The Furnace City

Chongqing is much hotter than Guiyang.  We have not had too much down time so far.  I celebrated Alexa’s birthday by attending a traditional tea tasting.  However, this was at a place more like Starbucks.  We tasted the tea and saw the fusion between traditional tea drinking and the modern world carrying on that tradition.  It was interesting and made her happy.  We then ate Japanese food.  The restaurant menu was hilarious to say the least.  We ordered the following items: “explodes the soft crab (only),” “burns the thing broiled mackerel pike,” and the funniest title but something we did not order was “the salt burns the salmon head.”  Of course we had plenty of sushi and sake too.  It was fun. 

Next to the Japanese restaurant was an “ex-pat” bar/restaurant which had American food.  I returned the next day and ate a cheeseburger.  Not quite the same so that is one thing I am looking forward to when I get home.  The city lights here remind me of New York City.  I have been exploring on foot walking all over the city.  We are going to spend three days on a riverboat to visit the Three Gorges Dam this weekend.  I am really looking forward to that.  We leave on Saturday and return on Monday.  The plan today is to return to the American bar for the 4th of July.  They are having some specials in celebrations of America’s birthday.

Class has been intriguing.  We are discussing world trade and I have been learning a lot of information about the World Trade Organization.  I have made friends with Chen Donni.  She is super sweet.  We eat lunch together and she loves to talk so we are getting along just great.  Yesterday Chen Donni and 2 other Chinese students went with us to an ancient city.  This place reminded me of the ancient village we went to near Guiyang.  Streets filled with traditional Chinese gifts and houses.  However, this was different in its own way.  I visited a Chinese haunted house which was scary but fun.  Scary because this is China and who knows what you are going to get, and fun because it was so corny and not scary at all.  Electronic monsters and villains were triggered by motion sensor as you passed by and their arms would actually stretch into the walkway and touch you.  I laughed and am happy I walked through it.  We went to a temple and took a rest in a tea house.  This tea house had live traditional Chinese music playing with 4 instruments and a singer.  I really enjoyed sitting back, getting out of the hot sun, and taking it easy while listening to beautiful foreign music. 

Up next, riverboat!

Taking it Easy

I am taking it easy because in Beijing I wore myself out with the sightseeing.  I hiked up to this nature preserve above our university with 2 friends. At the top there was a beautiful structure but it had a lock.  However, upon closer examination, the hinge was rusted making the structure accessible.  You know I did, went right on in.  We went up three floors.  It was beautiful in there.  The stairs narrowed each level we climbed. It was super cool inside, but I didn’t stay too long and booked it outta there!  Getting to this pagoda was an adventure on its own.  The directions from classmates literally included “pass the barking pack of dogs” and “watch out for the rooster.”  We saw one sleeping dog and a pig!  Yep, we were the first ones to see the pig!  Hooray. (PS-there are stray dogs and cats all over the place here! probably no veterinarians to stop the breeding)

It has been really fun getting to know the kids from the other schools and I have had a blast with my girlfriends.  It is also hilarious and intriguing to see the Chinese/American crushes that develop.  I am really enjoying the company of Firefly and Devin, the Chinese law students.  They are so much fun and super sweet and honest about their culture.  They want to teach me and learn about my culture.  Tonight is our last night in Guiyang.  We head to Chonqing tomorrow by bus and all I hear about is how hot it is there.  We have made some really good friends here, seen more of what rural China looks like, and now we go to one of the largest cities in China.  Should be an interesting transition.  I can’t hardly believe I am one third of the way through my adventures in China!

Toasts and Smiles

The MouTai town that produces China’s most luxurious liquor smelled of soy sauce when we got off the bus.  We proceeded to drink several shots at lunch then toured an empty packaging plant.  That was strange.  Then we met with the corporate counsel and president of the MouTai company for a question and answer session.  We learned about how they make MouTai with the specific water only found in that region and they age the liquor almost 20 years.  It is compared to fine brandy.  At night, all the company officers came to each table to toast our visit.  By then end of the night, we had crushed more than 20 bottles of $300 MouTai and every person was sufficiently wasted.  The amazing thing is however, even though we compared the taste to rocket fuel, not one person was hung over in the morning.  The single best attribute of expensive liquor.

Negotiation class this week has been the least of my interests.  We visited a park with monkeys roaming freely.  That was somewhat nerve wrecking because monkeys are super strong and these were not that little.  They also were not that big and after seeing the first few I became more comfortable around them.  We hiked to a mountain top and saw Guiyang from above.  Then we rode a couple amusement park rides that were randomly located near the entrance gate.  Hilarious to be in China sometimes.

