Let me start this post off by saying that going for a run in 27 degree heat with 85% humidity is not a good idea! I've been itching to do some exercise (if you know me, you know I get grumpy if I don't exercise!) but it's been so hot that I've been avoiding doing anything. I've been in class during all the times that the pool is open, and access to the gym at BNUZ is restricted to full-time students. So, I decided I would go for a run, but that I would wait until night time to try and go when it was a little cooler. Even though it was dark out and there was a little breeze, I still arrived back at my room absolutely drenched. Hopefully, I will be able to get to the pool sometime this week, because I am not looking forward to running in this kind of heat again!
I left off my last blog post by talking about my classes, which have been going pretty well. After our last class on Friday, some of my friends and I decided we wanted to get off campus for our day off on Saturday, and decided we wanted to visit Gongbei, which is a bay about an hour's drive from BNUZ. It is very close to Macau, and is known for its underground shopping mall and gorgeous beaches. Instead of taking a cab, we decided we would take the high speed train, which would get us from campus to Gongbei is about 10 minutes, and which would only cost 15 rmb (about $3 Canadian). We went to the train station on Friday evening to get the tickets. It is quite a process for foreign travellers because we need to present our passport every time we buy a ticket, so we decided to go the night before to avoid any long lines in the morning. The train station is about a 10 minute walk from BNUZ. Once we bought the tickets, we decided we didn't want to go right back to campus. It had been a long week and we wanted to find somewhere to enjoy a beer and some snacks. About 15 minutes from the train station, we found a local outdoor Hot Pot and barbecue restaurant. It was completely packed with people, and although we were with Katherine and another language partner, Ben, we were a little intimidated at first because it was our first time being off campus. However, I thought about what my parents always told me about travelling, and that is "go where the locals go" and so we did!
On Saturday, we caught the train to Gongbei at 10:20 am, and arrived at about 10:30am. I have never been on such a fast train before - it was amazing to watch the landscape fly by. I was really struck by the mix of old and new in the city. There are some really historic buildings and then right next to them are brand new luxury skyscrapers. It is quite a contrast. The underground shopping mall in Gongbei is gigantic! There are halls and halls of shops and stores, selling just about anything you could imagine. We were there for about two hours and I don't think we even saw a quarter of all the stores in the mall. A few of my friends bought souvenirs or clothes but mostly we just enjoyed wandering around and checking out all the different shops. After visiting the mall, we headed out for lunch, to an all-you-can-eat buffet. It was super tasty and a nice way to unwind after being in the busy mall. Katherine introduced me to some new foods (mostly steam buns stuffed with veggies!) and when we were done, we headed to an iconic landmark in Zhuhai.
The "Fisher Girl" statue is one of Zhuhai's biggest attractions. As I mentioned before, Zhuhai translates into English as "Pearl of the Ocean" and the statue depicts a woman holding a pearl above her head. The statue was pretty amazing, but the people there were more interested in our group than they were in the statue. A lot of the visitors were more interested in taking pictures with us "foreigners" than they were in taking pictures of the statue! The "Fisher Girl" is right on the beach, so after we were done admiring the statue, we headed down for a walk on the beach before heading back to BNUZ. We were supposed to attend a swimming party at the pool in the evening, but unfortunately the weather was too bad. So instead, we went to karaoke! It was a pretty fun place, and right on campus. We got our own room for a couple of hours and had a lot of fun singing along to English and Chinese songs. Our language partners are all really good singers, especially with English songs!
I slept in late on Sunday, and got up for a field trip in the afternoon. We met at about 2:00pm to go visit Putuo Temple and the New Yuan Ming Palace in Zhuhai. The Putuo Temple is a traditional Buddhist temple located at the foot of a mountain, and is absolutely stunning. I wasn't able to take any pictures inside the temple, but I can tell you that it was breathtaking. Walking in, you can hear the sounds of the monks singing and praying, and smell the incense being burned. It was a really eye-opening experience for me. It is one thing to learn about Buddhism from books or lectures but another thing completely to see it in person. Even though there were tons of people around, the temple still felt very spiritual and peaceful.
After visiting the temple, we also had the opportunity to visit a palace in downtown Zhuhai. This palace is a remake
of the Yuan Ming Palace (Summer Palace) in Beijing that was destroyed during the second opium war in the1860s. Again, it was amazing to visit a place that I had just learned about in class. The gardens were gorgeous and my friend Ally and I found a path up a mountain which led to an amazing view. There were no other people around, and the view from the top was so nice! There was the option to take a cable car up the mountain, but Ally and I chose to hike it, and I think it was a good choice. We were able to enjoy the walk and the view without any other people being around.
On the way back from the field trip, my friends and I were discussing how amazing it is to be able to have first-hand experience of a Buddhist Temple and a palace. I think it's so valuable to be able to see, in person, the places we are learning about in class. My friends and I all agree that being able to experience these cultural landmarks in person makes the Chinese culture so much more real to us. I might forget what I learn about in class, but I won't forget the experience I had.
It was a long weekend, so I slept extremely well on Sunday night. Now, I am back to studying - our final exams are this Saturday! Thanks again for reading, I hope you're enjoying hearing all my stories :)
PS: sorry this post is a couple of days late! My account wouldn't let me access or upload any photos for the past fews days! I was able to upload a bunch more onto the "Gallery" page, if you're interested in seeing more!
