I woke up at around 4:30AM – in time to get ready and finish packing. I met Mark at around 5:15AM. Lilian had gotten her neighbor who is a taxi driver to pick us up. He had agreed to take us to the Pu Dong airport for 150 Yuan (round trip).
Throughout the trip he had his seat near to the steering wheel. He kept accelerating and slowing down. Mark finally decided that he must be near sided.
At the airport there was a long line to the Northwest terminal. Mark told me what line to get in. I asked Mark if there was a airport tax. He said he’d find out. After a minute he came back and said there was. He gave me 100 Yuan for the tax (by this time I was out of money).
Mark said good-bye and headed out. I waited a while in the line. I then proceeded to the gate. I found the place to pay the airport tax. After getting to the gate there was a short wait before getting on the plane.
On the plane there was a few more Americans than there was on the plane going over there. In front of me were 2 Americans – a father and son. The son was about 20 something. He slept during the entire 13 hour flight home.
They showed alot of movies, but I didn’t watch many.
I was glad to get home to the USA. Customs wasn’t a big deal. The lady asked why I had gone to China and why I had such a new passport. I told her I had only planned the trip since March.
I was exhausted by the time I got to the Detroit terminal. I changed into the Hard Rock Cafe Shanghai T-shirt so that I could meet my family in that T-shirt.
The flight home to Nashville from Detroit was about an hour long. At the airport my entire family was there – my mom and dad, and sister and her husband.
I was glad to get back to the USA – home of unlimited refills.

We got up at around 6:30 or 7AM. Today was our day to visit the Great Wall. After getting ready we took a cab to Tiananmen’s Square. There were plenty of people there wishing to sell you a ride to the Wall. We got on a bus and waited. Chris later found that the bus wasn’t getting back until 6PM, too late for me to catch my plane back to Shanghai at 6:30PM. So we left the bus.
A man on the street asked if we wanted a ride to the Great Wall. He put us on a cab with a driver that didn’t speak English. He drove us to another part of the city. They were going to put us on a bus, but we said we needed to be back by mid-afternoon. They told the driver to take us to the Wall.
Chinese highways are much like the U.S. Interstate system. They have exits with gas stations on them. At one point in the journey we got caught up in a traffic jam in Beijing. I would imagine the city is known for traffic jams since this is the 2nd one we came to in our stay. We waved at some Americans in a tour bus along the way.
We drove up in the mountains. We stopped to get some gas. We past by what was a construction site for a Chinese Disneyland…complete with a castle.
We saw the Wall from the highway. It was spectacular. We got off at Badaling. We bought our tickets….one to the Great Wall, the other for an Alpine slide. We rode up to the Great Wall on the side.
I cannot express in words how spectacular the Great Wall was. I felt like Richard Nixon during his 1972 visit to Beijing. You could tell the Wall had been rebuilt. It was a rough climb during parts of the wall. At steep sides there were steps. During some of the more gentle slopes, there were no steps. I paused and took several pictures. Chris and I got separated and I got some other tourists to take my picture.Great Wall
Throughout the wall, there were several gift stands. Everytime I walked by these people, they would say “Hello, Hello, Look, Look!” It got to be very annoying after a while. I told them I wasn’t interested each time I went by, but they didn’t get the point. I noticed on the wall you could get your picture made on the back of a Yak.
After a few hours at the wall, Chris and I decided we had had enough, so we got on the alpine slide to go down the hill.
I paused to buy a shirt for 8 Yuan. The shirt was made of cheap material and said “I climbed the Great Wall.”
On the way back our driver asked if we wanted lunch. Chris said yes, so he took us to what seemed to be a real backwoods area. The people there seated us in a separate room.
It was at this point that Chris and I got into a big argument. Throughout the trip to Beijing, I was a bit nervous. Everytime I would mention that I didn’t think I had enough money to get back or that I was nervous about missing my plane, Chris would yell at me. Chris had been in Taiwan since September ’99, while I had been here in China for 7 days. Everytime I seemed a bit anxious about the situation, Chris would yell at me for no reason. Looking back at it, I think I really shouldn’t have taken it. Chris had no right to yell at me. He was always threatening to leave me on the side of the road in Beijing and letting me find my way home. I thought it was best to keep my mouth shut until I made it back to Shanghai. Chris was mad at me for not eating. I told him that I thought the place was a dive and unsanitary.
We were charged 498 Yuan – about $40 for the meal. Afterwards we thought that we were taken for a ride at the restaurant. We should have refused to pay such a high price. I have a feeling our cab driver was in on this scam. He is the one who suggested this restaurant. He was probably getting kickbacks for driving rich American tourists here.
Then we went to the Ming Tomb. I was unimpressed by it. There was stone carved furniture. People were throwing money inside of the glass cases which contained the furniture. After a short time we decided to go back. Our driver took us back to the street outside of the hostel. Chris told me to wait in the lobby while he tried to find an ATM or bank of China. After several minute he returned. He hadn’t found a bank of China. I needed to leave the hostel by 4:30PM in order to make to the airport an hour before my flight at 6:25PM.
He got back at around 3:45PM. He invited me to come with him while he continued to search for a Bank of China. We took a taxi to downtown China. I saw a McDonald’s. Chris said that I could go in there to eat because the stuff they would serve on the plane would be Chinese food. I went in and got a cheeseburger and Fanta. Chris showed up a few minutes later and got a chocolate Sundae.
We got a taxi back to the hostel so that I could get my stuff and go to the airport. From the hostel Chris hailed a taxi. I was a bit nervous about getting back to the airport….not having enough money to pay the driver, etc. It was a long ride to the airport. During the long drive it seemed the driver was driving really slow compared to the other drivers. I saw what looked like a presidential procession with black limousines.
I got to the airport and checked in. It was relatively easy to find my gate. I had to pay the domestic airline tax of 50 YUAN.
I got to my gate and waited. It seemed like it was getting really late. I started talking to a westerner. It was a guy from Holland who was a worker for a textile company. He was on a business trip to Beijing. He was on the same flight I was on. I made small talk with him while we waited. Finally after a long time, they called for the flight at 7:15PM (a full 45 minutes late).
I got on the tram to go to the flight. The plane was huge; about as big as an international flight.
