Virtual China '98

Kevin Hui

April 27 1998

Tai Shan

Morning Itinerary

We started off our wonderful day with a marvelous breakfast at the hotel restaurant. We had a large variety of foods there. The time we started breakfast was about 7:30 am. This is our second day in China so we were still hyper and were looking forward to learn more about the mysterious land of China. At 8:20 AM, after that delicious breakfast in less than an hour, we were supposed to have a tour of the Wet Market. At approximately 8:50 AM we finally arrived at the (disgusting) Wet Market. There, we could see all these critters being chopped to death. This was a gruesome sight. I think I saw some maggots flying all over the corpse of the animals. Stomachs all around felt queasy at once. A lot of the people there were really sympathetic, but some of the people thought it was amusing. Time went by so slowly in the Wet Market. All of us were not looking forward to viewing the Wet Market; however, we were obligated to at least make a quick pass through it. At 9:15 AM, we finally left the infamous market filled with carcasses. Mr. How led "Rolling Thunder," which is the name of our bicycle group, to explore the city of Taishan. At 9:38 AM, we spotted a petit church camelflauged by the surrounding buildings. A lady who worked there spotted us, unlocked the doors, and invited us in. We stayed there for a while and said a prayer. About 9:50 AM, we boarded the bus. We were late because the fascinating city pulled our attention away from our timetable. At 10:25 AM, we got off the bus at Dohu and got onto our bikes. At 10:30 AM, we were up and ready to go. Obiously, "Rolling Thunder" took the lead with Mr. How in front. Some of Mrs. Bailey's kids joined us. At about 10:50 AM, we found a school and went in. There, there were many friendly teachers and children that let us interview them. We had a great time. They also asked questions about us. I worked very hard as a translator between the Cantonese and English languages. It started raining really hard again, but because we were behind the other groups because of our School Interview, we had no choice but to keep on going. The time was 11:10AM. At 11:20 AM we reached a little village and decided to go in. At that moment, Mr. How realized that he had left his biking gloves at the school. So, while another parent joined us, he raced back to retrieve them. We biked around, inside the village. It was very boring as no one was around with the rain and all ! At approximately 12PM, Mr. How had successfully retrieved his biking gloves. We were '...on the road again...' It was a boring ride with not much action or excitement. However, Cris and a local fellow collided. I couldn't stop in time and I fell too. Fortunately, no one was hurt. A little later, after meeting up with the big group, we had lunch.

David Shin

April 27, 1998

Tai Shan, Guang dong P.R.C

Perspective of a bicycle

When I woke up, I was scared and bored. The place I was in was dark, and it was silent, not a drop of sound. My other friends probably thought that too. My legs were all cramped and my left knee was tangled with a friend's leg. We were so close together, we couldn't untangle our legs, even though we tried our best. My friend's and I heard some noises. They were very quiet at first but then the next thing I know is that I was getting carried by these things. "Somebody is sitting on my back!" I protested, I tried all my best, to get this "thing" off me but it kept on pressing my ears, and grabbing my arms.

"I'm in pain, somebody help me!" I begged in agony, I could see some of my friends behind, and in front of me all also in pain. I felt sorry for them for the thing that I was carrying was half as big as the ones they were carrying. Strangely the things on top of us were smiling, and laughing, and they were having fun.

"What about us?" but there was no reply, for they couldn't hear or understand what I was talking about.

A few meters away was a puddle, it seems that all the rain was piled in there, I tried to avoid it, but the things turned and got itself, and me wet. "My shirt!, my pants!, how can you do this to me?" but once again, they were smiling, and laughing. 'Oh I wish, I could go back to the old days, where I just stayed in a comfortable cushion, talking to my friends. Oh how I miss that!' and I just carried the thing, feeling depressed and feeling the pain in my back.

Timothy Chang

April 27, 1998

Tai Shan

Perspective of the Shoe

What!?! It's 6:50 in the morning! Oh well, I guess today is going to be another rough day. Yesterday I was soaked! The sock was drenched and the foot stunk. I being the shoe had to carry those people 20 km.

Breakfast was filled with Chinese food and soya milk. Soon after breakfast we left to the wet market. Animals and vegetables were at there for our eyes to see. The animals were locked in cages with no room to spare. Sights of dissected animals gave me the tummy turnover. How could people have the heart to eat such poor animals with such little treatment. It seemed that some of these animals were endangered and were being carried away to be stuffed.

The bike day started easily as we boarded on to our bus and was carried out of town. A 45-minute bus ride took us far away from our hotel and we were stranded outside of town. All the humans began to unload the bikes and set them into position. The rain now was at short drizzle but I was fine. Time passed and the rain started an aggressive attack on all of us. With rain jackets and ponchos we biked to any sort of shelter. We made a pit stop at a school on the side of the road. We entered the teacher's hall, dripping and soaked to the bone from the rain. They made us comfortable and we were allowed to ask them questions. Receiving a short tour of the campus then saying thank you we left to our next destination LUNCH! Lunch was at the lobby of some restaurant everybody was wet and there was not enough room for everyone.

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Jim Zahn