China — a thank you

The EDGE China team wants to thank John Y.’s parents for a fantastic dinner in Shenzhen. It was a wonderful opportunity for an authentic Chinese meal and great company. Thank you!

China — March 24

The last day of the EDGE China was very emotional for all of us, but thankfully, the emotion was not in the way of our day of shopping and delicious lunch, provided for us by Kyle M.’s family.

In the morning, our Honk Kong locals, Kyle M. and Lauren C. took us to Mong Tok to find the perfect birthday cake for our teammate, Frank G., as it was his 18^th birthday.

Shortly afterwards we made our way back to the hotel using the MTR (the subway for Hong Kong) to prepare for our last Chinese meal. Lunch was traditional Chinese dim sum, consisting of hot buns, shrimp dumplings, and many more treats.

Thank you to Kyle’s mother for inviting us out to this delicious feast. For dessert, the entire team shared Frank Galindo’s birthday cake. In the afternoon, we went out for one more tour of Hong Kong through Kowloon Tong. The original plan was for our tour guides Lauren and Kyle to show us a street where we could buy souvenirs for our friends at Shawnigan.

The guides were very proud to lead us through more of their hometown; however, unfortunately, they got confused and we ended up on a street filled with pet stores. On the bright side of things, we had a lot of fun looking at the pets on the street, with Zain Karmali stating that he was incredibly inclined on adopting a turtle.

The wish was soon forgotten, with our tight schedule, and soon enough we found ourselves back at the hotel with our bags loaded to take us to Hong Kong International Airport. Even though we were all extremely tired, none of us wanted to go home yet, and instead stay a few more nights in China. Our team has bonded so much since our first day arriving. Upon our return to Canada, we said our goodbyes to enjoy the rest of Spring Break.

— Marie D.

China — March 23

After an early morning breakfast the team embarked on yet another train journey across China that sends them from Shanghai to Hangzhou.

Immediately after the team’s arrival to Hangzhou the group visited the XiXi wetland, one of China’s most famous natural park. As the team reverse across the wetlands on electric boats, all of us are flabbergasted at the sheer beauty of the lush scenery that unfolded before us.

We gained many important knowledge of the wetland ecosystem. Following visiting the wetlands the team is treated by Frank Z.’s family to an ambrosial traditional Chinese cuisine. After the meal, the team visited the one of the oldest street in China constructed since the Qin dynasty the street is over 200 years old. All in all our day was incredibly busy and memorable.

— John Y.

China — March 22

Just as we thought we could not get enough of the Maglev train, today we spent 10 hours on one from Hangzhou to Shenzhen.

We got up got up in the middle of the night and we were all quite sleepy. Especially, our comrade Zain K., who left his backpack open and unfortunately said goodbye to one of his shoes which floated down the river.

After the wonderful evening we had in the resort we were all sad we had to leave this place. And of course, our tour guide Leo, who shared his wisdom and his humor with us, which we all enjoyed. After we arrived at the train station, there was a short pause before we boarded. During the last leg of our journey Ms. Sun almost has a heart attack. Kyle M. lost his wallet and a large panic broke out among the group. In the end Julius M. found it and saved Ms. Sun’s life, which we were all thankful for.

Upon arriving we received a warm welcome from the parents of another one of our team members, John Y. Generously, they invited the whole group out for dinner in a grand Chinese restaurant. We are very thankful for the delicious meal that was presented to us.

We are looking forward to a relaxing night in Shenzhen, before we depart for our final destination, Hong Kong.

— Anna E.

China — March 21

Departing from the city of Tongxiang in the morning, we quickly arrived at the town of Wuzhen in the countryside of the province of Zhejiang.

Wuzhen remains one of the rare places completely untouched by urban development in China. The town is split into two sections, the East and the West. We visited Western Wuzhen in the morning, where we walked along the canals on grey brick paths lined with old Chinese style buildings. Inside the buildings, there were many museums, including one for traditional Chinese beds, one for Chinese print cloths, and one for Chinese rice wine, etc.

Some local fishermen also lived in these buildings. In the afternoon, we ventured with a journey by boat, bus and golf cart to our hotel in Eastern Wuzhen. After a short rest in our hotel, we followed our tour guide Leo around to see the local shops in Eastern Wuzhen. There were many shops with local artistry, such as one where they painted original paintings on white Vans sneakers. At night, we went to a restaurant with traditional Chinese cuisine, to get energy for more walks at night.