A guy came in and sat next to me. I found he spoke English pretty well. We made small talk about Chinese geography. He showed me a picture in the Chinese newspaper about Arnold Schwarzenegger’s trip to Beijing for the Special Olympics.
The flight lasted 2 hours. I got out and the guy who was sitting next to me asked if I had a ride home. I said I would try to hail a cab. He noticed I was having trouble getting a cab, so he told me to come over where he was at. He hailed a cab and both me and him got on it. He said that where I was going was near the airport and that he would have the taxi driver take me there. We got there and I tried to give him money, but he refused. This is another example of Chinese kindness.
I got back and went up to Mark’s room. I had left my stuff up there. While I was there I packed and talked with Mark. He seemed pretty tired.
I went back to my room at around 11PM or midnight. I had to get up at 4:30AM in order to leave by 5:30PM. My flight was at 8:45AM, but we had to get there 2 hours before due to it being an international flight.

I woke up pretty early this morning. Our flight to Beijing was scheduled to leave at 8:45AM from the Hongqiao airport. Chris was supposed to accompany me there. Chris is a very light sleeper and heard me when I got up. After I got ready at around 6AM I told him it was time to get up. He told me I was going to have to leave and let him sleep. I went up to Mark’s room to see if he was up. Mark didn’t answer when I lightly knocked on the door.
I sat around and wrote in my travel log. After a while I went down to my room which Chris had locked. After a several minutes I went up to Mark’s room. Mark was up this time. At around 7AM Chris called Mark’s room and said he was ready.
We took a cab to the airport which was about a 20 minute ride. We got in line to check out luggage. After everything was checked, Chris went to look for a ATM machine.
After finding an ATM machine we went to the departing flight area. There was a long line to it. Chris noticed there was a airport tax of 50 YUAN for domestic flights. He got 2 receipts for us.
We got on a tram to get on the flight. We boarded the plane with about 10 minutes to spare. On the flight I had a window seat and took some pictures from the plane. They served a full breakfast on the plane – a slice of ham on a roll, some fruit, and cookies.
We landed in Beijing at approximately 2 hours after we left. After Chris got his luggage we set about finding a ride to the heart of Beijing. Chris was consulting the Lonely Planet Travel Guide to China. He had wanted to stay at an international youth hostel mentioned in the book. Chris asked around and found a bus going to near the youth hostel.
We ended up in a huge traffic jam in Beijing. For some reason I didn’t see any wrecks or anything…just a massive flow of cars backed up. After what seemed like forever we finally got to our stop – which was the last stop on the bus. Chris consulted the guide to find out where the hostel was at. We began walking several blocks. After several minutes we found the hostel – Lu Song Yuan Hotel.
The hostel was decorated in traditional Chinese style. We got to our room which had 3 beds in it. We were sharing a room with another person. From the initial look at this person’s stuff, they looked American.
After getting settled in, we took off for Tiananmen’s Square. We had a good long walk ahead of us.
We walked past the Forbidden City which seemed extraordinary. I paused to take a few pictures.
As we were walking we got closer to Tiananmen’s Square. We were walking through pagodas. After walking through several pagodas, I turned around and saw the large portrait of Mao. It was one of those serial moments. I had always seen this spot in encyclopedias and books, but now I was actually here. We took several pictures.
In front of the the building where the portrait of Mao was hung was a busy intersection. Then there was Tiananmen’s Square – large open area with a few monuments.Forbidden City
We walked through a tunnel underneath which took us under the busy intersection. We walked past Tiananmen’s Square seeing a few governmental buildings. Throughout our way, there were plenty of people selling water bottles. At some point in our conversation Chris said that just because it is bottled water doesn’t mean it is pure water…commenting that this water could just be tap water.
We walked in a tunnel underneath another busy intersection. We saw a McDonald’s and a KFC. We decided to eat at a KFC. Chris tried to ask if the chicken sandwich he was getting was spicy. The KFC workers didn’t know what he was talking about. I got what I thought was chicken nuggets for 21.50 Yuan. There wasn’t much chicken meat on the chicken pieces. It had some bones in it.
We ate lunch and then took off to walk by the Square. We saw a couple of large buildings. I imagine one of those buildings contained the body of Mao on display.
We took several pictures and moved on. We purchased tickets to the Forbidden City.
The Forbidden City was where the Emperors held court. If a common citizen entered the city during the time of the Emperors, he was killed. After the revolution, the city was opened up the common people. Within the city each different building contained a throne room. There was a description of the buildings, then it said “Sponsored by American Express.” I found this amusing. AMEX is here even in the heart of China.
At one of the buildings I paused to get a T-shirt. After a while in the Forbidden City, everything seemed to get dull. It was the same pagoda buildings after a while. At the end of the tour we got to a Garden area.
When we exited the Forbidden City we were harassed by a bunch of people trying to sell us junk. I told them “no.” Those sellers were everywhere throwing stuff into your face. I was expecting someone to steal my money belt.
We could see a temple on the top of a hill. I later found that this was the Jing Shan Park. We bought tickets to the temple. While we were getting tickets a man asked if he could take us on a ride around the city on his rickshaw. Chris said we might and we would see after we got done seeing the temple. He said he would be waiting for us. We had a short, but tiring walk up the hill to the temple.
At the top we had a great view of the Forbidden City. We paused to take a few pictures. We sat down and rested. Inside the temple there was a big Buddha. People were praying down to the Buddha and putting money inside a collection cabinet. I wanted to take a picture of this, but I didn’t think it was appropriate. It probably wouldn’t have mattered since there was a gift shop inside of the temple.
We walked down and found the guy waiting to give a ride. We talked him down to about 175 Yuan.
While we were walking to the rickshaw, I asked Chris if he thought he was going to rob us. Chris laughed and said “I don’t know, what do you think?”
We got on the bike and rode around the city. Our biker’s name was “Lu.” He showed us houses where poor people lived – nine family. Then he showed us a place where rich people lived – which looked like middle-class America.
We rode past a place where people were giving haircuts to children….outdoors. We also rode past a lake. Throughout our tour there were old men playing a game like dominoes. I found that younger men aren’t allowed to play this game, but old men who have paid their dues to society are allowed to play.
