9:42 a.m. – Arriving at the hotel restaurant, we learn that breakfast ended twelve minutes prior. Stomachs rumbling, Jordan, Andrew and I (Brett) head out in search of food.
9:58 a.m. – The nearby mall houses a plethora of food vendors. We settle on a donut shop that produces some of the best donuts we have ever eaten:
10:17 a.m. – As we wander through the mall, we run into JCJ.
10:27 a.m. - After ten more minutes of wandering, we stumble upon a nearly empty video arcade. We giggle like little boys as we exchange $10 worth of Yuan into coins for the games.
10:33 a.m. – Jordan discovers what appears to be some form of gambling video game. We advise him to not spend all of his money.
10:35 a.m. – Jordan spends the last of his money.
10:37 a.m. – Jordan returns with $10 more dollars worth of Yuan. He promises this time he will make it last.
10:43 a.m. – We have all been sucked into the gambling game. But unlike Jordan, JCJ and Andrew have learned how to win and the coins begin to waterfall out of the machines.
11:08 a.m. – JCJ spends the last of his money.
11:11 a.m. – Andrew spends the last of his money.
11:16 a.m. – We leave the video arcade, broken and battered. We have successfully stimulated the Chinese economy.
11:47 a.m. – All of the hardcore gaming has made us hungry. We stop and get rice bowls with chicken/pork on top. The “point and pay” method comes in handy, as nearly no one in China speaks English.
12:16 p.m. – Bellies full and batteries recharged, we head to the hotel en route to the zoo.
12:38 p.m. – Following a sign for the zoo, we walk through what appears to be a small shack neighborhood. The residents are curious as to why we are there. We begin to ask the same question. Although we were probably in an area that we shouldn’t have been, it was interesting to see the small shops and vendors that we were previously unexposed to. The brand new apartment complex in the middle of the shack neighborhood that was unoccupied seems to be a trend throughout the entire country.
1:04 p.m. – We finally ask someone how to get to the zoo and learn that it is only a few blocks away. Luck was on our side.
1:15 p.m. – We pay our small fee and enter the zoo. A day full of animals and video games might fool you, but we truly are graduate students.
1:15-5:00 p.m. – We walk through the zoo and experience the hundreds of animals that are in captivity. Many of the cages do not have very high standards for safety for neither the animals nor humans. The living conditions in some of the cages seem quite low. The panda’s seem particularly depressed, though we did manage a picture:
There were also some “big cats” that were endangered:
Aside from the lower living conditions, the zoo was quite similar to the United States. Large groups of people were interested in numerous species and the zoo provided a great way to inform the public about initiatives and issues within the animal community.
6:08 p.m. – With an overnight train ride on the horizon, we decide to grab dinner at the vegetarian restaurant at the hotel. The veggie chicken is quite delicious. If I hadn’t known, I would have thought it was real meat.
7:11 p.m. – We load up the bus and leave for the train station. Numerous awkward goodbyes are exchanged. One could say that the female Chinese students became quite attached to some of our cohort. Tears were shed, but we finally made it to the train station.
8:08 p.m. – We get our tickets and board the train. Everyone is quite surprised by the size of the sleeping quarters. We manage to fit everyone into their respective rooms, luggage and all, before departing.
9:15 p.m. – The train departs and to pass the time, we cram more people than practical into each berth. This is cohort bonding at its best.
10:09 p.m. – Baptiste scolds Yokim for not obeying the “rules of the road”. No longer possessing the power of his mustache, Yokim can do nothing but receive a lengthy verbal beating.
12:14 a.m. to 6:54 a.m. – A thunderstorm of snores echoes throughout the balmy cabin. The tiny bed and lumpy pillow offers little solace as iPod batteries eventually die and one by one we all accept the realization that we will not be sleeping…
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