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Published: June 14th 2007
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Jess, Me, Missy and Chloe huddling in the rain
We can't wait to get back to AZ where it doesn't rain! Today was another crappy, rainy day. We went to the Humble Administrator’s Garden this morning and instead of walking around, a few of us headed straight to a tea house for tea.
At the tea house we had the most amazing tea yet. It was a jasmine tea which came in a ball which sat on the bottom of the glass and when hot water was poured on it, it opened up and a flower was on the inside! It was so tasty and pretty and we all just relaxed and watched the flowers in our tea until it was time to leave.
After the garden we went to an American buffet lunch…mmm…where Sean deiced to test the Chinese penny. The penny…or whatever it’s called…is made of a metal so light that it doesn’t feel like it is even in your hand. Chloe said that it probably floats in water and Sean said no way so he dropped it into his sprite…it sunk. Stubborn, Chloe said that she was sure it would float in water and that his sprite had a different chemical makeup and water and that she was still right. Wanting to prove her wrong, Sean
took my water and dropped the penny it in! What the hell! I wasn’t even done yet! But I did get entertainment out of this whole ordeal so I guess it was worth it.
Afterwards, we went to the silk factory to learn how silk was made. I was pretty grossed out to see the entire process of the caterpillars eating, going into a cocoon, then the machines unwinding the cocoon by a single strands and everything! After messing around in the silk shop for about and hour, I was over it and feel asleep on the bus.
We drove to our new hotel in Shanghai where we checked in and then decided to take the new Shanghai train that is well-known around the world for its amazing technology. The train goes to and from the airport during the day at 400 km/h and 301 km/h in the evening. Excited we all got on the train and messed around for the short 10 minute ride. At one point I looked out the window to my right and only saw the sky and to the left was just the ground!! We were banked and it didn’t even feel like
Flower Tea
This was the most amazing tea in the world! it. Everything was going by so fast but I didn’t even feel like I was moving at all. Cool.
After the train ride, I went to the black market with Fei, Randy, Chloe and Jake. We were on the streets and we were brought house to house, down dark alleys, looking at all these knock off bags and such! It was soo creepy that I seriously felt like I was in a bad movie and it was the point in which they took the Americans down a back ally to kill them!
After visiting a few a I got used to it and then we went to the last one. Jake was looking for a sward and so the woman who had been bringing us around brought us to this family’s home! They were about to go to sleep but they let us up anyway.
We walked through this small corridor and up this tiny staircase to a little room that was no bigger then 10 ft. by 10 ft. This was the family’s entire apartment. Their bed was just a wooden board with a sheet over it and they had a small table with a tea
Shanghai Train going 301 km/h
I didn't even feel like we were going this fast! pot. It was a family of a mom, dad, and a little boy and they were all so thin with sunken eyes. My heart instantly sunk and I felt so sorry for the family. They had nothing and everything that was their own was in this small little room. Honestly, this room was the size of my bathroom in my apartment, not much bigger then my laundry room. We all knew we had to buy something and at one point the mom brought out this long, ancient scroll painting that must have been a good 20ft long. It had belonged to her great grandfather and she was selling it to us. The whole situation got to all of our hearts and Jake bought it for the second price they offered; we felt bad about negotiating.
After this we were all too down to do any more shopping and we came back to the hotel. I never would have believed this is how the people lived unless I saw this with my own eyes. It really made me realize how bad things were in China. Wow.
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