Arriving in China was…interesting. Originally the ship was delayed just an hour or so due to rough tides; however, once we finally got close enough, there was a giant crane in the way. I remember being extremely confused as to why there was a giant metal equipment crane standing in the middle of the water path, blocking the ship from getting to our port. It’s three years later and it is still a complete mystery to me. Nonetheless, we finally made it to the port and were able to disembark late at night. *Insert another reminder to future SASers to not make concrete plans the first day in country*.

Day 1: 

Pulling into Shanghai took my breath away; I can recall standing in a crowd of my fellow shipmates being in awe of all the lights and the panorama view of the city slowly approaching. We took many pictures and cheered when we finally docked. I was grateful I hadn’t made many plans that first day because it was starting to become a recurring theme that arriving to our ports on time just wasn’t in the cards for the 125th voyage.  

My friends Omar, Steven, Jenna, and I made our way out of the ship and set off to walk around downtown Shanghai and track down hidden knock-off market goods. Our first stop was dinner… of course. We found Chinese soup dumplings at a local restaurant and all sat around laughing and sharing memories from different ports. In my opinion, I saw many similarities between Shanghai and New York when it came to shopping, bright lights, crowds, and tall buildings. There was even a M&M store we wandered into, causing me to reminisce on my childhood trips to the Big Apple. 

When I say China was interesting…I mean interesting. As many of you know, China is a communist country, meaning it is heavily monitored by the government. For example, if you want to browse the internet you have to have a special app to get by the security walls set up by the government, there are practically no ATMs to be found, Air Bnbs are sketchy due to being banned, and finding knock off designer items is an experience in itself. 

After shopping in the main shopping centers, we began wandering our way back towards the ship and were stopped on the street by a random man asking if we wanted to buy items. He led us to a regular looking shop and removed part of the wall, leading us through an entire housing complex and into a secret room- I was led through someone’s literal kitchen. When I tell you this is the sketchiest thing I’ve ever done, I truly mean it. The home appeared to be very low class and had only the basics to survive. Suddenly a door opened up to what looked like Kim Kardashian’s closet:  glamorous, bright, and packed with every designer you can imagine. There were hundreds of knock off purses, sunglasses, clothing items and the haggling began. I only ended up buying a fake pair of raybans because I was so nervous I just wanted to leave. I have three words for this entire experience: sketchy as hell.

Day 2: 

Shortly after we finished bargaining for our fake goods, I made my way back to the ship so I could get a good night’s sleep before waking up the next morning for my flight to Beijing. I met up with my friends Haley and Bobby at the airport in Shanghai (they were on a separate flight) before making our way to Tiananmen Square, which holds such a significant piece of Chinese history. 

*The square was originally built in 1651 and later expanded four times its size. Tiananmen Square is most known for the 1989 massacre. Pro-democracy protesters marched through the square upon the death of former communist party leader Hu Yaobang, advocating for a more democratic government and political freedom. When the crowds grew too large and the communist government started seeing the protests as a threat, police were ordered to fire live rounds into the crowds, killing thousands, a large majority were students.*

Despite the dark history, another one of my favorite memories from my entire study abroad experience was made in Tiananmen square. During our mini photoshoot, we met a young boy and his parents that had traveled 20+ hours from a small mountain town by train, just to visit Beijing. It turns out that he taught himself how to speak English from watching TV shows and had never met someone from the United States and desperately wanted to practice his English with us (his parents did not speak it). His face lit up with excitement when he saw us and we spent a chunk of our afternoon getting to know about him and practicing in English- I was so impressed by how fluent he was and it was a humbling experience seeing how excited someone was to meet us.

 We learned the history of Tiananmen Square and made our way across the street to The Forbidden City. “The Forbidden City was completed in 1420 and was the center of China for over 500 years.The city was home to 24 emperors, during the Ming (1368–1644) and the Qing (1644–1911) dynasties. Today the city is named a UNESCO world heritage site and is proclaimed to be one of the most visited and important historical sites of all time”. I loved admiring the details of the architecture and walking through the huge city. It definitely felt like it went on for miles. If you’re planning a visit, make sure to allot for at least half of the day, if not more.