At the end of the tour we found that he was going to charge us 175 Yuan per hour. We had a 2 hour tour, which was 350 Yuan total. It was a little more than what we expected.
We then got a cab to our hostel. We met the person sharing our room with us – Francis a German. He had been on the Moscow – Beijing train (trans-Siberian railroad). Chris wanted to go to a restaurant mentioned in the Lonely Planet guide. We got a cab to a different part of the city. After walking several blocks we found that we had past the restaurant. It was the Beijing Duck Restaurant.
Inside the restaurant we picked out our vegetables and decided on half a duck.
We were seated and our vegetables were brought to us. I had a Coke. We also had some tea with flowers in it. There was a guy with a pitcher with a long spout. He would fill our tea glass when it got low. We had cabbage, onions with chocolate sauce, and bean sprouts.
Our cook brought out a half a duck and cut several pieces off of it. The duck tasted like a mix between chicken and turkey.
We paid the bill and left. We walked by a shopping area. I saw a shop selling silk robes. I saw one my dad would like. I asked the girl how much and she said 325 Yuan. I was able to talk her down to 115 Yuan…paid with a 100 Yuan and 2 dollar bills. She was very anxious to sell the robe to me. For the barter system, the trick is to act like you are not interested. This is how I acted with her. You can talk them down to a reasonable price by acting uninterested.
At some point we were asked by a Chinese student to come up to an art shop. He said his teacher was a good artist and that we needed to come up to see. At the shop we saw lots of paintings….all very good. Chris pondered whether he wanted to buy a certain painting which was of 3 people…a father, son, and grandfather at harvest time. He said he had never seen such a painting in his travels. They were askiing $100 for it. Chris didn’t have that much money on him, but he said he would think about it and come back tomorrow. While we were talking we were served hot green tea. We stayed quite a while at the artist’s shop.
We got out of the shop and a couple of children ran up to us and where begging. Chris said these children probably had bosses which sent them out to beg tourists for money.
We took a cab back to the hostel. We talked with the German who were were sharing our room with. He had been to the Great Wall that day. Tomorrow we had plans to go to the Great Wall.

After getting a late start, Mark and I went directly to his classes at 8AM. Mark divided the class into teams of �Dog� �Cat� and �Mouse.� He told each team to make up test questions to ask of the other teams. The test was supposed to cover certain pronunciation, the movie �The Natural,� and baseball. Many of the questions the teams made up were about baseball.
During the next class, Mark told me to take over while he retrieved some graded papers from the office. I divided the class into teams.
During the next classes I stopped next door in Than�s classes to speak about my impressions of China both before and after I came. The classes seemed very interested in what I had to say.McDonalds
It was around this time that I noticed that the Chinese students were bringing in warm tea in clear bottles with flowers at the bottom of them. This seemed very strange.
I had lunch with Mark at McDonald�s. Mark got a chicken McNuggets while I got a cheeseburger, a Fanta (orange soft drink) and some fries. I saw a map which showed 26 McDonald�s in Shanghai.
We came back to the guesthouse and figured up the total amount needed for my trip to Beijing. I used up a lot of my money paying for the plane tickets.
Sometime that afternoon I went by myself to exchange $200 for Yuan. I went to the Friendship Store. Waiting on the teller seemed to take a long time. I saw a Chinese soldier in full camouflage fatigues standing nearby. I thought about taking his picture, but chose not to.
After I got back Mark game me a tour of the men�s dorm. They sleep 6 to a room on bunk beds. The beds are lined up against the wall. Then there is a few feet�maybe 4 or 5 feet, then a line of desks. The electricity is turned off at 10PM at night and doesn�t come on until the next morning. The students are not allowed to have heater or air conditioning (fans�etc.). They were having trouble with frostbite last winter. I felt really bad for the students. I�m considering taking up a collection for wool socks to send back with Mark.
We returned to Mark�s room. I discussed with Mark and Than about instrumental music in churches.
For supper we (Mark, Than, and I) took Lilian out to eat at Pizza Hut in People�s Square. We wanted to thank her for helping us with the plane reservations. We had a long bus ride to the Pizza Hut. We didn�t tell Lilian where we were going�only that it was a secret place that only Americans knew about. (HA). We got to Pizza Hut which is in an upstairs part of a building. It is near a KFC (probably in the same building). We got a number and waited.
We were seated after a several minutes. We decided to get a large and medium meat lovers pizza and a pitcher of Pepsi. Than, Mark, and I thought about going out and getting a few cans of Pepsi to put in the pitcher to save money instead of getting another pitcher of Pepsi. In China there are no unlimited refills.
The pizza came. It was good, but a little light on the tomato sauce. Still it was good to have a good American style meal in the middle of China.
I got up to use the rest room. Inside the urinals I noticed there was ice. I also noticed the squatters inside. I wanted to get a picture of the squatters, but I didn�t have my camera and there were people inside the restroom.
I got back to the table and asked Mark �What�s the deal with the ice inside the urinals?� He said it was where they store the ice for your drink. I told him inside the bathroom was a really good shot of the squatter and I wanted to try to get a picture of it. I went inside the restroom with my camera, but unfortunately there were people inside. I went back and waited for the restroom to become empty. After a few minutes I went back inside. Finding no one inside the restroom, I took a picture of the squatter.
Afterwards we left Pizza Hut. Than had to get back to the school to grade papers. So Mark, Lilian and I went about the task to find a Chinese flag. We went to several places. Many were charging a high price for such a small flag. Some even charged a much higher price when they saw we were westerners. Lilian said it would be best if we waited outside and let her go in an ask the price of a flag. We finally found one for 25 cents. All this walking for a 25 cent flag! And the flag is a piece of junk. It could easily unravel.
I got back to the room and found Chris doing laundry. I packed for our trip to Beijing. We were to leave at 8:45AM tomorrow on China Eastern Airlines. The flight was to be 2 hours.

I had breakfast with Mark in his room. We listened to Tom Petty before heading out for the day. We stopped by the cafeteria to pick up some water for class. I got a Gatorade.
We were late to the prayer meeting before class. It seemed a little awkward to show up in the middle of the a prayer session. But this seemed to happen a lot these days.
