By Aaron
In Nicks Eyes:
As many of you know I spent the last 10 days traveling in China with my family. We visited Aaron and Ely, who currently live in Suzhou teaching English. They spent the last couple weeks planning a trip that we will never forget. Spending time with them was the most important, but they had something entertaining to do each and every day.
We were to visit the cities of Shanghai, Suzhou and Hangzhou; which form a triangle on the eastern central coast of China. Each city was completely unique and each offered a variety of things to see. After looking through Aaron's itinerary, I knew we had a busy week ahead of us. In the Omaha airport I self-appointed myself The International Traveler. I was ready for China; I just hoped China was ready for me!

Jeff, Anne, Michaela and I flew through Minneapolis and then Tokyo before landing at Pudong Airport in Shanghai. Aaron and Ely's supervisor, Joe, picked us up at the airport, a very nice gesture as we found out later he spent almost 10 hours waiting in the airport.

After a short 2 hour drive, we found ourselves in Suzhou at a motel/university housing development. Understandably short of sleep, we slept great regardless of the rock hard mattress. I would have to live without my Sealy pillow top mattress for the next 8 nights as the Chinese prefer to sleep on very hard surfaces.

The next morning we woke up and visited Aaron and Ely house and the business they worked for. Aaron has described his apartment before, but it is hard to illustrate the sheer size of the complex. Rows and rows of high rise buildings that stretch for blocks. A Chinese family watched us intently as we filed out of our taxi. Evidentially there are very few foreigners that make it off the main streets in Suzhou.
Aaron didn't disclose much information about our trip before we arrived and I was curious or maybe even worried about our living arrangements. As we pulled into the castle-like Sheraton Hotel, which had twice as many employees as customers, my worries were put to rest. One might think the cost of this lavish hotel would put a dent into our budget. Not true. We paid a whopping $80/night to live the next three days in the lap of luxury.

The next morning, very well rested I might add, we joined up with some of Aaron's friends Kevin and Rick. Turns out you can chose your American name to give to foreigners. You can even pick out a couple names you like best. They were our chauffeurs for the next couple days. This was unexpected and looking back I have no doubt we would have struggled without their help. We can't say thank you enough to our kind hosts.

The first trip was to the Humble Administrators garden in Suzhou. This garden was far from humble. Beautiful ponds, winding rivers, perfectly manicured bushes and shrubs, and ancient Chinese architecture. Even though the Chinese are dealing with over population and pollution they take great pride in the beauty of nature.

We visited another garden in the afternoon and by that time the temperature had soared to nearly 100 degrees with humidity that is hard to describe. I can't count
how many bottles of water I drank in China, but keeping hydrated was a task.

The next day we took a road trip with our new friends Kevin and Rick to a nearby lake community. We visited ancient caves and another garden on a rural community surrounded by water. The meal we had at this lake community included very fresh seafood. By this time I had almost perfected my chop stick technique. I could grab nearly any veggie, small shrimp-like creatures, fresh white fish or pearl fish that were native to this lake, and even chicken claw. I could grab many of these items, but that didn't mean I would actually eat everything. Each dish we ordered was confusing to decide what pieces are meant to be eaten. You eat only the front end of the small clam, not the entire piece of meat. The tiny shrimp are very difficult to get the meat, but after a few hundred tries, you just figure it out. I had to deal with a lot of laughs from the locals.

One night Aaron and Ely insisted we eat at a local street market they frequent. I was incredibly tired after a long day of travel, but he insisted. Of all the travels we made in China the street venders were probably was the best cultural experience. Workers and locals all meet later in the evening to enjoy a late night snack. As mentioned earlier, Aaron and Ely go to the street market often and they knew what was safe to order. We snacked on chicken kabobs, chow mien, grilled fish (whole), and even grilled tofu. It was the perfect snack to end a wonderful night in Suzhou.

Aaron had mentioned in his blogs that he met some musicians from the Philippines. We visited Harry's Bar for some music and refreshments. This band was incredible as they sang hit after hit of sing-a-long music. Aaron even performed one of his own songs on stage. He nailed it and received a nice applause from the crowd. It was a very entertaining evening and great last night in Suzhou!

The next morning we got up early to meet our personal driver that would drive us to the city of Hangzhou. This is another beautiful city developed near a large lake and mountains. We stayed in another 5-star hotel in Hangzhou that would rival the Sheraton in Suzhou.

The best way to really see the city was by bike, a very important means of transportation in China. We each chose a bike and headed out to the overcrowded streets with honking cabs and determined bicyclists. We toured the city for 5 hours stopping for snacks and beautiful scenery.