Day 3: 

I SAW MY SECOND WONDER OF THE WORLD. Earlier in the trip, I had the privilege of visiting the Taj Mahal and during day 3 of China I got to see The Great Wall!! We chose to go to Badaling which is the most visited part of the Great Wall because it was the easiest to get to via public transportation. And indeed, it was the most visited part of the Great Wall… VERY touristy.

We took the tram car up, which I definitely recommend. It was really eye opening to see the depth of how big the wall actually is. Once on the top of the wall, there were A TON of people; keep this in mind when visiting, it will take more time then you would expect. I wish we had been able to visit a less touristy area so we could embrace the experience a little more. Even so, it was an amazing experience shot-gunning a beer at the top and trying to embody the significance the Wall holds in our world’s history. 

Shortly after, we made our way back to our air BNB, where I collected my items and hugged my friends goodbye. I caught public transportation to the airport and boarded my flight solo to Guilin. I’m not going to lie, I was a little nervous for the first time solo traveling- Once I landed, I took the bus to the area where my hotel was and ended up walking from the station to my hotel. The entire city was asleep and I didn’t pass a single person, but I made it safely and went straight to bed (a little nerve wracking, but I made it safely.

DAY 4:

I woke up bright and early in my hotel room and set out for the bus tour I signed up for in Guilin. After a short walk I boarded the bus to the Longsheng rice terraces, which is about a 2.5 hour drive. One of my main goals when visiting the continent of Asia was to see some form of rice terraces. It turned out that Longsheng fit best into my schedule. Even though it was during the dry season, the rice terraces were beautiful and I ended up making some new friends on my tour. I was surprised how many different people had traveled so far to see Longsheng, it was much more remote than I expected. 

After meeting back up with my tour group we boarded the bus and went to the Huangluo Yao Village, which is known as the “longest hair village”, consisting of an ethnic group of people where the women believe that growing their hair long symbolizes longevity and prosperity. We watched a performance of the women dancing and singing to traditional folk music and letting down their hair. It was definitely a unique experience, but I enjoyed getting out of the major cities and experiencing a more rural culture. 

Upon returning to the city, I quickly changed and went to walk around the city. My first stop was the Guilin Lijiang waterfall hotel; the entire front of the hotel turns into a waterfall every night at 8pm. I walked along the river at the Riyue Shuangta Cultural Park and took pictures of the sun and moon pagodas. It was really pretty seeing all of the lights along the river and I found my visit to be very peaceful. 

I’m a huge believer in taking some solo travel time, even though it was hard to part from my friends. SAS is such a huge growing experience, it would be a shame to miss out on finding your independence and reflecting on your journey. 

Day 5:

The last day made me a little anxious because I don’t usually leave my flights to the last minute, especially with having to be on the ship before it sailed away. I set out early to make a few last stops in Guilin, mainly being Boba tea and the Elephant Trunk Hill. I hiked around the hill and enjoyed my early morning tour, but honestly it wasn’t that memorable of an experience for me.

Shortly after, I caught a flight back to Shanghai and made a few last stops to try soup dumplings. I am obsessed. Luckily I ran into some of my friends and we spent the late afternoon trying two different kinds of dumpllings, pan fried and steamed. We watched the local shop making them by hand and were amazed at the entire process. 

China went by so quickly and at some points stressed me out. It wasn’t as large of a culture shock as some of the other countries I’d been to, but it was still so different. I felt like every part of it was so monitored, even the simple things like not being able to find an ATM or use my credit card for anything (you had to enter your info onto an app, in which American cards were not working). I was a bit disheartened by the amount of pollution I experienced sailing into Shanghai, clouding fog around the city lights. However, I found it amusing comparing the large cities of China to the more rural areas. China is SO BIG, I feel like there are so many different territories I didn’t experience and would definitely take much more than 5 days to explore all of it.

I hope to return someday to visit the Terracotta warriors and Hong Kong, along with many more places.