I decided to go to China because it seemed like it would be an interesting place, different not only because of its government, but also because it is an ancient civilization. I was originally going to go alone, practice some Mandarin (that is the main language in China), and have a crazy adventure. As it turned out, I met up with two friends, Mike and Kishan. Mike is fluent in Mandarin, and Kishan speaks as much as I do, which is very little (I took six lessons).

I flew into Hong Kong, thanks to Mike giving me 25,000 frequent flyer miles. He even made the travel arrangements for me. I usually like to be last off the plane, as I have figured out that this helps me avoid having to stand for minutes in an awkward position. But for some reason I was not dead last in making my exit this time. I was not pushy and let some people pass, so the stewardess told me that I wouldn’t hack it in China.

The flight of 15 hours (not including the first one-hour flight plus the holdover) didn’t affect me much as I slept for most of it. I stayed up the entire night before, not because I had to, but rather to get myself acclimated. I had brought only a regular sized backpack so I did not have to pack much. I was told that I needed to bring toilet paper, but as it turned out that was unnecessary since it was easy to get. It took up a quarter of my packing space. The toilet paper in China has an elastic quality to it, and I preferred American toilet paper, so bringing it wasn’t in vain.

At the Hong Kong airport, I changed money, got a calling card at the same place, and called Mike’s cell as planned. Mike told me to take the train to the main station where he would meet me. The fast train I took had an electronic board showing the route’s progress. The train traveled at about 100 mph, and the ride was scenic (many mountains). The ride could not have been any smoother. The exit at the main station was not that big, and it was not crowded when I arrived in the early afternoon. This was too easy! Mike and Kishan were there to greet me, and Kishan gave me some leftover Indian food (although he later felt ill from it, I never did).

Mike and Kishan were hungry, so we were off to lunch after hopping in a taxi to the place Mike was staying to drop my things off. Taxis for the entire trip, including Hong Kong, were ridiculously cheap, leaving me wondering how they make a profit. After eating, we did some sightseeing. We took a tourist train to the top of a hill. After walking through a mini-mall with shops and a Madam Tussain museum, we reached the area with nice views. I bought some caramel corn with much less caramel than cracker jacks. We viewed Hong Kong’s NYC-like skyline while eating the cracker jacks.

We then went to a street that goes up a hill and has an escalator that is the world’s longest, I think a mile long, with small breaks for people to get on and off. There is only one escalator, so the direction changes depending on the time of day. The streets along the escalator were interesting and trendy like the Village in NYC. There is even a neighborhood called SoHo.

At night we took a ferry across the water to see the skyline again. We missed a boat as Kishan and Mike’s friend purchased alcohol for the ride. Kishan got me a lemon-vodka drink in a bottle that tastes like lemonade. The next boat was 20 minutes later. The lights were amazing. It looked like a combination of Disney World and Tokyo. The next day, Saturday, I was off to Kunming (a city in southwest China) alone!

Mike had spent nine months studying Chinese there. I wanted to improve my Chinese so I could practice while on this trip, so I met up with his funky teacher, Zhang. The minute I arrived at the student housing where I would stay while in Kunming, I called Zhang. She said that she would meet up with me in ten minutes. An hour later she finally came with her bike and with bags of food. I helped her carry the bags. We then hustled through a market. My eyes were wide open and there was much to see. I saw some pigeons, chickens and many fresh meats, fruits and vegetables. We were on the way to a dinner hosted by one of her students.

Her class had just finished midterms and this was to be a celebration. The walk through the market was a nice introduction to China. While rushing through this market, Zhang was dragging her bike along. She is about 50 years old, so it’s not something you would see in America, the way she moved about quickly in the crowd (with her bike!).

She picked up a chicken and some pastries (which she had me try). She tasted everything before buying. I liked her right away. The students at the dinner were not American but a mix of Japanese, Thai and some other countries. There were 15 dishes for the 15 people there. I made small talk about the Seattle Mariner, Ichiro Suzuki.

I spent most of the next two days with Zhang (Saturday night through Tuesday evening). Not only did she teach me, but she also fed me gourmet lunches that she cooked, invited me to dinners, and provided a nice couch for naps that I needed as a result of the intense studying (the tones and the characters are much to handle in addition to the vocabulary and grammar).

I wandered around the city alone Sunday night. I went to a pond, where there was dancing and singing going on late into the night along something like an esplanade. I walked and walked, trying to remember the turns that I had made (not that many), so that I could find my way back. In the worst case, I would hop into a cab. I had written, in Chinese, the name of the place where I was staying (and that was necessary as my saying it might not be clear enough). I found a place to eat with an English menu and had a feast for $3. I was treated very well; clearly the workers went out of their way for me. I found my way back and was impressed with myself.

