The Beginning: NYC
Like any other day, work was work. It was busy. It was stressful. It was work. The weather was fairly brick. It was pretty much a cold ending to a decent month of December. Right after the holidays and right before the new year. That Friday I went to work for a few hours; just to get all my work organized before I left. I knew that for the next nine days I would be off grid. In shear bliss. Cutoff from my laptop, cut off from my iPad and cut off from any cellular data. For the next nine days I would focus on me, and I would focus on the culture and people of China. With a quick E train ride to our local JFK airport I was there within an hour. A small carryon checked in. A side carry-on for my suits and a pretty badass travel back pack from my friends at Boundary Supply was all I needed for this trip. All I had to do now was wait about two hours for my friend to show up. Turns out her lateness wasn’t really her fault. With the worst of luck there was a car crash on the way to the airport. Luckily though she arrived on time and in the end I didn’t have to look through the airport for a last minute plus one.
The Flight
Long story short, We made it to China. After a gruesome thirteen and half hours we landed in Beijing. Rock solid chairs, crying baby behind us, limited choice of meals, no wifi, and no usage of phones aloud; thank you Air China. Our experience was not one of the best. One more thing, our flight landed late so with only forty minutes left to get to our next flight we rushed through three to four checkpoints to get to our gate. Some how at the last security checkpoint we managed to grab a guy and drive a golf kart from one end of the airport to the other, right where our gate was located. We then hopped off and right onto our second flight. Just two hours later we were at our final destination of Fuzhou. All in all, I think all I ate was two meals of chicken and rice, some watermelon, and ice-cream. And lets not forget the six glasses of wine. God I love international flights. Unlimited booze. At the airport in Fuzhou my luggage never arrived. It was forgotten back in Beijing. So, after some random Irish guy gave me his hotspot and we finished sorting the whole mess up we were on our way out. We were starving.
First Night: Changle
It was roughly round one in the morning. The night was calm and cool. Cousin Jimmy and our buddy Dexter were there to pick us up from the airport. We all agreed we were hungry so a quick decision was made and we left the airport. Our driver recommended this random shit hole in an alleyway. It was an alley you would not like your daughter walking through at night. It was an alley with no sidewalks. It was an alley where you can straight up piss in any corner and no one would care. It was an alley where you can probably find a cheap used up hooker for like ten bucks or for a pack of cigarettes. It was an alley where a few men began staring at us as we walked out the car. I think primary they stared at Raquel, so I think I was safe. And lets be completely clear, this was no ordinary shit hole. This was not the type of shit hole you are so familiar with based on our presidents recent outbursts. This was literally a hole in the wall. No bigger then a ten by ten foot space with two fridges, two tables, and four chairs. A back room no bigger then half the size of the front where food was made. And outside, multiple plastic tables and stools in the street covered with two striped canopies. Parked right by the side of our table was a big suv, but if you looked close enough, right past behind it you would see their washing station and the rest of their kitchen right out back. Im telling you, this place, you would never come here at your own free will. There was very poor lighting, our table was dirty, our chairs were uneven, people would not stop staring, but it didn't matter. It didn't matter one bit at all. The food was fucking delicious. Thats all that mattered. It was my first meal in china and it was off to a good start.
Day 1. Sunday: Food & Lots Of It
With the time difference of thirteen hours our sleeping pattern was completely shattered. At least for the first few days. I woke up at seven-thirty in the morning. We got dressed and headed for some breakfast. What better way to start off the day then by grabbing some fried chicken for breakfast. Thats right. Our first breakfast in china was fried chicken straight out of a bucket if I may say so. After the fried chicken we went to explore the city. We basically ended up in the shopping area and I ended up buying a very nice shirt. By now we had already grabbed a taxi twice and to our surprise from two random locations in the city we acquired the same cab driver. I swear this is not a joke. We were laughing our butts off when we noticed this. After shopping we headed back to our hotel and I found out that my luggage had been retrieved and was now in my room. Just a few hours after we ate breakfast we went to go grab food again. This time noodles with peanut sauce. Look guys, from the start of this story you will notice one thing. We ate a lot. I mean we ate a lot, a lot. But rest assure I flew back to New York not loosing or gaining a single pound. So where it went I have no idea. So, after the noodles we went back to the hotel and took a well deserved nap just to be woken up a few hours later for the family dinner. I think by now you can call me a fat ass because the first day in China, all we did was eat and nap. At the family dinner we sat at a table that had a spinning center where all the food was loaded onto and each one of us received a six pack of coronas to help with the food. Theres one thing also I want to mention; all nine days I was in China, not once have we seen a fork. For all our stay we ate only with chopsticks. So its a great skill to have if you go to Asia. It will be hard to find a fork for you guys. Back to the story. At our table we were joined by our two drivers. To this day we can't remember how they introduced themselves to us so we call them Tom and Jerry, like the cat and the mouse. Jerry likes to crack jokes. After the family dinner we once again went to grab a nap followed by another wake up call and just in time for our new years. Sunday was December 31st. Sunday night we did karaoke. We drank and sang. Thats all the details you'll get from this night.
