Just a random street that looked pretty peaceful....
The Bund (the riverside view -- the "hot spot" of Shanghai --- similar to the tourist attractions that Chicago's Millenium park has to offer....)
多伦路 Duolun Road - A famous historical road that houses the "great thinkers" during China's revolutionary period ~ then, a coffee shop filled with radical writers and now, a street filled with statues commemorating their desire to seek truth and spread wisdom
Cock fighting ring at one of Suzhou's gardens --- entertainment for the locals, I suppose....
and just as entertaining for us as well...I put my bets on Meghan ~ (on the left)
Traditional lantern + light bulb = globalization.
The Crew: Virginia, Nick, Meghan, Me, Ellen ~ Suzhou 苏州 lookin' good
Group photo! I felt ambitious....
View from the bean-hole. pretty neat, I thought...until I got badgered to turn around and be part of a group photo.....
So! This is my 2nd time trying to type this update…….and I will thus be less thorough.
I apologize for not updating in awhile, unfortunately my internet has been broken for the past couple days.
Just as a recap as to what has been going on here:
Sept 22nd was 中秋节 ZhongQiuJie (Mid-Autumn Festival – or moon cake festival, as some would call it). Traditionally, you go back home and celebrate this festival with your family by eating lots of food and mooncakes (月饼) (pastries with different fillings, decorated with pictures in the pastry dough). However, my family is back in America and none of them like mooncakes anyhow. So, so much for that. Despite the traditions, I did still have a fun day (played badminton with some friends) for at least 3 hours ~ It was great. On top of this, we did get to take off 3 days and rest a little while (although, we did have to make up the missed class time by attending classes on the weekends. L no one liked that part) For one of those days, I took a day trip out to Suzhou (苏州), a city famous for its gardens. In fact, it is so famous that there is a well-known saying that goes like this: 上有天堂，下有苏杭 (literally translated: Above there is heaven, below there is SuZhou and HangZhou --- both noted for their luxurious and old gardens). Only a 45 minute train ride outside of Shanghai’s downtown, we spent the day garden-hopping and touring around. What the saying doesn’t mention that Suzhou is also super famous for its wedding dresses – which were sold in every store. Nick, the only guy in our group, was not appreciative of that fact. However, we all had a really good time climbing on the rocks in the gardens and exploring all the nooks and crannies. One entrance ticket even got us a neat little boat ride on the small river at that garden’s center! I wouldn’t want to provoke the lady who was rowing the boat, though – her muscles were huge!!! We enjoyed the trip so much that we plan to take a Saturday and head back out to check out some of the other places we didn’t have the time to go see….. However, the best part of the day was when we got lost and asked some white people (a rareity in the city) for directions to one of the gardens. One of these white guys took a look at my sweatshirt (from my dorm last year – Thorson Hall) and asked: “Hey! Where’d you get that sweater??? I lived there last year!” Lo-and-behold, we had come across some recently graduated Oles who were teaching English in a nearby city (Yangzhou) and were staying in Suzhou苏州 for the 3 day holiday!!! I guess I wasn’t the only one with the intention to head east…..
Other than that, I’ve been studying – trying to cram 80 new vocabulary words in one go is not an easy feat ><; haha (I’m rethinking this level…..but I can’t change now, oh well…..the grass is greener always on the other side)
And chilling with my buddies from England =D
After craziness in the train station, I found out that I cannot go to see my friend in 九江（Jiujiang）because all the trains are already booked (a week in advance….and you can’t book a ticket more than a week in advance……too many people in china)…..and instead I am heading out with Nick and Meghan (Oles) on October 2nd to 桂林Guilin (pronounced: “Guh-way-lean”) which has lots of caves and neat hiking spots. It is also a 22 hour train ride. We will be sitting on chairs the entire way L oh well, at least we’ll have each other (for 22 hours)! Awesome. (actually, truth be told, I am thrilled. I really wanted the long train ride to see everything pass me by!!!!)
Okay. I need to go play badminton now…..
Love you all – thanks for reading!! Update photos later……