On Monday, after a day of learning, I had dinner with Zhang’s husband’s brother’s family. They tried to talk to me, but the questions were difficult to answer, even had they been in English. One lady asked me how many people are in my family. What does that mean? After dinner, I watched a movie with them and fell asleep. Someone put a blanket on me. It was sweet, but it woke me up and I couldn’t fall asleep again. That night Zhang lent me her son’s bike so I could go home easily and return in the morning.

About biking in China--everyone bikes, including young children. If you make eye contact with someone (I read this) it does not mean they are going to let you into their lane. While I survived and didn’t feel nervous while biking, I did have some near misses and even hit someone while trying to squeeze by.

I awoke my first two mornings in Kunming at 5AM, for an unknown reason (it’s 5PM in the states!) and watched the sunrise. So this waking up early worked out well. One day I walked through the university and there were many basketball courts where guys were playing strangely. It seemed that they were not even running, and they shot brick after brick, the way Manute Bol used to shoot three pointers. Then I saw a court where the game looked crisp. Upon closer look, I realized the players were all women. If I go back, I plan to play with the women. I did not pack sneakers, as I did not think I would play sports on this trip, so I didn’t play pickup basketball.

There was nothing crazy about Kunming. It was pretty, happening at night (people just walking around), and not dirty at all. I was already eating food from street vendors despite warnings not to. Not as much spitting took place as I expected in China. I hear it is much worse in the winter, with nose blowing to complement the spitting.

Kishan and Mike arrived in Kunming on Monday night, as planned. On Tuesday morning I biked to Zhang’s house for another lesson. Mike surprised her at lunchtime and brought her a huge Winnie the Pooh teddy bear (she likes teddy bears). She didn’t know Pooh but she liked it. We all went out to lunch for vegetarian food. I like vegetables plenty but Mike ordered all of the vegetarian meat dishes that are made of tofu, not good vegetable dishes. While eating, the people sitting near us overheard Mike and complimented his Chinese, saying that they had never heard it spoken that well by a foreigner. He received many compliments on his Chinese throughout the trip.

There was one other table occupied by an Indian family. Kishan is Indian. It is likely there were no other Indian people in the entire city, which has millions of people. It was awkward. We then ran into them again in the airport when we flew to Beijing (on our way to Haerbin). Mike made conversation with the young man (who was with his parents) and then Kishan took over. The person was a DJ in a Shanghai club and his parents were visiting him.

Zhang tried to pay for the meal when Mike realized what was going on. He dashed for the counter, making a scene. She was holding him, pushing him away, but he was pushing her back, insisting.

After lunch we went to a temple, and Kishan and I were talking to people and introducing ourselves (though Kishan initiated most of the conversation). I forget how his name goes, but I would say Wa Jiaow JiMi. Ji Li de Ji, Mi fan de Mi. This means my name is JiMi. The ji sound means lucky (from the word Ji Li), and the fan sound means rice (from the word Mi Fan). So my name is lucky rice. Zhang made the name for me. Ji and Mi can also have other meanings, which is why this clarification is helpful.

On Wednesday, the three of us, along with Mike’s friend, hired a taxi for the day and set off for the stone forest. Mike’s Chinese friend, Jennifer, mentioned another scenic place. We ended up just going to the place Jennifer suggested. The taxi driver thought that this place was on the way, but apparently did not realize that it was 1.5 hours on a side road - obviously not on the way! It was great though; who cares about a touristy stone forest anyway? On the way, we stopped in the countryside and saw a farming village exactly like you might imagine, right out of The Good Earth. There were farmers laboring hard, manually. It was a nice sunny day, and they would stop every few minutes to take a break from the hard work. Kishan said hi to an old lady who did not return the hello. While most people were nice, certainly not everyone was. We stopped to have lunch and the restaurant had entertainment dancers, male and female. It may have been traditional dancing, I’m not sure. They invited us to dance with them. Kishan went up right away and Mike and I joined later.

I normally do not like day trips to a site/park but this one was fine. It was a cave and a valley. We went canoeing and walked around. Mike and I rowed and competed to see who was stronger, who could get the canoe to move towards his side. I’m not sure who won. To get out of the cave required going up a few hundred steps. There were people with seats that looked like stretchers and Kishan and I took them. The two people carrying me had to stop along the way. At the end I mentioned to Mike that they seemed tired and I wondered why. Reluctantly (at my request), Mike spoke to one of the men regarding this. His response was that he does not drink oil, meaning he is not a machine. I felt stupid and embarrassed. Of course he should be tired. If I ran a mile hard I’d be tired no matter how often I had trained.