After the prayer session we headed off to class. For the first class, Mark was practicing pronunciation. He wrote this sentence on the board:
�I didn�t think the cool wind would hurt the bulls. But I think the still were sort of wet after their bath. Thank you for saving them.�
I wasn�t sure what type of sentence this was. I wanted to point out to the students that this was sorta nonsense and nobody would say this sentence in normal conversation, unless of course you were a farmer washing bulls.
In any case I sat in with Mark�s classes and read Time magazine. Mark used me as an example when pronouncing �Thank.� Chinese people tend to want pronounce it as �Zank.� Mark wanted to show the class how I placed my tongue on the front part of my teeth to pronounce �Thank You.� I did a Gene Simmons type tongue for the class.
I spoke to Mark�s other classes about my impressions of China�..of how I was scared to come here�.how the people have been overwhelmingly friendly.
For lunch we ate at a restaurant on campus. Mark ordered some of those sausage stuffed dumplings. Being from the cafeteria these were somewhat lower quality than the ones we had at Yu Yuan Garden. I ate the sausage inside, but left the bread around it. When I got back to my room I ate some cheese and crackers.
After lunch I checked my email on Than�s computer and wrote another letter home.
Sometime that afternoon Mark and I walked down to the Friendship Store to exchange $400 worth of traveler�s checks. Traveler�s checks are the way to go in China. You get the best exchange rate. After what seemed to be a long time the teller finally gave me an exchange memo to copy down the amount I needed to change. The teller seemed to count it several times. Mark said this amount of cash was probably more money the teller would see on his monthly paycheck.
Note: The Friendship Store is a western type store operated by the government. Supposedly it is very expensive and only foreigners shop there. I did see plenty of Chinese people shopping there, though.
After we got back from the store, which was around 3PM, we sat in on office hours. I expected the students to be asking questions about the test. They weren�t asking too many questions. Mostly they were just wanting to practice their English. We engaged in small talk while Mark ran some errands. Than was there also.
For dinner we ate at the restaurant just off campus. Mark ordered some beef, sweet and sour pork and a few other things. For dessert we had some doughy bread�.very good. I did get 2 Sunkists while I was at the restaurant. I drank one and the other I got as a souvenir.
On our way back to school I noticed the small set of rooms which the kitchen staff lived in. The rooms were only a few feet across and wide. It looked terrible. Mark said they must have been renovating since the rooms were empty.
Mark was feeling bad due to the shingles. I needed to go out that night to purchase some souvenirs for my family. Mark made several phone calls. He was able to track down Douglas – a businessman who hangs around campus. Douglas lives above the restaurant where we ate at earlier.
I met Douglas that night. I told him I already had eaten, so he grabbed a bowl of noodles at the restaurant beside the guesthouse.
Afterwards we got a taxi to a shopping district. Douglas said he didn�t know the bus routes, so we would need to take a taxi. We stopped at several stores – none of which had tea pots. I found a store that sold balls which you roll in your hand for relaxation. I got those for my brother-in-law. I found a nice tea set for my sister. Next I got my dad a chop or a stamp with his name on it. While we were waiting for the stamp to be completed, I purchased a tea pot for my mom for 40 yuan.
Afterwards we went to Hard Rock Cafe to purchase a T-shirt. Douglas made pictures in front of the entrance. I got a T-shirt and a pin. Since the Hard Rock Cafe catered to westerners, the price of the pin and shirt was in American prices�.about $15 for the shirt and a little more for the pin. This was very expensive for the Chinese. Inside the restaurant I could hear some Chinese lady singing “Gimme One Reason,” by Tracy Chapman.
To thank Douglas for his hospitality, I took him to Haagen Dazs, an ice cream shop on Nanjing Road. He was impressed. He had never eaten there. The Chinese consider ice cream a delicacy since it is so expensive. I paid $10 for the meal, which Douglas thoroughly enjoyed.
Back to the guesthouse which was empty. Chris was visiting his friend, Ann, in a different part of town.

Today was a do nothing day. I woke up at 5AM. I stopped by Mark�s room at about 7AM. I had breakfast there (banana and OJ).
After Mark got ready we went to the school cafeteria to buy water and Gatorade to drink during class. You can get quite thirsty at times especially speaking for several class periods.
After getting our drinks we headed over to the office area in the classroom building. The English teachers were having a special prayer session. Each of them prayed for specific concerns they had.
At 8AM it was off to Mark�s English class. Mark was ahead of schedule, so he let me speak during the entire class time. I told them how I was impressed with the kindness of the Chinese people�.about how I was fearful of coming to China. I told them where I worked. One of the students said that I looked like Bill Gates. I asked them to give me words that spring to mind when they hear America. They said rich, powerful�.Baseball
The class lasted 45 minutes. The next class Mark took the students outside to play baseball at the soccer field. He told me to run back to his room to find a tennis ball. I quickly ran back, but after searching thoroughly for several minutes I couldn�t find a ball. I went back to the field where Mark and his students were. He had divided the students into teams and was anxiously awaiting me to bring a ball. After seeing that I did not bring a ball back, Mark ran back to the room. While I was waiting for Mark to return I had a conversation with �Michael� – a Chinese student who seemed very outgoing and had a Air Jordan shirt on. It was then that I realized that Michael Jordon is very popular to the Chinese students. Mark found a tennis ball quickly (it was in his backpack, which I failed to look in).
After finding the right equipment, Mark set about to setup the game. He had already taken some time in a previous class to explain the rules of the game. This was the first time the students were going to play. Mark said that there should only be girls pitching so that the balls would not be too hard to hit. He placed one girl behind the fence behind home plate to be a ball chaser. After the rest of the positions were filled we started the game. The game was not particularly eventful. There were maybe a couple of doubles and some singles, but mostly strikeouts and foul balls. One girl seemed to pitch at an awkward manner, using both hands to send the ball. I understand that in Chinese culture, using 2 hands to hold something (such as a business card) means that the item being held is very important. I guess the ball seemed important to this girl.
In any case everyone seemed to have a good time with baseball. The whole game seemed like a scene out of �Good Morning Vietnam.� After the game I used the bat to hit the ball around.