Day 2. Monday: Fuzhou
Monday morning we had authentic ramen and then with everyone we headed to the main city of Fuzhou. Nine of us fit in a minivan. Who would have thought. Nine of us looked like little clowns popping out of a tiny car. Either way, while the women went to prep and get fitted for their dresses for the wedding; the guys went on a little adventure. We ended up going to a tower and a temple. At the temple we were aloud to pray for a little bit. And with our unexpected arrival all the locals were intrigued by our presence. The people who ran the temple invited us to the back for a small meal. We couldn't, but they insisted on joining them for some food. We eventually caved in and grabbed just a few snacks. During our short stay we met a local lady who is currently ninety-four years old. She had resided at the temple since she was eight years old. She was never married. She only eats vegetables. She was so kind. I mean this is commitment. But she is as healthy as anyone else. Unfortunately we had to go so we thanked them for their hospitality and we were on our way to meet up with the ladies. They were almost finished with the fitting so we waited for them. We continued to walk the streets trying local delicacies like caramelized plums on a stick, bubble tea, gelatin, and this amazing beef jerky. We've visited local temples, museums, and very cool looking side streets. At one point of our sightseeing we ended up being the subject to sightsee. I mean some people just began walking up and taking pictures of us. After a quick photo session with the locals we visited the oldest and best spot for fish balls. They were amazing. We've also ended up in a buddhist temple. Out of shear respect for the locals inside, no photos were taken at the temple. At this point we were getting tired and headed back to the hotel. Where as you may guess again, we took another nap. Monday night I decided to walk the streets at night and take some photos. It was pretty exciting.
Day 3. Tuesday: Changle
Ling finally joined us for some breakfast and let me tell you something. We ended up grabbing breakfast for six people for nine dollars usd in total. How? We walked into a local mom and pop shop where all it was was a kitchen and two tables. We had spring rolls, doughnuts, pancakes, soup, and other unusual foods I've never seen in my life. The food was really good. It was the best breakfast experience I've had this trip. Today we waited for cousin Jimmy. We picked a song that Raquel was going to sing at the wedding. And we did more shopping. We saw kids getting ready and heading out to school. One kid walked up to me and started talking in english. His friends had a good kick out of it. Once again, people stared and were fascinated by us. Ive never had so much attention in my life. I might just end up moving to China. But, back to the day. One shop even served tea while shopping. I got this really nice maroon jacket. I think in total today about five Chinese women hit on me. Hell, I was even called a pretty boy by two women. Hahahaha. It made me laugh because if you saw me, you would not consider me a pretty boy. But what said had been said and we continued on our little adventure. We ended up getting into a tuk tuk. Scariest ride of my life. We had no doors. But we survived the ride and ended up in a Chinese BBQ spot. It was a real interesting experience here. Two fridges stood outside with various products. You grabbed a basket and picked whatever you would like to eat. Then when you were done choosing you handed them your basket and went to sit down. They grill it and bring it to your table. It was delicious. After BBQ we went to Ling's place to check on the wedding preparations. If anyone is still confused and is wondering what I am talking about, basically we came to China for three things. Our New Year. Friends Wedding. My Birthday. We finished the day off with some head massages. It lasted forty-five minutes. After a head massage, I could not feel anything. So after the head massage we again headed to another family dinner last minute. You really can't say no to a family dinner. You also have to eat everything. So you really have to pace yourself. #paceyourself. After dinner we yet again grabbed a nap and then we headed over to dress rehearsals at nine at night. We finished the night off round eleven at night. Let me tell you something. The following day was one of a kind.