That night we went clubbing. First we wanted dinner, but the Chinese don’t have late dinners, so at 9PM places were either closed or empty. We got a late start because Kishan and I were biking around Kunming that evening and got lost. Near the clubs we saw some Michael Jackson-like dancers and sat down to eat near them, but the place only served drinks and then the dancers stopped. We got up and left. After running into a bakery worker who Mike knew (at the bakery), we found a nice place to eat and the workers (maybe five of them) spoke with us the entire time in Chinese. While at dinner a man offered me a shoeshine. I decided to get one and he did a nice job. I gave him a 10 jiao ($1) bill, although the charge was only 2 jiao. He went outside to get me some change but then ran away. A few of the workers ran out and caught him and he came back and apologized. It was a scene.

After a long dinner we went into some clubs. I thought the people danced very well, and it looked like fun. Kishan hit on a girl that was there with her best friend (a guy) but we ended up dancing with her without incident. A girl called Mike over but did not know him and didn’t seem to know what she wanted when Mike walked over to her. We checked out a couple more clubs. I had a shot of beer from someone and ended up swallowing the gum I was chewing. At one club, at a urinal, behind some clear glass where you aim, there were pictures of naked women. We did not stay out very late. I thought the scene was nice, but Kishan and Mike didn’t.

Thursday morning we took off for Haerbin, a city in northeast China. First we went to Beijing, suffered at the airport for a few hours, and caught a late-afternoon flight after some debate about what to do. We were so close to Beijing, and Kishan and I wanted to stay there a few days. But it wasn’t to be, since Mike didn’t want to go. From just outside the airport, we couldn’t see a thing. We thought it was due to pollution, but it turns out it was just hazy from the rainy weather.

That night we arrived in Haerbin and took a taxi to a pretty cobblestone street (it seemed to be the main street) where we expected to find a hotel. Some guy sitting in the back of the taxi taught Kishan and me the hand motions for numbers. They are different from those used in America. That’s the type of thing I find interesting. The first and fifth finger = 6. A gun is 8. Kishan and Mike left me in the taxi while they checked out a hotel for at least 15 minutes! I used the time to go through my phrase book and ask the man in the back questions. Out of the blue, he tells me that I look good at least I’m pretty sure that’s what he said. A couple of people told me that on this trip, and I thought it was funny. Maybe I misunderstand, and they meant something else.

The hotel was OK with them so we were set. As I entered the room I smelled vomit. Not only did Kishan and Mike not mind, but they didn’t even notice. We were planning to rough it, so this was nothing to complain about. During the whole trip (except this night) we stayed in student housing.

The main street in Haerbin was buzzing during the day with so many people. I took pictures of the people walking. It was just a pretty cobblestone street. We flew a kite by the shore and took a boat to an island to see a preserve/zoo of Manchurian tigers. We ate Russian food (Haerbin is close to Russia) for dinner. We had to fight to get more than one menu. After dinner we went to a coffee shop, and Mike chatted it up with his dream-girl. She spoke many languages and knew a lot about all sorts of worldly things. She was engaged, not that it stopped Mike. As Mike went on and on, Kishan and I (not speaking the language) got out of there. We went bowling, on the sixth floor of some building, with an entrance down a dark ally. We got there near midnight, and had some good games. I think I won two out of three and had my best game ever, almost 160! A person that worked there stood with us at all times. It was useful when the pins were not recycled correctly. I taught Kishan how to keep score, and he declared right away that I would never be a good teacher.

Kishan and I spent some time together roaming the streets and saw some dancing going on with a toy that helped a person jump. They were selling it. Both Kishan and I tried it out, and Kishan was particularly good at it. He started dancing like crazy with a girl that worked there and convinced her to come to lunch with us. After lunch, I left them alone and he claims that he kissed her on the cheek when he took her to a virtual reality ride. It was sad that he had to leave her, but we had other places to go.

After a day and half in Haerbin, we took an overnight train to Dalian. Entering the train station, we needed to put our things through an x-ray machine. My fanny pack with my friend’s digital camera was in it and it did not come out. We thought it was stolen and my heart raced, I was so upset. Kishan suggested that I crawl under the big machine. I didn’t understand how it would not have come out, since many big things were going through without a problem. When I crawled in though, I found it!

