I’m still alive, I know I have been silent for two weeks now, but I’m still here and back in Shanghai. I have a lot of stories and pictures. October 1st-8th marked the celebration of China’s Birthday. So over the eight-day break I went back to Hangzhou with Ran and celebrated the holiday with his family. October 1st was National Day; it was the PRC’s 60th anniversary, similar to our 4th of July. The streets, cars, and the people were decked out with Chinese flags. It was exciting seeing everyone so patriotic. On the 1st in Beijing there was a big parade that was aired nationally. It included Chairman Hu inspecting all the units in the military, all of which were made in China, something that they were very proud of. Also in the parade were the new nukes that China has, apparently they are intercontinental. By having them China feels that they can help keep world peace. Also in the parade were floats for all the different industries, cities, and past communist leaders of China. All of the people in the parade were very organized too. They even had some of the airforce do a fly over for the parade. For the night, there was a ceremony that reminded me of the opening ceremony for the Olympics. The ceremony utilized thousands of performers signing traditional Chinese songs and dancing with immaculate precision.
Over break I was able to travel away from the city scene and see some of the Chinese countryside. One day I went to a teahouse, where they served fresh tea picked from the surrounding hills. The teahouse itself used to be an old farmhouse. I also learned that in April is when the tea farmers pick the tea. Another day I went hiking up in the mountains. At the top of the mountain were some temples and old caves. Ran said that back in the day the area was free to explore. Now though it is tourist spot and you have to pay to hike up the mountain. I saw both Buddhist and Taoist temples; it was pretty interesting to watch different people showing their respect to the deities. I also had the opportunity to check out another mountain one day. This mountain was a park so it had more trails and photo opportunities with better views. It was at one of these scenic spots that Evan Vereb provided a photo opportunity for a Chinese family. After I was done taking some pictures a member of this family asked me if it would be ok to a get a picture of me with their children. Without any hesitation from the family I was handed their infant child. They also had their two little toddlers stand next to me. So now somewhere in Mainland China there is a picture of me with some kids and a story for the family that took it. That is the second photo that someone wanted to take with me, it is different, but some people have never scene a Westerner before. I guess a photo with one is the cool thing to do. Anyway the family was very nice and even offered me some wine.
Tomorrow, October 9th I start back up at school. I will also go to school this weekend to make up for the days off. Kinda lame, but that is how they do it in China. Also check out photobucket to see some of the photos.
Here is the link:
http://s790.photobucket.com/albums/yy190/evan_vereb/
I’ll talk to everyone soon. Bye for now.
