Crossing Borders: My Trip to China pt7

Entry 9

Dear Journal,

               we did so much today I’m actually struggling to remember it. If I miss something forgive me. So first there was the couples garden and by the way we’re no longer in Chengdu. We’re now in Shanghai. See I’m so tired I forgot where I was. Haha. We move around so much that my mind is losing track, but I like the fact that we get to see a lot of things. Anyway so the couples garden was interesting. Very peaceful actually. There weren’t that many people so I could walk around without getting separated from the group. I enjoyed just walking around the garden and trying to take in the beauty of the garden. To be able to live there has to be a blessing. I love the stone they used to build the garden and I found myself frequently touching it, allowing the moisture of the day to soak into my skin. It was really nice.

Besides that the group and I traveled to a Buddhist temple, a silk factory, the Yangzi River, the river towns and the Confucius Temple. The Buddhist temple and the river town were my favorite. There is so much superstition in religion. The temple had this bell that if you rung it 3 times you would recieve good luck, but if you rung it 4 times than you would become a monk of the temple. The men who worked there would actually come to the bell tower, take you to a back room and shave your head. Officially a monk! Hahaha I told my friend Frank he should ring it 4 times and become a monk. He didn’t think that was the best profession for him personally.

The river town was so amazing. The houses were old school Chinese architecture and each rested on wooden pillars that were hidden beneath the river. In order to get around this town a boat was a necessity. I thought that part was really cool. I mean I’m so use to just walking around my own city but to have to actually take a boat is something totally different. Mind boggling isn’t it? Anyway that’s basically what we did today. I am definitely having more fun on this trip than my trip to Europe. Though we’re going to a lot of tourists sites I believe Professor is showing us the real China. We go beyond the tourist attractions and see what really makes China China. More tomorrow.