Next I should point out that Mark had mentioned he had a very painful strange rash. He had developed it a few days before I arrived. He had hoped that it would go away, but it didn�t. So today he and Ruth were going to go to the hospital. He recommended that I should not go along since hospitals have some sick people in them and I might risk catching something if I go.
While Mark headed off to the hospital I emailed home again. I was using Than�s laptop. I got a couple of emails out to my family and to my coworkers. I was in the middle of typing a 3rd email to my friends when the modem hung up on me. Than said that the modem connection was notorious for hanging up on you and having a bad connection.
I stopped by the porch area and spoke with Than and Suzanna regarding my cultural experience. I seemed very enthusiastic about China. This seemed to encourage them.
I walked around and took pictures of the apartment buildings next to the school. I looked on the basketball court, but only one person was there.
Mark returned from doctor. He said he had Herpes Zoster�.which I later found out is shingles. He said they gave him a shot and that he must take medicine everyday and rub some lotion on the blisters. He also must get a shot every week.
Than said that Mark was feeling a little stressed and that we (Chris and I) should go out to eat. Than took us to a traditional Chinese restaurant near campus. The menus were completely in Chinese. Than ordered for us. Chinese restaurants are different in how they serve food. When the food is prepared, it is brought out�sometimes one plate at a time. When the plate is brought out, the server checks if off on the ticket.
Than pointed out that the way Chinese food is served and eaten, it is easy to cause diseases. For example everyone eats off the same plate. Saliva from the chopsticks mixes in with the food.
The server brought out some scrabbled eggs mixed with rice. One of the last things she brough was some sizzling beef. We had to hold up out tablecloth to avoid being burned by the oil. The entire meal was good and better than my best expectations of a Chinese restaurant.
I headed back to Mark�s room to see how he was doing. He seemed in better spirits. We listened to some CDs I had brought. Mark also got out his guitar – which he says is a cheap Chinese made model. He has learned to play �Free Fallin� by Tom Petty and �Creep� by Radiohead, along with a few other church songs. After a while Chris stopped by and continued to listen to music and play guitar.
Later that afternoon Mark and I went to Carrefour for some supplies. A Carrefour is somewhat like a Super Wal-Mart with a grocery store. The store was several blocks away. Sometime during this walk Mark remarked �At least I don�t have genital herpes,� which I of course laughed at. After finally getting there Mark said that bringing my camera along might not be a good idea since they sell cameras inside the store. I was a bit stressed by Carrefourthat. I was impressed by the Carrefour. It looked like any other western style store. The workers were in blue vests just like Wal-Mart employees. We stopped by the photo albums. I was looking for a traditional looking Chinese photo album. Unfortunately all of the looked like they were straight out of America with English writing on them. So I didn�t purchase any.
Mark bought some laundry detergent, toothpaste, cereal and a few other items. I bought some orange juice and some Gatorade. Mark took me by the fresh meat counter. At it there were some internal organs of a pig, some live eels, live turtles, and some huge fish heads. Mark remarked that he was disappointed that they didn�t have anything really exotic. I thought this was probably exotic enough.
At the checkout line I did something that I hate to do even in America. I passed a 100 Yuan to the checkout girl. She didn�t have change for it and had to send someone else to get some change. She said �one minute please.� After a few minutes someone returned with my change. I felt bad, especially since I can�t stand it when someone passes a $100 bill with such a low total.
After returning from Carrerfour we ate supper upstairs in the student cafeteria. Chris joined us. We had a bowl of rice and some chicken. Chris got a beer and joined us. We got into some type of discussion about what it feels like to get drunk. In China you are expected to drink especially when toasting. Chinese businessmen will make several toasts and you will be expected to drink each time the toast is said.
I noticed a few of the girls on the lower level who I had gone to the park with. I decided to go down and say hello. They remembered me and showed me some pictures of the day at the park. They showed me some pictures of me at the park and said that I could have time since they had doubles. I said �Are you serious?� – which they didn�t seem to understand. In any case I was glad that they were willing to give me their pictures. I went back up to Chris and Mark who were finishing up. I admit that I didn�t eat too much of the supper.
We decided to take a bus to Nanjing Road. This road could be best described as the Times Square of Shanghai. There were plenty of lights, fashion stores and other shops along this road. It was a walking road and no cars except for a trolley was allowed on the road. There was a line of taxis letting people out at one point on the road. We stopped to get several pictures during our walk down the road. At one point on our walk I heard U2�s �The Sweetest Thing� being played on some outdoor speakers at one of the record shops or discos. Near toward the end of the road was some dancing fountains – the kind you�d see at Disney World. Chris decided to get in the middle of them and get a picture. At the end of the road Mark noticed a brand new TCBY yogurt shop. He said he hadn�t seen this before and it had must have just opened.
We also went by the Peace Hotel – which is a very famous and historic hotel near Nanjing Road.
We went inside and decided on some ice cream. I wasn�t feeling hungry so I decided against getting anything. Chris was eating his ice cream and conversing with one of the female servers. He was at the counter and wadded up some napkins to try to through into the trashcan. The female servers were quite amused. Mark and I sat down while Mark ate his ice cream. The servers were kind enough to bring some glasses of water out to us. We then went over to Chris at the counter who was still flirting with the female servers. They were busy writing Chinese characters on napkins. I told them my name was Jeff. They were glad to find that out since one of the guys working there was also named Jeff (English name).
After all this was over and we were ready to leave the entire staff waved goodbye. I wanted to capture the moment so I got Mark and Chris to pose next to the entire staff. One female member was busy cleaning up. Chris tried to get her attention to come over by motioning with his pointer finger. This is obscene in the Chinese culture. Chris realized what he had done and quickly apologized. We were able to get a picture of the staff.
After a long night we decided to go home. While we were going home Chris made a remark of letting me tour Beijing with him. He suggested that we take the train up to Beijing sometime on Wednesday or Thursday and then come back later on during the week. The only catch is that I would have to come back on the train alone. I thought about it and later on that night I said yes. So plans were in the works for a trip to Beijing.

Today was Sunday. I woke up at 3AM I stayed awake until 7AM, then went back to sleep for 30 minutes. I had breakfast in Mark’s room. He didn’t have time to do anything this morning because he needed to grade some papers.
