Final Traveller's Update on China

Hum, it's been a while since that last update for my trip, but it can't be helped. Computer got fried being in China, and after getting it back, I've been swamped with work and all sorts of jolly activities that I tend to busy myself with. Anyway, to the real substance of this post: the final installment of my China trip (at least the vacation part).

Last where we left off, we finished up rounds in Hong Kong, and made for the mainland.

After Hong Kong, we stepped onto mainland Chinese soil, so needless to say, we went through customs. To my initial dismay (later joy), we were actually en-route to Macao, which meant only one thing: MORE CUSTOMS...I hate borders.

Macao: small place that has more people per square area than even Tokyo (at least it felt that way, Tokyo definitely takes the cake in that actual category). I know for a fact that at night, the population practically quadruples with all the gambling and sketch-tastic guys who are trying to give you flyers for "a good time." Anyway, the gambling age is only 18, so Dad and I try our luck at the slots and some poker. Ironically, Macao casinos don't take the local Pesetas, but would rather have those more expensive HKDs. Is this just an extension of Hong Kong? I wouldn't be surprised. So after about 90 minutes of winning and losing, my Dad and I call it quits when we break even (not bad, eh? My standards for gambling are just about right), and the family finishes up the day with a nice show. The next day for Macao involved the day life of Macao (which just PALES in comparison with the night life). However, it didn't turn out to be too bad of a day, since we went to the Macao Tower, home of the Sky Mast Bungy Jump...off the tip of the tower, down 233 meters. That just screams, "DO IT", right...right? Anyway, because of the absurd amount of adrenaline and yearn to do stupid stuff while travelling, I partake in said "stupid pig" (engrish translation) jump. I have to say, jumping off is the hardest part; but once you're off, free falling is pretty sweet when you know you're not going to be the next pile of spaghetti served in the Italian restaurants downtown. Check out of the tower, go to the center of town, where we tried the local fare, such as almond cookies and jerkies of ALL types of meat (they're in 8.5 x 11 inch sheets, I swear). In addition, I noticed that there were caged street soccer courts, which screamed "Portugal was here." Sadly, I didn't see anyone tot play, so we just left early and back to mainland China...through customs...again.

Zhuhai: first stop after we step on the mainland (for the second time). We stayed at a 5-star hotel, purely because one of my parents' old classmates' younger brother is some crazy businessman that has connections with this hotel. Long story short, we're rolling with the bigwigs here. We then went to the famous Ocean Spring Resort, which is basically a huge complex the size of like 3 football stadiums, of just different baths, massage parlors, saunas, and pools. Talk about...actually, just don't talk: enjoying is of the essence. We leave Zhuhai the day after, waltz our way to Guangdong, where we're just in-transit to Xiamen.

Xiamen: another parent's friend/classmate lives here, so we stayed with them (sense a pattern?). Being a coastal city, Xiamen has TONS of seafood, enough to make Joe's Crab Shack look like a small bucket of crayfish. Needless to say, seafood is key to what we're eating here: stuff like sea cucumber (which is actually pretty common here in China), sea bamboo, and conch...that's right, what's inside that shell. After lunch, we explored the area, thanks to our free tour guide in parental classmate. Of course, to get to anywhere cool, you're going to ride this ferry, which operates a lot like the London subway: mind the gap. Of course, once I'm on this boat, I was almost inclined to start referencing The Lonely Island, but resisted the urge to do so, because that would be a DEAD give-away that I'm one of those silly Americans, fascinated with the aspect of being on a nautical vessel. Although, with the amount of people on this boat, I actually did feel like being on a dolphin, doing flips and shit...anyway, moving on.

First stop was to see a piano museum, of all sorts of old pianos to new pianos. Needless to say, I asked one of the tour guides if I could play any of these pianos, and they actually allowed me to play one of the newer ones (those 1700s pianos/harpsichords would probably break if I actually touched them). They then proceeded to ask me if I was some professional musician that came to inspect the exhibit...hah, I wish.

Outside of that, we focused more on the beautiful coastal landscape, noticed the drastic difference between low tide and high tide...was probably around a good 7-10 feet in water level. After finishing up our intake of the countryside and more outer attractions, we turn our attention the centerpiece: Xiamen University. We wandered around campus, noting that there are still plenty of students on the campus (these guys get out real late, I will no longer complain). I noticed a Lu Xun statue (very important philosopher and writer, for those who don't know), and immediately proceeded to imitating the interesting pose that he was in. After making a fool of myself, we walked out of the campus entrance, and into a nearby Buddhist temple, the Nanputou temple. I wasn't sure if there was any important holiday or day of prayer, but there were literally tens of thousands of incense burning in this temple. The vibes in this place was ridiculous; of course, this was also offset by the other fellow Chinese tourists that were tossing coins at this outcrop of rock with a sutra carved onto it. Apparently, the rule is that if you can get your coin to stay at a good character (like peace, harmony or fortune), then you'll be blessed with that for the next year. I wanted to try my luck at it, but then thought against it because I probably shouldn't be tampering with my already pretty rock-solid lucky streak: if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Finishing up in the afternoon, we jump on a megabus equivalent, and it's a few hours to Nanchang, where my grandparents are. We arrive, and surprise, surprise, one of my dad's best friends from middle and high school planned a surprise visit and timed it when we were going to arrive. Because how close my dad is with this guy, I am to officially call him "uncle." So Uncle Wei's family and my family go out to eat (and this time, it's our turn to be the hosts); as hosts, we also get to take them around Nanchang, show them around the place.

Nanchang: there is nothing here worth half a penny for tourism...unless you're communist. I kid you not, even in Chinese, Nanchang is known as "red tourism," since nearly all the important monuments or structures are related to the Chinese Communist Party, in one way or another. We went to the JiangXi hotel, which was the site of the first true uprising of the CCP against the GMD/KMT on August 1st, 1927 (that's enough history for everyone, including me). We then went to a nearby restaurant (which is actually one of the best restaurants in the area). This restaurant is red-hot, I tell you. The same day we walk in, there are 3 weddings, and 2 baby showers: holy crap. After a spending more time to talk with my "uncle," he heads back with his family to Hangzhou, where I promised to visit again the next time I come back to China.

Finally, last place on my travel itinerary, was Fuzhou (the one in JiangXi province, not in FuJian province-the pin yins are the same). We visited my mom's side of the family there, I went with my mom's older brother, and we all stayed at my mom's younger sister's place (there is no such distinction in the simple words,"uncle" and "aunt"). First thing on the agenda here was to pay respects to my grandfather, who is still my idol in my pursuit of a career in the medical field. We got to then see where my grandfather used to practice; this also happened to be where my mom grew up. We then stopped by where my uncle (mom's older brother) was sent down during the Cultural Revolution, and submitted to hard labor...good times. Oh, another note about Fuzhou, there is watermelon. Loads upon loads of watermelon. You could eat 10 lbs of watermelon per meal, 3 meals a day, 7 days a week, and still have more than enough watermelon to sell for crazy cheap. Needless to say, I was practically 80% composed of watermelon, and watermelon juice when I was finished. We then ate dinner, stayed over one night, I chilled with my much younger cousin, and taught him some more English (he's apparently really good at English, but lacking in Math...take that stereotypes). We stayed the night, and then we headed back to Nanchang.

Nanchang, my final destination, after that, I stayed here in China doing an internship at the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University (this will last a month, but is also a story for another time). The parents took my sister back to the States first, as she's got summer camps and other activities; good thing I look like I was born in China, and have the Chinese proficiency to back it up, too. All in all, this was a great vacation: lots of places, lots of experiences, lots of food, lots of fun.