China: The People's Republic

             At first, I was both nervous and excited for China. A country, which holds 1/3 of the world’s population, is no small place. We first arrived in Hong Kong. Hong Kong is an interesting place. It was leased by Britain for 99 years and not returned to China 1999. It is considerably more developed than the rest of China, and many locals say that it has best preserved Chinese cultural because it did not undergo the cultural revolution that the rest of China underwent.

            From Hong Kong, I flew to Beijing to visit the Country’s capital. Beijing is an interesting place, filled with tons of history. You can also see the impact of communism in both the architecture, and layout of the city. The first day I went to visit the Forbidden City. The Forbidden city lies at the center of the capital. Since China sees itself as the center of the world, the throne where the Emperor used to sit is seen as the center of the city, center of the country, and center of the world; politically and geographically. In Imperial China, the Forbidden city was the most important space in the Country.

            The next day I visited the great wall. It’s a place I have always imagined going, but never thought I would get to see so soon. In person, it is the most massive and elongated structure I have ever seen. It stretches as far as the eye can see. It is definitely one of the wonders of the world, and the fact that it took hundreds of years to construct amazes me. Visiting and climbing a part of the great wall, has hands down, been one of the coolest things I have done on this trip, an in my life.

On the GREAT WALL!

            After leaving Beijing, I headed to Shanghai. We arrived at night, and as we drove towards the harbor I could see the MV Explorer light up, with the background of Shanghai illuminated like nothing I had ever seen. I thought Hong Kong lit up the sky, but the lights of Shanghai at night are unbelievable. For the remainder of my time in China, and Shanghai, we visited markets. The amount of shopping, vendors, and merchandise still astonishes me.

Shanghai at Night

           My visit to China was one of the best visits I have had out of many of the ports. I never thought I would be saying this- but I hope to go back one day!