On the morning of Friday, April 30th I embarked on a 10-day journey across Southern China for my Spring Break. That Friday morning I was running late as per usual, and after finally catching a cab near my apartment, we ran into a major traffic jam. Not only was it rush hour, but it was also the Friday before the National Labor Day, and the roads were packed. Luckily I had given myself one hour of leeway time. However, my cab driver attempted to take me to the subway instead, saying that it would be faster, but after realizing that it would actually take longer for me to get the subway, turned around and took me to the train station, thus resulting in an even longer cab ride. I don't think he was trying to scam me, as he was legitimately calling his cab-driver buddies and asking what the shortest routes were. Anyway, I ended up getting to the train station just in time (I arrived 15 minutes before the train left) to catch my train to Shanghai.
When I arrived in Shanghai, I took the subway to Eric's house in the suburbs. He picked me up at the subway station and we went to his house to have lunch with his parents. After that we relaxed, read a little and watched TV, and I helped Eric apply for a summer school program at Boston University. After dinner with his family, Eric and I headed to The Bund just to walk around and enjoy the city and take some pictures. The Bund is the former French Concession area in Shanghai, and it's across the river from the business district where all the skyscrapers are. Needless to say, this is an absolutely beautiful sight to see, especially at night and if you are interested in architecture.
It turned out that that Friday night was the Eve of the opening of the World Expo, something that China has been going crazy about since last year. In case you haven't heard, it's basically this huge event where almost 200 countries have set up little tents like museums and you can go visit every country. "Go see the expo and know the world" is one of this year's mottos. Anyway, basically it was more crowded than it was at Obama's Inauguration, which is saying a lot. A big opening ceremony for the Expo would take place that night. We finally found a place on The Bund to watch the fireworks, but by the time 9:30 rolled around, we realized the fireworks weren't going to start until 10:00. Fearing that if we stayed for the fireworks, we wouldn't be able to make it back to the subway by 11:00 when it closed (and fearing the crowds that would take over the subway at that time) we left early and ended up missing the fireworks. It was still really fun and incredibly beautiful to see the city lit up on the other side of the river.
Anyway, the next morning we got up at 6:00 am, had a delicious breakfast of homemade dumplings, and headed over to Jinshan to see Pingping, her husband Roger and her family. That afternoon we went to Pingping's cousin's wedding, which was awesome, beautiful and interesting, as is everything I encounter in China. The wedding first consisted of a huge banquet lunch, with more food than anyone could eat and plates piled high on the huge lazy Susan. The bride and groom participated in a quite a few Western traditions, including wearing a white dress and exchanging rings in the midst of a shower of bubbles. They also engage in a special ceremony where the bride and groom can officially call their mothers and fathers-in-law "Mom" and "Dad." The bride changed her dress 3 times in one afternoon, and they set off fireworks while the bride and groom engaged in what I felt was a rather inappropriately passionate kiss. Afterward the bride called all the non-married people up on stage and so, of course, Eric and Pingping made me go up there against my will. And of course I had to be the one that caught the bouquet. Super embarrassing since everyone was like "umm who is this foreigner and what is she doing at our wedding?"
Anyway, it was pretty funny because a bunch of people thought that I was Eric's girlfriend, so they kept calling me his wife and his dad my father-in-law just to tease him. A little awkward for me, but more embarrassing for him, I think. After lunch, another one of Pingping's cousins took us to the beach. Luckily for me, I can drive a stick shift (thanks mom and dad for teaching me that wonderful skill) so I was able to help drive one of the cars since people were either too drunk, didn't have a driver's license (well I don't have a Chinese driver's license either, come to think of it), or wanted to drive in this fancy sports car that the family had borrowed for the day (aka Roger). So Roger and Pingping's cousin were driving this awesome black BMW convertible in front of us, and even as a foreigner myself, I have never seen anyone get so many stares. We joked that if I had been driving the car, the Chinese people probably would have shit themselves: an amazing black BMW convertible, and a FEMALE FOREIGNER is driving it with a Chinese male in the passenger seat????? It would have been more shocking that the Japanese occupation. But alas, I was behind them driving a normal car so they didn't notice. Anyway, we went to the beach and thanks to Pingping's cousin's crazy connections throughout this small little town, we got to ride on this awesome speed boat for free. And got to cut in front of everyone else in line. It really pays to have connections in China.
After that we went to some horse stables on a different part of the beach and rode horses. This was probably one of the highlights of my entire trip. Basically, the horse stable manager rode next to me the whole time, guiding my horse and making him cantor and run. It was awesome, one of the biggest thrills of my life, though tiring and it hurt a little. After that we went back to the wedding and ate dinner, again consuming enormous amounts of food while the plates piled higher and higher on the lazy Susan. That night Roger's friend Xiaojin from elementary school came and joined us in the festivities. I ended up being the designated driver that night and I was glad to help out, again thankful that I could drive a stick shift. However, due to several drunken mis-communications between me and other people, they ended up getting a taxi home later that night, leaving Eric and me waiting for them longer than we needed to at the bar. Anyway, that night I slept in Pingping's house. The next morning was Sunday and I showered at Pingping's and had a delicious breakfast of noodles. Later, Pingping, Roger and I went to the beach and took an early afternoon stroll by the water. Roger went exploring in the water for a while, while Pingping and I sat and chatted, watching Roger and his silly shenanigans and laughing. Pingping told me when she was little she would come to the beach all the time to catch crabs, but now they've left due to the flood of human population in the area.
Later we had lunch at her cousin's house and we relaxed and drank tea and I chatted with Xiaojin. Afterward, we went to a different horse farm and rode horses again, but this time it wasn't as much fun because the horses were moving really slowly and not willing to run. Plus, it was really hot that day. After that, Eric and I rode the bus back to his house. That night we nearly died laughing looking at all the pictures from that weekend and some hilarious pictures Eric found online. One of the pictures was of a family of 6 riding on a motorcycle, another was of an enormously fat women sitting on a man's lap with the caption underneath saying "I had to cut off my legs because my girlfriend sat on them too much." Don't know if that makes sense in this context, but I'm telling you, the Chinese really do have a great sense of humor. And that night I dreamed in Chinese.
The next day was Monday, May 3rd and Eric's dad took us shopping at the Outlets, but I didn't buy anything because even though the clothes were on sale, the prices were virtually the same as if I would buy them in the States. After a long day of shopping, we had lunch and then Eric took me to the airport to catch my flight to Zhangjiajie. I was sitting by my gate in the airport engrossed in the Lonely Planet when I looked up and realized that my flight boarded 15 minutes earlier and they were on the Last Call. I ran up to the flight attendant and then I realized that I couldn't find my boarding pass. After basically dumping the contents of my bag on the floor of the airport, I finally found it and gave it to an astonished and surprised flight attendant. I gathered my stuff and boarded the plane like a hot mess and began the next leg of my journey to the deep south of China… To be continued…
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