Hey all! Sorry for the long pause on the blog. I was traveling with friends and family and frankly since arriving home have not been in the biggest rush to update the blog. But as I am heading back to China next week I figured now might be a good time to write a bit about my travels. I believe the last time I wrote it was leading up to finals week in Chongqing. Finals went well and by the end of that week I was incredibly ready for a break. (finals concluded on Christmas day). On the 27th I set off for Thailand where I would meet up with Justin, Scott and our other friend Tamas. We spent a few days in Bangkok which was a very interesting city. The weather was beautiful, in the 90's and sunny most days, and Bangkok was packed with European tourists. After a few days in Bangkok the four of us headed off to Koh Phangan an island off the coast to celebrate New Years. I wish I had more pictures to show you all what a beautiful country Thailand was but I rarely had my phone with me due to the sand and water. But I would absolutely recommend a trip there.
After a very fun couple of days Scott and I headed back to Bangkok, I was heading to Beijing, and he was headed to Cambodia. After 26 hours of traveling I finally arrived in Beijing just 1 hour before my parents. We spent 4 days in Beijing, which shockingly had clear blue skies and almost no pollution as the factories had been shut down for a few weeks. We saw the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square, and the following day we took a car up to the Great Wall at Badaling. It was incredibly cold up north and we were wearing smog masks not due to air quality but because it was so cold. The Great Wall was incredibly beautiful and the mountains around it were truly stunning. Throughout the whole trip my parents were complete troopers never complaining and they did an incredible job, especially since they have never traveled like this before. You can even see them using chopsticks in here.
From Beijing we flew to Xi'an in the west, home of the Terracotta Army. Xi'an was heavily polluted and was quite different from every other Chinese city I've ever visited. It was quite frankly not my favorite place. The Terracotta army was impressive but many of the soldiers still remain in pieces over 30 years after the discovery. Instead of the 6,000 that the site claims to have there are more like 200 intact soldiers. I was incredibly glad that we made the trip to Xi'an but not overly impressed with the city or the sites.
From Xi'an we headed to my home Chongqing for 5 days. My parents got to see where I live and work and meet a bunch of my friends. I did some hiking with my dad and the three of us took took the bullet train to Chengdu to see the Panda Research Station there. There is so much I could say about these few days we spent relaxing and exploring the city but its difficult to summarize all of the fun we had together. I'll just have to put these pictures up and hope they can tell the story.
from Chongqing we then flew to our final stop Shanghai, where we met up with my friend and fellow teacher, Mikhala. Shanghai was incredibly international and we saw dozens of other foreigners and were shocked by the amount of English spoken there. Shanghai was truly impressive and very western. While I enjoyed a little slice of home there it did make me appreciate Chongqing all the more as it provides me with such a better experience in China.
It was an incredible trip and it has been amazing to be home for a couple weeks. I am just so happy to have had the opportunity to travel with my friends and family. Once again sorry for the long gap in posting that won't happen again, and I promise there are many more adventures to come.