Hangzhou (Gucci? Prada? How many pieces you want?)

Soon after we checked in to our hotel, we walked two or three blocks to West Lake. It's said to be one of the most beautiful lakes in all of China. I did a short on camera spot for Larry's travel show. Finally after dinner most of us called it an early night since we were tired from a flight and a long bus ride and because I was excited for what we were doing the next day.

First in the morning we went to the Zhejiang University of Media and Communications. The campus was huge and was really nice. We got a tour of their facilities like one of twenty-three TV studios and a few control rooms. They also took us to their Animation department and Film department. Then, while the professors met with their department of international exchanges and cooperation, me and my classmates got to meet some of the local students. Everyone was quiet at first, but we started talking after a little while. I met two girls named Tracy and Grace who were really cool. We compared campus' and classes, but we also talked about what we do in our spare time like sports, music, parties, and other things like that. They were pretty cool. After lunch in their campus cafeteria we headed out to our next destination. The Zhejiang Television Station International Channel China studio (damn thats a mouthful). Once we got there we headed straight to a board room that we all sat at. It made me feel like I was at a meeting for a coperate merger or something. Honestly, it was breathtaking. At least thats what I thought, until two of their main talents, William and Angela, took us around the rest of the studio to show us where they work. I thought the studios at the University were incredible, but these studios took the cake. They were just amazing as far as the set design and the state of the art equipment. I was really impressed. After that they treated us to dinner at the on site restaurant, which was also a real treat being that we got to order what ever we wanted off th menu after having our food predetermined by the tour. We sat with one of the channel's advisors, Jack, who happened to originally be from Massachusettes. He had some very interesting stories about what it was like to be and American living in China for the past nine years. He was really chill. After that we said our goodbyes and headed back to the hotel so we could rest up for the upcoming evening, Karaoke! It was so much fun. It was different from what you see around here in the states. We got a private room just for us to party in which I thought was awesome because you didn't have to worry about making a fool out o yourself in front of strangers (just my professors and the friends I've made on the tour). It was probably one of my favorite nights in China.

After sleeping in, me and a few friends went walking around the city one last time before it was time to head to Shanghai. We found a sort of locals only market that was really cool from an artsy scenery perspective. But we started to get the feeling we were unwanted so we headed out of the pretty quickly. Then it was finally on to our last city, Shanghai. I was filled with excitment, but also dead tired.

Xi'an (Rolex? Bag? DVD?)

Immediately after we landed in Xi'an, we headed over to the museum where we saw replicas of ancient relics that had been found in the city many years ago. It was pretty interesting. I especially liked the exhibit about evolution (since I kind of resemble a caveman). But after that it was time for the real deal. We headed over to the Terre Cotta Warrior Musuem, which is the actual site where the clay soldiers were found. They had been well preserved and a lot of them were found completely in tact. Altho their were some that archieologists were putting back together. We also watched an "iMax" movie on the origin of the Terre Cotta Warriors which was interesting and informative but very poorly produced. It wasn't even a real iMax movie. It was just a room shaped in a circle with screens going completely around it. The idea was nice but the film was too bad to make the 360 degree expierience any good. All in all, the museum itself was alot of fun. That night we went to a sort of alley way that had a bunch of bars to go to. That was alot of fun. Some of the girls convinced the people that worked there to let her play her iPod, so it was nice to hear some music from home. We didn't stay out too long, (although we stayed later than expected), since we had to fly to Shanghai and get on a bus to Hangzhou the next day.

Beijing (Helllo, Postcard?)

After an incredibly long and draining flight from Washington D.C., we finally arrived in Beijing! We met our tour guide Daniel, who I could tell right form the beginning was going to be one animated character. While on the bus from the airport we saw quite a few interesting buildings, like the Marriott, and the twin LG towers. Our hotel was really nice. After dropping off our luggage and resting up for a little while, we went to our first authentic Chinese restaurant for dinner. To all of our surprise, our table had a big glass disc in the center of it that spun around. I really didn't know what it was there for until they finally brought the food out. It so you don't have to pass the food around the table. Just spin the disc until it gets to the person who wants the dish. Another thing that surprised me was that the food wasn't that bad at all(since I'm a very picky eater). After that we went walking around a local area that had a bunch of malls and one street market that had some weird food like seahorse and scorpion kabobs.

The next day we went to the Forbidden City which is in the center of Beijing. It was huge. It was actually an emperor's palace with lots of gates and rooms (9,999 rooms to be exact). The whole place is painted in red and gold since it means prosperity and good fortune. Aside from learning about the history of China, we also learned about the people, like how they don't have a concept of personal space. When I was trying to get a picture of the Emperor's Throne room, I was getting shoved around like I was at an underground rock show. Unfortunately I didn't get the picture. After that we went to the Summer Palace, which is, you guessed it, where the emperor and empress spent their summer. It was really nice. We walked along the waterfront and saw some really cool temples and other buildings. Once that was all said and done, we went to dinner and afterward, Larry took us to a great bar spot. Their were a ton of people outside trying to get us to go to their bar, until we finally went into a place called "Sex and Da City". Turns out it was actually a strip club, but the stripping didn't start until 9 and was only upstairs. Either way, we left after one or two drinks and went on to the next bar.

The following day, we headed out to the Great Wall. You really can't grasp how big that thing is until you actually get on it. And I didn't think it was going to be such a difficult task to walk up it. Oh wait, did I say walk? I meant climb! It was like going up a 100 degree angle. But that didn't stop me from getting to the top. Once we were there, it was really windy, and cold. Much colder than it was where the bus dropped us off. But the view from up there was incredible. Once we were done climbing down the wall, we went to a tea house to help us relax, where we got to try a bunch of different types of teas. That was pretty cool. And after that we went to the ladies favorite spot on the tour, the Silk Market. A great place to buy bootleg clothes, electronics, and accessories. The best part about it was that you could bargain over the price of anything. Also, the sales clerks were ruthless. Every booth I passed I was asked things like, "Hey handsome guy, you need suit?" "Hello You like vest?" "Hello sir, you want jeans? Calvin Klein. Levis." It was one hell of an expierience. But not quite as interesting as the wreckless rick-shaw ride we took after that through a chinese neighborhood. We stopped at someone's home and he explained to us what it was like for him to live there, which I thought was pretty cool. Then we had dinner and after that, it was time to hit the night life. And what kind of things do you do at night in Beijing? Why a Salsa Club of course! Honestly not really what I had in mind as far as going clubbing in Beijing, but it was alot of fun. Finally on our last day in Beijing, we went ot the Zoo which was nice, except that all the animals looked really sad. So aside from seeing some gorgeous creatures, it was kind of a downer. After that we went to the Temple of Heaven which was also an architechtural masterpiece. It also had a long garden connected to it which was really nice after a long day of walking since it smelled very fresh, and not like smog. After that we had dinner and prepared to get on a plane to Xi'an the next day.