China Summer 2008

// June 22nd, 2008 // Personal

Just got home from the Vancouver Airport, more photos coming soon. Here’s the past four weeks in brief!

The trip begins!

  • REMINISCENCE: The feeling of reaching one’s childhood home is indescribable; it will always be home in a sense no matter how far I travel or long I’m away
  • EXHAUST: Rush hour on a 6 lane Beijing avenue lasts til 9 PM (holy bejeezes!)
  • METRO: a electronic card is Beijing’s all access metro card; most buses cost 40 cents ($0.05), now there’s incentive to ride public transport; way better than Vancouver’s system; two flatscreen TVs on every bus
  • LUXURY: Stayed at two four star hotels and both of them had bathrooms with a CLEAR GLASS WALL looking into the room… oh the initial embarrassing incidents…
  • OBSESSIONS: Was given the honor to come up with an English name for my little cousin. Any guesses? Hehe, won’t keep you hanging, he’s now my little cousin Harry! I plan to name my other little cousin Ron XD
  • TRAVELING: Places visited: Beijing for a week @ grandpa’s house, Changsha in Hunan province for a few days, and Donggong in Liaoning for two weeks @ other grandma’s house
  • READJUST: Still recovering from the most bloody annoying cold ever, no fevers thank god
  • LABOUR: The maid who takes care of my grandma and cleans and cooks is 60 years old, wow, cultural differences i guess
  • HAGGLING: Spent about 1000 yuan ($150) and bought bags and bags of new clothes

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg! Gotta start uploading photos…

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8 Responses to “China Summer 2008”

  1. Holly says:
    June 22, 2008 at 3:17 pm

    Looking forward to seeing the photos! :D

  2. Yingna says:
    June 22, 2008 at 3:28 pm

    Wow, you only spent 1000 yuan for bags and bags of clothes?! My mom just came back from China and she brought with her a suitcase of clothes that my sister had bought. I think she spent way more than 1000 yuan, since I heard a lot of stuff in China are becoming more expensive. You must have some true bargaining powers to get so many clothes for so little!

    Also, I heard China is really fashionable now. In my sister’s words: “They’re even more fashionable than the US!” I’m guessing this is because she’s buying clothes in Guangzhou in China, a city, whereas we live in the suburbs in the US.

  3. Kristine says:
    June 23, 2008 at 6:15 am

    YAY! Crystal is back!!! I can imagine the exhaustion and jet lag you’re probably feeling *remembers trips to the Philippines*.

    And I love how there are two flat screen TVs in each bus. Impressive! Can’t wait for the photos!

  4. Arielle says:
    June 23, 2008 at 10:22 am

    Cheap clothes! I am jealous.

  5. Regina says:
    June 25, 2008 at 7:30 am

    Only 1000 yuan? :P The last time my mom and I went back, we spent about three times as much money. Unfortunately, I can’t go shopping anywhere without her because I suck at haggling (it’s the language barrier, I’m not very comfortable speaking Mandarin)

    Anyway, I can’t wait to see those pictures!

  6. Erin says:
    June 27, 2008 at 4:26 pm

    Yay, you’re back! I thought you were going to be gone much longer. Perhaps I have you confused with one of my offline friends, though… yes, that must be the case. She (already left?) for China recently and will be there until August. Anyway, I can’t wait for pictures and more details about your trip! I’m sure there’s a lot to say!

    @ the last comment, HAGGLING: That’s definitely what you do when you visit a foreign country, particularly one where you can find stuff cheap! Last summer in the Philippines, I bought a good deal of clothes, shoes, and such! We went to four different malls, lol… including the SM Mall of Asia in Manila - it was gigantic. The shopping malls there were huge in comparison to the ones here.

  7. Meg says:
    June 30, 2008 at 3:25 pm

    Aww, I wasn’t given the honor of naming my little cousin. I think he picked his own English name…and I can’t remember it right now. I’m a terrible cousin.

    How was Changsha (my family lives there)?

  8. Alex says:
    July 2, 2008 at 7:41 pm

    How was Vancouver Airport? Last time I was there, it was a mess. :neutral:

    Looking forward to the photos…

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