Streets of China by Everett Fairbourne

Welcome to China, home of some pretty crazy streets. First off, we shopped the markets on the streets. They got everything, from toys to weapons. Thankfully, I bought from the toys. They didn’t only sell stuff, they also had games to play to try and win prizes.  However, my favorite was the fish foot spa.  It was fish nibble the dead skin off your feet. It was the first time I tried it; I couldn’t stop myself from laughing from the first nibble.  I took the tank with the big fish, while Alta and my mom took the small, and Porter chickened out, so he didn’t do it.

Next was the dancing. After dinner it is Chinese tradition to dance, you would see all ages dancing some times, they would do the Salsa dancing, ballroom dancing, line dancing, and sometimes Chinese traditional dances.  Every time we would see a group dancing my mom and I would join in.  It embarrassed Alta, she hated it.     

Huashan Mountain by Alta Fairbourne

It was foggy, rainy, windy and freezing cold but that didn’t stop us. When we reached the top of the mountain we headed straight for shelter, at the time we couldn’t enjoy the scenic views because we were so darn cold. We completely underestimated the weather; my dad was wearing short shorts with a tank top! If we were going to continue we needed some coats- big ones. We found a lady who was willing to rent us some gigantic army coats that reached down to our feet. It was still too rainy and windy to hike so we walked to nearby restaurant and had lunch.

The weather soon cleared and the mountains were beautiful. They had straight drop edges and the rock was light in color. Then we set off on our journey up and around the rocky mountain. The stone and wood path led to several peaks and lookouts but we were headed to The Plank Walk In The Sky. The Plank In The Sky is a mini hike where you walk on a small wooden path along the mountain hooked in a harness.  Its like a ropes course, but instead of 15 feet off the ground your 2000 feet off the ground.

Once we got there we started to doubt it. What if it might rain again? Will I freak out on and plunge to my death? I was looking forward to this hike and if I backed out now I would regret it. My dad, Porter and I got hooked into some harnesses and then we set off on the risky hike. While you walked you had to attach and detach your carabineers one at a time onto different sections. At the beginning of the hike you had to go down a steel ladder that had tons of people on it. It got really scary when you had to pass people along the way; sometimes I was on the very edge of the plank while people passed me. Some people took both of their carabiners  It was definitely one of the coolest things I have ever done; I also got over my fear of ropes courses. 
The pathways that we walked on that day had railings that were covered with red ribbons and locks. The ribbons symbolized luck and the locks symbolized love and family. We had all three that day and it was more than fun. If you ever go to China I highly recommend going to Huashan Mountain and going on The Plank Walk In The Sky, it was truly awesome!

Waiting out the bad weather

Our awesome coats

Porter on the Plank Walk to the Sky

Our Zen Cave

Mom looks like a hobo

Alta on the Plank walk to the Sky

The Terracotta Warriors by Everett Fairbourne

Our next destination in China was Xian, home of the Terracotta Warriors.  The Terracotta Warriors were built a long, long time ago, when the Emperor wanted protection in the after life, so he had a large group build him the warriors. They buried the warriors with his tomb. Later, some ambushers came and destroyed some of the Terracotta warriors. Many years later a farmer discovered a warrior while digging a well. Now he just hangs out at the museum and gives autographs. There are people at the museum that are archeologists, their job is to put the warriors that were broken back together, piece by piece. I would kill myself if I got that job. Over all the Terracotta Warriors are pretty cool. My favorite warrior was, the officer, he may be no general but he’s tough. So I bought a mini him. 

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The Great Wall of China by Alta Fairbourne

When we visited Beijing in China we went to The Great Wall of China. The Chinese people are very proud of The Great Wall and it’s a big tourist attraction.  The Great Wall of China was built to protect the emperor from the Mongolians and other invaders 700 BC.  

We took a 2-hour drive to The Great Wall and then we walked up to a chairlift that we rode to the actual wall.  It was smaller then I imagined, and it was more rebuilt than I thought it was going to be. We headed left of the wall and it was so hot! We walked up and down stairs for hours. There were a lot of trees around us so it was really green. Every once in a while there would be a little tower where there were stairs to the top. I went up there and walked along the edges and everyone though I was going to fall. My dad made us stop all the time for pictures and videos so it took a while to get back. The wall had so many twists and turns ups and downs and it even went on the very edges and tops of the mountains. It’s incredible how the Chinese built it!

 On our way back to the car we got to to take an alpine slide down! It was really long, but there was a really slow person in front of me so I had to go really slow. It turned out not as fun as I could have been.I wanted to go fast! At the end of the day we were pooped, its hard walking stairs in the hot sun!  

Beijing By Porter Fairbourne

Fairbourne's at the Forbidden City

After a very long plane ride from Kenya we landed in Beijing where we stayed in our tour guide’s apartment. When we were in Beijing, we visited Tiananmen Square where the government sent tanks to kill the Chinese protesters in 1989.     When we asked our tour guide about it she didn’t know much about it. In China it is forbidden to talk about the incident.

 The first thing our tour guide said to me was,  “you are very beautiful, you could be a male model for women cosmetics.”  Also during several occasions people asked if they could take a selfie with me.

"When in Rome, do as the Romans do"

In Beijing we recognized the cultural differences. Like when the boys are at a restaurant they take of their shirt to eat. So I bought a McDonald’s ice cream without my shirt on. Also the people walk really fast.  We could hardly keep up with our guide.

So much yummy food!

 People in China like every food they eat spicy.  Also, everybody drinks alcohol.  Even kids my age! I was offered beer a couple of times. I noticed most people prefer the iPhone.  Even if they don’t have enough money, they buy a cheaper rip off version of the iPhone.

Lunch in Hutong Village

 The food in Beijing was the best.  Out of all the places we went, the best food was at a villagers house in Hutong Village.  I had the best dumpling of my life! 

Hot Pot

We also went to this restaurant where they have this thing called a hotpot.  It’s a big pot that is in the middle of your table and they light the stove underneath it on fire. After they have it’s lit they pour a spicy soup/sauce and a non spicy soup/sauce. Once the liquid is hot they give you thin sliced raw meat and raw noodles. You dip the meat and noodles into the liquid.  The hot liquid cooks the meat and noodles. Once you take it out the noodles are cooked and very delicious.

Acupuncture 

Also, by the place we were staying, there was this Chinese doctor.  My dad decided to try to fix all of his many injuries with an acupuncture treatment. After the doctor put the needles in his arms, I went in to look at him. He was sweating and looked like he was about to pass out. I wouldn’t be surprised if a couple people died in that room since the person being treated next to my dad had towel on her head that was lit on fire. After the acupuncture my dad had little blood drops on him. By the way, the acupuncture did nothing to my dad.

 We also went to this place called the Temple of Heaven.  The Temple of Heaven was a place where the Emperor would go to pray for good harvest, but the Temple wasn’t the best thing there. We went old person watching.  There was a big park at the Temple where retired people came to “play”.  There was an exercise park that looked like a playground, but it was full of seniors, not kids. It had pull up bars, monkey bars, stationary bikes, and other equipment.  We saw a 75 year old doing loops on a pull up bar!  There were old grandmas doing monkey bars.  We also saw some old guys doing other crazy stuff I though only 20-30 year olds could do.  Another cool thing we saw was these grannies in a circle playing hacky sack, and they were really good at it.

Where the seniors go to "play"

Overall, Beijing was a very enjoyable place.  If I were to live some where in China I would probably choose Beijing.  It had nice people, nice communities, and delicious food.   I was impressed with Beijing for sure.