This is going to be a long story again so already sorry for that but my parents have been here for the last week so a lot has happened.

I will start with the beginning.

On Friday 26 of March they (father, mother and brother) arrived in Shanghai. They had a hotel near to the center. When they arrived I went to their hotel to pick them up. We went to walk over The Bund. The bridge was closed because of the renovations they are working on for the expo. After we had lunch we went to the Pudong district. That was on the other side of the river so we took the ferry to get there. We went to the TV tower and after that we went to the museum under the TV tower. In the evening we went to a Chinese restaurant and my father immediately found out that the spice here is a little bit different from the spice we have in Holland.

On Saturday we went to Hangzhou. It took us 2 hours by train to get there. The city has a beautiful big lake. First we went to the pagoda of six Harmonies. After that we went to the Lingyin Temple. That was a pretty big area with a lot of temples and nature it looked very nice. When we were finished over there we went to the lake. We went to a few gardens and the weather was very good so there were a lot of people. In the evening we took the train back to shanghai.

On Sunday we went to Suzhou. I had already been there. It only took like 45 minutes by train. When we arrived we went by rickshaw to tiger hill. In the end there was a big group of (I think) students who wanted to have a picture with me. But when I said it was ok they kept coming from everywhere so in like one minute there where around 15 Chinese next to me. After that we walked to another part of Suzhou. We took some kind of gondola over there. Then we went to the Lion grove garden and after that we went to the garden of the master of nets. We couldn't find it and when a Chinese man started to talk to us we asked him for help. He showed us where it was and the stupidest thing of all, he had a map of Holland an Belgium with him and with a lot of proud he showed us the map and tried to pronounce the cities he knew. Around 21:00 we took the train back to Shanghai.

On Monday my parents were married for already 25 years. We went to town's god temple and after that to China town. When we were at The Bund again we saw the bridge was open now so we went on it and the view was very nice. I had class in the evening so I went back to make my homework and go to class and they went to Nanjing Road.

Tuesday we went to the Jing'an Temple. I thought it was very nice but the rest didn't really like it that much. The weather that day was not that nice. It was not really warm and it was raining a little bit. After the Temple we went to the English area. In the evening we had dinner to celebrate the 25 year marriage. After that we went to a acrobatic and circus act which was very good and pretty different from what we normally see in Holland.

On Wednesday they came to my room so they could see that and the area I live in. My class of HR management would have started that day but a friend told me that it had been changed and that we now have that class every Tuesday till the end of the semester instead of every Wednesday and Thursday for only 6 weeks. So I was free that day and I showed my parents a Chinese lunch. In the evening we took the train to Beijing which was more luxury as we expected so actually that was good.

On Thursday around 8 o'clock we arrived in Beijing and there was a Dutch guide waiting for us. We first went to the hotel and around 12 o'clock our guide picked us up and we went to the big wall. It looked beautiful only very high and the wind was very strong. After all we reached the top of one side. Before we got back it was already evening so went to have dinner and to take a rest.

On Friday we went first to Tian'anmensquare and Chairman Mao Memorial Hall, This looks very big but the only thing inside is a big statue of Mao and the dead Mao himself. You were not allowed to bring your bag or anything inside and you needed to have your ID with you. So first my dad and brother went in and I went in together with my mother. When we had seen that we went to the forbidden City. This is so big and everything looks the same. So after a few hours we also had seen that and we went to the park on the other side of the road and in the end we could find the exit. When we found it we took a taxi and went to the Olympic stadium. It looked amazing and inside the stadium there was even snow. We went to the top and of course made a lot of pictures. In the evening we went to a big shopping street and ended in the China town of Beijing. There were like cockroaches, scorpions and other animals like that to eat. Because even the Chinese people made pictures off it we think it is also not that normal for them to eat it.

On Saturday we went to temple of Heaven and after that to the Lama temple which had the biggest Buddha in 1990 and they even have a certificate of the Guinness book of records for that. In the end we went to the summer Palace. In the evening we had eaten some hotpot. We got a room instead of just sitting in the restaurant. There was also a man all the time standing next to us to help us. In the beginning it was nice but after a while it wasn't anymore.

On Sunday morning we had to get up early because Leon and I would go home. The taxi included the guide picked us up to go to the airport. My parents would go to Xi'an by train that evening. We first sent Leon to the airport because he had to be at another building and the airport is huge. After that we went to another building for me and found out that the flight had been changed and that I had to be in the same building as Leon so we went back again. After 2 hours in the plane I arrived in Shanghai and I took the metro to get home. Leon was at home at 12 o'clock in the evening but because of some miscommunication his suitcase was in Amsterdam (he had a stop over there but his final stop was in Dusseldorf) If everything went well he has received his suitcase back last evening.

I think this is everything for now.

Today my HR management class will start so we will see. The rest of my study is going well. I still like it so no complains. This week I probably will take it easy because of the busy week last week.

Xx