Local time: Fri Feb 16, 20:09

Today was my last full day in Zhuhai City Central/port area. I will leave and move into campus dorms tomorrow!

To spend my last day, I of course went back to my favorite noodle and dumpling shop, Lan Zhou Noodles. I then took a public bus north to Jiu Zhou Cheng/Hai Bin. I thought the wall temple would be cool to walk through and the map also showed a neat museum but when I got there it looked pretty closed. However, down and across the road a little bit was Hai Bin public park and it was BUSY (and beautiful)! Today is the sixth day of Chinese new year (正月初六), the day where business that were closed for the holiday traditionally re-open, so there were lots of decorations still up in the park! The weather was lovely, not too hot, so walking around in the sun with the occasional breeze felt really nice. I passed by little food stands but decided to pass ~ most of it was fish balls and tentacles. This park was huge, green, and open. There were flower beds around that looked healthy and lush, more picture opportunity spots, and a pond that you could ride pedal (paddle?) boats on and shoot water guns. The park was also by the beach which was PACKED with people, though not a single person was in the water, granted there were signs that said not to go in the water. Down the beach a ways was the Fisherman’s Daughter statue, a famous Zhuhai landmark. We walked down the boardwalk to get our picture of it, and had to squish between people.

SO MANY UMBRELLAS ! (The umbrellas are to block the sun. Lots of the women here wear garments and accessories that cover the majority of their skin. I have heard before that having fair skin is part of the beauty standard, so maybe that has something to do with it?)

I then walked up the mountain a little bit to really enjoy the view away from the noise and crowd before hopping on a bus back to Gongbei for another 冰糖葫芦 (bīngtánghúlù). The bingtanghulu shop keepers gave big smiles and waves as I walked up!

And yesterday A and Lan opened their boutique back up. As I was walking back to the hotel and passed I stopped in to say hi. Lan wasn’t there at the time but A was and she was getting an offering ready for prayer (a small table with duck, oranges, apples, and tea). I didn’t want to interrupt her so I only stopped for a little bit. In that time she went to her purse and handed me a red envelope! So nice of her! I will go back tomorrow as well to say goodbye. Though I have truly enjoyed the time down here and have enjoyed learning to navigate the public transportation, it will be nice to finally be on campus, meet my roommates, and start classes! (It has been a LONG break).

It really has been such an amazing experience living independently here, and the people around me have made being here not so scary and isolating. I am going to miss this little area of Zhuhai I’ve come to know so well but really what awaits ahead is the big adventure!!

Thank you again to everyone who has been supporting and loving me!

I love and miss you ❤

Local time: Wed Feb 14, 17:47

So earlier I mentioned how Lan and A recommended I go to a pretty flower park south of the city center and I thought it might be in Macao. I have now accurately pinpointed exactly which chunks of land ARE Macao and the flower walkway was indeed still in Zhuhai. I hopped on the K10 city bus line at Gongbei port and took it south 13 stops (about half an hour). It was actually very difficult to find the bus stop. There is a bus station on ground level to the left of the customs line to Macao, but that is NOT where the bus stop was. I then went underground where the shopping center was and navigated its maze of hallways (I discover a new hallway every time I go, and often get turned around). Took about half an hour to find the escalator down even further to and underground tunnel/road where more bus stops were. Finally!

Today it was a high of 74 degrees out, and when there isn’t a cloud in the sky or big trees to create shade, it sure feels hot! By the time I got to the actual flower park walkway from the bus stop I was hot and sweaty. Anyways, I enjoyed the beautiful scenery of the river, the Hengqin Bridge, and of course the endless walkway of flowers! I did not walk the entire thing because it is very long and it was very hot out. Most of the flowers were roses. There were lots of people there on the little paths that ran through the bushes taking selfies and posed pictures. Definitely a place that locals enjoy! After walking and finding shade for a while, I went back and got some ice cream and water. The ice cream in China is not the same as in the US. Over here it’s coconut base instead of vanilla (I have tried ice cream a couple of places now). When I took the bus back to Gongbei/our area, it was PACKED. I stood right up against others. It sure felt good to finally get off that packed bus.

