Wuhan

I had enough of Shanghai's lights and decided to leave to somewhere more peaceful. My destination was Wuhan in Hubei province about 12 hours to the middle part of China. It was the highlight of my trip and Wuhan felt so peaceful after the metropolitans (with its population of "only" 8 million people). I stayed with my dear friend Xu and her mom who took so good care of me with only a few hours warning. We saw the highlights of Wuhan in addition to eating lots of traditional Hubei food - we had to try as many courses as possible! - and water parachuting. I also met Peizhou who showed me around his campus and spoiled me by taking me to a chinese sports massage (which was no doubt the best massage I've ever had).

Bad luck - again!

Well, everything sounded too good, like I could ever avoid problems anyway. I didn't have a flight back home and tought it would be an easy job from China. However, I ended up hearing that there were no evn close to reasonably priced flights back home. I was calling everywhere, but for some reason all the flights were packed. When I finally found one and went to the agency to pick it, the travel agent had accidentally deleted my reservation. I was leaving to another city and begged him to hurry for not to miss the train. Finally, he arranged me another flight and I rushed to the train train station just to be there 3 (three!!) minutes late and missed the train I had paid for. Worse come to worse, all the train tickes for the later trains were sold out. Is someone cursing me or what?!

Shanghai

After the culture and history overdose in Beijing I took the train to Shanghai to relax and enjoy city life. I took the time to spoil myelf after the "tough" travelling by getting a manicure, pedicure, massage, facial and what not. I met some friends and we weaded to a spa and waterpark, did some shopping around the city and walked by the river. Thanks to Remy I met a lot of great people and they took me to Shanghai nightlife including one of my new favourite bars where girls enjoy free drinks, people dance on the bar and bartenders pour Tequila right into your mouth ;)

Things about China

Because of the one child policy, people really seem to love kids and take good care of them. Otherwise so serious adults are really playful with kids and also take them everywhere. Especially fathers are cute when they go out with their children.

Chinese have an explosive temper. People get furious everywhere, they shout, fight and insult. For example today I witnessed a subway fight when people tried to get in and out at the same time. Instead of waiting their turn they started to push eachother on the ground despite the fact that there was an old lady, a child (and me) in the middle.

I'm impressed to see how equal women and men are here. Women are working on very masculine fields such as officers, bus and taxi drivers, construcion etc. They don't pamper their husbands and are able to take care of themselves. Hopefully Chinas strong women will bring the country to a new era.

I'm also relieved that style does not count here. Unlike in many countries, especially in Asia, looks dont determine your value as a person here. Men walk around in boxers and without shirts - even in restaurants! As a woman I can finally leave my makeup and high heels home after Korea, where you are in a constant modelling contest.

The people from the countryside are really nice and China has an awesome nature (based on what I saw from train windows...). A lot of things are improving and it's generally really safe and nice to travel even though you would be alone and a girl.

Trip to the Great Wall

After seeing all the compulsory sights in Beijing (including Temple of Heaven, Forbiiden City and eating Beijing roasted duck) we decided to follow Maos opinion that a man who hasn't climbed the Great Wall is not a real man, and booked a trip to a beautiful sight at the wall. It sounded to be great value: good price and a ten hour trip to the wall. There was only one condition, we should visit one shop for 40 min. However, it turned out that we went to several different tourist shops and every time the tourguide made us lie that we are not students because they get paid for bringing customers there and students are not willing to buy anyway. In each shop we had to spend at least 40 min and even the promises lunch was in a jade carving factory. We had booked the trip to a pretty nice scenery at the wall but all of the sudden the travel guide got information that there was an "accident" on the road that lead to that place. Instead, he made us sign a paper that we would go to another sigh, which surprisingly was a lot closer to Beijing that the intended one. We made him promise that we would not have to go to a single shop anymore and finally reached the wall. For the first time in my life I understood the movie Rocky when we finally survived the incredibly steep stairs leading to the top of the wall. However, we did not have too much time to enjoy the beautiful view because -oh, he forgot to tell- we still had a silk and a tea shop to visit! As we started complaining the tour guide told us that we were the most horrible group he ever guided, not at all understanding that spending 1,5h from our 10h trip was not exactly what we wanted to pay for. The Great Wall was great and definitely worth seeing but avoid the tours and take a taxi instead to save your money, time and nerves instead.