Some Chinese students stopped by and asked Mark if he would like to go to the park with them. He said no. He talked me into going with them. These students were freshmen and were going to the park to celebrate a birthday of one of the students.
I quickly got ready by brushing my teeth. Mark said to make it quick because they had a van waiting on them. I was introduced to Celine and Wally who took me to the van. I went to the second row and asked the girl sitting there if I could sit down beside her. She quickly got up and gave me her seat. I tried to explain that I didn’t want to take her seat, but apparently it wasn’t getting through. We waited a little bit until the person with the birthday cake and food showed up.
During the van ride, they offered me Lays Potato Chips and Pokey – a stick of chocolate. We drove for quite a while. I saw a different part of Shanghai – a dirtier side. We went to a place called “Forest Park.” There was an admission charge to get in which the Chinese students paid for me (another example of Chinese generosity).Forrest Park – Kite Flying
The park had a large open area for flying kites and playing badminton. The park and a underlying smell of poop. I was somewhat afraid of what I might find on the ground there. There were cigarette butts and other trash on the ground. There wasn’t a trashcan in sight. It is at this point that I began noticing that Shanghai was a very trashy city. From talking with Mark and Chris, I found that Asia in general is trashy. The funny thing was that in the park there was a big banner which had a environmental conservation message on it. At the park there was also no picnic tables. I wished someone would have spent some money to improve the park facilities.
The students played soccer and volleyball. I played a bit of volleyball with them for a few minutes before sitting down. A few of the girls who knew English well sat and talked with me.
I found out that the Chinese name for “Saving Private Ryan” is “Saving Brother Ryan.” We talked about movies, music and other things of American culture. We kept having to move the plastic blanket to avoid the sun. The students played cards….this type of game used at least 2 decks with the jokers included.
We decided to walk to the lake in the park. It was a short walk. I saw horseback riding and people fishing on the lake. There was a small tram taking people around. There was also a water ride and a swinging ship. We sorta lost our way and decided to cut through the park to get back to our blanket.
I sat and talked with the students a bit more. They got out the birthday cake and started lighting candles. They didn’t seem to have a set time to have the birthday girl to blow out the candles…rather they seemed to let the candles burn out on their own. After everyone assembled they started getting out the food. I had to prompt them to sing happy birthday…which they seemed to know. They had chicken, Pepsi, chips, and beer. I was sorta surprised to see college Freshmen drinking beer until I found out that the legal drinking age in China is 18.
After this I talked with the students more. I told them I needed to be back at school by 4PM due to a meeting with Mark.
Sometime around this time I began to notice that the Chinese families coming to the park only had one child. I had always heard that China and a one child policy, but I had never seen it firsthand.
After talking with them, we got out Mark’s kite and tried to fly it. It was a bit difficult to get started.
It was getting close to 4PM, so we rounded everyone up for the trip home. They called the van which was somewhat delayed. I sat around and talked to the Chinese students some more.
The van ride home was a bit rough. I saw a minor fender bender.
Afterwards we (Chris, Mark, Ruth, and I ) went to McDonald’s for supper. Mark told us about the “Idiot Menus.” They were the large cards with pictures of the food on them with the Chinese name below. He said these were for the English speakers who didn’t know what they were talking about or they could be for the McDonald workers who didn’t know English well.
I got a Fanta, cheeseburger, and fries. Everything seemed to taste the same. The group laughed at me for keeping some of the trash from McDonald’s (the fries holders, the nutrition information…etc.).
After this went went back to the university.

I woke up really early – at 4AM. I stayed awake until 7:30AM when I got up and took a shower. I ate breakfast (OJ and cheese and crackers) and watched an English language teaching show on TV. After getting ready, I headed out to Mark’s room. As I got out on the street, I realized that I had forgotten my razor and shaving cream. Since my room didn’t exactly have hot water, I was going to shave in Mark’s bathroom. I made a complete u-turn and went back to the entrance. As I raced in, the lady at the gate stopped and started shouting Chinese to me. I told her I didn’t understand. I tried to show her my key to prove that I lived there. After a few minutes, she called the head resident over. Of course he didn’t understand English either. After trying to explain to him that I didn’t understand, he brought me to his office to get me to fill out a Request of Residence form. I tried to explain that I had already filled one out, but he didn’t understand. After filling out the form, he took me up to the room. He motioned to me if there was anyone in the suite next to me. I said there was. He knocked on the door and woke Chris up. I told Chris I didn’t know what he was talking about. I was hoping Chris would be able to speak some Chinese to him, but Chris didn’t know any Chinese.The Bund
After filling out the forms and showing my passport to him, this seemed to satisfy him. I left to go to Mark’s room.
Mark was awake by now. It was Saturday and Mark had plenty of time to tour the city with us. After Mark got ready we headed over to the Foreign Students’ Dorm to pick up Chris. I had told Chris that Mark and I would be touring the city and that he was welcome to come along.
We got on a bus to go to People’s Square. Buses in Shanghai have a few single seats around the perimeter next to the windows. There are bars and handles for riders who choose or are forced to stand. The majority of the riders stand because of lack of seats. The cost of the ride was 1 YUAN (sometimes 2 YUAN if the bus is air conditioned) which Mark gave me a coin to cover the cost.
We got off at People’s Square. There was an abundance of people there. I wouldn’t say that it was overcrowded however. There were plenty of people selling kites. The grass is very well kept and there are signs in Chinese on the grass…I’m guessing it might say “Keep off the Grass.” In the middle of People’s Square is the Shanghai Museum.
While we were in People Square a couple of Chinese girls asked if they could have their picture made with me. Feeling a bit surprised and confused, I said “yes.” They made their picture, then Mark took a picture with my camera. Mark later said that my shirt (which was a Snoopy shirt) was inviting and may have made me seem friendly to some people.
We decided to head into the Shanghai Museum. Mark decided that we should get a double ticket to the Museum and to the Shanghai Grand Theatre to get the best value. Mark bought his ticket. I was expecting the ticket taker to ask me next. However a Chinese person had broke in front of me and was buying some tickets. This is how things operate around there. Chinese do not know how to form lines….it’s usually just a big mob of people. Mark said just to jump in there and get my tickets, so I did.
