Shanghair

China isn’t exactly what I expected. I can’t really tell you if that’s a good thing or a bad thing, just different. Shanghai is actually a beautiful city with the most amazing skyline and architecture that I’d ever seen. Otherwise, what I’ve experienced in China, feels really dirty. Beijing and Xian have ridiculously bad air quality. Breathing the air freely is the equivalent of smoking 21 cigarettes a day. There is a constant layer of smog and some days are worse than others. When you look on the weather app, instead of saying sunny or cloudy, it will say “very bad air quality” or “hazardous air quality”. This is due to the amount of coal that China uses. Since China has a large amount of coal rather than oil in they country, they choose to burn coal instead of import natural gas or oil from other countries. Even at the Great Wall, it can be hard to see in the distance due to all of the smog. I spent my first two days in Shanghai. Alexis, Amanda, and I got off the ship and through immigration by about 9:30am so we decided to explore as much as we could. The first thing we had to figure out was how to get anywhere. This is the only country I have any kind of data so I was able to find a bus route on my phone while everyone tried to figure it out from maps. We caught the jam packed bus and jumped off at People’s Square. It was basically a park full of trees and sculptures and people. There were shops and malls surrounding it so we wondered for awhile before finding Nanjing Road, which is the main market and shopping street. Our first stop was Haagen Dasz. We found a couple things to buy before going to the Bund. The Bund is a long strip that follows the river and allows you to see the incredible skyline across the water. Our next stop was Yu Gardens. I forgot to mention that it was the Chinese New Year when we arrived so everywhere was full of people and decorated for the year of the rooster. It was an exciting experience even if it was extremely crowded. Yu Gardens had people going every which way all celebrating the New Year. People apparently love blonde hair or Americans or both because I can’t tell you how many people have pictures of me by asking me if they can take a picture with me, using a camera, or acting like they’re taking a selfie with me in the back. If they see a group of us taking a picture together, they will take one, too, or just jump in the picture with us. It’s crazy. They start lining up to take pictures with us. It happened a lot at Yu Gardens. After our celebrity shots, we found an incredible Italian restaurant for dinner called Goodfella’s. We all had been craving pizza and this place really exceeded my expectations. We decided to head out on the town and see what Shanghai had to offer. We barely made it down the street before finding a karaoke bar filled with fellow SASers. It was a great night and was able to sleep on the ship. (if you drink too much, you can get put in the drunk tank, charged a fee, have to call your parents, and receive dock time.) 

Day 2: After spending 20 hours off the ship the previous day, Amanda and I decided to tone it back and only did about 7 hours off the ship. We explored malls, movie theaters, restaurants, coffee, and the occasional surprise street after getting lost. We walked and walked until deciding to go back to the ship to gain some energy for our following 4 days. 

Day 3: WOKE UP AT 4:30AM. A group of 21 people and I hopped on a train heading straight for Beijing. It was a solid 5 hours on the train before exploring a new city began. Our lovely tour guide Aili met us at the train station and took us to Tiananmen Square. It was crazy to be in a place that was talked about in my history books. I guess when you read about something, it doesn’t sink in that it’s an actual real place. We walked through the square to the entrance of the Forbidden City. It’s a huge place where the emperor used to live. There are 9,999.5 rooms, and I believe it is close to 200 acres. The walls and buildings are filled with designs made of real gold. There are streams and bridges and trees. It was really cool to see and think about what it must have looked about hundreds of years ago when it was actually in use. We saw some more fancy buildings and a lake that would be really cool to see when it isn’t frozen over and would have big lily pads and flowers in it. Our next adventure was a rickshaw tour. A rickshaw is a little cart connected to a bike and it used to be used as a taxi. Two of us got into each buggy and a man peddled each one in and out of alleys and streets until we reached the Bell Tower. We were able to tour a home that was next to the Bell Tower. Because of the central location as well as the proximity of the tower and Tiananmen Square, the land is very highly valued. Most houses are severely run down, don’t have bathrooms or showers, and are shared by several families who each have a corner in the house. It was astonishing. We toured a home of a man who had one of the nicer houses in the area. It was split up into 4 small buildings in each direction so the middle was actually outside. The house had a couple bedrooms, a bathroom, kitchen, and living area. I wouldn’t have said it was a really nice house but because of where it’s located, the man could sell it for the equivalent of $7.5 million U.S. dollars. Crazy. After the tour, we went to check into our hotel and find some dinner. Our guide suggested a place down the road. There was so. much. food. We didn’t realize the plates were to share so we ended having enough food to feed probably 15 people and there were only 9 of us. However, we only had to pay about $9/each including our beers. Everything is pretty inexpensive, but delicious. 

