I'M IN CHINA!!!!!

So, I had hoped to write after my first couple days in China, but the computer I was using was too slow. So unfortunately, I'm going to have alot to talk about. Ok, so on Friday night, I went with Juan and Gen to the Osaka airport because our Saturday morning flight was too early for us to make it by train. We slept in the airport, which was actually better than I expected. Phil missed his train, so he was going to meet us at the airport on Saturday morning. Long story short, Phil is an idiot and went to the wrong airport. Somehow, he made it on the plane right before it took off. He did have to spend over one hunderd dollars on a taxi and run like a crazy person through the airport. But in the end, all worked out fine.

When we arrived in Shanghai, we quickly dropped our stuff off at the hostile and started to explore. We headed for an area by the river called the Bund. There is a great view of Shanghai and it's one of the area's most popular spots. It was quite crowded and we headed off to an outdoor shopping area. We then went to the French part of town which was really nice and really expensive. A coke was around 6 dollars. But I was so exhausted, I didn't care. After a quick rest, we found a great Tapas restaurant (with an equally great happy hour) and had dinner. After dinner we came across a few massage palors. All 4 of us got massages. Phil and I got massages from blind people, something I never realized was common. As always, I loved it. We are getting them again when we get back to Shanghai on Saturday. When we got back to the hostel, we were told by several of the girls in our room that we had a mouse which was found on a girl's pillow. When we told the front desk, they said "yeah, we heard." Thank goodness I was on the top bunk because even though we forced Phil and Juan to look for it, they couldn't find it. So yes, I slept in a room with a mouse. Yuck.

On Sunday, we spent the morning booking train tickets and eating at a local restaurant. That afternoon we went to the antique market and wondered around some extremely poor areas of town. In shanghai, they have one of the most extreme cases of have and have nots that I've ever seen. (but still not quite as much as Bolivia.) I'm really glad that I have the opportunties to see things like that. I think that over time, it changes who you are, I hope in a good way.

That night we took the overnight train to Beijing. We arrived and tried to get a taxi to our hostel, but everyone wanted to charge us a fortune and we refused. So, we walked forever (until I could barely manage another step) when a cab driver offered to actually use the meter like the are suppose to and take us to our hostel. This hostel is so nice. After we finally settled in, we headed off to Tiananmen Square, where the famous tank incident occured. We also saw several of the government buildings and the famous Mao painting. While we were walking around, several asian children came up and asked to have their picture made with me. For some reason I completely don't understand, parents like to take pictures of their children with foreigners when they are on vacation. The kids are always cute, so I never mind. That evening, we had dinner and went to bed early becasue the next day we were.....

going to climb the Great Wall of China!!! We were climbing the Si Ma Tai section of the wall. It's not restored as much as the rest of the wall and is extremely steep. They say it is the section that hikers prefer. It was utterly amazing. We started by hiking up a large part of the mountain just to get to the wall. The first half of the Great Wall was all uphill and very difficult to climb. I was panting the whole way. Juan and Gen got ahead of Phil and I who stopped to eat before starting the climb, so it was just Phil and I climbing up the wall together. Although the pictures might not look as nice as others you've seen because our section of the wall was much more rundown and in areas, even completely missing, the hike was much better than if we had climbed another area. One of my new goals in life (which I will definitely reach) is to see all of the new 7 wonders of the modern world. 1 down, 6 to go!

That night, I wanted to do some shopping so I went out alone to have dinner and order my tailor made traditional Chinese dress. I hope it looks ok on me... Anyway, today we went to the summer palace. We thought it was just a palace, but it was actually a huge area with everything from temples and huge Buddah statues to gardens and beautful bridges which you will see when I post pictures next week. We only got to see a small portion of the grounds, but it was one of the highlights of my trip so far. Tonight, Gen and I went to the Beijing opera, which was not at all like an opera. The costumes and masks were so detailed and beautiful. The singing was really strange though. I can't even describe the woman's high pitch way of singing. It sounded nothing like a traditional opera and the instrumental music was really strange too. But they really didn't sing that much. Over half the time was dedicated to dancing, acrobats, and sword tricks. It was really cool. I would recommend it to anyone going to Beijing. After the opera, we headed back to the hostel to do laundry, have dinner, and just hang out. There are several bars/restaurants in our hotel, which is nice since it's been raining every night!

Ok, I can barely keep my eyes open now. I just wanted to write a little on here so that I wasn't overwhelmed next week. I'll write again and add pictures when I get home. Love and miss you all.