First Taste of Mainland - Guangzhou

Expectations for my first trip to mainland china were not high. My ideas of China were filled with overcrowded, polluted streets and rude, pushy people trying to sell you anything at any price...Almost all of my ideas of mainland were smashed with my trip to Guangzhou. My first amazement was traveling along the organized, American like highway system. For some reason, thinking of mainland I imagined poorly maintained roads, almost like dirt roads in the countryside. As our super aggressive bus driver incessantly honked and weaved his way through traffic, I was amazed to see true country side, filled with farms and mountains as far as the eye could see. Being in Macau\HK, open space is a refreshing sight from the never ending concrete jungle. To be somewhere where all you can see is green is such a treat. Traveling on the highway was a distant memory from America that came to life while in China. For five months, I have not once travelled along an actual freeway, so being on that bus to Guangzhou was completely surreal and reminded me of home. I never quite realized how much time we spend in our cars till I came to China. I could easily say that I spend 20% of life in my car driving in America. Now living in the small town of Macau, a distance of more than 20 minutes on the bus seems incredibly far away. This is amazing considering that I would commute to Cupertino from SF on a daily basis without even thinking about it. Cars on the 'proper' side of the road

So my first impression of Guangzhou was the sheer size of the city. Probably 2-3 times the size of entire country of Macau, the city has a similar skyline of HK with towering skyscrapers dotting the sky. The massive streets, with four lanes for each direction, was absolutely daunting at first when the widest street in Macau is two lanes. Despite the obvious signs of industrialism, there remained pockets of piece and quiet in the city. Our hotel was located on Shaiman Island, which despite the name is actually not an island but just a small neighborhood in the heart of the city. Its a former British Colonial outpost. Many of the buildings have maintained their historical charm. The quiet, tree lined streets were another refreshing change from the incessant hoards of tourists you must maneuver through down every Macau street. Another pleasant surprise is the cleanliness of the streets, which I attribute to the obvious prosperity of Guangzhou. I would say Guangzhou is even cleanlier than Hong Kong and Macau.

Shaiman Island- former bristish outpost

We did get to visit a few 'historical' sites. Many of the buildings I thought would be dated much older were actually just a hundred years old or less. I think coming to China I vaguely knew about the Cultural Revolution. Being in Guangzhou, I was in awe of the modernity of the entire city despite the thousands of years of Chinese history. As I visited from temple to temple, there were virtually no remants of anything prior to the 20th century. Mao's purging of all historical artifacts and monuments was his attempt to destroy the 'old way of thinking'. I never quite understood the impact of the 'revolution' till this trip. Thousands of years of history destroyed in a few years because of one man. It makes me soooo sad to think of all that was lost because of Mao.

Chen Clan Ancestral Hall

Narrow, high walled alleys reminiscent of ancient China
Pagoda from the Guangxi Temple

On a brighter note, Guangzhou's food is beyond amazing. The quality, diversity and cheap price make for an unbelievable dining experience. Eating at a four storied dim sum restaurant was just the tip of the iceberg for Guangzhou's varied dining options. Dim sum, which originates from Guangdong province, is not just a meal, its a way of life....

Outside the most AMAZING dim sum restaurant

One of Tat's favorite snacks from childhood

Welcome to the 25 Club!

The whole gang at Yuzu

Turning 25 overseas was quite a surreal experience. As they pulled out the birthday cake at the restaurant, I looked around to see all my Fulbright and UMAC friends surrounding me. It was strange to think just one year ago I had no idea who these people were and now they are singing happy birthday to me. All the familiar faces from home are absent on my one special day of the year, but now I have my new friends to celebrate with. From the very first week of orientation, I soon realized that our group of Macau Fulbrighters was an amazing group of people. We were all intelligent and accomplished, yet down to earth and easy to talk to. I find that combination to be a bit rare these days, when everyone is so quick to spout out their arrary of knowledge to any random stranger they are trying to impress. I've been meaning to write this entry about my friends and collegues here in Macau...so here you go:)

