Ninth Day-8:04am Tuesday

We just got back from Beijing, by overnight train. What a wonderful adventure we had there! The train was fun, and the food was delicious! We did so much in Beijing, that I had no time to update my blog! So here is what you missed!

First Day: Temple of Heaven (there is videos too!) Hot Pot lunch and The Forbiden City (view here)

The Temple of Heaven complex was constructed from 1406 to 1420. It was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998 and was described as "a masterpiece of architecture and landscape design which simply and graphically illustrates a cosmogony of great importance for the evolution of one of the world’s great civilizations..." as the "symbolic layout and design of the Temple of Heaven had a profound influence on architecture and planning in the Far East over many centuries. The Temple of Heaven underwent a 47 million yuan (5.9 million USD) restoration in preparation for the 2008 Beijing Summer .

The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is located in the middle of Beijing, China, and now houses the Palace Museum. For almost five centuries, it served as the home of the Emperor and his household, as well as the ceremonial and political centre of Chinese government.

Second Day: Summer Palace and Olympic bird's nest

The Summer Palace was a summer home for the Emperor of China. It Includes a man made lake which covers 3/4s of 2.9 square kilometers of land. It includes many temples (which Judy and the rest got lost in). Even a boat made out of pure marble built for the Empress.

The Olympic bird's nest is where the race track and the being of the 2008 olympic games. The building is so interestingly shaped. It cost about $423 million stadium it is the world's largest steel structure

Third Day: Great Wall, Ming Tombs, Ming Wax Museum, Ming Tombs, Jade Factory and China's Flag Raising

We took a tour to all these places for about 100 yuan ($15 US Dollars) at our first stop, the flag raising took place in front of the forbidden city in 7:30 A.M. It was amazing! After we headed off to the great wall were we played in the snow, and climbed up the wall. The Ming tomb museum gave us so much information.

Fifth Day- 8:46pm Thursday

Happy Christmas!
We started the day with some pastries from a nearby bakery. The red bean buns were so soft and warm, a nice smell wafted in the air creating a homey feeling. Then off to church went the family, and mom and me stayed at home before going to the super market.

On our way to the super market, we were distracted by a shop filled with cute little trinkets. We stopped and spent a hour looking through it, finding many treasures. Vowing not to stop again, we failed at the sight of another adorable shop! The good thing about China is that everything is cheap, so you don't have to worry about wasting your money!

Somehow, we managed to make our way to the market without buying anything else. In the market, we bought plenty of fresh produce. For 5lbs of oranges its less then 25 cents. It was so funny looking at all the signs of badly translated English. For example, we were going down a flat escalator and there was a sign reading "Be careful for not trip on stairs" What stairs where them to trip on?

Later we had a lovely brunch at a restaurant called "aqua". It was nice and modern. The menu was as follows.
Appetiser: Fresh bread, olive oil and vinegar, a tomato brucestta and bell peppers
First Course: Kabobs with different cheeses and vegetables or a salmon salad
Second Course: Pumpkin Soup and Cinnamon bread
Third course: Turkey Dinner, Fish Dinner
Fourth: A selection of deserts
It was very nice!
View Pictures Here
We are going to go open presents now!
Funny signs

Fourth Day- 9:29pm Wednesday

Today we visited the Yuyuan Gardens, It was so pretty! Everywhere you looked was a array of bright green leaves and plants. I am rather tired so I will just give you the link to the pictures and go to sleep!
Here
http://picasaweb.google.com/amdamrau/NewAlbum122508105PM#slideshow/5283846756969703010

Third Day- 6:28pm Tuesday

Cars zoom down a crowded a Shanghai street, oblivious to the pedestrians crossing haphazardly through them. Let's just face it: the cars, trucks and motorcycles could care less about what they hit. So today, after breakfast we hurried our way through the street over to the market. Vendors were everywhere, selling everything you could ever imagine, from steaming hot chestnuts to ear cleaners. We spent the rest of our day, wandering through the stalls in the chilly, perfect weather. Yesterday everybody wore 6-7 layers of clothing (I wore about 3) and today about 3-4 layers (I wore a thin turtleneck). Everybody keeps talking about how cold it is, but to me its not!

