China Day 11: Lujiazui (陸家嘴) + The Bund (外灘)

The view on either side of the river was gorgeous. I'm pretty sure I visited them on separate days, but for the sake of concise posts and because I've been absolutely terrible about updating and finishing organizing my China photos, I will lump them all together for your viewing pleasure. This was one of my favorite sights of China and a definite favorite for the city of Shanghai- it was so beautiful at night! :)

The Bund! (外灘)

The Bund + cool glowing boat :)

I think this was my favorite part~

Forbidden photos in Peace Hotel...oops... o_o

TV Tower!!!

Because Asians can clearly drive 

On the other side of the river now! The Lujiazui (陸家嘴) side. 

See the smoggy air? Not too pleasant :[

Glowing boats!

Fancy Haagen-Dazs sit-down restaurants FTW

Given that this picture on the screen changes quickly, I was very very proud of this shot. I <3 Shanghai!! :D

And of course, checked out the IFC mall with the Apple store. :]

China Day 14: Great Wall!! (長城)

Given that this was my first time in China, seeing the Great Wall was kind of necessarily on the bucket list. I always knew that the Great Wall was supposed to be impressive, but I suppose with all of the hype I had heard about it beforehand; how it is often mentioned in media, movies, and whatnot; how all of my friends have seen and visited it already, I was just a little dulled and not particularly excited.

But even after all of that, lemme tell you, the Great Wall was indeed very impressive. And I have photos to prove it!

However, first we went to a Ming Emperor Tomb because traffic was so bad. The tomb was cool too!

Emperor's Tomb!

Guardian Lion on the Spirit Road

Chinese version of the unicorn! See the horn? :)

There were two of each animal- one sitting and one standing. They were said to alternate sitting and standing with day and night :P 

Serious scholar :P

The Emperor's casket...with his two empresses (not one, but two!)

View from the top!~

The Great Wall!! :D

People on the Great Wall :)

Badaling! (Thank you glare....)

Just to prove I was there. :)

And it goes on....

And on....

And on.... (Love the view~)

You get the point. It keeps going. Also, it was a gorgeous day! <3

And sometimes it was so steep I felt like I was going to die. :(

I climbed all the way up there!! :D

EASC360 family photo! :)

I'm getting really lazy about this blog. Apologies for the gross delays in updates, but I'm feeling burned out from life in general. :(

China Day 15: Herro Xi'an!

We blew through the Terracotta Warriors in about four hours. Also, given that it was some kind of holiday the day we went, the place was ridiculously packed. So many Chinese people. I don't even.

Regardless, I saw the Terracotta Warriors in real life!! :D Amazing, given that I had read about them for EALC145g this past semester. :) Textbook readings come to life are the best!

Cool horse statue at the entrance~

Our tour guide said these were made of lead. DON'T BUY. :P

Terracotta Warriors!! :)

Also, see all those people on the right hand side? Yeah. It was crowded. 

I liked the horses. :)

Different pit~

In the museum! Bronze chariots~ 

Another bronze chariot!

The Emperor didn't just have soldiers! 

He had an animals keeper too! I'd like to see the Rare Birds and Animals Pit! :P

Xi'an was about to have this huge Annual Horticultural Expo.  This was its mascot. It was supposed to be a big deal for the city. 

Small children torturing said mascot in the airport

Again, the importance of this expo to Xi'an cannot be understated. 

We were in Xi'an for a grand total of about five hours, if that. Then it was on the bus to Yan'an, which was a five hour bus ride. Fun stuff! :P However, on the way we stopped for lunch at this really good dumpling restaurant...and I love dumplings!! 

Colorful dumplings!! :D

Mushroom I believe! Funny shapes :)

Duck dumplings...SHAPED LIKE DUCKS.

Swimming in soy sauce~

Veggie dumplings shaped like veggies! 

Sizzling dumpling soup~ :)

Needless to say, I suffered from a massive food coma on the bus ride. So many dumplings. But so good.