Day 4. Wednesday: Wedding Day
Wednesday was the big day. The main reason why all of us ended up in China in the first place. Eight in the morning all of us were already dressed. At nine we headed to the grooms house for preparations and a wicked photoshoot. We also went to pretty much stock up on starbursts and chocolates. After our session we got into the four maybachs and headed on to pick up the bride. The bride was located at one of the companies major housing development projects. Lets just say they definitely do not look like our housing projects. This place looked amazing. We then had to bribe our way through the door and once we got there we were treated with fish balls. I guess everyone likes fish balls since we keep eating them everywhere. Our next stop was the village where the family came from. Lets just say that the grooms father is a legend. He is the real example of Drake's lyrics "started from the bottom now we're here." This man started in fishing and ended up building his own hotel and development company in China. This man is a true role model. A true example of what happens when you work your bum off. You can achieve anything. At the village the wedding ceremony process began. After an hour or so we headed back to there home in the city for the continuation and then back to the hotel for the final part. At the evening celebration there was the exchange of the rings, a quick video of how they met and of course wishes from all of us, a violinist, meals and meals of seafood coming from all directions, and of course Raquel belt how beautiful rendition of Adele's, "make you feel my love." It was amazing. This girl can sing. To finish this day off we took three bottles back to our hotel room and with ease finished them off. Look guys. It was a long day but we had the perfect weather and the best time. Ive never experienced a Chinese wedding so this was a first and one of the best experiences Ive ever had. You learn so much about other people and their culture. Honestly grateful I could be a part of It.
Day 5. Thursday: Lazy Day
This was the laziest day of the trip. I mean we grabbed breakfast at twelve and it ended up being hotpot. We went to Walmart out of all places. We went to a bakery to basically get fat. We could finally eat all we wanted since the wedding was over. We played Mahjong. Well we tried to learn how to play mahjong. We ended up playing black jack. We ended up having a dinner with all our friends back at the hotel. This was our last dinner all together. Tomorrow a few of us headed to Beijing. Back in the room we ended the night by drinking tea. The right way.
Day 6. Friday: Travel To Beijing
An early morning. It was five-thirty in the morning and we were not feeling it. Today it began to rain as we were leaving to Beijing. But by six-thirty we had to be in a van to head to the railway station. We grabbed breakfast at the station. I finally got to experience KFC's breakfast options. Boy was it good. This is also the part where we had to say good bye to Ling. Dexter, Raquel, and I were taking a freaking bullet train to Beijing. And we were doing so in first class. At 300km/h this was the fastest I've been transported on landed. At this point we also had no translator with us so I was fairly nervous but surprised when we managed on our own to purchase hot food in Chinese. We had soup in a self heating can. Looking out the window we saw snow in some areas. In total there were seven stops and the train ride a little bit over seven hours. Taking a regular train this journey would take you about twenty-two hours. So I think its safe to say we made the right decision to take a bullet train. We arrived in Beijing a little late but it was ok. We tried grabbing a taxi to get to our hostel but that is a story of its own. The taxi cab driver did not know one word of english, he also said he knew where he was going but guess what, he didn't. Oh and we also ended up in the wrong hostel so we tried grabbing another cab but no one wanted to pick us up. We ended up walking to our hostel with all the luggage. The day was full of excitement I tell you. But we finished the night off with more Chinese BBQ. At that point we've also found out that our friend who had a flight earlier in the day from Beijing ended up having his flight canceled due to the terrible weather in NYC at the time. Apparently we had a bad snow storm.
Day 7 - Saturday: The Great Wall
The night before, we decided to visit one of the seven wonders of the world; the Great Wall of China. It was a cold morning. I mean a very cold morning. But we were excited. We took a very sketchy van/bus to the wall. On the van/bus we met a few people from Spain and a guy from Texas. It was roughly a two hour drive to the Mutianyu Great Wall. Of course on our way our tour guide gave us a little talk and lesson about the history and renovation of the wall. Turns out the government renovated a section of the great wall in 1980. As a group we headed to the group ticket gate where we received our tickets. We then also purchased tickets for the cable car which took us all the way up to tower fourteen. Tower fourteen was located smack middle of the Mutianyu Great Wall section. The section spanned from its start at tower one and ended at tower twenty three. Anything before tower one and anything after tower twenty-three was marked a non-tourist area. Well. On paper and legally you were forbidden to pass those towers. It was illegal and dangerous. So when I heard of this my clear reaction and response was "challenge accepted." We began our hike at tower fourteen and headed to tower twenty-three. Along the way we saw at most ten tourists to completely none. At this time in the morning it was not packed at all. Literally no people. It was amazing. We went early morning and at one point we had the wall all to ourselves. Ive read somewhere that this was deemed the most beautiful and authentic part of the great wall. The views of the wall between towers fourteen and twenty-three are usually what you see in magazines, postcards, and google. We walked all the way to the end. And just to give you guys a little bit of a perspective to how much we've done, the distance between two towers is roughly one hundred meters. Multiply that by nine towers that we