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My
Trip to China With ICAA
By: Bryant Irawan
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Chairman
Lin Zhaoshu and me |
Plane Ride
from Los Angles to Beijing, China:
I stepped into the plane enthusiastically and located my
seat. I soon figured out that even though my seat was in
the economy class, I had the best time sleeping and the
food was excellent! I couldn’t wait to get I got to Beijing!
I knew that the twelve hours I’ll spend in this plane will
be worth it when I disembark at China.
First Day in Beijing:
I just entered the airport and was flabbergasted when
I was welcomed with a strange and new smell. After a few
minutes of waiting, we all stored our baggage and went to
our tour bus to go downtown and see a few houses and parks.
After the short tour, we enjoyed a breakfast at a 24-hour
dim sum restaurant.
The next thing in our schedule was to go to the Forbidden
City where the Emperor used reside with his 3000 concubines
and went out to the Tien An Men Square. We were starting
to think there was no end! Everywhere you look, the city
can be seen. After the exhausting journey, we took a break
and went to a restaurant for lunch.
The lunch was great! As we devoured our lunch, everybody
started talking and talking. Nobody was silent as they ate.
Most of them were talking how excellent the food was because
you could here the words best and food all the time.
I couldn’t believe it! We still had more to do. My legs
were aching and my stomach was full. I never knew Beijing
was so gigantic! We soon arrived at the Temple of Heaven.
Inside were an emperor’s throne and some gigantic pillars.
Finally the day was about to end, the tour group was divided
into two groups. One group was to have a royal dinner at
a long table with the Chairman of All-China Federation of
Returned Overseas Chinese; Mr. Lin Zhaoshu and the Director-General,
Liaison Department; Mr. Lin Youhui, at the Prime Hotel in
Wangfujing St. owned by government. The other group was
to go to the Summer Palace and eat Peking duck. I was so
fatigued after this! I soon arrived at the Holiday Inn and
rushed to the room and slept.
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Reaching
the 7th station |
2nd Day
in Beijing:
The peculiar thing is I woke up at 5 and slept at about
1. I knew this was going to be another tiring day because
I was going to go to the Great Wall of China and go seven
stories down to the legendary Ming tomb. I went to the lobby
and got a quick breakfast which was 5 sausages, 3 croissants,
2 glasses of orange juice, and 8 strips of oily and crispy
bacon. The Great Wall was only about 15 min. As soon as
the bus stopped we got a group photo and I quickly climbed
and stride the Great Wall. My family didn’t have the physical
ability to go up anymore so they stayed at the second station.
I soon figured out that I should have stayed with them.
But I wanted to show off and climbed all the way to the
7th station. You should’ve seen my face! It was flooding
with sweat. My face was sweltering and oily. I was sweating
so much that drops of sweat were dripping to the ground
continuously like rain drops in a thunderstorm. My legs
were aching from striding and my arms were burned from gripping
the rail. My palms were bright red and were so hot it felt
that I had fireballs in my hand. I knew in order to run
even if I was in pain. I made it just in time and had a
short rest. I couldn’t wait for lunch! I figured out that
we were going to go down seven stories to the Ming tomb
and up. No! More steps! Inside were many emperor’s possessions
and thrones. Most of them were replaced because air had
eroded the wood items. I couldn’t believe it! Each day is
getting longer.
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3rd day
in Beijing/Shanghai/Suzhou
After I woke up, I hurriedly packed up my bags and left
to the airport to go to Shanghai. As soon as I arrived in
Shanghai, I perceptibly saw why Shanghai is so flourishing.
The buildings were all giant and tall like the buildings
in New York or Los Angeles. The group ate lunch and shopped
a little. The only sight we saw was the YuYan garden. The
garden was made from a rich man as a gift to his father.
Unfortuantely, his father died and his family used the large
garden to relax or watch opera in the mini stage. We all
grouped up after we exited and left to Suzhou to go to the
HanSan temple to pray and go eat. Today wasn’t really as
tiring as usual.
4th day in Suzhou/ Hangzhou
We didn’t have to wake up really early. We visited another
famous garden (one of the top 4) called the Lingering Garden
in Suzhou. The owner’s son of the garden liked to play mahjong.
One day he gambled the garden to another family, but today
the garden owns by the government. Since silk is really
famous in Suzhou, we visited a large factory that produces
silk. The tour guide showed a silk worm’s life stages and
the process of making silk. We had a chance to buy silk
clothes, quilts, accessories, etc and also ate lunch in
the factory. On the way to Hangzhou, we visited a village
filled with canals called Tong Li. The village was so peaceful
and you can go on boats for trips to canals! Our last city
we were supposed to go to was Hangzhou which is famous for
its Green Tea. It was already dark so we didn’t have a chance
to look around much.
5th Day in Hangzhou/Shanghai
Since Hangzhou was famous for the romantic West Lake,
we took a cruise. Hangzhou was also famous for the green
tea they make. We went to a little tea house for a cup of
tea and a tour guide showed us the process of making tea.
Our last stop in Hangzhou was a Buddhist temple. After that
we went back to Shanghai for a 3 hour drive to shop. I was
really joyful that we would go to Shanghai again to shop
in the number one commercial street called the Nanjing Rd.
But it turned out that I didn’t buy anything. I really had
a good time though. Before we went to the Nanjing Rd., we
took pictures of the tall and famous television tower. After
the tiring shopping, we went to the hotel and slept.
6th Day in Shanghai/Beijing/Los Angeles
Today was the day. The day that we would go home! I
couldn’t wait to come back home. The tour was great and
I saw China through my own eyes instead of some raggy postcard.
I packed my bags and said farewell to China. I’m really
proud that I’m Chinese-American because China has an ancient
and grand culture. As an American, I am proud to live in
a free country. " (Bryant A. Irawan/IM)
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