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Published: October 7th 2012
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My mom is literally going to kill me when she reads this blog. But give me about five seconds to explain myself.
These past ten days have gone by in a blur. Apparently this past week contained two really big Chinese holidays so everyone in China had the entire week off. We all went off in different directions, with two of my friends and I choosing to go to Chengdu for a couple of days before flying up to Beijing to visit a friend.
Chengdu is famous for one reason--panda bears. It's home to the Chinese Research Base of Giant Panda Bears aka the cutest things on the planet (next to polar bears of course). Anyways, for about a million dollars, you can hold a panda bear, but I skyped my mom right before I went asking her if I should do it and she said no. And Mom, I fully intended on not holding a panda bear, really. I brought just enough money for a taxi ride both ways and admission to the research center to make sure I couldn't hold a panda bear. But when I got there, all the pandas just started looking at me with
their cute panda eyes and they were all yelling "Chelsea, hold us" so I broke down and held a panda bear cub. Oops.
Anyways, I guess I should start from the beginning. We left last Thursday night for Chengdu, our first stop. We were greeted by a Chinese woman holding a sign for us. When we approached her, she started talking in rapid Chinese. There were a number of problems with this. Number 1, the three of us (Rob, Thea, and I) speak very little Chinese. Rob and Thea are in Chinese 100 and I am in 101, thus our combined Chinese level is basically 0. Number 2, I could not understand her thick accent. After a lot of confusion, we eventually got to the hostel around 3 AM and thus spent most of morning asleep. When we finally did pull ourselves out of bed, we awoke to a bustling city, with the population at a cool 15 million people. The three of us explored the downtown area, before accidentally stumbling upon a Tex Mex place. While not the best Mexican food in the world, it tasted like the best thing ever since I have had Mexican food withdrawals
this past month and a half in China.
As we were walking back from dinner with full stomachs, we saw a woman running full speed in our direction, followed by a policeman. The policeman, much faster than the woman, caught up to her, and choking her he tackled her to the ground and started to beat her up. It was heartbreaking to watch it, but there was not much we could do so we moved on. We had only walked a few steps when we witnessed a couple of children going to the bathroom on the side of the street together. It would have been cute except for it was not in any way cute. Turns out it is very popular for kids up to about 4 or 5 to just not have a butt flap in their pants so they can go to the bathroom at any time in the middle of the street. Some adults also do this. Yuck.
By the time we made it back to the hostel, we were exhausted again. Friday was a big holiday and we found the hostel alive with all of the guests. We joined in the festivities and ended
up meeting a lot of foreigners and locals. The hostel was probably one of my biggest highlights of our trip. We met people from all over Europe and even some from Australia.
Saturday was panda day. Panda bears are really lazy--they basically just sleep all day, except for when they are eating from 8-10 AM. Apparently part of their decline in numbers is due to the fact that they are too lazy to reproduce, so the breeding center in Chengdu is helping them along. Anyways, we got to the research center at the crack of dawn to see millions of cute panda bears munching on their bamboo breakfast. It was the cutest thing I've ever seen, which is why I decided I just had to hold one. While standing in line, I met a South African and an Australian, who both started telling me how awesome their countries are. I can't wait to go! Our conversation was interrupted when it was my turn to hold the panda cub. You had to wear a blue smock and gloves and covers on your shoes so you wouldn't give the panda a disease. However, I've had all my shots and I couldn't resist giving the panda bear a kiss and a bear hug (excuse the pun), which I think freaked the Chinese people out. But it was so cute
Anyways, I think it might be time to start on my Chinese homework that I was supposed to do these past ten days, but there will be of course more updates on my trip soon!
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yu
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burrito
nice blg,why dont u just google mex food shanghai,i believe there must be some real burrito in shanghai,coz shanghai is international,isnt it?