it’s almost been a month since i’ve been away from new york city, and so much has happened since then.
after spending merely three days in hong kong, the sixty students attending syracuse university’s study abroad proram packed their bags again to only find themselves back at the hong kong international airport, checking into china eastern airline (listed as one of the top most dangerous airlines to fly!) to head to Xi’an, China. we were in for an experience of a life time.
at xi’an, we were greeted with emotionaless faces of chinese guards and piles of snow. despite our initial impression, xi’an turned out to be my favorite city among the three in our traveling seminar. why? i found xi’an to be closest to china. shanghai is extremely modern and upscale compared to xi’an, and let’s not forget the host city of this years olympics. as a country ready to show the world that they are no longer backwards or behind in modern technology, the chinese government is quickly covering historical beijing with skyscrappers and highways. if theres anything i learned about beijing, is that the chinese love big buildings with lots of lights; most everything is a showcase for them.
going back to xi’an: as a chinese history major, i was really excited to see the terracotta soldiers at the first emperor’s tomb (shi huangdi of the qin dynasty). perhaps i was already jaded by
stories and pictures from textbooks and professors because what ended up really impressing me was the Great Mosque of Xi’an. it was my first time meeting chinese muslims! we were able to communicate through mandarin. here i have to pause and just say that it must have been one of the best decisions in my life to dedicate three & a half years to the “common language” (putong hua); after all, it’s the universal language in china. if i had never taken mandarin, i would not have been able to make a connection with the locals… and how regretful would i have felt….
anyway. back to chinese muslims. professor tang says they could very well be minorities from xinjiang, a province northwest in China. although we communicated through language, and even though we’re technically from the same roots… he looked different from me; his eyes were light brown.. his skin was so many shades darker… before leaving, he blessed us and said Allah is watching us!
so that was xi’an. beijing. well. you already know how i feel about beijing. my favorite part, though, was visiting the temple of heaven
. i remember touring beijing with my family a few years ago, and i was so touched by the forbidden city. this time around, i spent more time reconnecting with my roots at the temple of heaven, probably not so much for its historical importance (emperors and other royalties came for ceremones) but what it is now. when we arrived, we saw lots and lots of senior citizens dancing, singing, playing hacky sack, tai qi, etc.. maybe it hit me personally because i miss my grandma so much. granted, i’ve never ever seen her play hacky sack or do tai qi, she loved to sing and dance. watching the senior citizens gather together for the sake of being together; because they are different from the rest of the population; because they continue to seek meaning in their life…. it just brings things into a new perspective. i know my grandma wouldve had fun there.
shanghai — can i just say, for the record: for the first time in 30 years, shanghai experienced their heaviest snow fall, resulting in ME missing THE BUND? okay just wanted to let that out. If you don’t know what The Bund is in Shanghai, here. eat your heart out…….. i am……
it was as if we did not have time for shanghai. we had 3 lectures a day, and randomly had site visits during the afternoon. what shan
ghai was really amazing for was their nightlife scene. entertainment & food = so cheap in shanghai. i mean.. even kanye’s kareokeeing (see picture to the left) but clothing? muy expensive-o.
(ps: ok antoine, i was kidding, but you know you like it when people call you kanye! thats why you wore the shades to the club the following night!)
so now we’re back in Hong Kong and school started this week. It’s been okay so far. More updates to come, I promise! Until then……
check out more pictures on my new flickr page :)
