Shanghai, Yangzhou, Tea Factory, West Lake, Massage, Hot Pot

This morning we arrived in Shanghai, once we got settled into our hotel we hopped into a highspeed train to Hangzhou for the day.  We stopped at a hostel for a yummy lunch of pizza and played with the three week old puppies who had been born at the hostel from the hostels dog Sonny.  So cute!  My friend Jeffrey and I played Uno (and I kicked his ass for the record).  Then we all rented a bike and took a beautiful bike ride through Hangzhou to a tea factory, because (I think) Hangzhou is the tea capital of China.  I picked out two teas to try and bought two packets of each.  One I read about at the museum called Baihao Yizhen that has a slight apricot flavor.  And the other Jasmine tea (Mary's favorite) so good!  We got back on the bikes and rode in the hot sun to the West Lake.  We took a boat ride out on the lake.  The veiw from my bike was incredible, so green.  After our bikes were returned we ended our day trip and returned to Shanghai.  Next we got massages.  This was very different from what we are used to in the U.S.  All the girls got full body massages, in the same room together, over these pink pajama-like suits they gave us.  And tonight we had my favorite meal in China so far, Hot Pot.

Summer Palace and the 798 Art Zone

Today we went to the Summer Palace - this is where the emperor would live during the summer months.  Basically his lake house, it is a palace built on a man-made lake.  I am again amazed by the Chinese architecture and the detail incorporated into their buildings.  There is a long outdoor walkway/hall-type thing leading to the palace with more than 4000 paintings on the ceilings and walls, each different.  Some are of Chinese landscapes and some are of traditional Chinese stories.
Next we went to the 798 Art Zone and saw all kinds of modern art - from sculptures, to paintings, to street art.
Tonight we are on an overnight bullet train to Shanghai.

Leaving Thailand heading to Laos

My posts are going to be a bit out of order and very delayed as I post for the rest of my time in Asia.  However I am going to continue to start each entry with "Today, I did this and that" as I wrote it for that day.  But today I am actually now leaving Thailand going to Laos.

Why I have not been posting often:

While I was in China Blogger was blocked, along with Facebook, Youtube, and many other websites.  The Chinese government blocks these sites in attempt to control the media, the government also owns all newspapers and televised news throughout the country (This excludes Hong Kong).  A week ago I arrived at the Elephant Conservation Center, Mahout and Elephant Training Center in Lampang, Thailand with no wifi.  Tomorrow I leave this hotel and will most likely not have internet access for the next three weeks.   I will be in Thailand for another several days and then Loas for a few weeks. When I get home I will be sure to post all about my travels.  I cannot wait to share the photos I have with these amazing animals.

The Great Wall of China and Karioke at the Beijing Olympic Center

Today I saw the Great Wall of China.  It was literally breath taking.  I wassch a wuss when it came to climbing the steep steps of this really GREAT wall.  You know when you see those paintings of China with the mountain peeking out from the top top of the clouds?  That is exactly what I saw from the Great Wall.  And again, my camera cannot show how incredible the veiw really was.  I will include some photos of the wall and myself and friends on the wall.
I'll also post a photo of Mary and I heading down on the lifts from the Great Wall.  She is from China and speaks fluent Manderin, English and Korean.  Her favorite band is Korean and Korea (South Korea) is her favorite place.  I hope to meet her there for a concert in the winter this year.
Tonight I put on my new blue wig and we took the subway to the Beijimg Olympic Stadium where the 2008 Olymics Games were hosted.  It looks incredible at night when everything is lit up.
When we were about to head out we heard karioke.  And of course we did not know the songs becuase they were all Chinese songs, but us four girls, Katie, Sarah, Jill and I waited in line and tried our best to sing Fergilicious at the Beijing Olympic Statuim.  We were terrible but drew quite a large crowd and had a great time.  I mean how many people get to say the did karioke to Fergilicious in Beijing at the Olymipic Stadium!   If any of the videos end up on YouTube,  I will be sure to share the link.

Tiananmen Square, The Forbidden City, and Peking duck in China's capital city

Today we saw so much of China’s Capital city.  We took the Beijing subway system that carries 8 million people each day to Tiananmen Square.  Tiananmen Square is the largest city square in China and third largest in the world.  (I will post a photo of Alon, my new friend from Switzerland, and I.)  While we were there we were warned that many Chinese would ask to take photos with us because we might be the first Americans or even forigners they have ever seen. (I have many photos with strangers, and even more have photos of me on their phones) but we were also warned not to take photos of the Chinese soldiers in green.  While we were walking around the square we saw soldiers searching through a man's bag.  Somebody had tried to take a photo of this and was immediately approached.  This was a huge culture shock to some in our group
After seeing Tiananmen Square we walked through the Forbidden City.  It truly is beautiful, I won't even bother to post more than a few of the photos I took because they cannot do the architecture, colors, and size of this palace justice.  But I will include one of our group.
While at the Forbidden City I was asked to take many photos with people, not only Chinese people but many Egyptian people aswell.  I snapped a few photos from my point of veiw as they took turns taking photos with me and amazing over the fact I am from California. I'll post a few that I got on my camera.
After seeing so much we all tried the most famous dish of the city, Peking Duck (except the vegetarians).  I was suprised I did not like it after the yummy food we had the night before.  But, maybe it had to do with the fact he carved  the duck right in front of us. 
After lunch we went to a shopping mall and started bargaining.   I bought a fake Louis Vitton Speedy, fake Channel clutch, a blue wig, and some jade earings for about 130 American dollars.  The Chinese dollar or RNB, Yuan or "Qui" (probably not spelling that correctly) is about 6 or 7 RNB to one american dollar.  And everythong is cheaper here in China.
After a long day we relaxed amd watched an acrobatics show each performance was more beautiful and exciting than the next.  No photos or videos I took came out so I will try to post a link to some videos.