Day 4: Rolled out of bed to some continental breakfast and out to explore. Our first stop was the Temple of Heaven. It was where the emperors used to pray. It was interesting to see, but we were all antsy to get to the Great Wall. A New Wonder of the World! Absolutely incredible. I don’t think my brain could actually process it. We took a cable car to get to the top of it and then hiked from tower to tower. It was a fairly clear day as far as China goes so we could see all of the mountains and a fair amount of the wall ahead of us. I just can’t imagine how they built it…insane. We took a toboggan to get back down the mountain. A toboggan down the Great Wall of China. Not a bad day if I do say so myself. Except it wasn’t over yet…we headed back into Beijing to see the Olympic Park, then went to a Tea House. A few tasty tea tastings and purchases later, and we were headed back to the train station. We took an overnight train to get to Xian. It really isn’t too bad. There are 2 sets of bunk beds in each room so you’re able to sleep the entire time pretty well.

Day 5: We got to Xian at about 8:30, and even got to have an okay breakfast at McDonald’s. We went on our way to see the Terra cotta Soldiers and Horses. An emperor around 200 BCE wanted to bury 4,000 live children with him when he died, but then was talked into just burying pottery statues of his army to protect him. There are 8,000 soldiers along with horses and chariots. There are no two faces in the entire army that are the same, they each have distinctive facial features. Archeologists believe people worked on building the statues and mausoleum for almost 3 decades and it still wasn’t finished by the time the emperor died. The mausoleum wasn’t discovered until 1974 by a couple of farmers trying to dig a well. More crazy but extraordinary Chinese history. We had a delicious Chinese lunch before going to the ancient Xian city wall. We wondered along the top of the wall before it was time to go to the train station again and get ready for another overnight train. 

Day 6: We got to Shanghai at 6:30am….I think I’m gonna sleep well for the next 4 days on the ship. 

Last note...I just want everyone to take a step back from their life and really appreciate what you have. You might not be dating the boy/girl that you really like or have the new car or you just failed a test. While those things can be tough to deal with and it is okay to feel bad about it, we don't realize just how lucky we have it. There are girls in Vietnam who would do anything just to get a high school education. Girls that are told by their parents that they wish they were a boy instead. Vietnam and India have actually outlawed the use of ultrasounds in many places because people used it to see if it was a boy, and if it wasn't, the pregnancy would be terminated. These girls grow up in areas where men won't marry educated women. They marry women who will be obedient and are illiterate. This isn't a history class I'm giving you about the 18th century, this is happening all over the globe, right now. Girls who work every day of the week, all day, selling lottery tickets that her dad gave her. If she sells all of them, her dad will collect her earnings ($4) and she may sometimes get $0.50. If she doesn't sell all the tickets, her dad will beat her. She doesn't receive any love, so education is her only outlet. It's the only thing in life that she can try to control. There's one girl who has more supportive parents but has to travel 17 miles one way to get to school. That's how far I traveled to high school, but I traveled in an air conditioned car and listened to my music and was there in 15 minutes. She travels by boat and bike, and gets there in 2 hours. That's how badly she wants an education. These girls would love to sit through 8 hours of class a day, something that we take for granted and likely complain about often. I'm not saying you need to invest your life into trying to fix the fact that more than 600 million girls in developing countries, don't get an education because they aren't allowed it or cannot afford it. I'm just saying to always try and appreciate your life. Even as our country is entering a rough stage, most of us are very privileged people. Education and opportunities surround us every day. I've started to feel guilty for going to school on a cruise ship traveling the world when young girls around the globe can't even get a 2nd grade education. But I've also realized that without this experience, I may have never learned about the world the way I have so far. And someday, like many other people who have been on semester at sea, I will be able to do something to help people like these young girls. However, what I've learned through practice and my social change class, happiness and tranquility are like an oxygen mask on an airplane. You have to know how to help yourself before you can effectively help others.