It's been a while since I last updated mostly because I went a period of about 2 weeks and a half without internet access and then when I got back to Beijing I had a ton of homework to catch up on.
So the Chinese New Year took place on February second or third. I forgot the actual date because they celebrate the New Year here for a period of like 15 days. On to how they celebrate. Chinese New Year is typically celebrated by returning to your home town, spending time with your family playing cards and eating enormous amounts of food, followed by lighting off fireworks just outside your apartment building with the rest of the buildings residents. If you're not real great with visualization I'll be a bit more clear in stating that this creates a situation in which hundreds of people are lighting of fireworks in the same area, therefore between the firecrackers going off everywhere and the fireworks filling the sky, the atmosphere resembles a cross between the Fourth of July and the first six minutes of Saving Private Ryan.
After spending time with my homestay family during the biggest night of celebration, my homestay family, my friend Obi, and I went down to Nanchang to spend some time at my homestay sister's house. This was a really cool opportunity as I got to meet a lot of my sister's friends (The majority being communist party members) and to were less clothing (Nanchang is significantly warmer than BEijing. I also got to see how some of the more wealthy Chinese people live, which was very interesting.
After spending time in Nanchang I flew down to Yunnan to meet up with the rest of the people in my study abroad program for our long trip. The trip was awesome! We went from Kunming (the capital of Yunnan) down to Pu'er (The home of Pu' er tea, China's best tea) and then down to Xishuangbanna (A city right next to the Mekong River). The whole way we got to drink delicious tea, eat delicious food, wear shorts and t- shirts, and party with the Party. Highlights from the trip included learning about how China is currently pouring investment into Laos, Vietnam, Burma, and Cambodia, seeing how a lot of business connections are made in China (dinner, alcohol, and KTV are typically a pretty good formula for success), making new friends, and spending two days in a small minority village. On China's investment, if you're one of those who don't believe China will make the jump from investment to investor, think again. There are major infrastructure projects under construction connecting China to Burma, Laos, and Cambodia, all of which have even cheaper labor than China and are just begging for development.
After following the Mekong river for a week and a half we unfortunately had to head home. Once arriving in chilly Beijing I got back to work on classes and making more Chinese friends. Also it was really nice to get back to my homestay. I missed my homestay mother a bit while I was gone.
I hope everyone is well and I love and miss you all!!! Happy Year of the Rabbit!!!
Love,
Colton
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