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Hey all,
We are about to pull out of Shanghai. The past few days were very very busy and I loved ever minute of them. We got into Hong Kong on the 6th and we didn't do much that day other than wonder the city and buy some suvenirs. The next morning my group and I set out on an adventure to Shenzen Airport, which is on the mainland of China. I put together a great wall sleepover trip that had 19 people. It was very hectic trying to get to the airport in time because when it was all said and done with trains, shuttles, immigration for Hong Kong and China and then ticketing at the airport, I was very hapy to be sitting on the plane flying to Beijing.
That day, the 7th, we landed in Beijing in the afternoon and took taxis to the forbiden city and Tienamin Square. Well the taxi's got separated and all but 4 of the group met up and actually went inside the gates. The city was closed because we waited so long so we didn't get to see it except from the outside. We then went on a hunt for our hostel. I forgot the papers with the address and nobody knew where it was. None of the locals spoke English. This was the first counrty where it was a problem. We finally found it though.
The next morning, the 8th, we woke up and I got a phone call through the hostel from our tour guide that was supposed to pick us up and told me that a lady from our ship was trying to contact this kid named Vince who was in another great wall trip through the same tour company. The guide told me that he was not sure if it was a hoax or not, but Vince's roommate was killed the night before in Hong Kong. He was hit by a drunk driver. Of course not only did I forget the papers that had the hostel name, I misplaced the numbers for my phone card since I last used them at the Beijing airport and we had no way of calling anyone. After a stressful morning we finaly got picked up and went to visit the Ming Tombs. They were okay and not as good as I expected. It was where 13 emporers of the Ming dynasty were buried. From there we ate lunch at a restaraunt and then drove 3 hrs to the section of the wall where we would camp. We just missed the sunset but still got some great pictures of the wall at dusk. We ate dinner at a local restaraunt and then got our sleeping bags and tents and hiked 20 mins back up to the wall. Lunch and dinner were Chinese food family style. They bring it out in big portions and there is a turn table on the table and the food is passed around that way. Americanized Chinese food is better in my opinion. That night was very very cold on the wall and all but a small group of us slept in tents. I slept under the stars.
We woke up the next morning covered in frost and our water bottles frozen. We got some great pictures of the sunrise and went back to the restaraunt to have breakfast. After breakfast we hiked back to the wall yet again and started a 6 mile hike to the next town. The hike was long and hard but AMAZING with the views and just the fact that we were walking along the great wall of China. After the hike we had lunch and then started back to Beijing. We stopped by the olypic venues only long enough to take a few pictures before heading to the airport and flying to Shanghai. Once we got into Shanghai we scrambled to find a hostel and exhausted we went to bed.
The next morning, the 10th, the plan was to meet the ship at 10 ish because it was set to get in at 8am. We heard through other students the ship was not going to get in until the afternoon because they hit rough weather on the way from Hong Kong to Shanghai. We got tickets to an acrobat show for that night through a local lady who was very nice and was visiting her friend in Shanghai. After that our group split up and me and a couple guys went on a river tour. There is a river that goes through the city and that is where our ship docked also. After the tour we walked a little bit before heading back and stood in a huge line of students that had been traveling for the past 4 days and wanted to get back on the ship and rest/shower/eat. We went to the acrobat show that night which was amazing and then went back to the ship and went to bed.
Today, the 11th, was our last day in Shanghai. I spent all day in an indoor market that was huge. It was actually bigger than the market in Vietnam but didn't have as good of a selection as Nam in my opinion. We were hassled all day by people following us around. The stuff was a little more expensive than Nam as well.
Tonight we had a meeting and the dean's of the ship explained what happened to the student who was killed. His name was Kurt and I didn't know him. I feel like I have seen him around before but can't remember exactly which makes me feel bad. He had been drinking and around 12am that first night in Hong Kong he got into an argument with a cab driver and the police were called. He was by himself. Later aroudn 2am he was trying to flag down a cab in the middle of the street. A cab swerved and missed him, the car beind the cab hit him. He was unconcious and died before getting to the hospital. The ship didn't find out about the death until they went to leave Hong Kong and he wasn't there. The only ID he had on him was a credit card. He was a senior bussiness administration major from Wisconsin. His friends are going to put together some sort of service for him after we leave Japan.
That was my China experience in a nutshell. I will email you the Vietnam journals later tonight. Im sorry it took me so long but there isn't enough time to get caught up on everything in between these ports. I hope all is well back home.
Love Ben
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