Anyways, I am kind of tired of writing so I leave you with the link to today's pictures.
http://picasaweb.google.com/thatonespazzygirl13/Shopping?pli=1&gsessionid=Coz6-UaB82mPNGaS4_j9Vw&feat=directlink

Second Day- 7:03pm Monday

Today we started the day with some nice pastries we picked up from a local bakery and a steaming hot cup of tea. Then we headed off in the direction of a local supermarket, which was amazing! They had everything you could ever imagine for cheap prices! We looked around before heading off to the McDonald's by the railway station to pick up Judy's friend. Then we headed off to Dim Sum.

It was really yummy! Then we walked up and down the many streets before going to the Xintiandi (new-sky-earth or new heaven and earth) a renovated traditional Chinese house. It was so interesting seeing all the old houses, sadly most of them will be torn down and replaced with modern ones. Then we went down shopping in antique road, which you can buy almost anything you ever wanted. In a way, is the Chinese equivalent of Tijuana.

I am going to go get my hair cut now so bye!

First Day- 8:41pm Sunday

We finally arrived at about 8:45ish when we were supposed to arrive at 7:30. Oh well, it was raining as Judy met us at the airport right after going through immigration. It's funny they have these little machines you can rate your officer on, I gave him a "satisfactory" He wasn't very friendly! We took a cheap taxi ride from Shanghai Pudong International Airport to the apartment. Rain was lightly drizzling as we sat in the car, eating chocolate from my mom's student. It was so interesting, looking at all the signs as we passed by in the taxi. Judy's Chinese navigation skills are rather impressive! Upon arriving at the apartment, we unpacked and drank a cup of coffee before planning our adventures for the rest of the day.

We stopped at Judy's favorite restaurant and ordered a typical Chinese dish: Porage! Strange enough as it seems, sweet and savory rice porage alike are served in a typical Chinese restaurant as a meal. For about 5$ we had 4 bowls of different types of porage, steaming hot green tea, pot stickers and egg rolls. We ate it down, before heading off to the train station to do some shopping.

Judy says there are three basic rules:

1. Trucks > Cars > Bikes > people
2. Do not tip anybody
3. People do not say excuse me, so don't be offended

We quickly experienced rule number one countless times within minutes, lets face it: People in Shanghai don't care if they run you over. We headed off to the metro station, swerving through the rickshaws and finally made it in. The train is much cleaner then San Diego trains, and we we arrived at our stop we were greeted by a tidal wave of people, and peddlers a like (not to mention the insane amount of cute Asian guys ♥) If you reader ever go to China, when a peddler approaches, pretend to speak Spanish (it wards them off). People sell everything here, from "real" Rolex watches to fresh Lychee fruit. However our motive was elsewhere: the discount DVD shop!


We bought quite a lot of DVDs, so much that they gave us a free CD case to hold them in. But there was little time to dawdle, since we had to hurry through the wind over to the vegetarian restaurant to meet some friends. It was a coworker of Judy's husband and he had brought over his wife and two sons to China. One was 19 and another was 22, both studying to become a teacher. The 19-year-old was really nice, he is majoring in Japanese culture so we had a nice discussion! When I told them I was merely 13 when they asked my age, they were shocked. I find that to be rather funny.

After the delicious food, we took a taxi cab to the apartment with the lingering smell of the promise of dim sum soon. I proceeded to get ready for bed, in which I am in now. So goodbye for now!

