Exploring China

I never quite understood the idea that someone would need to “get out of the city.” I had always heard about it in regard to people in New York City being too overwhelmed by the city and having the desire to go somewhere quieter. In DC, I never felt this. I had come from a rural area and wanted to be in an urban location, that’s why I chose GW! It wasn’t until I got to Shanghai that I truly understood this notion. So, this weekend I decided to get away and travel with a group of seven friends to Guilin and Yangshuo, two towns that are a three-hour flight south of Shanghai. It was absolutely amazing.

In order to maximize our vacation, we decided to fly out early on Thursday morning. We had a flight that left Shanghai at 7:10 AM. We took Didi’s (Chinese Uber) to the airport and then caught a direct, three-hour flight to Guilin. Flying in China is a unique experience. The airport security is different than from the U.S. In China, you can keep your shoes and jacket on, and liquids do not have to be removed from your bag. However, the security guards seemed to be pretty unfamiliar with some of the liquid products and confiscated them as a result. For example, one girl had her contact solution taken, and another lost two bottles of Tabasco. Once you get on the plane, you almost guaranteed to be greeted by a completely full plane. It seems to be rare to have open seats. During the flight, regardless of its length, you will be served a meal. It is almost guaranteed that you will have the choice between noodles and rice, both with some kind of meat (sorry vegetarians). Once you land, it is a mad dash to get off the plane. Then you will all depart, grab your bags and try to find out how to get a public bus ticket to get to your destination. For our trip to Guilin, this process went well once we got through security and we ended up getting to our hostel smoothly by taking two different buses.

We only had one night in Guilin so we spent the full day exploring. We went and got Korean food for lunch and then took a bus to the reed flute cave. This cave was very large and pretty, but also very touristy. There were colored LED lights everywhere that gave the cave a very odd glow at times. Regardless, it was still a cool visit and there were several areas that were very pretty.

After the caves, we walked around in the mountains for a little while before heading down and grabbing dinner. We went and got Guilin’s signature noodles. These are really just rice noodles with a little meat, and then you add the toppings that you want (pickled vegetables, spices, broth). I ended up putting way too much chili oil and mine became a little too hot to finish.

After that, we went and walked down to the Sun and Moon Pagodas. These are located in the middle of a lake. One has yellowish-orangish lights on it, representing the sun, and the other has white lights on it, representing the moon. It was very pretty until the lights were shut off at exactly 10:30 and the whole area went dark.

We then returned to our hostel and went to bed. We woke up the next day at 8:00, had breakfast, and headed out to catch the bus to Yangshuo, a smaller, more natural town about an hour south of Guilin. We arrived in Yangshuo around 1:00 and walked to our hostel to drop our bags. After talking to the man working at the hostel, we decided to go kayaking that afternoon. He arranged for someone to pick us up, take us to the kayaking location, and then bring us back once we were done. It ended up being great and we spent an hour and a half on a pretty quiet river, simply exploring.

We returned to town and got cleaned up from our river excursion. All nine of us (another friend joined us) then went to an Italian restaurant and got pizza. I can confidently say that Hawaiian pizza in the middle of rural China is pretty good, especially when you haven’t had good pizza in months. We finished off dinner, got some snacks for our hike the next day, and then returned to our Hostel’s rooftop to hang out and relax.

The next day, Saturday, we woke up at 7:30 AM and went and grabbed breakfast from the only restaurant that was open. We then walked around for about an hour before finally finding the bus station to take us to Xingping, a town in between Guilin and Yangshuo. Our plan was to do a fifteen-mile hike between there and Yangdi, a town north of Xingping. We were going to hike along the river and truly see all that the area has to offer. Unfortunately, we spent a long time trying to find the trail and after ending up in a few different areas that didn’t appear to be correct, we decided to cut our losses and simply climb a nearby mountain called Laozhai. It was supposed to take thirty minutes to complete the 1,149-stair ascent to the top. While I think we completed it that fast, we were pretty dead by the time we made it to the top. Luckily, the view was worth it and we spent over an hour simply sitting at the top and admiring the view.