Once at the train station, Mike realized he had forgotten his camera at the hotel and decided to go back to get it. Kishan and I had to face the prospect of taking the train without him, but he made it back in time. While he was away, we waited and a homeless or very poor and dirty boy grabbed onto my leg and wouldn’t let go. That’s how he begged. I practically had to kick him off, and the kid was so dirty you are afraid of getting a disease. The train was OK. I spoke some Chinese to a kid sitting in our sleeper car. Mike slept in another room but sat with us for much of the night, as the people in his sleeper did not have anything interesting to say. Mike brought food for us, including some tasty fruit with a pit in the middle that I’d never had before, litchi.

In Dalian, we spent some time at a video game parlor, and I played a game where you dance and have to get the steps right. While I danced, Mike hit on some girls who were there with friends that were boys. Kishan was on his own for the daytime. The group of five (boys and girls) ended up showing us the entire city including Wal-Mart. (it’s a big deal there). We saw some sites, and flew a kite for the second time this trip (we also flew one along the water in Haerbin). I think I like flying kites now, surprising to me. Mike got the cute girl’s number at the end.

That night we went out to eat and could not find a place that was OK, even though there were a million places. Finally, we settled on one. An American student joined us--he had met Kishan during the day. He was from someplace in the Midwest, like Missouri, and had never been further than a bordering state before going to China to study. His girlfriend in America was Chinese.

The next day Kishan and I opted for Beijing rather than spending another day in Dalian (it was Monday, and we had only until Saturday before returning to Hong Kong). We were debating going to Shanghai after Beijing so we needed to get to Beijing early in case we decided to see Shanghai later in the week. Mike wanted to stay in Dalian, so Kishan and I took a ferry (17 hours!) without him. We were in a room with bunk beds, and I read for much of the ride. I enjoyed the views of the ocean/sea, whatever it was. I had some deep thoughts. At night it was chilly but beautiful. Some women started speaking with us, and Kishan decided to spend much time with them. Late at night, after Kishan had enough of the woman and returned, we snuck into a room reserved for first class travelers. We were caught, but the guard did not speak English or thought we belonged there, so Kishan continued his journal writing as I read, and the guard left. Then we went to our room and slept. By 9AM we had arrived. We had left around 4PM the previous day! We decided not to spend the morning in Tianjin, and instead took a bus to Beijing,

In Beijing, Kishan and I stayed at Beijing Normal University. We saw the Forbidden City during the first day. A man at the Forbidden City came up to us and led me to a room to show his artwork while Kishan stayed outside. He showed me his artwork and explained that he was doing an exhibition in San Francisco and was trying to raise money for the trip. I liked the paintings. He also told me I could draw such paintings if I studied with him for ten years. I thought to myself, I hope that I can do more than this! After a few minutes, I wanted to leave to make sure that Kishan knew where I was. Someone helped me find him, and then I brought Kishan to see the artwork. First, Kishan asked for, and received, the painter’s business card. Then I showed him the pictures, but he thought they were mediocre. After the man pressured me to buy, Kishan began to dislike him and discouraged me from buying the junk, so I wasn’t sure what to do. We didn’t have much time, and Kishan wanted to leave because of that as well. Kishan started to leave, and then the man demanded his card back because he felt Kishan discouraged me from buying the work. Kishan was angry and stormed out of the room, slamming the door shut. Something fell. I awkwardly left the room. We ended up seeing the same paintings at another tourist location, this time without the same BS story, but still there were other lies told and Kishan didn’t like it one bit. I bought some paintings anyway because I liked them. On the last day of the trip, I lost the the pictures I had purchased.

About the Forbidden City: I found out about the Eunuchs - men who would be castrated just to have the opportunity to work as servants for royalty. It was an honor and something much desired. The Eunuchs grew to be an influential group. I thought the concept of Eunuchs was funny.

I also thought it was neat that there was an area of this palace that only the emperor and his concubines were allowed. One emperor had 27 concubines and would move around from one room to the next. He ended up being killed, and it may have had to do with his womanizing. It seemed to be acceptable to have many concubines, but I guess he went to an extreme.

As we left the Forbidden City, we saw two women having a fistfight and not much movement to break them up. We exited the far side of the Forbidden City (it is more like a palace) and headed for a pretty area in the back. We hiked up the hill saw a view of Beijing. We stayed for an hour and then headed back to Tiananmen Square to see the famous ceremony at sunset. It was 6:15, and we were doing well as far as time. From inside the Forbidden City, we went towards the exit gates. However, the gates were guarded and people were not being let through. We found out that after 6:30 people are not permitted to walk through the exit! One had to wait until the ceremony was over (close to 8PM!). We were stuck. No one could explain to us what was going on. I saw taxis half a mile away, and we headed that way and were able to take the taxi through another exit. We arrived early for the sunset. Finally, the guards marched out and took out the flag as everyone watched, mesmerized. It was as exciting as the lowering of the American flag at summer camp 14 years ago. That was it! We ended up being it that area the next two afternoons around sunset. We were tempted to watch the excitement again but able to resist the urge.