Airplane Exitement

4:20 am
The bright city lights of Tijuana zoomed past and was reflected in the window of the car as we drove down to the border. The Greyhound bus in which we were supposed to ride in was canceled, so my father had to drive us down to the Tijuana airport. When we finally arrived at the busy Aero-Mexico station, we were turned down and had to go back to the front of the desk to pay the "Immigration fee" of $20 per person. So we checked in, and headed off to a little restaurant in the airport. The smell of fresh Mexican food wafted from the shop, where an array of food to create tacos laid out. For about $5, we got about 5 tacos, fresh salsa and a coke. After, I went to Starbucks and got a magical drink (Cherry Mocha Frappuccino!) so I would actually stay awake. It worked! Then we went to wait for the airplane, it was funny seeing all the middle-aged Chinese men waiting for the airplane, as I waited three hours in pure boredom. The airline was nice, but the nasty sandwiches (squishy bread, lettuce and cheese) were not up to my standards. To pass the time, I am watching Mama Mia on the small television on the back of the seat and listening to my mom snoring away. Turbulence is hitting a little bit now, and I can feel sleep in my eyes. Yet, I stay awake determined not to miss any bit of my adventure. So all I can do for now is sit back, relax and enjoy my cup of hot green tea.
9:50 am
With six hours left, there is not much to do on a 16 hour flight, other then to watch movies. Outside the window, the air is pitch black and a chilly temperature of -44° C. Mom keeps saying should sleep, but I can't due to excitement! The seats are rather comfortable, and you can play games, watch TV, watch movies and more in the little television. It's rather funny, I'm watching the Mummy 3 which happens to take place in Shanghai, China. Ironic isn't it? I think the worst part of being on a sixteen hour flight is going to the bathroom, I mean it sucks waiting in line for about 15 minutes. Mom is talking to one of those middle aged Chinese business men. I really like the TV's. Oh well, I probably should go to sleep now.

*I will upload pictures later due to technical difficulites

Getting Ready For China pt 3

I'm typing this on my iPod Touch, so forgive me if the spelling/grammer is bad. Yesterday found out some bad news: our flight returning from China was canceled! We can return early, or near the end of the first week of school. Personally, I'm opting for coming back later, unfortunatly I'll return Thursday night, my mom jokes that I will return just in time for the cougar run. Yeah right I'd want to run more then a mile after traveling (don't forget time change). Our visas are supposed to arrive soon enough, we still have our passports from Indoneisa Anyways I'm not going to blog anymore China preperation notes, so you don't have to check until december. I look forward to my adventure, but for now I say goodbye.

Getting Ready for China pt 2

I plan to fly out of Tijuana, on AreoMexico airlines on December 19th, 11:30 PM. It's a direct flight from Mexico to China and a total of sixteen hours in flight time. I am so exited and cannot wait for my adventure to begin. As for plans I am staying in Shanghai, about six hours away from Beijing (by train). So I am planning to visit the Great Wall of China in Beijing. Also, I have been researching great vegetarian restaurants in Shanghai. Online, I have been doing some research on fun places and things to do in Shanghai (here). If you have any suggestions, please email me.
Today I started learning Mandarin Chinese, its a very difficult language when compared to Japanese (which I was learning previously). I supose it's harder for me because I learned Japanese from watching so much anime, like the otaku I am. So far I can carry on a basic conversation and ask if they can speak english, which is really helpful to know! I can't wait to try it out!

Getting Ready for China

As I plan my great adventure, a feeling of excitement consumes me. What will this experience be like? Before I start my journey, I need to start planning. I plan to leave my home in San Diego, to go to Shanghai, China. On December 19th, 2008 I will begin my journey and will return on January 4th 2009! Imagine, beginning a new year in a foreign country!

(Our home in Ming He Yuan)

However, Chinese New year 2009 falls on 26th of January, which is celebrated as the symbol of springs celebration. In fact in China, the Chinese New Year is still called the Spring festival. It is celebrated after the fall harvest and before the spring planting season. The date of the Chinese New Year is always changing and is dependant on the Chinese calendar. I can't wait to learn about and experience all these customs of China

I am going to miss all of my friends in San Diego, but I hope to inspire them and provide them with informing and entertaining details of my voyage. I will also provide pictures and links to video I take of my adventures in China. So to you dear reader, read on and enjoy.