Several weeks ago was the Tomb-Sweeping holiday, resulting in a long weekend. Thursday night, Fahim and I decided to go to Beijing the next morning. In a frantic rush, we booked train tickets, hostel rooms, and planned out a last-minute trip to one of the largest, most-visited cities in the world.
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A month of plans, travels, school field trips, and other general chaos. |
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It all starts with a ticket from Shanghai to Beijing! |
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Let's start the adventure off with a nice lil' shrine to Chairman Mao |
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Would you rather eat off a Chairman Mao plate or a Xi JinPing plate? |
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Personally, I prefer this dish. |
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Mutianyu! Wouldn't be trip to Beijing without the Great Wall |
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Trompin' along |
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A woman told me the wall wasn't built to keep the Mongols out, but rather to keep other warring Chinese tribes out |
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We visited in the middle of cherry blossom season, which was lovely |
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It winds and it winds |
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Stoppin' for a rest from the endless stairs |
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It's definitely frowned upon to stand on the edge |
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Fahim, my travel buddy and teaching partner! |
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It would just be un-Chinese to not have a flag |
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There's a dead Chairman Mao in there, but unfortunately the line was insane and I didn't want to wait |
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Tiananmen Square! Centre of Chinese politics and site of one of the largest cold-blood massacres of peaceful protestors carried out by their own government |
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The Forbidden City is guarded by a poster of Chairman Mao |
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The Forbidden City!! It's an enormous walled city within Beijing where the emperor and his household lived. Unsurprisingly, it was forbidden for the public to enter until China became a communist republic and abolished the dynasties. |
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Fancy doors |
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More cherry blossoms |
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And lilacs |
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The emperor's staff had great taste in greenery. So lovely! |
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Roof beams |
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Some construction works placing the golden shingles on the roof. |
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The bridges up to the emperor's sleeping quarters were shaped like clouds, symbolizing the godliness of the emperor. It was like ascending into the clouds to where the emperor lived. |
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The number of animals on the roof indicated the rank of the official living there. This person had a higher rank. |
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The Empress' sleeping quarters. She has the second highest number of animals on her roof. I couldn't get a good picture of the emperor's animals because they were so high up. |
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And then I got scammed 150RMB ($30) for a cup of tea. Sucks to suck. |
The following week, it was time to renew my visa. This month's destination: THAILAND! It was Songkran, the Thai New Year, which is commonly known as the country-wide water fight.
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We had a large breakfast with my first host family. So lovely to see them all again! |
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Songkran ceremony in which young people pour water into the hands of their elders, who in turn give the child a blessing. |
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My host grandmother being very kind and sweet after not seeing each other for five years |
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And I got to see this weirdo again!! <3 td="">3>
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Lovely host sister Ice, Kyle, the weirdo from the last photo, and I out for tacos |
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Heading out for Songkran festivities |
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Dancing with random folks in a water-soaked street |
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Made the obligatory Chiang Mai trek up to Wat Prathat Doi Suthep |
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Marije ringing the bells in some shades |
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Kyle, Marije, P. Ning, and myself in front of Doi Suthep's chedi |
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The aftermath of our delicious Moo Ga Ta (Thai barbecue) |
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Marije and I bought banana leaf offerings with flowers, candles, and incense to release into the Lamphun river in honour of Grandpa Sears |
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Soooo glad to see my wonderful, beautiful friends again! This is Bas |
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Saying good-bye to Kyle and Marije |
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I missed all the sparkly dragons |
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With P. Ning in front of the silver sanctuary |
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Just so happy about seeing the sparkly dragons again. |
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I missed this wonderful woman so damn much and I miss her again now I'm gone |
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Ice!!! Greatest host sister the world has ever known |
After returning to Shanghai with a fully-renewed visa, there was another adventure in store. Our little school took a two-day field trip to Moganshan (our Mogan Mountain)
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We used these hoes to dig up bamboo shoots for supper. |
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Bamboo shoots could be found sprouting just to the side of their mother tree |
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Wandering through the bamboo forest |
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Tall bamboo trees reaching into the sky |
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It was just so LOVELY |
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And so green |
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Which looked gorgeous in the setting sun |
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We hunted for snails in the river |
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View from our hotel room |
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Climbing Moganshan |
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Bamboo in front of the mountains |
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Small villages are such a relief from a city like Shanghai |
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Still cherry blossom season and beautiful as hell |
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The name of the mountain (shan) comes from a swordmaker (Mo) and his wife (Gan), hence the name Moganshan. |
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Preparing tea leaves |
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Long ago, places like this would be a place to rest your horse before carrying on the difficult trek through the mountain |
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Posing in funky-looking old, stone doorways |
Two days later, Jeremiah showed up!!
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We showed him frogs |
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And lollipop-designers |
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I tried to carve a green coconut and spent 45 minutes creating this mayhem and nearly dislocating my arm |
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Chinese Art Museum in Shanghai. The massive building is shaped like an ancient Chinese alcohol cup |
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A stunning moving masterpiece - the entire wall is covered in this scene from ancient China. Everything moves (the water, people, animals, carts, etc.) as you watch light change from morning to night. |