China 2010, Part 1

WARNING: The following series of posts may be traumatizing to vegetarians, vegans, and bigots. Especially to bigots.

Right, so I normally don't blog about my life, but this is an exception. However, I understand that reading "We went to the Great Wall today. It was a wall." really isn't all that fun, so I've edited out the more boring parts (e.g. The ten hour plane flight which I originally planned to write in great detail.) and tried to make the rest more enjoyable to read. I'm splitting this up into a few parts, and will be posting one part every one to two days. Be ready for a jumble of present/past-tense narration. Here we go...

August 11th - Left Seattle for Beijing. Wheeee!

August 12th - Arrival in Bejing. Several things struck me about China at once.

The Asians were the second thing I noticed. There were so many! I thought China, like all other parts of the world, was white! But every time I'd look into a car, I'd see...an Asian. Then another. And another. Since when do Asians live in...erm, never mind.

Then again, that did explain why every car was moving so slowly. I mean every single one of the cars packed bumper to bumper was moving 5-10 kmph, tops. This myth that all Asians are slow drivers? Not a myth. 

Now, as the ride came to an end, we (My dad, sister, and uncle) dropped our stuff off at the hotel, and went outside to see (and taste!) Bejing. Don't you even dare make that into one of your sick, twisted jokes.

There were so many toy dogs. I mean, everyone had one! Why? Why? What reason would Chinese people have-

Oh. Okay. Right. Well, looking back, I can proudly say that I didn't eat any dogs.

At least, I don't think I did.

Later, I searched for Chinatown. I was disappointed that I didn't find it.

August 13th - Went to the Forbidden City and Tienanmen Square. It was a foggy day, or maybe just extra smoggy, but even so, the Forbidden City was damn impressive. Pictures to come later.

By dinner, I'd decided that China is a vegetarian's nightmare. And everyone else's place to eat very well.

On a whim, I also took a look at Chinese TV. There's a company, CCTV, which owns almost every station. Tuned into a news show, which I thought was a game show until informed otherwise. The people were holding up signs with Chinese and there were game show noises! Take a look for yourself. Apologies on the slant.

August 14th - Went to the Great Wall today. Again, pictures will come later. Learned several new facts today, among them:

1) Getting on buses with country people in China is harder than getting on the Metro after school, or giving birth. (I've experienced one of these firsthand, guess which.)

2) The Great Wall goes on longer than one might think. Betting that you can run the entirety of the wall is thus not a good idea. 

3) It is not a good idea to stand on steep parts of the wall when it is windy while wearing a skirt. Just saying.

August 15th - A lazy day today. The family restaurant we went to for dinner was impressive in how efficiently it ran. Everything seemed to be scripted, all the staff knew exactly what they were doing, etc. Why can't there be places like this in America?

Also, they had cannibal fishies.

August 16th - Took a train to Qingdao today.

Qingdao has temperatures like Seattle, which is pretty awesome; I was glad to escape the heat of Beijing. Incidentally, Seattle had its heat wave at this point. Bahaha....

I met one of my cousins today as well. 

On an unrelated note, I also learned a few swear words. Totally unrelated.

August 17th - First of many days at the beach. It's a private (Membership-based, that is) beach, so it's not too crowded, and there aren't any foreign devils here, either. Apparently, standing in the water and staring at stuff (sunset, waves crashing on rocks, other people staring at stuff) is commonplace.

However, there are way too many speedos here. What is it with Asian men and speedos? DO NOT WANT with a capital DO NOT WANT.

Earlier, we went to a street called Electronic City. It's a street totally dedicated to all things electronic, and the star building is a 20-floor hotel-style building, which sells electronics only. Nerdgasm. Seattle needs one of these.

August 18th - Met another cousin, and her child. She (the child, that is) calls me uncle. I feel so old...

I also spotted the first of many translation fails to come.

August 19th - Met my great-uncle today. Suddenly I don't feel so old.
Ordered lunch from a restaurant (as we have been for a while now), had quail eggs, and duck tongues.

Duck tongues look like backwards snake tongues.
I also learned my eldest uncle and his wife own a chain of hair salons. Yay free haircuts!

Part 2 to come tomorrow.