China days 1-4

For my time in China I went on a field program that took me to both Xian and Beijing. On day one we got on a plane and landed in Xian a few hours later where we were greeting with a massive meal of all kinds of dumplings. They were the best dumplings I have ever eaten, and I tried all the different ones including the spicy ones, which I immediately regretted since the only thing to drink was hot tea which made it hurt more. Our hotel was amazing, much better than what I experienced in Japan.  The beds felt like massive feathers, I wanted to take it home.

 When the U.S. was watching the super bowl I was just waking up and on my way to an art museum where we learned some Chinese calligraphy. After our art lesson we were on the way to the famous Terra Cotta Warriors. When we got there I actually started to cry because I was so excited. This was the thing I wanted to see the most in China and I saw them! Even though it was freezing and I could not feel my hands or feet I had the best time ever at the museum. There are three pits. Pit one has the most warriors (about 2,000). Pit two has about 35 and is in a much smaller building. Pit three had no soldiers but the clay the covered them, but then they had soldiers in glass cases explaining what each soldier stood for. Total there were about 8,000 warriors made but not all of them have been recovered yet. They have a “soldier hospital” where they are still piecing them together like a jigsaw puzzle. After being completely dumbfounded from the amazing sight we went into a side shop where we watched a short film on the history and you would never believe who was there! One of the farmers that discovered the soldiers was at the museum and I got his signature! He is extremely old, and grumpy, but it was so awesome to see him. From there we went to an orphanage. The area was completely smog and you could hardly see much in front of you, the bus ride there was definitely sketchy. We did not really get to play or interact much with the kids. We stayed for about 25 minutes and I think they only took us there so we would donate money. For dinner we went to the Tang Dynasty Dinner and show. It was a super fancy venue that gave us a five-course meal with live music playing. The dinner was so good and I definitely ate everything in front of me. After dinner they put on a show acting out the Tang dynasty of hundreds of years ago. It was extremely colorful and exciting.

Side note: China was not as dirty as I was expecting, but it was definitely run down and had its low points. The smells were not bad all the time, it was only in certain areas and it never lasted long. The bathrooms on the other hand were very different than what we are all use to. They are holes in the ground but sill made out of the ceramic that toilets are made out of. Some places on the other hand were just metal holes in the ground and were extremely dirty. I even went into one place where they had no stall doors. It is already awkward to be in a bathroom with no stall doors but it is even more awkward when you have a Chinese lady staring at you as you try and use the bathroom because she does not see Americans often. Definitely an experience I will remember.  

Day 3: Today we went and visited the great mosque and after walked through the bizarre market that was filled with fake products. I was grabbed a few times which was expected but different since they yelled at me in Chinese. After our loud and crazy market experience we went to the Xian City wall and walked across the top that over looked the town inside. Next stop was a traditional teahouse. We tasted 5 different teas and were told how to drink the tea properly. We drank out of very small cups and it was recommended to drink the tea with in three sips; one sip for happiness, one for health, and the last sip for good luck. We then went to the airport and were on our way to Beijing. The day was long and action packed. Each day on the trip they keep us extra busy and show us many things and tell us about a lot of history. So far so good!