China: Translated

Recently, I had the chance to go on a work trip to China.  I have been home for over a week and am just starting to feel like myself again - jet lag smacked me good!  Fortunately, I got to go with a co-work (Dana Marchant) who is a dear friend. 

The flight to China felt like it would never end!  I tried sleeping but time just crept by.  12 hours to be exact. 

When we arrived in Beijing and I was surprised at how quiet it was there.  It did not feel like a hustle and bustle city.  When we arrived at our hotel and were checking in, my friend Bailu came up behind me and we hugged and screamed! It was so great to see her! Bailu is a Chinese girl who went to SUU for her graduate degree and worked for me.  We got settled into our room and then we walked to a restaurant where she had a reservation for us.  We got to try Peking Duck, fried lotus root, shredded tofu soup, yummy broccoli and "real" kung pao chicken. It was pretty tasty.

(brace yourself for A LOT OF PHOTOS)

BEIJING HIGHLIGHTS

  Foot massages! This place was sketchy.  We got in the room and felt like we were in a brothel - were a little freaked out!  Crazy scenarios running through our heads!!

 THE FORBIDDEN CITY

Pond with trash and money...?

Squatters - I was afraid I would fall in.

Love the translation

Tiananmen Square

Beijing treat - strawberries on a stick and on a bike and candied

Probably my favorite meal in China: Dumplings and Fried Rice

RECRUITMENT FAIRS

We attended recruitment fairs and they were chaotic!  

Agent/Translator/Friend - James Wong

What?

SILK MARKET SHOPPING

We shopped in the silk markets! 7 levels of shopping. Silk scarves, silk rugs, jewelry, shoes, purses, and more. Knockoff stuff. It was pretty fun. They are pushy little salespeople though. I got a watch for Andy, a cute Chinese outfit for Macy, a purse, etc. 

Beijing Architecture

 THE GREAT WALL

We rode gondolas to and from the wall. We hiked for 1 mile along the wall. It was very cool. Tiring!!

We ate dinner at this atrium restaurant. We tried lamb, beef and spinach, tempura veggies, tofu balls, peanut chicken, fried rice, tortilla, mushroom soup, veggie spring rolls.

And then I crashed for two hours in our hotel room.  Jet lag + hiked the great wall = I was POOPED!

 

I loved that you could get a snickers and a diet coke along The Great Wall of China!

 

Me and Arlene - our new ASU buddy

The group we went to the Great Wall with

 

At the bottom of the wall, there was all of this amazing dried fruit for sale.  It was delicious.

 CHENGDU

Chengdu was our second stop.  It is considered the "Hawaii" of China.  It isn't as beautiful as Hawaii but was so laid back and relaxed.  I loved it.  We were in Chengdu for 24 hours, but I think it was my favorite city of the three we visited.  We ate some spicy Sichuan food. It was good but I tasted some spice I have NEVER tasted before! It was the craziest taste and feeling in my mouth... like a spring of lava streaming .... or like eating one of those zots!!

We explored JingLi Street.  It was just so charming and lovely.

Cherry Blossoms

Chengdu food

It was just beautiful, lush surroundings quaint little shoppes all around.

Apple Juice - so fresh! They literally blended fresh apples on the spot.

This is why I loved Chengdu: cute old ladies doing tai chi along the river!

There were so many treasures I wanted to bring home with me from China but they just wouldn't fit in my suitcase!

 

 SHANGHAI

Shanghai is BIG! It consisted of super long taxi rides to get anywhere!

Crazy taxi rides.

Shanghai University - Sidney Institute of Language and Commerce (SILC).  A partner University for SUU that we visited.

At SILC, we met with 2 SUU students who are attending there for 1 semester.

We also met with some Chinese SILC students who have applied to SUU and are planning on attending!

We braved the Subway in Shanghai.

Shoe shopping in Shanghai - SCORE!

Crazy Shanghai Food

What?

 

Chinese money

Our awesome friend in Shanghai - Helen.  She took us to this awesome Dim Sum place

We had dumplings and also a few yummy desserts - toasted bread with ice cream, sweetened condensed milk and honey-- delicious!! We haven't found many great desserts here in china but this one was fab! Also toasted English muffin with sweetened condensed milk drizzled...YUMMY!

Shopping Spoils!

      

 

We ate at McDonald's regularly (these girls could only handle so much new Chinese food). 

We saw a McDonald's delivery guy!!! A Mickey d's helmet, uniform and basically a microwave on his back for delivering!  McDonald's in China is SWANKY.

Fairs in Shanghai - with Betty.

It was so cold in the building, I had to keep my coat on!

Us with Helen on the Ferry

 

We got to see The Bund. It was beautiful to see at night, the architecture if the buildings was exquisite.  We rode the ferry across the river from the Pudong side to The Bund side.  Helen, from Shenyuan agency took us out on the town!  She is darling and so much fun.

 

What an incredible journey and learning experience for me!