Today, I was feeling a little overwhelmed from being away from home and always surrounded by such a large group.  As many of you know, my attitude can be so strong sometimes.  Here, it is so much stronger because the cultural difference.  I am coping though.  I went to see the basketball game arranged between the Americans and Chinese.  At the game, three young girls around 10 years old became my friends.  They first made me a bouquet of flowers they picked.  Then they made me two halos made from leaves and one to go around my neck.  They showed me their dancing and singing skills.  This really made me smile.  Just when you think that you are way too overbearing, someone reminds you to smile and appreciate the little things in life.

My friends are dragging me to a fish restaurant where you point to the fish you want to eat and they prepare it for you.  Um, well ok, when in China…

Happy Birthday to Mr. Joshua Kennard!

Firefly and Devin

Just when I was feeling like Guiyang just wasn't as cool as Beijing, Firefly and Devin come along.  They are 2 Chinese law students and we literally hung out for more than 12 hours today.  It was awesome and I finally got to see some of what Guiyang has to offer. We went to an arcade, had an amazing lunch and dinner and walked around the city center at night.  It was my best day here so far.  Tomorrow we are getting kicked out of our hotel again and headed to the town of Mao Tai where they sell the most famous wine in China.  It is super luxurious and from what I hear sooooo delicious.  I may just have to purchase some if the price is right! 

TIC Part II

The saga continues.  We immediately went to lunch and the lunch place was very traditional.  Upon arriving, they sang songs, were dressed in their traditional outfits which included a mass amount of jingling silver and some type of flute playing.  We drank some rice wine out of horns as we walked into the restaurant.  Then during lunch they did the same thing except with rules.  Rule #1: don’t touch the cup, Rule #2: don’t touch the woman’s hands, Rule #3: don’t stand up.  Then they poured more rice alcohol down all our throats while singing loudly.  It was super fun and exciting.  The alcohol was super different than anything I have ever tasted before.  I can grow to love it and will most alcohols the more expensive it is the better it tastes.

We then walked around the town and I was with one of the Chinese speaking professors.  She asked if we could tour a native home and reluctantly he agreed.  Then the professor wanted to take photos with the family and the grandmother and baby were not at all happy pose.  Things were a little awkward, but we eventually left the house.  TIC.  The village was extremely impoverished and there was trash everywhere.  Sewage smells creep up on you when you least expect it.  I have gotten used to it because I smell sewage all over the place especially in bathrooms.  TIC.  The village in located in the hills and they farm on terraces carved out on the side of the hill.  The whole town was walking up the hills.  We saw and spoke to one 60 year old woman carrying about 50 pounds of vegetables up the hill side.  I thought I was having a hard time walking up the pathways in the heat until I saw this woman.  She was very friendly and had a beautiful smile.  I played badminton in the street with a local girl.  The group celebrated Mariah’s birthday with fireworks and karaoke.  The fireworks were huge and kept shooting into the air.  It was hilarious.  The whole town was wooden and the fireworks just kept exploding.  Finally when they stopped, we heard sirens and all started to run.  Super funny and super lucky we did not cause a fire in this village.  Unfortunately, I learned that the native people of this area don’t own the businesses and don’t directly benefit from the tourists that travel to see their land.  The government decided to create this tourist destination and people with close ties were the ones who set up the shop and are benefitting.  So the local impoverished farmers get exploited.  TIC.  It was a wonderfully beautiful place and the local people I met were all very pleasant and seemed to be happy.  The politics behind it all make it difficult to enjoy but, again, I am keeping an open mind and am happy I got to enjoy this country village.

TIC Part I

I remind myself to keep an open mind.  An Australian professor at the Beijing University said that his students would sometimes say:  “TIC” which means this is China.  Ok, so I have been in China for 2 weeks now and yesterday the government displaced us because they needed our hotel for some “state business.”  The business related to elections and governor celebrations.  Instead, we traveled to a small village.  The bus ride was about 3 hours long and there were no shocks on the bus at all.  It was a very bumpy 3 hours.  TIC.  We came upon a bridge under construction after we exited the main road.  While the bus was stuck in traffic, some of us got off to walk the road because it was a market day for the people in this village.  Market days only occur every five days so there were people and cars and venders all over the place.  This was a sight to see because now I was in rural China and these people bring whole new meaning to the term poor.  Everyone just stares at us as we walk by.  Some of it has to do with the fact that we are a whole bunch of white Americans, some of it has to do with my 6’11 foot tall classmate Derek.  The market was a sight to see with live chickens, ducks, fish and pigs.  After the bus required all the oncoming traffic to back up a couple feet to maneuver this small village’s bridge, we were back on our adventure deeper into the countryside.  We arrived upon these people’s village where we were going to spend the night because the hotel was occupied.  To my surprise, this ‘village’ had a gate and entrance fee.  It was like an amusement park for tourists to come and see how rural people lived.  TIC.

Off to class…more to come later and just want to keep you hanging!