Summer Trip (1)

I’m back, literally.

First of all, I would like to apologize for the long hiatus. In May and June I was crammed with assignments and essays, and in early July I was very busy cleaning up my room and packing my luggage. And now that I am back in Toronto, I can finally sit back and relax while telling my unforgettable experience in China.

The last entry of my blog was dated back in May, and I have gone through a lot since then. I finished my year-long study period at Fudan University, and traveled to the north-western part of China. So, in the next few entries, I intend to write about my trip, then continue to write about my life at Fudan/Shanghai, and my general impression of the city (& the country as a whole) and its people.

In June when I started to plan my summer trips, I decided to travel to some remote places in order to enjoy some very different experiences from the ones Shanghai offers me. I wanted to get away from those metropolises, so unfortunately I was unable to visit Beijing at all during my stay in China. (Weird, eh?)

So in mid-July I traveled to the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, the Gansu Province and the Xinjing Uyghur Authomous Region within ten days. Since my parents do not allow me to travel on my own, I joined a tour and traveled along with some local Shanghaiese.

When I signed up and paid for the tour, the travel agent told me that there were 17 people in total. However, many of them later withdrew from the tour due to the July 5 Urumqi riots; and at the end there were only ten people left. I was one of them, and my parents were very worried about me. My friends asked me to refrain from going to such a dangerous place, but I did not want to give up this great opportunity to explore such mysterious regions in the country.

In fact, the tour started on July 9, and we did not arrive at Xinjiang until July 14. On the train to Turpan, my companions started to get very concerned about their personal safety, and kept asking the Xinjiang locals whether it was safe to travel to the province. Our tourist guide and every local we met ensured that the government is in full control of the situation, and that everyone would stay safe.

Since I only have limited time for internet everyday, so it may not be possible for me to write a lot every time. When the next entry comes up, it will be about my detailed traveling experience in Xinjiang.