Coming back from the restaurant, we enjoyed one more scenic walk before retiring to our rooms for the evening. The hotel was magnificent, built almost directly on the water, with a balcony that overlooks the river, trees and walkways below. It was hard to prepare for the next morning, where we would wake at 5 a.m. to catch our train to Shenzhen. All in all, Wuzhen offered great scenic beauty and many wonderful memories for all.

— Marie D.

China — March 20

Known as “Paradise on Earth” by the Chinese, Hangzhou held many elements of both nature and city for us to discover.

We started the day by sailing within a dragon boat on the beautiful West Lake, surrounded by both high rises and greenery. On the lake, a national landmark, the three pagodas (pictured on the one Yuan bank note) was pointed out to us by our to our tour guide Leo. Leo also told us many fascinating legends and stories about the lake.

In the afternoon, shortly after lunch, we visited one of the great pharmacies of Chinese herbal medicine. Dr. Hu Xueyan founded the branch of Chinese medicine available to the common people in 1874. Hailed as the “King of Medicine” in Southern China, Dr. Hu’s house is a national sanctuary for tourists to appreciate exquisite Chinese architecture in Southern China and of course, his legacy. The large fish that swam around in Dr. Hu’s private koi pond pleasantly surprised many of us (especially John Y. and Ms. Sun, as she said that the fish was comparable to the size of her). Impressively, Chinese herbal medicine is still widely in use today, and can be purchased in pharmacies internationally.

Finally, we ended our day with a bus ride to the nearby city of Tongxiang, as a midpoint between Hangzhou and the next great tourist attraction, known as China’s Venice, the small fishing town of Wuzhen.

— Marie D.

China — March 19

China — March 18

After a hearty breakfast the crew gathered at the Shanghai Museum located in the middle of Shanghai.

After gazing at the beautiful fountain outside and running through it we decided to go in. There was wonderful architecture and history displayed in this museum that we marvelled at for a short few hours.

However, we were tight on time and then brought to the Yuyan Garden and taught about the culture and history of China. I learned the difference between royal gardens in Beijing and the gardens in the southern part of China: a big difference being the colour of the buildings.

The royals used red and the locals used white and greys to colour their homes, so people would know which was which.

As the day was coming to an end we spent the last couple hours shopping through downtown shanghai and ending it off with a throwback to Canada by eating a sandwich from Subway.

All in all our day was eventful and was full of surprises. I hope I can come back and experience more of the culture.

— Drew G.

 

China — March 17

After a very short but enjoyable night in Tian Jin city, we departed at 8 a.m. to catch the Maglev Train to Shanghai. Even though everyone was tired and grumpy due to the early departure, there was a sense of excitement as we headed to China’s fastest train.

We arrived at the train station at 9 a.m. and after a quick snack run, it was time to board the train. You could feel the excitement and anticipation build up throughout the group.

After we descended the escalators that lead to the platform, one of the trains was just leaving, and it was going really fast, this just built up the anticipation to board our own train.

We boarded our carriage and took our spots, it was half an hour until our train was due to leave but we couldn’t wait. After half an hour the train started to leave the station, it took half a kilometre for it to travel at its top speed, 200 km/h, we were whizzing by buildings. The train ride was full of joy, laughter, sadness and confusion, but after five hours on the train, we arrived at Shanghai.

After being introduced to our tour guide and given a basic run down of what we were doing that night, we headed to the Oriental Pearl TV Tower — it is a really tall TV antenna that had glass floors. After we spent some time looking over the skyline of Shanghai, we headed to dinner, a small restaurant that was close to the waterfront. Even though we have been having traditional Chinese food again, you can see the joy on people’s faces after missing lunch on the bullet train.

The skyline later that night was beautiful and many pictures were taken. I can’t wait to explore more of Shanghai!

— Kyle M.

China — March 16

Today was yet another exciting day as we spent our last moments with our new-found friends from Shepherds Field. The moment we woke up we longed for the chance to reunite with the children.

As we continued to gain memories it slowly dawned upon us that we would be leaving these amazing children behind soon and probably wouldn’t see them again. We were less tense than the day before as we already knew what to do and how to, as if we had been working there our entire lives.

We started to venture further around the grounds of the orphanage accompanied by swarms of children. Zain and Lauren received a tour of the medical and therapeutical facilities and even assisted in therapy sessions.

To say that we were upset when we said our final goodbyes is an understatement, we had formed bonds that would remain with us for the rest of our lives and all of us had tears welling up. The children had such an immense impact on us something which we did not expect, they were all elated and most importantly valued sharing things, like their snacks with us or even us with their friends.

We will miss the children and all have one or two children that we would have liked to take back with us.

— Julius M.