We took the tour on our own. We could have gotten an audio tour, but we decided to take the tour at our own pace. We saw authentic costumes, jade, and carved wood. As we were going along we met a Chinese girl whose English name was “Kate.” She asked if she could follow us around and practice her English. She was studying for an English language test in order to go to SUNY in New York State. We said that was fine, but we might be going to different places in the city. I later found that this was typical of Chinese English students. They will usually hang around tourist sites (sometimes buying a ticket) in order to meet up with English speakers to practice their English.
As we toured around the museum, I found myself more interested in Kate than these ancient artifacts. She seemed to speak English pretty well. Later Kate brought her friend Jack around. She said that Jack was not her boyfriend, but that he was just a friend. Jack spoke only a little English and remained silent most of the time.
We decided to leave the museum for Yu Yuan Garden. Kate and Jack accompanied Mark, Chris and me. They paid for the bus ride over there. This seemed to be the norm over there. Chinese people are very friendly and generous toward foreigners. They are willing to go out of their way to help you.
Yu Yuan Garden is a place with lots of bazaars and shops. We walked around and decided to find a place to eat. The first place we ate had a very long wait so we decided for another. At the second place, we only had a 10 minute wait. As we were waiting we had a conversation with a Chinese man in line. He said his favorite NBA team was the Houston Rockets. I’ve found that the NBA is very big in China. Everyone seems to have their favorite team.
For lunch we had some type of dumplings with sausage in the middle. I also had a Sprite. I found that Sprite does not taste like Sprite back home. It has a weird taste. After this meal I decided to drink Fanta and Coke for the rest of the trip. Sprite’s Chinese name is translated as “Green Water” since the can is green I guess. Fanta is a type of orange drink which tastes alot like Sunkist.
Kate paid for our meal even though she didn’t eat too much of this. Again this is an example of Chinese kindness we experienced.
After lunch we decided to go into the Garden part. Since Kate and Jack could not afford the ticket, we parted ways.
Inside the garden area we saw old pagodas….very typical of old Chinese architecture. While we were touring around we came to a place where they were doing paper cuttings. The man who was doing the cuttings was incredible. The cuttings were so intricate. He did a cutting of a tiger which was incredible. Chris bought the tiger cutting along with a Chinese animal astrology (dragon, rat, rabbit, etc) set. After Mark told me that he hadn’t seen anything like this before I decided to try to get a couple of cuttings for my sister and myself. The one I picked out for my sister was a picture of children playing an “Eagle and Chicken” game. I also picked out one of a ship sailing in a storm to remind me how scared I was to come to China. Mark wanted one too. He was able to negotiate the price down to a low level. The man who sold the cuttings to us was very impressed with Mark. He asked for Mark’s contact information. Mark gave him his phone number and email address. I later found out that Mark gave a fake phone number since he wasn’t too keen about giving out his phone number to just anyone he meets.
We toured around again and came to a place that does chop carvings. These are traditional stamps that Chinese businessmen use to endorse documents. I got one made with a rabbit on top of it since the year I was born is a rabbit year.
After the carving was done we took a taxi to the Shanghai Grand Theatre to finish our tour. The theatre was very plush. There was various tour guides around to give tours in English. Chris made one of the tour guides laugh uncontrollably as we entered the auditorium. He was trying to see if there was a step nearby. The tour guide saw it and lost her composure and started laughing. She must have told the other tour guides about it since after that other tour guides laughed when they saw us. In the auditorium we saw a play practice.
While we were touring around we saw a ballet practice. I was thinking these girls were probably very self conscious with all of these visitors around to watch them practice.
We got to the top level of the building and it seemed like ages until we saw another tour group lady. They seemed to abandon us at this top level. We finally saw a tour group lady was on the elevator to come down. We would have taken the elevator, but Chris wasn’t around. He was trying to catch up with another tour guide to ask how to get down.
We caught another elevator down. Chris asked the tour guide if we could go up instead of down, which made the female tour guide laugh again.
We got to the bottom of the Theatre and browsed at a gift shop cabinet. Mark had a 10 minute long conversation in Chinese with the lady at the gift shop. He told her that he was an English teacher at a local university and that I didn’t know any Chinese and was visiting the country as a tourist.
After that we tried to go out a different way, which we were promptly directed by security go out the front doors. We saw a wedding couple getting their pictures made in front of the theatre. They had a red Pontiac Firebird – obviously rented.
After this we went to the Bund. The Bund is a riverfront area. When the British occupied Shanghai they built up this area to look like the French Riverfront. We took pictures of the Oriental Pearl Tower which is somewhat like the Sunsphere in Knoxville. It definitely isn’t the tallest building in Shanghai, but it a great landmark. There wasn’t too much to do on the Bund, just stop and look around and take pictures.
We left the riverfront for supper. We decided on Italian. Mark said that Ginos Cafe was a good choice. We went in and got a table. We decided to find a bathroom use and to wash our hands. The nearest one was in a department store nearby. Mark said that it was okay to leave their stuff there. However I was not taking any chances. I took my paper cuttings and stamp and my camera with me.
We got back to the restaurant and ordered. Mark and I ordered lasagna while Chris order pizza. The lasagna tasted different…somewhat less cheesy.
After dinner we stopped by a CD and Video store. Chinese have movies on discs…somewhat like DVDs but in a different format. Many of these movies are pirated by bringing a video camera into the movie theater. For CD’s we saw mostly Chinese language singers from Hong Kong and Taiwan. I did see a few English singers such as Celine Deon, U2, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Sheryl Crow.
After we got back to the University we switched room from the International Students’ Dorm to the Guesthouse. This was the same building that Mark was in. This was a big improvement. The International Students’ Dorm had peeling paint and a large box shaped kitchen sink with it. The Guesthouse was setup like a hotel room with a bathroom. To save a little money Chris and I decided to share a room for 200 Yuan total. There were twin beds in one room and then another room with a long couch and TV.
After unpacking I hung out with Mark and then went to my room to get some sleep.

I woke up the morning of May 18, 2000, with a terrified feeling in the deep pit of my stomach. I was completely petrified about going to China. All of this trip preparation had seemed to be a dream to me.
