On Friday morning we took a bus to the old campus in the city to meet our Marketing professor. We held our lecture at the College of Chinese Studies and then went to Century Park after the class. Today he planned to take us to the underground market. This is a market that primarily sells counterfeit goods for very cheap prices. It was interesting to see how real many of the products were and how the negotiating works. It is very acceptable to bargain in China and you can pretty much bargain anywhere you go. This on the other hand was an experience on its own and really represented the purest form of a free market. It is kind of enjoyable to bargain on something that you have no interest in buying because you can really get them to drop their prices. This is definitely something that you can't see in America
On Saturday, we made plans to visit Chongming island just off the coast of Shanghai. We took about a 1 hour bus ride to meet a “fast ferry” that took us over to the island. When I think of a fast ferry I pictured the Hy-line cruise to the vineyard but this definitely wasn't the same. We may have reached a top speed of 10 knots per hour. When we arrived at the island we had to take another small van for about a 45 minute ride to the park where we were headed. The park was nice and looked similar to the salt flats in sandwich near Scorton creek. The whole park is set up on a boardwalk because everything is tidal so the ground is soft. It was a nice day to walk around and enjoy the scenary.
On Sunday, we made plans to travel to Deng Xiaoping's birthplace. This was yet another great chance to see a famous site that I may not visit again. Deng Xiaoping was a famous leader of the communist party who led major reform in China. The people of China held him in very high regard and there were thousands of people that visited his hometown for the Qingming festival. They credit him with making China wealthy and starting the market economy that it is now. I took many pictures of the scenery and I took a picture of his statue that was decorated in traditional Chinese items and flowers. This was quite an interesting day and I didn't see any other westerners in this town or at his former home. We got quite a few looks from the Chinese people that were there.
On Monday, we traveled to the mountain range that surrounds Dan's hometown of Linshui. We drove up some very narrow roads and hitch backs for a long time to reach the top. We parked and continued for another 2 or 3 miles in a vehicle owned by the park. Once we reached the top we continued with a hike through some of the trails. The landscape at the top of the mountain was all karstland and I got some great pictures. It is interesting but there was a nice waterfall at the top of the mountain near the cave that we also got to visit. The cave goes through the top of the mountain and was once used during their civil war by the guerrilla soldiers. I'm not sure of the elevation of the mountain but it was amazing looking out over the valleys below. I really enjoyed the trip and I would certainly like the opportunity to return to this province again in the future.
I really couldn't get over how outgoing Dan's family was and all they did for us. This was a perfect example of a traditional Chinese family and they treated us like one of their own. I really found some differences in family values compared to that of most American families. I think Chinese families rely on each other a lot more and there is a greater sense of dependence. This is certainly different from some American families and our culture overall.
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