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Published: December 6th 2009
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Summer Palace, Beijing
This image was drew by an old man demonstrating Chinese calligraphy with water A person who had a same flight with me to Beijing told me that, “China is an interesting place to know” when he knew I was going to have a journey by myself in this country. This saying made me curious.
The heat in Beijing welcomed me right after I stepped out from the airplane. Perhaps, the temperature reached 300C.
My first impression in this trip was many Chinese could not speak English. I went through tough times to explain to a taxi driver about the hotel address. During the days in Beijing, I totally relied on the help of the hotel servers. The communication had to make with pencil and papers. I had to ask the servers to write on the paper my sayings in Chinese, I would then use this paper to communicate with the people I met.
Quite tired but very interesting. Because of the language difference, I feel the friendliness and closeness from the Beijing people. Although we do not understand each other’s language, they willingly helped me if I needed. A girl left all of her works just to catch a taxi for me to go to the Summer Palace. Or the workers
in the shopping center tried their best to show me my wanted place.
I went to the Great Wall, enjoyed Beijing Opera performance, and visited the Bird Nest Stadium. Beijing post-Olympic looked new and more friendly to the youth. Banners, posters for the Olympics carried youthful colors were seen everywhere - in shopping centers, subway stations, playing grounds and tourist locations.
The volunteers who instructed the tourists were friendly and fluent teens. There were more fast food restaurants. Restaurants are managed orderly and clean. In my opinion, Beijing looked more modern and energetic than what I thought.
After a trip to Beijing, I visited Shanghai and was welcome by my old friends here and was asked to stay with them. My friends worked for a foreign company. They started their work at 9 a.m. and the works seemed never end until 8p.m.
Subways in Shanghai were rarely easy. Especially in rush hours, Shanghai subways were not much different from Shinkansen in Tokyo: people seemed to be packed into the boxes.
The time I came to Shanghai was also the time when the city appealed its people to follow modern and civilization life. The banner like
“Better City, Better Live” was youthfully decorated and seen on main roads. That is also the appealing for the Shanghai Expo 2010.
On Nanjing commercial road, boards which appealed people to have good behaves were located along a corner of the street. Some people stopped by to read. This is a good way to educate people’s understand about social behaviors.
At intersections, Shanghai also has social officers whose task is to keep the traffic in order. These officers had gloves and worn bright color suits. Their attitudes toward the pedestrians were kind and polite.
Once time I was intended to pass the street will the red light was still on. My friend stopped me and politely requested me to follow the traffic laws here. On the advertisement add showed on the big screen at Nanjing road, they also valued those who remind people to follow traffic laws. Watching those adds, I felt shameful and appreciate my friend’s action.
Taxis in Shanghai were seen everywhere. The first kilometer in rush hour cost about 14 yuan (about 2 dollars), normally it cost 11 yuan (1.5 dollars). After a trip, the driver would hand the customer a bill. As
Wangfujing, Beijing
Wangfujing Road is occupied by shop and foods. This is one of the most famous my friend’s advice, I should keep the bill in case that I forgot my personal belongings, or I could sue the driver if he overcharged me.
I enjoyed coffee at a Starbuck at a corner called Madang Road. This area was well-known to tourists because there was a building marked a birth of Chinese Communist Party. This area is constructed with European-look, very alike a tiny Paris shopping location.
The last day in Shanghai, I followed my friend to buy home appliance in Ikea. The price here was equivalent with price in U.S. A candle might cost about $5 and a blanket set might cost over $100. The place was crowded and the customers had to bring their own shopping bags. China prohibited using of plastic bag and this regulation was follow strictly.
I learned a lot in this trip. I cannot believe that I, a non-Chinese speaker, was able to travel alone in China yet could visit so many places.
I knew an American and two Finland girls who also came to China by themselves. All of us felt hard in communication but all agreed that China tourism extremely improved
I will go back
to China again. A huge country, massive population and rich culture do not make me feel satisfied enough if I just visit it two times. The trip ended, left me with many memories. The friendliness of the local people is the main element that made my trip unforgettable.
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