Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Zhuhai and #tbt

Last Saturday we (my group + the Changsha group) took a trip to a city called Zhuhai. We wanted to go to the beach there, so we purchased our bus ticket (less than $5!) and got ready for a day in the sun!

Upon arriving, we walked out of the bus station and asked which direction the beach was, and after a little bit of walking came upon it and found big rocks, no sand, and dirty water. Out in the distance you could see some sort of industrial equipment. Not exactly a picturesque place to relax. ;) We knew that there was a more popular area of the beach a little ways away, so we flagged down a taxi and pointed at a picture of where we wanted to go.

A few minutes later we were at a different area of the beach, where a big mermaid statue is set out in the water. There's tons of Chinese people taking photos there, and let me tell you...the number of times we posed for pictures were not few.

The beach was dirty, and not exactly what we expected, but it was still nice to relax on the sand. We also went across the street and walked a nice park where there was street musicians, paddleboats, wedding photos being taken, and a small amusement park. After a few hours at the beach and park, we got a taxi and pointed at a picture of where we wanted to go (back to the bus station.) I think it's awesome that we pointed at a measly photo and somehow end up at our planned destination.

We had real authentic dinner at KFC, then afterwards half our group decided to leave back to Zhongshan (including me) and half of the group decided to stay for a bit longer to do some shopping. We hadn't purchased our bus tickets back home, and we didn't exactly know where the ticket counter was inside the bus station, so I was a bit more on the eager side to do that early on. After running circles in the huge bus/railway station, we finally found the right ticket counter, bought our tickets, and it was smooth sailing home from that point on.

For the other girls, not so much. We were all under the impression that the buses ran until 10:10pm, but apparently not, and they missed all the buses home. So the next option for them was to take a train but only my girls had their passports on them, so three of them took the train, and two ended up having to stay the night in Zhuhai! Needless to say, I was very glad when everyone was safe and sound at home. :)

Two important travel tips: 1. Always be early to the bus/train station. 2. Always bring your passport when traveling outside your city.



Kelita and I
 
 
 
 
Also! #tbt (Throw-back-Thursday)
I believe this selfie was taken August 28, a day
after I arrived in St Pete's

I never knew that a year later from that day I'd be in Asia! Wonder where I'll end up in another year?

-Maegan

2 comments:

  1. Dear Maegan: Keep the blogs coming. Are you finding the job of supervising and helping the girls with their lessons difficult or going smoothly? Is this year much easier than last year? How are you handling the money exchange? Does it come easy?(buying bus tichets and riding in a taxie). Love Grandma Rogers

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  2. My job here keeps me busy but isn't too difficult! It's hard to compare this trip to my last one, since it's such different circumstance! But I am loving it here. Transportation is easy. We either get the help of our coordinators (like if we are going out of town) or figure it out on our own! :)

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