We had some great Indian/Thai food for dinner, and Kishan talked to the Indian chef. We got back to the dorm around 12, and Kishan wanted to go out. He did not have to work hard to convince me. While I did not especially want to go, I knew that I was being lame. So we went out dancing in a foreign student area. Kishan danced with many girls, I danced with one. Her English was very good. We were there until 4AM. Kishan continued to talk to the girl he was with, so I went home without him even though he said he had no chance of bringing the girl back. He met me at the dorm an hour later with the American Girl! Somehow she ended up sleeping in my bed, but nothing more than that! It was funny to wake up with someone’s feet in your face. In the morning, I started to work out and then did the right thing and left the girl and Kishan alone.

That Wednesday afternoon we saw the Summer Palace. At night, we ate with some of Kishan’s friends who lived in China. We walked around an expatriate area where we were asked many times “You like lady bar, etc. Kishan occasionally carried on conversation with the people that were bothering us.

Mike arrived Thursday morning, and we went to the Great Wall later that day, but to a non-touristy part.We had an incident with a taxi driver, and ended up not getting out of the taxi because it seemed the driver was trying to rip us off. The next cab driver ripped us off instead. We hiked for two hours, passing only one couple. I was surprised the wall was so small (not in length, but in every other way) and Mike took my comment to mean I did not like it, but I did. It is a fun hike with great [special?] views. It’s similar to the Grand Canyon in that you get one great view after another, only short distances apart.

We had a great late lunch near the Great Wall and also visited a village where a huge lady gave us some tea. I am the only one who found it strange that this lady was huge. There were very few round people in China. At the restaurant, the waiter and Mike joked that Americans always order Kung Pao. We had just done that and it was the first time in China that we did so. The dish was amazing. Mike picked some great dishes as well, one of them with eggplant.

That night we went to dinner and got terrible service. The lady would not bring Kishan a lime, and as the place was western, Kishan had to ask for chopsticks and a few more things. Mike did not like the service. I cared more about the food, and it was just OK. Then we went to the Beijing Opera, meeting up with Mike’s friend who was in town. It was fun, though the opera was offensive in that the voices hurt the ear. The show was nice though (visually), and one could talk and eat during the performance, so it was a fun atmosphere. Afterwards, we attempted to go out for a drink to have fun. Kishan ordered a beer. I went to sleep at the table while Mike sat there and said nothing. I just felt like sleeping.

The next day, Kishan and I toured the streets (we rented bikes) and got some final views of Tiananmen Square. We saw where the natives live in Beijing. We got a late start that morning because I had trouble cashing travelers checks, and then Kishan and I needed to buy plane tickets. It was more difficult than we expected, and we ended up going to a western hotel where they were able to get us the tickets and change money for us. And they spoke some English.

Saturday morning we returned our bikes. Kishan spent the morning packing; he had an entire back pack to pack! It is not an easy task for Kishan. Mike and I had some Chinese food on the street. Otherwise, we just said goodbye to China and to Mike (he was staying in China) and were off to Hong Kong. Mike planned to go to Shanghai the next day to meet up with other friends.

Saturday in Hong Kong was relaxing. We wanted some Beijing duck but could not find it so we settled for street food. We took a double-decker bus and sat on top in the front with the windows open. We were sightseeing from the bus and looking for a nice place to get off. We decided on Times Square. We debated going to see some women dancing with few clothes, but, unfortunately, the places were just for prostitution, not for watching quality dancing. When we looked in, we did not see any dancing! So we did not enter. We also played basketball that night; Kishan beat me in a close game of one on one. This was Saturday night, around 11PM, and there were some lit courts off the main street. We were nice and sweaty for the night.

Later, we stopped at a restaurant, where the owner had once met Princess Di. She showed us pictures. She had been an English teacher, I think in Vietnam.

Sunday I returned home and Kishan returned to Singapore. The flight was torture since I was sick. I had an exit row seat, but the problem is that I like to sit in the lotus position (actually, just Indian style) and the armrests do not go up in those seats, so the position is not comfortable. I had gotten sick in Beijing, so I couldn’t breath and was constantly thirsty.

Overall, it was a great trip. It met my expectations, wasn’t amazing throughout, but it was nothing like a trip to Europe; it was constantly fascinating, interesting and not overly frustrating. I really appreciate my friend Mike trying to make it the best trip possible and balancing that by his desire to meet women. And Kishan was a good sport too, always up for doing something crazy. He made me do things I didn’t want to and they usually ended up being a lot of fun.