Around the World in 26 Days

Today was definitely a day of experiences, to say the least. For breakfast I tried some watermelon juice, forgetting that too much watermelon upsets my stomach, much less a foreign watermelon. So when we went to our business visit to Wal-mart, I was feeling a little gross. The presentation was interesting, in China instead of targeting to the lower middle class like here in America, they target to the higher classes to offer them a one-stop shopping destination with fresh foods as well. It also took them a long time to break into the market, but now they are pretty successful and have about 300 stores around the country.  

We then got a tour of the store, which was similar to every other Wal-mart but a little bigger and offered some very distinctly Chinese items, such as fresh seafood and cold anime pillows. However, I didn’t get to explore around much as I was feeling REALLY disgusting right at the point and was basically running to the restroom. Let me take a minute to describe the majority of Chinese restrooms. They are basically a stall with a hole in the ground (called squatters) and most of them don’t have toilet paper, so people are supposed to carry their own. Also you can’t flush the toilet paper. You have to put it in the trash next to the squatter. 

So this is the situation I was in when I was feeling super gross. I walked into the restroom and the smell immediately made me feel worse. I ran into a squatter (sans toilet paper) and literally had a case of Chinarrhea. The rest of the story’s kinda gross, so I can tell it to you in person if you want, but needless to say it was one of the worst experiences of my life.  I can’t tell you how much I miss American restrooms. 

Anyway, after the Wal-mart experience, I felt much better. We headed straight off to the Great Wall of China! It was honestly unreal. I had always seen pictures of it, but never imagined I would actually go there. Getting up to the top was one of the most intense workouts of my life. The steps are really steep and all different sizes and there were hundreds of them. By the end I felt like I took a dunk in the swimming pool or something because I was literally drenched with sweat. It was pretty disgusting, but the view was INCREDIBLE and I was on the Great Wall, so I was really happy. I just can’t believe how many awesome things I’ve been able to do on this trip!

After we got done messing around on the Wall, we went to this really nice dinner where the courses were served P.F. Chang’s style. Most of the food was so delicious. My favorites were probably the orange chicken, the sweet and sour fish (with head still attached!) and the beef with vegetables. With lots of rice :)

When we got done with dinner we then went to, you guessed it, the Silk Market. I only bought some hats and a t-shirt this time, but it was fun to go through one last time. I will definitely miss this place! I have this fear that when I get back home I’ll try and barter with stores and get banned or something. Although that would be pretty funny. 

I went home in a taxi, which was quite the experience. The traffic here is insane. There’s hardly any regard for traffic laws or pedestrians. I was kind of scared for my life, but our driver was a pro. Even though he sang at random intervals.