July 23rd, 2006
2:14am
I'm in Shanghai right now, It's really amazing but strange at the same time. There are so many non-chinese here (tourists), it almost seems like it's not really China. Plus, the city is really westernized, and the Shanghai accent is for me, and most of my classmates, quite un-understandable. It doesnt even really sound like Chinese to me but more like a some strange variety of Korean with Chinese words every once in a while. I managed to have a small conversation with two old women in an IMAX theatre tonight, but I wasn't too clear on a lot of what they were saying. But regardless, this city is still awesome.
Came here today from Hangzhou and Suzhou, which were both beautiful. We saw a lot of beautiful sights and in Hangzhou we went to a place, that I can only describe as a Chinese 'medieval times'. It was all themed and stuff. We saw a show that was completely over the top and amazing, all on stage it had waterfalls, fireworks, cannons, horses riding around, dances and fighting, it was great.
Besides seeing how different each city is as far as layout and architecture and general vibe, it's also interesting to compare the different looks of people (as we encounter different minority groups), different cuisines and different dialects of Mandarin. China really is an amazing and truley varied country. Today we went to a museum in Shanghai and part of it showcased art and costumes from various minority groups.
Before Hangzhou and Suzhou I was in Nanjing, which I wasn't too impressed with when we first came in. Not to mention the weather was horrible. It was so hot and and so humid. But I went out at night, walked around, ate dinner, and decided I did like the city. There haven't been many places in China that I really don't like, granted they all have good things and bad things about them, but they are all definantly enjoyable.
We are travelling to so many places and doing so many things that everything is kind of starting to be a blur, but it's still so great. I have a lot of pictures and I'll post a ton of them in my next post, which I'll try to do soon.
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