It had started on February 14th when I applied for my passport. I was doing this “just in case” this planned trip to China worked out. I didn’t expect that it would work out…something would go wrong, such as not getting a passport, not getting my Chinese VISA, or not getting a cheap plane ticket. However it all seemed to work out in the end.
After I got my passport back in mid-March, I called up a local travel agent to check on plane ticket prices. I gave the lady the days I was thinking about going. She said that she would check on it. After about an hour she called me back and said there was a great deal with Northwest Airlines for $695. I wrote to Mark over the weekend to ask if this date was okay. It was okay with his schedule, so I bought the tickets the following Monday. After getting my tickets, I applied for my Chinese VISA by going to the Chinese Embassy webpage and printing out a VISA application form. I followed the instructions exactly. After only 2 weeks, I got my VISA back. So after that, there was nothing stopping me from going.
Still, this all seemed like a dream to me on this morning. I told my dad that I was scared of going. He assured me that I would have a great time. My mom was away on a business trip to Hot Springs, Arkansas. I called her up telling her of my concerns. She said I didn’t have anything to worry about and that I should go and have fun. She suggested I take some aspirin to calm me down. Since it was my sister’s birthday, I had planned to call her up and wish her a happy birthday. I also told her that I was apprehensive about going to China. She also said I had nothing to worry about.
At around 6:25AM, my dad and I left for the Nashville Metropolitan Airport for my 8:45AM flight to Detroit. After the drive I seemed to calm down a bit. I got on the plane to Detroit at approximately 8:30AM CST.
My flight to Detroit was relatively uneventful, except at the very end. There were thunderstorms around Detroit. The airport closed temporarily. We were forced into a holding pattern for about an hour. After we finally landed we were 55 minutes late. My flight to Detroit was scheduled to leave from a gate way across the airport terminal. I sprinted across the terminal. I arrived to the gate right on time – 12:30PM EST. Still it wouldn’t have made much difference since the flight to Shanghai left almost an hour late. They were waiting on everyone who was delayed by the weather.
Feeling a bit confused, I asked the girl sitting next to me “Is this the flight to Shanghai?” She said “yes,” in somewhat of an annoyed voice. I decided to keep quiet for the rest of the trip.
I like to take this opportunity to point out that the gateway to China does not start in Shanghai. For me it started on the plane to Shanghai. Almost 80% of the people aboard were of Chinese origin….either Chinese Nationals or Chinese-Americans flying to China to see relatives. Most of these people were speaking Chinese. The announcements being made on the plane were in Chinese mostly, with a few being made in English. I asked a stewardess what the flight time was. She said about 15 hours. It was clear that I had a long flight ahead of me. I had come prepared with a Gameboy, a Discman CD Player, and some books to read. I found out that they were going to be showing plenty of movies to keep us entertained.
During the trip they showed a Frasier episode, a documentary on the Eiffel Tower, “Galaxy Quest,” “The Straight Story,” a couple of Chinese language movies and “Man on the Moon.” Except for “Galaxy Quest” and “Man on the Moon,” I didn’t watch much of the movies, opting instead to sleep as much as possible.
Sometime during the flight, as I was filling out some Chinese customs documents, the man next to me introduced himself. He had been touring America with a group of 30 other Chinese students. I told him I was going to Shanghai for 8 days. He said that it was much too short of trip. I was surprised by his friendliness.
After what seemed like an eternity, we finally landed in at the Pudong International Airport in Shanghai at around 4PM Shanghai time, May 19. I found some Americans on board who were experienced with Chinese customs. They said it was not a problem and that I could stay with them while I was going through customs. The American were a couple of college students from NYC. Contrary to what I expected, the guy and girl were obviously not romantically involved. The girl kept mentioning her husband who was not present (perhaps back in America). The guy was a Caucasian American, and the girl was a Chinese American with a Chinese Passport.
After going through customs….which was a breeze, I got my bags and saw my friend Mark. I was glad to see him. One of my fears was getting to the Airport and not seeing anyone I knew in this foreign city. Accompanying Mark was his friend “Ruth” who was a Chinese citizen and a student at the university.
We got on a bus to Shanghai. I kept noticing how Shanghai was like any other city and looked like America. The cars were slightly different, but for the most part it was the same. There were plenty of Volkswagen cabs, some Toyota cars, and a few Fords. There was a haze hanging over the Pudong Airport area and on the way to the heart of Shanghai. Mark blamed it on pollution. We got to the middle of Shanghai where I noticed it was very much like any other American city. The only difference was that the signs were in a different language.
The bus dropped us off at a hotel near the university where Mark taught at. We got my bags and started a walk to the university.
After entering the gates to the university, Mark saw a few people he knew and said hello to them. We got to the guesthouse inside of the university. Mark had reserved a room for me 2 months earlier. It turned out that these rooms had been taken because some important university officials were visiting. This upset Mark. This didn’t seem to phase me much since I had seen the same thing happen in America at my own university.
They put me in the foreign students’ dorm. To get there we had to leave the university and walk on the streets. The head resident put my suitcases on his bike and helped carry them over. It was a couple of blocks away. If it had been on a weekday, some of the gates would not have been closed and I would have had a shorter walk and wouldn’t have had to leave the school.
Inside the dorm, I had a room to myself with a bed, a TV, a desk, and a wardrobe. Mark was glad to see that I had brought some of his mom’s homemade brownies. While I was unpacking Mark received an emergency phone call. Mark and Ruth left to check on things. After several minutes Ruth and Mark returned. With them they had brought an American – Chris from Chattanooga. Chris had been teaching Math and Science at a prestigious school in Taipei, Taiwan. He had come to Shanghai to see “Ann” who was a sister of his good friend in Taiwan. Ann was away in Beijing, so he called Mark, and acquaintance of Ann to see about finding a room.
I mentioned to Chris that I had some Little Debbie Fudge Rounds Snacks. He was very interesting in them. I could tell that he had not eaten any Little Debbies in a while, so I offered them to him. Little Debbies are made in Collegedale, TN, near Chattanooga.
We sat around talking about things until it was time to go to sleep. Mark told me that he would call me at 9AM if he hadn’t heard from me.
Due to the jet lag, I didn’t have too much trouble getting to sleep. I did say awake for about an hour while I heard some commotion outside. The light from the hall which was shinning in from above my door also kept me awake.