If I went home from China tomorrow. I'd have to say I'd be happy with my time in Asia. I'm still learning new things everyday, but I believe I now have a feel for Chinese culture, and If I come back in the future I will not feel like a total stranger.
I spent all of last week in Guilin with my roommate, Zhao. Zhao, or Ryan, as he chooses to introduce himself to Westerners, is great. He is a finance student from Tingdao (where the only good brand of Chinse beer is brewed) and is extremely friendly and helpful whenever I inevitably miss something in my Chinese homework. Though at first I thought it would suck having a roommate again, having someone around who actually understands Chinese has turned out to be exceedingly useful. We decided two weeks ago, that since I couldn't go to southeast Asia with all the other exchange students and as it has been too long since his last vacation, we would travel together to Guilin, famed as the most beautiful province in China. Guilin is known for those steep thin hills covered in grass, often seen on the cover of Chinese guidebooks.
We both had a Logic exam on Tuesday morning, and headed off as soon as it was over. It was hard, but hopefully I'll do well. What worries me is the forced curve I keep getting warnings about. No more than 20% can get As and 20% will get Ds. Sure, I only need a C- and it is pass-fail, with grades covered, but when the middle line is a C, there isn't much room for error, and I don't know quite know the system. Zhao's father, a senior general in the Chinese Army, toured in the area when he was younger, and he had a few recommendations and contacts for us. We took the MTR to Shenzhen, and from there flew to Guilin.
...
I'm on a plane now, about to take off to Shanghai for Shabbat. We're heading down the runway and the lights and engine just cut out. I'm gonna ignore it, and hope to God I make it to a computer to send this out...
Anyway, we actually only spent one night in Guilin, but this was enough time to get a feel for the city. China has developed greatly in the last few years, and has many many cities packed with people, but except for Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong, they all basically look the same.
The next morning we woke at 7:30 and took a bus to Yangshou. Buses here take forever, because operators who don't want to drive a half empty bus will drive around local streets with one passenger screaming out the window for anyone who wants to jump on board. When we finally had a full bus we headed out for an hour, then got off and waited for a local bus. By now we were in a very rural region, and the view was truly amazing.
The Guanzi region is considered by many to be the most beautiful region in the country. When the Clintons first came to China, they made a stop here as well. It is also the scene on the back of the 20 RMB bill...
Lights are back on. Smiles of relief all around. Still praying I land safely in Shanghai...
Unbeknownst to me, we weren't heading directly to Yangshou. First, Zhao had a surprise stop his father coordinated for us. We were heading into increasingly rural neighborhoods in a small 10 person bus, if you could call it that. More of a van really, and tickets were 20 cents per person.
One person came on with a live chicken in one hand and her baby in the other. After about twenty five minutes passing rice paddies and free-ranging ox(en?), we arrived at what seemed to be the central market of the region -- ten or so stalls selling various wheres from home-sewed clothing to fruits, vegetables and all sorts of animals I didn't know could be eaten, plus your usual assortment of chicken, beef, seafoods and rice noodles. I didn't notice any refrigeration or flowing water, but I guess that's just not how it's done here. We didn't stop to eat. As we passed, a woman spotted us (I kind of stand out in rural China, so we weren't hard to spot) and jumped on the bus. Approaching us, the smiling older woman told us she was there to take us the rest of the way to Yangshou. Her husband was sick, so she would be our guide. Zhao spoke with her a bit, and once comfortable that she was who she said she was, we got off the bus and walked down to the shore of the nearby Li river.
She pointed to her boat and indicated for us to get on. This boat was actually a 3 person raft made of bamboo, with a bench in the middle for two people, and a bamboo oar on the back. There was also a small engine on the back for going upstream.
Preferring the peace and quiet of the open water, as well as the pristine beauty of our surroundings, we didn't use the engine, and flowed down river for about four hours. We stopped two or three times along the way, once so our guide could run home and drop off the groceries she had picked up when she met us. She let us come up with her, and she show
ed off her small orange and pomelo grove as well as her rice patty and mini ox she recently purchased to plow it. She let us pick a few oranges ourselves, and they were excellent.
We knew they were organic and pesticide free, as there is no way she could have afforded pesticides, though she did seem to be pretty well off as far as the town went. Somehow the tiny village had a population of five hundred. We stopped another time to take pictures from the same angle of the scene on the back of the 20 RMB, and one last time to see if we could
find all nine horses on the Nine Horses mountain.
Apparently only one person has ever seen all nine, but as he was a respected Chairman of China, people understood this to mean that only the most elite of society could spot all nine horses. Any less, and you just weren't meant to be prosperous. I managed to see seven with very flexible creative license, and supposedly this means I should be pretty successful at life. No Chairmanship of the People's Party for me though.
After we said goodbye to our guide we headed off by foot on a mud path to find a path to a small old town where we would be able to find another small bus to get to Yangshou...
Battery is about to die. I'll continue to write next chance I get, again, assuming we make it in one piece...
...We made it, as you probably inferred from the fact that you are reading this. Just spent four days in Shanghai, and now back on the same plane as last time. Hopefully no flickering lights this time, though we are already 40 minutes delayed and just sitting on the runway. You get what you pay four with Chinese airlines I guess, but it is hard to argue with $40 for a two hour flight...
The town was truly beautiful and exactly the kind of traditional China I had yet to experience. Just about the only English in the town was on a small sign on a stone bridge claiming
the bridge was constructed over 800 years ago. Hard to find that kind of history in the US. Of course, we passed one other couple of backpackers, and we hear them arguing about something. If you've been reading my posts to date, you can probably guess what is about to follow. 
