China trip; final thoughts

I guess this will be my last post about China, so i'll share my parting thoughts and notes about China that i've found interesting.

A funny thing-

i saw more brides all over China, getting their picture taken, going from place to place, etc (you know, doing what brides do on their wedding day) than i have like, my whole life. And they all were wearing the American traditional white gown. All beautiful!

{a bride i creeped on with a photo in Guanzhou}

A different thing-

the traffic in China is hiddious. Cars racing everywhere, not stopping for anyone or anything and a ridiculous amount of beeping. The traffic was the first major cultural difference i noticed.

A WOW thing-

As you know, a major way of transportation for people in China was bikes. Now, they've "upgraded" to motorized bikes and mopads. But back on the bike thing, (there are still plenty of  regular old bikes of course!) people really cram on that bike! you know how you can have basked on the back of your bike, and the frame that attaches to the wheel? yea, well in my friend and i tried to ride on the metal frame while the other was biking and it was impossible! hard for both people in terms of balance. (and, as a dancer, i think i have darn good balance). but people in China were just gliding by, no thought of holding on the person riding the bike in their heads. i was quite jelaous.

a majestic thing-

The mountains in China were amazing. i dont live with mountains in my life everyday, so seeing them on the horizen in like, every city, was an "ohmygod and cant belive those are mountains!" kind of thing. Definatly somthing im not used to. They rose up so big and majestic, it was stunning really.

{ i caught this driving by. its in Guilin}

{can you see the mountains on the horizon? we were driving to the Great Wall from Bejing}

 

an eye-opening thing-

it was hard to see the poverty in China. its much more openly out there that here in America. once you hit the suberbs around the city, it becomes much more visible. and i suppose it makes sense, with China's overpopulation ( i dont think there's a city under 1 million), not everyone makes enough to make a comefortable living. i think the hardest thing for me to see, was after our cruise down the Li River, we stopped at a market. One of the first things i saw was a very elderly lady, walking, basically folded in half. Like her head was literaly down next to her knees. i didnt know what to make of it at first, what was she doing? i did get it though, this is just how she is. i'd never seen anything like it before so that made me stop and stare at first. i have no idea how she walked like that. my mom thought it was probably the outcome of untreated osteoperosis (if you dont know what it is, look it up). there were many severly physicaly disabled people begging at that market. it was a very heart-breaking to see.And the sad thing is, unlike here in America, there arent a lot of facilities or places people like that can access in China. it was hard to see.

On a happier note, my venture to China was absolutly splenderous! i love travling and experincing different cultures, learning about them and meeting the people. i went so many different places in the 2 weeks i was there, and took in so much. There is so much more that i could go on about, so many more experiences i had, but i cant possibly tell them all, so for the entire thrill, go experience China for yourself! I would love to go back and i think it should be a place you go in your lifetime. China is so rich in culture, and vast in beautiful land.