L to R: Henry, Tom, Laura, Julianne, Erica, Paige, Denny; on the bottom: Eugenia and Carlos

Tom, baba, bingo-la

Macau Polytech Fulbrighters (minus me and paige)- Erica, Paige, me, Julianne, Laura

L to R: Melody, Brooke, me

Macau University of Science and Technology Fulbrighters - Molly and me

Of course, most of my daily interactions are with my UMAC Fulbrighters. Denny is probably the closest person I have out of the bunch. As usual, I draw myself to the nearest Chinese American boy:P From the very first most we met on the airplane, we found that we had sooo much in common. His drive and passion to advocate for the Asian American population are similar to my own dreams. It was comforting to find somebody who is just as passionate as myself. What I love about denny is that he is always willing to go deep and ask himself the hard questions about life and society. What's even better is that he's not always serious and he loves to tell stories and have a great time. Denny for his age is definitely wise beyond his years.

Paige is probably one of the sweetest girls I've met. She's truly a genuine person. Though she does have her ditzy moments, she bright and fun loving. She is incredibly easy going and can just go with the flow. Her past experiences in China have allowed her to easily adapt to Macau. She has an open mind about being abroad.

And then there's Jessica. As a group, we have had issues dealing with Jessica. She is sweet at times but tends to keep a facade to mask her selfish somewhat abrasive personality. She has on several occasions left us with more work on our plate. She never goes to field trips on the weekends cause she's always in HK partying in LKF. She never goes to class cause she is too busy doing a whole bunch of nothing. Though she has already been reprimanded for her lack of work, she still has a negative attitude. She constantly complains about the little work she has, which is barely anything to do. I've learned to block out her negativity but its still annoying. I've definitely had to bite my tongue on several occasions to avoid butting heads with her. In the end, she's not going to change and she's never going to be a team player. Outside of this one sore spot on the ELC team, everyone I work with is a dream.

Bingo, my bestest friend at UMAC! I love Bingo for his sense of humor, his fun loving nature, his open mind, his willingness to learn and absorb everything about American culture. I love Bingo! He's probably one of the most genuine people I've ever met in my life. I think its incredibly refreshing to find somebody so real. There is something almost naive about his character - like a small child. He cares about people with his whole heart. He's not trying to pretend to be somebody he's not. He doesn't hold back. He is bingo and you love him for who he is.

Of course there are so many people at UMAC to mention them all. I am so grateful on how quickly we were able to develop a community at the university. Being on actual campus, you can develop actual relationships as oppose to a commuter school. As I talk about the friendships that I've formed here, I have a deep sense of gratitude. Prior to coming here, I was so worried about the people that I was going to spend one year with. I didn't know if were going to clash, if they were going to be so different we couldn't find common ground. What has happened is that Fulbright has selected people that exude the same personality traits, thus why we all get along so well. We have similar goals and values.

I'm still grappling with the idea of being 25. I ask myself what I've done since graduating from Davis and do feel like I've done a lot, but still I feel I have so much to do. I feel that the quarter century mark is a special birthday because now you move into the mid 20s column. You are no longer in your crazy young 20s where partying and drinking are synonymous with daily life. Now I feel I've reached a point where its time to think about the future...granted with my personality I've been thinking about the future since I was 13 years old. Now its real...now is the age you need to start legitimately thinking about the next step...whatever that actually is. I wonder back when I was 18 years old...25 seemed so far away. Seemed like I could never get that old, like I could never grow up. But here I am...all 'grown up' living abroad. What does grown up even mean? Does it mean having responsibility? Does it mean being financially independent? Does it mean being married and having a family? I guess its up to you to define when you are ready to grow up...the thing is that nobody can stop time. You will always get older but you may not necessarily ever grow up. I can't wait for the next 25 years of my life:)