For the rest of the day, I just enjoyed the A/C in the hotel room and another walk around familiar streets.

Local time: Mon Feb 12, 19:49

Today was a warm and sunny day! I started off with some dumplings (牛肉水饺) and Chinese hamburgers (肉夹馍) because why not!

I went back to Gongbei for some candied fruit (冰糖葫芦) before catching the K5 city bus line for 1 Yuan/person to Doumen (斗门区) in northwest Zhuhai ~ per Lan’s advice. It was about an hour long bus ride and very easy. I then rode in my first DiDi (Chinese Uber) to get the rest of the distance between the bus stop and Jintai Temple.

The DiDi dropped me off way down at the bottom of the mountain where it turned into a pedestrian only road. I followed a very large and packed crowd of people through a beautiful gate, decorated tunnel, across a dam bridge (?), through the trees, and up the mountain until we finally reached the beautiful Jintai Temple. It was crowded with people there to visit, pray, and burn incense as traditional activities during the Chinese new year. There was nothing like the intricate architecture, vibrant colors, and amazing view of the hills and water! I am so glad that Lan and her sister A recommended we visit Jintai Temple. Being able to walk through the decorated trees and be at the temple’s doors was something out of a movie!

Out of the multiple thousands of people that were there.

While at Jintai Temple, I also saw a couple of monks and many, many rooms with offering alters. It was a very serene and immersive cultural experience to be there and even send our own prayers.

I then took a DiDi back to Doumen city center. One observation I have made about drivers here in Zhuhai is that there is a LOT of honking and lane changing. It’s like “if YOU inconvenience MY driving, I will honk at you.” My DiDi driver had one hand on the horn at all times, ready to honk at any inconvenience or possible inconvenience (anyone in our proximity basically). Nothing like driving in the US! To get back to the hotel, I got back on to the K5 line which dropped me off a couple of blocks down the road and walked the rest of the way. The city buses also run on an efficient and cool system. The buses are electric and there are maybe 5 buses per line that are staggered. When they reach their end/start points, they sit and charge for a while and swap with the incoming bus to take passengers back the other way.

Anyways, the day was very fun and full, and I learned a lot of about public transportation and its convenience. It was just an amazing and unique experience to go to Jintai Temple like locals!

Local time: Sun Feb 11, 19:41

Yesterday was the first day of the Chinese new year!

恭喜发财！新年快乐！龙年大吉！身体健康！万事如意！

I didn’t go to any big celebration events because in Zhuhai city itself there wasn’t a lot going on. A and Lan from the boutique recommended I go to Changlong, an amusement park here in Guangdong, but it’s pretty far away and entry tickets were too expensive. I was also encouraged to go to Xing Le Du (星乐度), a flower park along the water, but I discovered that it’s actually in Macao. There is a temple in Zhuhai that lots of locals go to to pray during the holidays called Jintai Temple. I haven’t made my way there yet but might try and visit there tomorrow or soon after.

So what I DID do is go to GongBei port shopping center at the border of Zhuhai and Macao. It was very busy! I then went to the Zhuhai waterfront where I took in the sun, ocean breeze, and car/people watched for a while. Finally, I went back to Pao Tai Shan park in the evening as the sun was beginning to set. Unlike last visit, the park was very lively with people sitting at tables playing cards, groups of people playing sports, people doing yoga or using the exercise machines, and lots of people making their rounds on the track that runs through part of the park. I ended my time hiking up a little ways (signing a waiver saying I won’t catch the park on fire) and getting a good view of the sun setting behind the city. Finally, I went and ate hotpot! The hotpot place I went to was very busy with large tables of families sharing meals. The hotpot wasn’t my favorite experience (lots of cigarette smoke inside) but it was fun to try on my own. I will definitely need to expand my restaurant and food vocabulary to get more ingredients next time!

