Thoughts on the Final Days in Beijing

My last few days in Beijing actually were really great! I wasn't expecting to have much fun because I was so sick of being in China, but I had a good time. Three Belgians from the orchestra were also staying, so I pretended to be Belgian for a few days. :) We stayed in the same hotel in Beijing that we had been in before, so we split up into two rooms. It was so cheap because we got the orchestra rate - only 420 yuan ($62) for all three nights, including breakfast! The first day, I was supposed to meet my friend who lives in Beijing in the afternoon. She got food poisoning, though, so she had to cancel. Instead, I had a nice relaxing day in the hotel, and I did a bit of exploring in the area around it as well. That night I went to a German bar with two of my friends. The waitresses were wearing traditional German clothing and they had imported beer and everything! They said the food tasted like real German food as well, but I just had juice.

On Sunday, I visited the Olympic village with one of my friends. It was really boring - it was -5º C that day and everything was closed so we just walked around outside and froze to death. Surprisingly, they had some really funny English mistakes on the signs there (surprisingly, because I would have thought they'd have someone good at English check all the signs for such a big event). After an afternoon with a different friend at the Silk Market (where numerous vendors spoke to me in Spanish because apparently I look Spanish(?!?!?!?)), we met the Chinese violinist from the tour for a great dinner. Everyone said before I went on the tour that American Chinese food is really different from real Chinese food, but I didn't realize how much until I got Chinese food with a real Chinese person in China. My favorite food were these dumplings filled with beef soup. YUM! :D Afterwards, we went to see Avatar (the movie) in 3D. It was exciting for me because it was the first time I'd been to a movie theater outside the US. Unfortunately, that night I got sick again. It was just like the other night, when everyone else who ate the same food was fine. How strange.

The next day we again met our Chinese friend to go to the Summer Palace. A Brazilian violinist from the came too. She stayed in Beijing a few extra days to visit friends from when she lived here before. The palace was really nice but way way way too cold. We walked across the huge lake, which was pretty cool, and also saw some people pulling dead fish out of the lake. I don't know if they were going to eat them or what. We ended up at a super-fancy 5-star hotel for dinner. Our Chinese friend ordered the most interesting dishes on the menu, and it was probably the best meal I've ever had. I'm really picky about food, but I tried foie gras for the first time, and it wasn't bad! We were all exhausted from a few long days and the cold weather, so we went back to the hotel to pack. The next day we went to the airport. Door to door, my travel time was 25 hours, and I only could sleep about 2 hours on the plane. -.- Boo. The flights were OK, though. I managed to make all my connecting flights even though I only had 1 hour in Tokyo and 1 1/2 in New York, and I had to go through customs and re-check my baggage in New York as well.

Altogether, I had a great experience in China. While I wasn't happy all the time on the trip, it was an eye-opening experience, and I felt like I really got to know China as a country, and not the superficial way most tourists do. I learned a lot about myself as well, I think. Maybe one day I'll return to China. I think with things changing the way they are, even in a few years it will be completely different!

Back Home and Exhausted!

Safely back in Boston. Travel time: 25 hours door to door. The longest day of my life. I'll update with what I did on my free time the last few days in Beijing later.

Final Days of the Tour - Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Beijing (Days 27-32)

Hello from Beijing for the second time! We've had a whirlwind past few days to close out the tour, and now I'm preparing to begin my time alone in the city.
As I said previously, we had a number of free days in Guangzhou, due to concerts that were canceled at the last minute by the concert presenters. My friends and I, like most orchestra members, spent this time shopping. I bought a new watch, a very nice small suitcase, and
some gifts for friends and relatives.
Then we traveled by bus to Shenzhen, a boom city created by the opening of Hong Kong around 15 years ago, according to my roommate. We stayed in a suburb of the city, where I had my first ever massage, which cost 90 yuan for 90 minutes - about 13 dollars. Our concert there was actually really good, in my opinion the best of the whole tour, which was a nice way to end things. Afterwards, of course, there was a huge party.
This morning we flew here to Beijing, where we are staying just outside the city. The tour officially ends on Saturday. Tomorrow we have a free day in the city. However, I will not depart until January 12. One of my friends from high school is studying abroad in Beijing right now, so I'm making plans to meet her on Saturday. The rest of the time I plan on doing some shopping and pampering myself a bit with all the cheap stuff here. Because I've been borrowing friends' computers throughout the tour to check my email and post on my blog, I don't know whether I'll be able to update again before I leave, but wish me luck on my Chinese adventures, and I'll post when I'm safely back home in Boston!