Let me preface this account by stating this is being written after having been home for one month.

Touch down in China was a bit of a surreal experience. This was our last stop after 9 months of traveling through 14 countries and across 4 continents. We were emotionally torn. Excietment for home, family, friends, stability, and the familiar had already started to settle in. We also had things to look forward to here – the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, visiting this trip’s inspiration (a couple from CA who are currently living in Shanghai), and quaint farming villages. The typical tourist attractions are what drew us to China but the following reputation is what we based our anticipation on. China is presented by other travelers as being a dirty and polluted place with people peeing on streets and spitting on any ground surface (floors of trains, bus stations, streets, internet cafes, etc.), hordes of people, and a “haven” for unique edible experiences. So with a mix of excitement and apprehension for both here and home we spent our last 19 days traveling through 4 provinces.

Before jumping into the normal overview of this country please allow me to make a confession for both of us. By this time in our travel, 9 months into it, we were getting tired and a bit pretentious. With fatigue, our sense of adventure diminished. Initially trying the local foods was a thrill and a “cultural experience.” This means while in Peru I jumped at the opportunity to try cow’s stomach, in Mizoram I was willing to taste a sausage made from congealed pig’s blood, and one night in Thailand Mike downed more bugs than a local frog. With plenty of opportunities to extend these experiences with delectable choices like fermented pre-hatched ducklings in the egg, the “100 year old” egg, dog, chicken head, whole cooked turtles in the shell etc. etc. etc., China challenged our already dampened thrill seeking spirit. Sadly, for the most part, we stuck with what our Westernized taste buds told us was “normal.” In numerous ways we did not do China as a whole justice, and we certainly did not adequately tour the spectrum of food choices.

Along the same note it takes a bit of time, energy, creativity, and money to seek specific cultural experiences or get “off the beaten path”. Again lacking in all 4 areas, this is one country where we failed to find our nitch as we stuck mainly to well-known tourist attractions. As you read along you will find out this was a HUGE mistake for us, one that put a damper on our experiences.

And to sum up this disclosure. Upon getting home one of the favorite questions people ask is “Which was your favorite country?” Well it was not China. But I want to say that many people love China and have been able to find their nitch. Internationally I think China gets an unfair rap b/c it is an up and coming “superpower” and so all of its weaknesses are exploited.

This summary of our time in China will be true to our experience there, with both highs and lows. Please do not just remember the lows and add them to the long list that newspapers lament on. I will re-state, this is OUR experience of our travels during a time when half of our mental and emotional energy was already focused on home.

April 17th - May 5th
China

April 17th - 21st
Being Coddled in Beijing

April 22ng - 30th
Tourism in China : Disneyfied & Pricy

April 30th – May 5th
Smiling In Shanghai