Sun Yat-Sen's Tomb

       So we had a city tour with the study abroad group and headed to Sun Yat Sen’s tomb/mausoleum thing. It was acid raining so that was gross, but other than that it was cool. We walked up all of these stairs to get to the top and the view was gorgeous! The fog/pollution was covering up a lot of the skyline, so we got to mostly see the pretty trees, which was nice. To the Chinese, this place would be the equivalent of going to the Lincoln or Washington Memorial, so it was packed but a gorgeous place to be. 

            Also here's a random thug on the metro. 

Nanjing Massacre Museum

       We went to the Nanjing Massacre Museum and it was so powerful. The Nanjing Massacre is so dear to my heart and it’s been very emotional being in Nanjing and knowing the history of what has happened here and seeing where these atrocities happened. The museum takes up a couple city blocks and consists of outdoor and indoor exhibits.  We did the indoor portion first.

         You start by walking downstairs into this battle scene that goes into this huge room which has the names of the 300,000 known victims up and down the walls. It was so overpowering and somber. I’m glad I wore my waterproof mascara because it was just overwhelmingly sad.

         Then you walk through all of these rooms that have horrifying pictures, stories, and displays of the horrors that happened here. It was such a reverent place and a spiritual environment. The museum has the same effect as the Holocaust museum in D.C., but this experience was so different. It’s just crazy walking through the museum in the city where all of this happened. Passing by other guests whose ancestors had to have survived this. Very moving.

         The museum itself is built over one of the mass graves of the massacre, so in the indoor exhibit as well as the outdoor exhibit they display some of the uncovered skeletons pilled on top of each other and it is pretty scary to look at. All I could do was cry.

         After walking through the indoor portion we headed outside. They have all of these statues depicting the victims of the massacre in all of their despair. They are beautifully done and tragic to look at. There was one courtyard, which has 300,000 rocks to represent all of the known victims, and then there’s this large statue of a mother searching through to find her child.

         At the end of the walk you go through one last mass grave and then there’s a peace garden. It shows how the Chinese have forgiven the Japanese and want to move forward to a peaceful future. 

Shanghai Part 2

        The next day was tour day, but those didn’t start until 10AM so Sammy and I left at around 8AM to explore Shanghai. We walked around, found a taxi to the metro and then got to People’s Square. We walked around, got some breakfast, got stuck in the rain, and then ran to figure out where the tour group was meeting. We were so soaking wet.

         <<Update on my life at this exact moment: We went to the American store today and I bought a pudding Snack Pack. I was using the lid as a spoon to eat it and I sliced the side of my mouth. I am bleeding profusely and do not know how my life will ever go on. This is real pain.>>

         When we caught up with them, we realized how big the group was and decided we didn’t want to be there very long. We went with them to the Matchmaking Market which is usually super big and exciting, but since it was raining it was kind of anti-climatic. From here we decided to ditch the group and actually have fun.

         We got off the subway and tried to find the Yongyu Garden, but ended up in this random park instead. It was still pretty and was a bunch of fun. Then we just wandered around this outdoor market until it was time to head back to district conference.

         After the adult session of conference, we decided to hit up the fake market. I probably could have spent my entire life savings there. It was basically a classier version of the Grand Bizarre. Pretty fantastic. 

         <<Update: my mouth has stopped bleeding and has started swelling instead.>> 

          The match making market. These are little adds describing people. It's usually parents who come on behalf of their kids. They find a match and then the kids will get together later if they're interested.

The outskirts of Shanghai.

Horrible pictures of the fake market.

        

Shanghai

         Shanghai is crazy packed! Holy buckets. There are people everywhere and so many huge buildings. That place is crazy. Everything is super expensive too so that sucked, but whatever.

When we got to the Bund we went up and took some pictures and then hung out for a bit. We started photo bombing people and it was so much fun! People loved it so much. They would just smile and laugh; they adored us. Then when we got back to the group people just started coming up to us and asking for pictures. And as soon as we said yes to one a boat load of people started asking Garett and I for pictures.  These random guys would come up to me and put their arms around me and take a picture and it was fine, I mean whatever, but this one couple brought me their 15 year old awkward son and asked if I would take a picture with him. I was like “sure, why not” and then I put my arm around him like a normal person, but then he flinched away and was super awkward. I think I am the first girl to have ever touched him. It was so uncomfortable. That poor kid. May he one day look upon that moment with fondness.

The best though was this lady who came up with her baby and it was the cutest baby I have ever seen!! And the baby just smiled and laughed and I got to squish his chubby little rice cheeks. What a cutie. He was beaming and the mom was so excited that this random white chick thought her baby was cute.

         By the end we figured that people probably thought we were actual celebrities which is why they'd want our picture, but whatever. What I would give to see those pictures on the internet and read what captions they put under them. That is my only China wish.

        

Doing the Chinese People a Disservice

   A couple days ago, Garett, Seth, and I went for a run to the lake and it was BEAUTIFUL. First off, we ran through a part of the city that I hadn’t seen before so it was fun to see all that and I can’t wait to go back. People kept on staring at us while we ran and it was so funny. When we ran past these police officers they started cheering and were like “Yi Er Yi Er” like “left right left right”. It was pretty great. But as soon as we got to the park area around the lake you could tell there was a significant difference in the air. It is so hard to breathe here sometimes. We all get colds and stuff from the pollution. Gross.

