First we went to West Lake yesterday (May 5th). West Lake is a very popular tourist place in Hangzhou. In the 1980s it was named the 3rd most beautiful place in China. We went on a boat tour of the lake. It is similar in size to Lake Okaboji in Iowa. We rode on a dragon boat which was pretty neat. It just felt good to go somplace that wasnt over crowded (on the water, the path was very crowded) and get some fresh air. After we were done at West Lake, we went to a 5* hotel that had the best buffet I have ever had. I ate potatoes with bacon and some food that felt like American Chinese food.
*Sidebar*
For those of you who don't know, Chinese food restaurants in America are not actual Chinese food.
My favorite food from American Chinese restaurants that I havent had in China yet include...General Tso's chicken, egg rolls, crabmeat ragoons, fried rice, those biscuits at Great Dragon in Waverly that are covered in sugar.
Foods I have had
Jelly fish, crushed tortois shell, spaghetti with sweet and sour sauce, tomatos with sugar on them.
For the most part I have enjoyed the food, but I just thought that you guys back in Iowa should know the difference between food in China and Chinese food in America. I have had some food here that I had never had but were amazing.
After lunch, we went to the equivalent to Adventure Land in China. We went to a Chinese Acrobatic show that was absolutely incredible, the show had cannons, live horses, belly dancers, fire, lazers projectors, drums, it was the craziest show I have ever been to, and caught myself saying "Oh WOW," a lot. After that, Mike and I walked around the shops and didnt find anything apealing, so we decided to watch people try to walk across a water obstacle. Basically it consisted of people falling off stuff into water.
We then went to a restaurant that was similar to an American Diner. Everyone pretty much ordered steaks which was like a tenderloin without the breading. Mac and Cheese was a side dish that everyone was excited for, and was extremely let down. It was served with wine, which was pretty much Koolaid. I ordered a milk shake and some seafood pasta. The spaghetti was amazing, but the sauce was similar to sweet and sour sauce so that was kinda weird. During the meal, Lacy and Prof Ewest stole the show though. Lacy started choking on her milkshake and Tim had to do the heimlich maneuver to dislodge it! Tim Ewest for professor of the year. After supper, Shawn ShingShing Jarrett and Angie and I went to the place that was similar to the Goat on Bars Street that we had been to a few nights ago. We lightly celebrated Cinco De Mayo with Margaritas that had no ice in them and were about 95% Jose Cuervo, but it was nice to be in a relaxing place in Hangzhou.
Wednesday
Today we woke up and headed all the way across town to the satellite campus of the ZUT. We learned about Chinese culture and holidays. We then learned how to make dumplings at the Chinese equivalent of the Mensa. The dumplings were more like potstickers, but they tasted amazing. Then we had some free time and we got to watch the nuggets game on CCTV5 (the sports channel here).
After lunch we went to another satellite campus to meet with some english language students. As I mentioned earlier, I am studying basketball in China and how its popularity has increased since Yao Ming traveled to the US. Here were some observations that I had when talking to the students
"I dont watch Ping Pong, but I always watch basketball."
Table tennis is number one for older generation but most people under 40 basketball is the most popular sport.
It was smart of the US to allow Yao to come to the NBA.
Out of about 10 students I polled all said their favorite team was the Rockets or the Lakers.
One girl said basketball was always popular, but since Yao came to the NBA it has become extremely popular
The Chinese Basketball Association is starting to lose popularity to the NBA, so it has tried to become like the NBA and has started to lure NBA role players to be stars (Smush Parker formerly of the Lakers, won a CBA championship on Monday, I watched the last quarter.).
China's national team finished 8th in the olympic games.
Shaq and Michael Jordan still very popular
6 people said that Kobe was their favorite player, 4 said Yao.
After talking to the students I asked our class and Lebron and MJ were the only answers between the few I asked
Girls don't generally play basketball in China
Overall I feel very satisfied with my research today. Most students in our class had troubles with their topic, but I got some good data, and some new insights that I didnt know.
After meeting with the students we ate supper with them and came back to the hotel. Jarrett and I then went down to the park to play basketball again, we lost our first game, but after that we won 6 in a row (Michael Jordan anyone?). We were paired with 2 guys who were very nervous to play with us, and were not as talented as Shawn and Angie ( our usual teammates) but we had a good time. During our last game, we had about 50 people standing and watching our game because Jarrett was putting on a show. We then went out to a bar and we met a guy named Luke from Switzerland and we got to talking about what he did and how he got to China, and had a good time.
Goodnight
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