We then came down and took the bus back to Yangshuo. Everyone was exhausted but we managed to get cleaned up and head to a very good vegetarian restaurant for dinner. While I am not vegetarian, I have been overwhelmed at times by how liberally meat is thrown into almost every dish that is made, so it was nice to break away from that for at least a meal. We once again returned to our rooftop to relax and mingle with a group of English teachers who were also staying there.

On Sunday morning, we woke up at 6 AM, walked to the bus station, and caught the 7 AM express bus back to Guilin Airport. We had an 11:00 AM flight back to Shanghai which ended up getting delayed by about thirty minutes and having the gate changed. Once we actually got on the plane, things got much more confusing. We had a two-hour flight to Anqing. At that airport, we had to get off the plane (it was the only plane at the whole airport), walk across the tarmac to the “airport,” a building that included a total of two gates, and then wait for thirty minutes. We then got back on the exact same plane and sat in the exact same seat for our next seventy-five-minute flight to Shanghai. Despite the fact that all of the passengers were the same, we received another meal, because why not?

We finally got back to Shanghai airport around 3:30 and then took a forty-five subway and ten-minute bus ride back to our apartment to finish off a crazy, fun, hectic and beautiful trip.

The Many Sides of Shanghai

When talking to other people living in Shanghai, I frequently get asked if I like the city so far. This is an easy question to answer. Shanghai is amazing. It has a few flaws, but those are significantly outweighed by its amazing amount of culture, social scene and landmarks. I want to showcase a few of the things that I have found in this city so far, which perfectly illustrates what Shanghai has to offer.

·      Langxiao Jiutian: There are a ton of great restaurants within a ten-minute walk of where we live. This place definitely takes the prize for best meal. They roast whole lamb legs outside on a charcoal grill. You simply order a leg and then pay by the weight. They then bring it to your table and carve it in front of you. This has been one of the best meals I’ve had so far, and it comes at a great value, about $12 per person.

·      Yuyuan Gardens: These gardens provide a lively refuge in the middle of a busy city. It was mostly destroyed during the first opium war but was rebuilt in the 1960’s by the Chinese government. The garden can be very busy, but it features traditional Chinese architecture and a wide variety of different plants. It is a great way to step back in time while staying in the middle of downtown Shanghai. I went with the other students in the Global Bachelors program and we were all surprised by its beauty.

·      Epicure on 45: This restaurant is on the 45^th floor of the Radisson Blu hotel, and has panoramic views of the whole city. While the menu is pricey, the views of the city are incredible, and it’s a much quieter atmosphere than some of the other viewing platforms in the city.

·      Starbucks Roastery: This is the largest Starbucks in the world, and they roast all of the beans in house. It is over 30,000 square feet and just opened last year. I personally don’t like the atmosphere of most Starbucks locations, but this one was very well decorated and just chill. The music was solid, and it is definitely a place I would consider going to do work. They also bake fresh bread and have a completely different menu.

·      French Concession: This is a very broad one, as the French concession is a very wide area that includes many of the top restaurants and bars in Shanghai. It is very popular among expats. The one thing that sometimes gets overlooked though, is the art. I was walking down a side street the other day and found an alley that was completely covered in murals. At the end of the street was a baby blue loveseat with a Michelangelo bust on it. It was one of the coolest things and could have been easily overlooked.  

·      The Tipsy Fiddler: This is an Irish restaurant I went to for St. Patrick’s Day. They were showing the Ireland-England Rugby game and had a live band playing traditional Celtic music. It was a great environment and I met so many interesting people. Shanghai is full of people who are doing big things and so anytime I go anywhere, I like to talk to the people around me. I met a group of students from NYU Shanghai, another group from Fordham, and a woman who was in Shanghai for four days as a consultant for Deloitte. Overall, a very interesting group of people and a great way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.

I hope that this can show at least some of the variety that Shanghai has to offer. It’s a great city for everyone because it truly allows for as much cultural immersion as you are comfortable with. They sell western food everywhere, and you can easily go to establishments that are full of foreigners. At the same time, it’s also very easy to immerse yourself in Chinese, Taiwanese, and Korean culture, which is what makes this city so special.