china.

I originally planned to make a runnnig blog of my travels but because of the fact that the Chinese government blocked my blog site, I was unable to write about my accounts until now.

For the past two and a half weeks, I have been exploring China. I started in Dalian, and via Beijing, Nanjing, Shanghai, and Xi'an, I finally arrived here, in Hong Kong. There really is an art to travel. And it isn't something that comes naturally. Its takes a couple of uncomfortable trips, stupid mistakes, and losing money to really learn how to be a skilled, smart traveler. I, just like any, have made such mistakes. And my motto in preparation for this trip as been semper preparatus: always prepared. But I think I was overly prepared. I was too prepared. I was preparing for everything but the plague, it seemed like. What I should have done, was to prepare for the most likely mishaps. But then again, one could argue that anything could really happen.

China is different, this is for sure. The one thing I have been thinking about is if courtesy is a cultural characteristic rathar than a innately human characteristic. Because the Chinese have not, by my definition of courtesy, been very courteous. It is by all means every-man-for-himself mentality. I say this from my experiences in mainland China. But I don't know. I don't know if it is simply that they aren't courteous or they don't know any better. I can only hypothesize that maybe it was due to the communist regime. Living in a society where hard work isn't merited by some sort of reward, such as increase pay or a better job suited for your wants and needs, it seems understandable that the masses do things to be one step ahead of everyone else. If the government doesnt recognize the hard work and sacrifice, you have to find other means to get ahead. It it seems to have seeped into their very etiquette towards each other.

I think I have most enjoyed Beijing, Shanghai, and now, Hong Kong. They are major cities in China and has a long history of interactions with the rest of the world. Nanjing was interesting because of the Nanjing Massacre Museum. If anyone doesn't know about it, I highly recommend you read about it. It doesn't receive enough recogition, I feel. The museum tells of the accounts of the Japanese occupation in 1937. They did absolutely atrocious acts against humanity through their brutality toward the Chinese. In the past, far removed from now, Japan has had a history of aggression on mainland Asia. Walking through the museum, it was heart wrenching for me because they were brutal and on a personal level, I feel that Korea and China share many of the same pain and sorrow caused by Japan. Thankfully the Japanese are not like that whatsoever but what it did start was a silent resentment that has been carried through the generations. Even now, I hear about blind prejudice against the Japanese from those who were never alive to witness what happened.

Hong Kong has a different feel than mainland China. I had the opportunity to take the famous Peak tram up to the top of a mountain and see a breathtaking site of Hong Kong. Hong Kong Island reminds me of Manhattan while Kowloon is Brooklyn. It is as multicultural as New York City with all races walking the streets. Hong Kong is a tropical island city like Hawaii with beautiful flora and green covered mountains. It has a romantic side to it, which I like. When I was in China, I didn't feel that any of the cities had a romantic feel to it. Shanghai could but doesn't compare with Hong Kong because Hong Kong has that organic beauty.

I hope to see what Macau is like. It shouldn't be too long now before I take the ferry there. I've always wanted to go to Macau because I told myself it will be the closest thing to Portugal I'll get for a long time.