Chinese democracy

The timing of this piece in The Atlantic couldn't be better. Upon our return from China, many of us have been wrestling with ideas of democracy, meritocracy, and communism. We learned about new ways of life and new methods of governance that seem both legitimate and effective. Yet, these new ideas are not what we are traditionally exposed to in America. 

Thoughts? 

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/05/chinese-democracy-isnt-inevitable/394325/

3D

Hong Kong is very 3 dimensional. In Albuqueque, it's N-S-E-W, but in Hong Kong, it's N-S-E-W-Up-Down! 

Jet Lag and Flying

We all flew back yesterday, and we were all up for at least 30 hours straight and we were traveling back to New Mexico in that amount of time. So that was an exhausting day/couple of days. 

Something that was hard to comprehend was the fact that we left on Wednesday at 12 pm, and we landed in Seattle the same day at 10 am. That was a concept that I thought was really interesting. But of course we got to Albuquerque at 11:50 that day, and the jet lag killed.

I didn't fall asleep until 4 am that night, and I ended up waking up at about 4 pm on Thursday. Flying back was a lot better than flying there, but the 6 hour layover is Salt Lake was not the most enjoyable.

We mostly tried sleeping on the ground which wasn't comfortable. It's great to be home. I'm appreciating ice cubes a lot more too. China was such a great experience that I'm very thankful for. Thanks for the great time China!

Repulse Bay In Hong Kong

We went to Repluse Bay in Hong Kong the first day we were there. There were many smaller Buddhas all around the beach that many people were praying to and tourists were taking pictures with. This was the Buddha that we had to rub his belly for good luck. 

The beach itself was actually a man-made beach. The city ordered sand in from Thailand and other surrounding countries, but it was so beautiful. There water was very clear and luckily we went the day that it didn't rain. The water was the perfect way to cool down in the humidity. 

Loved the Great Wall!

My Favorite Experiences

Dinner in the hutongs: I consider this one of my favorite experiences because it seemed authentic. Most of the other places we went in Beijing were giant tourist attractions, which is fine, we are tourists, we want to see them. However, home cooked dinner inside someone's courtyard in their private home seemed like a unique experience.

The Great Wall of China: The Great Wall was the most amazing place I have ever seen. It was set in the middle of these beautiful mountains and these small little villages in a more rural part of the Hebei Province outside of Beijing. I could have spent all day hiking the Great Wall enjoying the scenery, the history, and the exercise. 

Lantau Island Buddha: This temple was absolutely stunning. I felt so peaceful just enjoying the remote and colorful temple and the spectacular Buddhist religion taking place (Maybe the temple wasn't remote, I'm not sure, but the thick fog made it seem so secluded in the mountains).

Shopping in Hong Kong: I never thought this experience would be at the top of my list, but as it turns out, when we are given time to shop we can really explore and gain our own unique experiences and see what Hong Kong culture is really like. We saw modern clothing stores and we pondered why certain styles and products seemed so popular in China. We also walked down a street with a food market and saw fresh fruits and dried squid and butchers chopping up whole frogs. The best part of this experience however was this tiny little dumpling shop that we stopped in where they barely spoke English. They got Matt's order wrong twice. In fact, he never did end up getting what he ordered. Nevertheless, the dumplings were pretty great and I felt like we had an authentic Hong Kong experience.

My last favorite experience was touching down in Beijing for the first time after an 11 hour flight. This may not seem remarkable, but I will forever remember how Beijing looked in the dusk as I stepped foot in a foreign country for the first time in my life. Just knowing that I was about to embark on a journey through another country with such a different culture was extremely exciting. 

China's Government

One of the main things I took away from this trip is how brainwashed we are towards other governments that are not our democracy. While I was in China people truly believed in communism as much as us Americans believe in democracy. Instead of thinking their government systems were wrong, I took the stance that maybe we are all oblivious toward governments that are not our own. Maybe democracy is not actually the "correct" government, and we have yet to find the "perfect system". More than anything it was truly eye opening to realize other views and beliefs that are not acceptable in the United States.