Zhao asked if I recognized the language, and sure enough, as I moved closer, I could hear that it was two Israelis arguing in Hebrew about whether or not they could wash their cloths in the river. They shouldn't, I told them.
By the end of the trip Zhao was convinced there were as many Israelis as Chinese in the world, as we met more Israeli backpackers than anyone else. He also couldn't understand how we always knew each other. We just know, I unsatisfactorily explained to him. It was funny at times -- he'd ask someone for directions, I'd take on look at the person, and repeat the question in Hebrew. It never failed.
Yangshuo is a little town with a prosperous tourist community. One main boulevard, called Xi Jie (West street), is lined with hostels and little shops meant to lure backpackers. We spent one night in Yangshou, and enjoyed the internet cafes and meeting locals and other tourists in the area. Zhao explained that Yangshou is famous throughout China as a spot for students if they want to practice their English and see more of China.
Thursday night we headed back to Guilin (this time by direct bus) to catch the 12 hour train back to Shenzhen, our entry point to the Mainland from Hong Kong.
The train was great. 6 beds per cabin, head hitting one wall, feet flat on the
other, no English is sight. I spent about 5 hours memorizing the 100 or so Chinese words and 90 Characters that I now know. Only 2410 more Characters to go till I will be able to read the paper. In the morning I practiced all the words I knew with my Chinese bunkmates. Besides myself and Zhao were four women who from a small town outside of Guilin heading to Macau for a weekend of gambling.
I got back just in time for my first Judo Competition Sunday. Though I knew next to nothing about judo, practicing only for one month, it seems that my old wrestling skills came in handy. 
Between my opponents expecting me to be terrible due to my white belt and the wrestling past, I managed to sneak in a few wins for a 3rd place trophy. Though I can't read a word on the trophy, I'm proud of it, and I know it'll make a nice souvenir.Also, last week I played in the the Hong Kong division 4 Rugby semi-finals, Hong Kong University vs. Hong Kong Police Force. Division 4 is actually pretty tough, and is the best of 3 university teams. Though the game was a really fun and a cool experience, we lost a tough fight, playing a man down, as one of us got red carded pretty early on (not me).
Monday was Taanit Esther and then Purim. For the Megillah I went to Chabad with Danielle and a few friends from HKUST. We continued to a "Young Professionals Purim Party," which was fun as well. Basically all the Israeli finance and manufacturing 25 to 35 year olds in costume, with a few Americans, Australians, Brits and South Africans thrown in the bunch. Good, but no match to the Brandeis Greek/Chabad Purim party. The next day as I while delivering my Shalach Manot (Purim gift baskets) I walked past a man dressed as a Chasid.
Recognizing me from a meal we were both at, he invited me over for the Purim meal. Of course I agreed, and enjoyed a great, huge meal at four in the afternoon. Unfortunately I couldn't be out too late, as I had both an essay and test on Wednesday. Purim isn't as good an excuse here as it is in Brandeis. Lucky I had planned ahead and studied on the train, as the essay took me forever to write. It was fine though; I put skype on in the background at 4 and 5 AM, and joined the family for their Purim party as well.
Both the test and the essay went well, and Wednesday night I collapsed in bed from exhaustion. Thursday I got up, picked up my dry cleaning and repacked my backpack for Shanghai to join Michael Kann who was in on business. Friday, while he worked I toured Shanghai for myself. Shabbat we went to Chabad and sat with a bunch of Jews from Uruguay. 
Shabbat morning at lunch we met a bunch of Israelis who work at El Al, who invited us to belated Purim Party in the Shanghai Art Museum Saturday night. Without much time to prepare costumes we just showed up, at the door we were given fancy masks. I wore my rugby jersey and with Michael's running outfit, we fit in fine. The party was a lot of fun. Since we were exhausted from walking about 10 miles touring Shangai Shabbat afternoon and as we had to be up at 6:45 AM to meet the tour guide for a trip out of Shanghai, we didn't stay up too late.
The next morning we left at 8 AM with a business associate of Michael's to Zhou Zhuang, famed as the Venice of China, with canals instead of most streets. Though it was fun and interesting, there were plenty of streets, an
d the canals were thinner than I imagine the canals of Venice are. We watched as one restauranteur washed her lettuce in the dirty river as boats full of tourists passed by. As traditional as this may be, we decided not to stay for lunch. We also passed by the Buddhist Temple which was midway through a service. That was really cool to see.
There was a huge leaning Buddha right by the entrance, and people were bowing at praying at its feet. It still hits me very strongly whenever I see someone praying to those huge idols. It reminds me just how far away from home I really am. We continued to Suzhou and explored beautiful rockery (which it turns out is a real word) and an 8 story pagoda that was over 700 years old. That was actually pretty cool, and we got a great view of the city once we climbed to the top. We realized that though the city is basically just a suburb of Shanghai, it is still one of numerous cities of 'just' 6 million people. Michael then took us on a tour of his factory which was interesting. Pat, the manager of the operation, aside from giving us a thorough tour of the plant also gave me some advice on Italian cooking, which I will have to try at some point.
All in all Shanghai was fun and it was great seeing Michael. It was also important that I visit Shanghai at some point, and without this excuse, there is a good chance I would have missed out on this city of an estimate 20 million people.
Next up, class for a while. I may try and sneak off to Tawain for a few days if I can swing it, we'll see. Happy Purim everyone, and please email me about your lives and get back in touch if I've fallen behind in my contact.
Yoni