passed. It was just beautiful and amazing. Along the way we've also met a local man who on a daily basis climbs the wall to a certain part and sells cold beverages and ribbons which you place on trees for good luck. At the time we purchased a few drinks and some ribbons and went on. Quickly we ended up reaching the end at tower twenty-three and lets be honest. We wanted to see more. I wanted to see the original, the destroyed section, the section full of history and not just a quick makeover. So we did the unthinkable, we climbed over another wall and went further. At that moment we realized just how insane this was. We were standing on a seven-hundred year old section that was untouched by humans, only by true nature. I don't know how much further we went in but I think we walked about an hour into the ruins and an hour back to the clean renovated section. Walking past a section untamed by humans, we saw damaged loopholes, crenels, and battlements. Some parapets stood tall, some completely gone. There were areas where trees overgrew majority of the stairs and walkways. There were areas where if you didn't balance right you would tip over and fall off. It was a bit challenging but exciting at the same time. I wanted to show what the great wall really looked like majority of its way, not just the glamorous sections from recent work on it. I think we did a great job with the photos here. But then all good must come to an end. All in all the trip to the great wall took about half a day. On our way back, along the road, we stumbled upon the Chinese military. We saw men marching with full gear on. We didn't know where they were marching too but I didn't want to waste a photo opportunity so I began hitting the shutter on my camera. I didn't know wether it was ok or not but who cared, I wanted to capture my true experience of China. Everything and I mean everything. Saturday night we went to an antique market and then the guys went with me for a photowalk at night. Dexter, our new friend from Texas; Larry, and I walked the streets and captured a few interesting scenes. First we stumbled upon a senior center where the elderly were dancing outside. It was pretty cool. At the end of our walk we grabbed food and called it a night.
Day 8 - Sunday: Beijing
Sunday was supposed to be a smooth day. Oh boy were we in for a shock. We began our day at the Lama Temple where we witnessed people praying with incense sticks. We then walked multiple Hutong streets to explore the true side of Beijing. I didn't want to go to the financial district or some glamorous shining streets. I wanted to go where majority of the people lived and see what majority of the people lived like. We ate a lot of steamed buns on our way and flatbreads with minced meat inside. We even walked past a lake where people were ice-skating and skating in these really cool wheeled chairs. Differs from a wheel chair. After our little stroll we ended up in the Forbidden City. Wow. What a site. I mean you cant really explain it. I can only tell you to check out the photos and that you have to go see it for yourself. So. After the Forbidden City, this is where the day just went straight down. We got to our hotel and I checked my emails. I received an email that our flight had been canceled. No reason to it why, just that it had been canceled. I called up the airlines and they told me that it was due to the weather in NY which I then called b.s. to their story. At the time it was well after the storm. The truth behind it was that it was because of three things that happened at JFK. Number one was because of the riots due to previous flights being delayed or canceled due to the weather. JFK was a total nightmare during this time. The second reason was that I found out that two planes had crashed into each other on the tarmac at JFK. Both were asian airlines and to prevent anymore of these kind of incidents during the time of turmoil, they've began down listing and specifically delaying or postponing flights from china. The third reason was that there was a water main break at one of the terminals so yea, that all added up to why really our flight was canceled. Before we headed out to the airport we said screw it and grabbed a birthday celebration dinner for me. We went to this really nice restaurant where we had duck. We drank a little bit and then we headed to the airport and played dumb saying we've never seen that email and basically asked what to do now. The great people of Air China told us that the next available flight to NYC was going to be a week later, to be exact it was six days later. I don't know which employer would allow you to take another week off but this was unacceptable. We went back and forth and back and forth and ended up finding a flight to Montreal just a few days later. No flight from Montreal to NYC they said. We would have to find our own way back cross the border. I said fine. I just needed to get back home and with that option I would only loose two additional days at work and not a whole freaking week. They didn't give us a hotel so we stayed in the airport. We found out that there were rooms you can rent out for a few hours or for the night so we did just that.
Day 9 - Monday: Beijing Airport
We had nothing to do for the next thirty or so hours until our flight flew out the following day to Montreal. It was my birthday and we were spending it in the airport. So at five-thirty in the morning we headed to the airlines booth and tried to get on some kind of standby waitlist. Apparently there was a flight to newark the day of, the day before my flight to Montreal. We gave it a shot and thirty minutes before the flight they told us that there are two seats available for us. We ran and made it. Finally we were getting out of there and back to New York City.
p.s. This part of our trip regarding coming back and the stay at the airport is really the short version. In reality there were hours of arguing and itc. We just wanted to get home. And at the end we did.
At the end I would just like to say that this was one of my favorite travel/ adventure stories to tell. A lot happened in such a short period of time but with friends by your side it was an amazing experience and I definitely recommend everyone to visit china.
- Piotr Kuzniar