back in the US of A.. deja vu?

Sorry for the disappearance- I know multiple people think that I was probably kidnapped (and with my luck traveling I wouldn’t have been surprised) but no, just got busy with free days and prepping my self for the transition back to the homeland. Gosh where did I leave off..

We ended Lijiang with a visit to Tiger Leaping Gorge which is the part of the Yangtze river which is the smallest across. The gorge was formed by glaciars so you can see the scrapes in the rocks- all limestone with marble inside- and its so beautiful. The water is intense and flows so quickly- and this wasn’t even the rainy season. Apparently during the rainy season it gets atleast like 8 feet higher, putting the water level right up to the platform we were on- scary! The rapids there are the highest level and people have died trying to kayak it- you would have to be a lot talented and even more crazy to think that it was a good idea –ha. We had a nice lunch in a small village and then walked around the village to see a statue of a red soldier with a ferryman- representing when the nationalists retreated from the communists during the long march- and we also saw this really old suspension bridge which was pretty but the high light was these two old men playing instruments next to the bridge- they were awesome. Sean joined them with a little drumming action so that was fun. A few of us strggled in the village so we had to find our way back to the bus. It felt just like old times in Ghana- like in Elmina when Dunc almost got hit by a tro-tro- we had to weave in and out of cars and busses and people. I loved it- all 15 minutes. Ha. Then I sat around Café Prague with Craig and Sean, reading, journaling, catching up on my thoughts- and then we explored LiJiang at night for a while- I even found the notorious scallion pancakes – YES AMANDA I DID!- they were a little different but close enough and I dreamed of 10th grade sitting in Amanda’s kitchen eating scallion pancakes.

After Lijiang we went to Kunming for two nights – we started with a tour of this fake cultural park which had like mini exhibits from each minority group but pretty much it was like Epcot or something. It took me forever to figure out what was going on but the Disney world analogy obviously put everything into perspective. We did get to ride elephants – they picked us up in their trunks! It was so cool but it was total animal cruelty so as much as I was impressed by the show, I was also so sad during it and couldn’t get as into it as others. The Asian elephants are so different than the African ones- their ears are much smaller and they seem smaller, lighter almost. The next day we went to the stone forest- which was formed by an earthquake which pushed the limestone up out of the earth and into a lake which is now gone so the rocks look like they are growing out of the land. It pretty much became our playground as we ran around, climbed on everything (literally), played China’s Next Top Model (aka get into the weirdest pose ever on the strangest rock and don’t smile which someone takes your picture), and had a blast. I could have stayed there alllll day. The people who live in that area are of the Yi Nationality- called Sani- who believe that the whole world came from one tiger- its left eye became the sun, the right eye was the moon, his body was the mountains, and his blood was the river. Also, spiders are a token animal because the legend goes that the king of Ni could not be killed ever but his wife from another tribe got him to tell her the secret of how to kill him and when they came to kill the king the Sani people hid in a cave and a spider built a web over the entrance as to confuse the warring tribe- so that’s why no one kills spiders- cool with me. The Yi people also use a calendar with 10 months of 36 days and the 5 or 6 days left over each year are the To Ching Festival- that’s the way to live. Another cool fact is the way that marriage works- the women wear headdresses with two triangles on them-both triangles up means they’re single, one up means engaged, and none up means married. If a man is interested he can touch a woman’s triangle and then he lives with the family in the house for 3 years before they can marry. That is a commitment yes? That night we went back to dinner at this restaurant I found across the street called Blue Bird- you know me, always on a hunt for restaurants- so that was a lot of fun.

On Friday we headed to Shanghai- we had a free afternoon so a group of us taxied to this awesome restaurant in the French section called Blue Frog where we had a delicious lunch. A bunch of people took taxis home but Katherine, Sean, Craig, Craig, and I decided to go explore. We walked all over, stopping in stores, getting some ice cream (although it was like -4387534 degrees outside..) I kept trying to convince them to get on a bus with me (being the huge propotent of public transporation that I am) and finally we decided to figure out the subway--cause we stumbled upon it which in an underground mall which we were welcomed to with open arms by the security guard who opened the door for us after he saw us all simultaneously but individually break out into dance to the music on the escalator. So with the map I had taken from the concierge plus our genius brains we figured out how to metro near our hotel and we walked back. It was so fun. Later that evening we went to the cloud 9 lounge on the 88th floor of the Grand Hyatt hotel- the view was insane and the drinks were pricey but delicious.

The next day we went to see the giant Jade Buddha- made from one piece of jade- which were hidden underground during the cultural revolution which is why they aren’t destroyed. We went to the Shanghai museum after where I saw some amazing artwork- both old and modern- so impressive- and also walked my way through the history of Chinese pottery and porcelain, which was actually so interesting. We got to do those personal audio tours so I just sorta peaced out from the group which was so relaxing. We went to the Bund- or the river walkway- for lunch which had a great view and then off to the Urban Planning building which had a full scale model of all of Shanghai, plans for the buildings for the Expo 2010 (some financial meeting who knows.. ) and lots of other insanely futuristic exhibits. After that we went to dinner and an acrobatic show which was to die for. I could barely believe my eyes. They fit eight motorcyclists in one of those metal globes (one was a woman- shes my hero). It was amazing. That night a bunch of us went to this street with lots of bars and listened to a cover band at this bar called Luna. After we walked to the infamous Babyface (they had one in Beijing and Xian) which is a hilarious club and we had fun dancing and making fun of the random euros who were scoping us out..

On Sunday we had another free day so Katherine, Craig, Sean, and I decided to go to the Oriental Pearl TV tower where we went up to 350 meters and saw the entire city (minus the pollution- gross). There’s even a rollercoaster at 90 meters so we obviously rode it. Then we headed to the aquarium which was awesome and they had tons of fish- apparently we are all nerds so that was lovely haha we had a blast. Then we headed back to meet up with the group to take the speed magnetic who knows train to the airport and back- just to ride it- it takes 7 minutes and goes 430 km/h- cool. We then did our last group dinner ☹ and it was Chinese new years eve so we HAD to go out. We headed to this Moroccan themed bar/lounge called barbarosa to hang out for a while and then headed to bonbon –“the best club in china” says ross- where we stayed until way too late. We got back to the hotel at like 4 am and our wake up call was at 4:45. Oops! So I was awake for about 50 hours until I got into my bed last night in good old NOVA. The flight was easier this time, I don’t know why but it was. And now im home! Yay. That trip was amazing. I like winter terms cause you get to meet a ton of people but my favorite parts were when we got to be independent- but maybe that’s just more my style.

Next stop- italy in two months! Check back then.. I might post one more china post as a summary cause I have to do it for class anyways..