That night and the next morning we visited the street markets that sold various merchandise. I'm not much for shopping, but I managed to find DVDs, silk ties and various gifts for friends and family back home. Aaron mentioned this before to me, but everything sold in China has a discounted price. You just need to be a skilled consumer to get the best price. Aaron knew just enough Chinese to be a dangerous bargainer. He was the closer for most of my purchases.

The trip was going too smoothly for comfort as we loaded the van for Shanghai. About 20 minutes into our drive without air conditioning, our driver noticed the van was getting dangerously close to overheating. We pulled into a makeshift auto shop. By makeshift, I mean an alley with 10 so-called mechanics. These mechanics just started tearing into the van, pulling out pieces by the dozen. Occasionally they would drop a wrench in the engine and one specialist even decided to craft a new tool to reach the innards of the tricky foreign Buick engine.

After about 2 hours we decided that the van was probably not road safe and we tracked across town with our suitcases in hand. Aaron and Dad's cab took off the wrong direction and then in a dangerous maneuver, wrecked the cab in a busy freeway. Life doesn't get much better than playing Frogger in a busy freeway during rush hour. Everyone survived and we boarded the train to Shanghai.

Shanghai is China's largest city with over 15 million people. To reach our hotel we needed to take the subway. As we walked up the steps from the subway I was shocked. Bright lights, thousands of people, huge skyscrapers, and did I mention the thousands of people. Aaron and Ely found us a hotel placed in Shanghai's Time Square. Just like the movies!

We were in awe of the city; its size, its people and its culture. Even though it was nearly midnight after a long day of travels, we had to explore. Aaron, Ely, Micky and I walked around the town taking in the sights: the Pearl TV Tower, 40-story Coke bottle, China's tallest building currently under construction, and some of the most determined street salesmen I¡¯ve ever ran across. Take the best car salesmen or insurance agent in the US, and these people would run circles around them. They could walk by your side and give a sales pitch for 10 minutes without you even acknowledging their existence. Even with my marketing background, I was impressed.

We ended the night at a small family-run restaurant near our hotel. They had pictures of the food in the menu. Hooray, we could comfortably order food! Another one of my favorite memories was just sitting and chatting with my brother, Ely, and sister that night. It was nothing more than small talk, but it reminded my how important my siblings are to me. After a couple bottles of beer and delicious entrees, we were ready for bed.

We woke the next morning and headed out to visit the Pearl Tower. This is an oddly shaped building that looks something from the Jetsons. We toke an elevator to the viewing area, traveling somewhere near supersonic speeds, that was a sphere 70 stories high. The view was amazing and unlike anywhere I¡¯d ever been before. Tall buildings seemed to stretch endlessly in every direction.

That afternoon we visited numerous sites in the city, using the subway for transportation and a refuge from the weather. The heat and humidity combined for a real nasty urban oven. We read in the paper the next day that it was the hottest day of the year in Shanghai at 104 degrees with 90 percent humidity. I looked like I was pushed into a pool with my clothes on. Which looking back would have been a great idea!

That evening Aaron picked a Thai restaurant, not a Japanese Thai or Chinese Thai restaurant. Thai Thai food. Inside joke. The food was probably the best meal on the trip. Delirious, as the Chinese would say! We purchased tickets to an acrobatic show that evening. The show was incredibly corny, but entertaining nonetheless. It may be hard to explain with words, but the look on the faces of these performers after finishing a death defying acrobatic move was priceless. They stood tall, arms wide and opened handed with an ear to ear smile showing everyone in the crowd their bleached white teeth. I truly believe they spent as much time practicing acrobatics as they did on their finishing pose.

We got back to the hotel around 11:00. Aaron shopped for an extra suitcase to take home our goodies. He bartered with a street vender for about 20 minutes before getting the best price of 160 RMB or about $20 for the ¡°best quality¡± Swiss Army counterfeit suitcase. I forgot to mention earlier but we each packed a carry on suitcase for a 9 day trip. After some success at the street markets, I had to jump on the suitcase to zip it shut. We packed our bags and headed down to a caf¨¦ to spend some time together; our plane left back to the States at 10:30 the next morning.

We took a taxi to the airport the next morning. Our drivers drove like most people in China, fast and unrestrained. I'm sure there are basic laws of the road in China, but they must be more like general guidelines. At first we were white-knuckled holding on for dear life, but I found that if you just accept it the drivers usually arrived safely at your destination.

I knew saying goodbye was going to be tough knowing it would be another year or so before I would see Aaron and Ely again. We had just spent 8 days together traveling from city to city, eating great meals, seeing sights in an interesting country, but most importantly just spending time together. We all hugged and cried, and hugged again and cried a little more. I tried to fit Aaron in my carry-on and then squeeze Ely into my backpack. They didn't fit.

It was truly a trip of a lifetime and memories I will cherish forever. On the plane ride home I scanned through the pictures on my camera. What an adventure and an amazing week with my family.