So I'm in my hotel in Beijing and figured I'd give a quick update. I won't get into everything I've done, that will have to wait, but I will post a couple of thoughts I have about China and stuff.
First of all let me say that if anyone reading this is a future SASer and is wondering what to do in China. The company we are all using, The China Guide, has done a pretty exceptional job keeping us organized, on time, and shown us a good time. I don't know if you can do it cheaper, you probably can, but if you are looking for a trip cheaper than the official SAS ones, with good guides, and a pretty packed itinerary, you get a lot of bang for the buck with these guys.
Ok now, I have to admit that I liked Japan a whole lot, and at this point I like Japan a lot more than China. Japan is equally dense in terms of population, but the people are so much more quiet and organized that it doesn't feel too crowded. In China there are people everywhere, they are louder and ruder, the cities are dirtier, more dangerous, and on the whole it is just less pleasant. That is not to say that it isn't a ton of fun, because it is, it is just very different.
The food in China has been great, and it is not as different from American-Chinese and other asian foods as I was led to believe it would be. Nothing I have eaten has been too outlandish and it has all been pretty tasty.
I slept on the Great Wall. We drove three hours to the wall yesterday to watch the sunset, then climbed down and ate dinner. It is really quite a trek to get up to it given that not only is it 30 meters high or so, but it is on top of mountains. After dinner, we hiked up to the top of a different section, much higher, and slept on the wall. Myself and some others chose not to sleep inside one of the guard towers and instead literally outside in the 20 degree weather and I quite nearly froze to death. I hardly got any sleep, feel terrible today, but I can say I did it and the sunrise in the morning was stunning. I'm going to put up pictures right after this on Photobucket since Facebook is banned in the whole country of China and I can't get on.
New Year's in China is a challenge. People fire off fireworks in all places at all times of day, so everytime I hear a bang I think myself or someone is getting shot. In addition to the constant near heart attacks, we have to deal with the inconvenience of 75% of the restaurants and stores being closed because everyone goes home for the Chinese New Year.
The shops here sell stuff really cheap, mostly fake, and bargaining is really fun. They are persistent as hell, and I've literally been grabbed and held in place until I buy something from them. They are great at learning a couple lines of English and saying them to you to get you to buy as well. "Hello Friend, Good price just for you!". You can walk buy people selling the same stuff as the one next to them and even if you said no to the first 5, the next 3 will ask you to look anyways. Honestly I bust out laughing everytime they try, it is really funny to me. They tried to sell me knock of Coach purses and girls kids shoes. There really is no end to the madness. If they have something you DO want, they start the price at something ridiculous, usually a little higher than it would cost in the US, and you can expect to pay roughly 1/4 of that in the end.
For example I was buying an awesome painted tiki mask thing the other day and it went something like this.
"Hand Made just for you great price"
"How Much"
"Was 1000 (150 US or so), but I cut price to 280 for you right now"
"I'll give you 40"
"Too low, 250"
"40"
"200"
"40"
"150"
"40"
"100 as low as I can go"
"Ok that's fine, bye - (Turn and walk away)"
"Fine 60!"
"40"
"Ok deal"
That's pretty much how it goes everytime. You never know what you are getting, how much you SHOULD pay, or if it's a good deal or not, but it is a lot of fun to take part in even if just for the entertainment. They are relentless in their sales as well. We had one group follow us to the top of the freaking great wall to sell us T-Shirts. Eventually I bought one and ended up paying $2.80 USD for it. I liked the shirt, and if the lady was willing to hike to the top of the great wall, I didn't see why I should say no to a three dollar t-shirt.
That's all I have for now. We are in Beijing for 3 more nights, including tonight and we are doing all kinds of fun stuff. Hopefully I feel better, but I am having so much fun. I never thought that life could be as fun as it has been for the last month, I'm loving every single minute of every day. I can already tell I'm going to be a depressed mess all summer trying to get used to life at home again.
Anyways I'm going to put up pictures right now. As with last time, you can see the slide show on the page, or if you are getting this by email at http://thomasatsea.blogspot.com
If that doesn't work, the direct link to the slideshow is:
Enjoy!
Full update on China to come in 4-5 days. I get to Hong Kong on the morning of the 22nd.
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