How could I forget! There were fireworks on the night of the 9th from 8p-1a… I went down to the waterfront to watch them for a while. It was a very fun experience. Lots of locals at the boardwalk with their own fireworks setting them off into the sky.

Though it wasn’t the Chinese new year experience I was expecting, so far it has still been a unique and touching experience. I have been able to experience authentic foods and traditions, and take part in some of the same things locals do ~ such as going to a public park to socialize and exercise.

Today is the second day of Chinese new year. I chatted with Lan over WeChat for a while last night about Chinese new year and even some of our personal hobbies and (food) interests. She told me that on the second day of Chinese new year it is custom for families to return to their relatives and spend time with their immediate families ~ definitely noticeable in the big groups of families we pass in the streets and see in restaurants!

I am just relaxing now, enjoying the city and time. Have a happy new year, good luck, prosperity, and eternal happiness!

Local time: Fri Feb 9, 18:25

Today was my third day in Zhuhai. I woke up around 7:00 this morning and feel pretty adjusted already to the time zone difference. I visited 炮台山公园 (Pao Tai Shan Park) about a 20 minute walk west of the hotel. I spent 30 minutes in the park, doing a loop on some of its many paths, and barely walked its entirety. There is a pavilion up a hill in the park with a panoramic view of Zhuhai and Macao that I climbed up to. The park is dense with trees and greenery and was like a whole different world from the city we are living in. There were Chinese new year decorations in the park as well, lanterns and signs to celebrate the holiday! It was a relaxing and beautiful little hike to get some fresh air. I might go back in the next couple days to take in the rest of the park!

I went back to my favorite restaurant in Zhuhai so far, 穆巧味 兰州拉面, a hand-pulled noodle shop! Their dumplings are my favorite! Service there is quick and on your own accord. Simple go up to the counter to order whenever you’re ready, scan the QR code to pay (whenever you want), and food is brought to you within 5 minutes.

I have been really enjoying my time here in Zhuhai. I have been utilizing my Chinese skills everyday with any interaction with locals. No one tries to speak English to me initially (which sort of surprises me) so it doesn’t give me an easy excuse to not use Chinese. I have definitely been getting better and I’ve definitely gotten more confident. I am very thankful to my parents for encouraging me to learn Chinese, to Yafei laoshi for being a loving and caring teacher, and to my parents and family again for supporting me on this trip (and always)!

On my first day here, I entered a little boutique on a main shopping street called Ou Mei Ri Han Feng. Unlike a lot of the clothing I had been seeing around, the clothing there was high quality and displayed neatly in pre-made outfits (you didn’t have to buy them like that though). The lady running the shop, A, was very nice to me. She didn’t speak much English because she hadn’t used it since she was in school (10 years ago) so we chatted in Chinese. I explained how I was here to study and celebrate the new year and she thought that was very cool! Then her younger sister, Lan, came down and the three of us talked about different things to do and places to go on Chinese new year day. I sat with them at the front for a decent amount of time where they offered me warm water and peanuts! I added their Wechats and they said how lucky they were to meet me and make a new friend! The next day, I went back to the boutique and bought myself a cute sweater and a pair of pink corduroy pants ~ it is the BEST feeling to put on pants in a store and they fit you without having to find an alternative “petite” or “short” version!! A and Lan were very happy to see us again! Glad for their friendliness and care in this unfamiliar city.

Today is Chinese new year eve, everyone is preparing for tomorrow with decorations, food, and sales. It’s fun to see everyone so excited, and seeing so many people around today with suitcases (probably coming home for the holiday). I bought some instant ramen so we have some food for tomorrow, as all the restaurants and shops will be closed. I am so excited for tomorrow! Being here for Chinese new year was really important to me and I am glad it has worked out!