         We walked through the gate that is outside the lake and the park is so pretty. The lake is huge and there are these little islands that have a bunch of different stuff on them. But you could see the skyline of the city which was fantastic. And then there were these huge lily pads that are all over China. There was a big rock garden thing that we climbed on and this little Chinese woman asked us to go talk to her. She asked us who we were and we said we were American. She was so surprised. She was like “Your eyes are too small and you are too pretty to be Americans!” it was awesome. And she kept on squishing her cheeks and being like “your cheeks are so red”. She was a delight.  This sounds so vain…haha but I mean these Chinese people are just hyping up my self confidence. The other day I actually said the words “I feel bad when I put my hair up because I feel like I’m doing the Chinese people a disservice.” That actually came out of my mouth.

         We started exploring the park a little more and found this little building where all the surrounding trees were covered in red ribbons. Apparently during New Years everyone writes down their wishes and ties them on the trees. Or at least that’s what we gathered from the random man we asked who didn’t seem to want to talk to us at all.

         People kept on taking pictures of us, but we’ve found that if we stop everything and pose for them they either feel guilty and walk away or they laugh and we can talk to them a little which is always fun. (The other day a guy walked right up to me and said "Yi Er San" [one two three] and took a picture. It all happened so fast I didn't know what was going on). But wherever we are we feel like we’re really the tourist attractions because people will either stand far away and just stare or come right up beside you and stare at you and not say anything. Super creepy. But regardless of their obsessions over us, the people here are some of the best people I have ever met. They are so genuine and kind. Sure there are some weirdos, but for the most part everyone I have met has been incredibly helpful and kind-hearted.

        When we got back from our run we went to the red carpet restaurant, which is my favorite place I’ve eaten at. I had a Sprite and then really had to burp. I tried to hold it in, but it just came out right as the store owner walked up to me. I burped directly into his face. Which in Chinese culture isn’t too big of a deal, but I started apologizing and feeling super bad which I think scared him because he walked away paralyzed in fear and staring at me in horror. Slightly entirely awkward.

         Then we walked over to the pirated DVD store to see if they had anything good. I’m going to have to drop some serious money there because they have everything! And each movie is only 10RMB!! Which is like maybe $1.5 so that’s amazing. For some reason Garett bought Maleficent and we all decided to go watch it back at my place. 

         A brief movie review by Mackenzie Wilson: Maleficent sucks.

Madness in SiZhou

        This last Friday we had a class trip to SiZhou. We went on one of those high speed trains and it was so cool! Those things go like 270 km/hr. Madness.

         So we got there and went to the SiZhou museum, which I am sure is a really cool museum for a certain target audience that I am apparently not apart of.  So that sucked, but then we went and met with the other guys and Dr. Riep and his family. We all went over to this super big pagoda, which was really cool and really tall. And then we went over to the Silk Museum, which was just as cool if not less cool as the SiZhou museum.

         The best part of the trip came next. We went to the Humble Administrator’s Garden. Apparently SiZhou was a very wealthy city way back when during Silk Road times and they used their abundance of wealth to make all of these gardens. This place was easily the coolest place we’ve been in China. It was gorgeous!! But everyone was just standing around so Hannah and I went off and explored cause they were being lame. It was huge and spectacular. Best $7 I’ve ever spent.

         Then we just kind of wandered around. We hung out in a park and saw an obscene amount of cats. Then we went and got some GREAT guotie (pot stickers). Then we walked around and then went back to the train station.

         When we got on the train, my spot was in the middle and there was only the lady in the aisle sitting there. I told her that I think I had the seat next to her and she stood up to let me sit down. But then instead of sitting back down she just stayed standing…for and hour and a half instead of sitting back down by me. She just stood there with her friend and they were both smiling and laughing at me and then I felt uncomfortable so I was laughing at the awkwardness and we all just looked at each other and laughed at their obvious racism.

         View from the pagoda: 

              Gotcha.

       
          The spectacular garden:

          Classic China:

A Crazy Taxi Ride

         Okay so yesterday Sammy and I committed to staying in bed all day, but Garett made us be physically active. So Garett, Sammy, Seth, Eban, and I ended up leaving to go hike Purple Mountain.

         Sammy, Garett, and I got in this taxi and it was the craziest experience of my life. For the first ten minutes the driver just flat out stared at me (I was in the front seat). Then he finally started talking to us and asking us where we were from and where we were studying. Then we all started joking around and he was probably the funniest person I’ve met in China. It was so fun. 

         At one point we drove through a tunnel and the three of us started holding our breath. He looked at me like I was crazy and kept on asking me why I wasn’t speaking and what was going on, but I couldn’t respond because I had to keep holding my breath. He kept on laughing at me until we got out of the tunnel. He asked us what just happened and we explained that in America, when you go under a tunnel you have to hold your breath. He then asked what happens when the tunnel is long. I responded that you die. He started laughing and then asked why we did that. None of us had any answer for him. Then he started laughing and asked if he could turn around and drive us through the tunnel again to see if we could hold our breath, but we said no because he was already going the long way to spend more time with us. He kept on asking us if he could hang out with us afterwards and climb the mountain with us. Tempting offer, but we said no because it felt a little creepy.

         Also forgot to mention that originally we wanted to go to Purple Mountain, but he told us that it’s no fun so he convinced us to go to another place. We went there and it was a huge tourist trap. Pretty lame. And by tourist I mean only Chinese people but still. We basically wasted two hours there and walked around for nothing but I guess it was okay. But it was all worth it for the taxi ride. 

         I have no pictures of the event so here are just some random pixelated things.

Fun fact: this food was over priced and awful.