My First Time Hosting CouchSurfers

After joining CouchSurfing, I always wanted an opportunity to show foreigners around my hometown Xi’an. I wanted to do this because this city is an amazing city with ancient history and the Chinese culture which westerners are always interested to know. It is also an chance to have them know more about the real China and its people. At least I, as someone who was brought up here and lived in the western world for long enough, can let them know my opinions on the foreign sentiment of this country and try to clear some misunderstandings they have on my motherland. Therefore, I opened my door on the website, though I was only going to be at home for two weeks. With a bit of a surprise, I did receive a surfing request from a Belgian girl (Leen) who was travelling with her boyfriend (Koen) in China for two months.

Leen was very well travelled and had very open opinions on different issues. Koen had a very similar desire as I do: go off road. They even had some common language with my parents on career paths. It was fairly incredible to hear all their stories travelling around China -- they barely spoke any Chinese but went to many of those rural places I had never been to. We had great time together in Xi’an. I felt extremely enjoyable showing them around and chatting about things from wine to politics. I was extra happy to see them mouth-watering at those delicious Chinese food -- they went to the Muslim Quarter 3 times on their 3-day visit in Xi’an! Touring them to the historical places made me feel ashamed again for how little I know about my own history.

One funny fact in our trip was that the famous Dr. Henry Kissinger was with us for 2 days in 3 different occasions: from Terra Cotta Army Museum, to Shaanxi History Museum to Big Goose Pagoda... It was so annoying the Chinese security still enclosed “safe zone” and kicked regular visitors away for these celebrities. But guess we didn’t make a too bad travel plan.

The Olympics Opening Ceremony

The 2008 Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony was absolutely a stunning performance. It was like an incredible movie (i.e. Dark Knight) I need to watch multiple times to get the real taste of it. Some parts were even surreal to me. I just WOW-ed all the way throughout this flashback of this great part of human history. Personally, I like the 60-second countdown by the 2008 drummers: INSANE.

Truly a celebration for the Chinese. Hope my country will build on it after the Games to make that part of the world even better, not only have it as a show!

My Cousin's Wedding

I had a lot more fun than I expected at my cousin’s wedding today. It was also my aunt’s (his mother’s) birthday, which made the wedding extra eventful. The groom and the bride got really emotional a few times during the process at the wedding ceremony. They kissed in tears when the MC announced them husband and wife. It was truly a moving moment to be part of, especially for me as a person who sometimes struggles with the opinions on marriage. Maybe that is the moment I realize it: the holy grail of LOVE with your special one.

Arriving Home

The first day at home was not too fun at all. Weather was outrageously hot, 30 degrees Celsius inside home all day and it’s very muggy. I had mosquitos bites all over my body. I couldn’t sleep too well because of jet lag. The air outside wasn’t too decent, either. On the way to visit grandparents in law, the smelly street filled with garbage and people who were out for some “cool” air. I couldn’t have any deep breath. I’m not sure why but last time when I was back in the winter, it wasn’t this bad. Maybe I should not come back home in the summer again. Maybe it’s just Vancouver further spoiled me.

Arriving in Beijing

Just arrived at PEK, had 3 hours to kill before my connection flight to Xi’an, so I wandered around the terminal when I met a customer assistant and told her my waiting ordeal. She said: “If you want to do something, you can chat with me here.” I asked about her work at the airport, she said her main responsibility is to answer any questions from travelers. It sounded like a boring job, but she did it to another level -- she was the role model for the entire terminal. She told me a lot about the new terminal we were at: Terminal 3. It’s a big one. We needed to take a train from the gate to the main area to pick up luggage. The architecture of the terminal is a dragon-like design. The long body of the building serves as the spine of the dragon. The windows decorated the roof are like the scales on the skin of the dragon. A lot of sculptures and arts designs resembling many great Chinese history stories are located inside the building. I suggested it could be better if we make some exhibition plates to show and tell people this valuable piece of engineering product. Foreigners are always interested in these things about China and they can start learning about them the first step they put onto our soil. Even for Chinese traveling within the country, I’m sure a good number of them don’t know the background of this terminal as this customer service staff. It can help them kill time while waiting for the planes, at the same time learning more about their own country. My brief chat with this staff demonstrated again it does not matter what you do for your job, it’s how you do it that matters.