China

In Samantha Brown's last installment of Passport to China, she goes to visit China's old capital city of Xian.

Samantha takes a twelve hour train ride to the city, where she has a bunk all to herself. She does spend more time in the dining car, celebrating the fact it comes with a bar. If I were on a twelve hour train ride, I'd be at the bar too. She wakes up early for some breakfast while watching the sun rise. Boy, that's early. I'd still be asleep. Actually, the conductor would have to carry me out of the train. I'm not a morning person. But then again, I would try to fly if it was really that far away. She gets off in Xian and has to try to cross the street. Here's a tip I've picked up from crossing Manhattan streets--always cross with a group. Cars are more likely to stop for a large clump of people than they are for one lone peon trying to cross the road.

Samantha meets up with a translator on top of the city wall, where they go biking down the wall. She tells us that Xian was the start of the Silk Road, which probably then stirs up some wheels in your brain as you remember a long-ago history lesson. It was an important city in the ancient world and Samantha compares it to Athens and Alexandria. The guide points out the city part of Xian and the residential area, but Sam's more interested in how the wall protected the city. The translator? Not so much. But as they bike, you see a cloud covering the wall and the city--that would be China's air pollution. It's bad, no wonder some athletes were considering pulling out of the Beijing Olympics.

The guide next takes Samantha to a temple, where they climb to the top. Afterwards, he and Samantha go to a street filled with artists. She learns calligraphy and the man teaching her says that by her handwriting, he can tell she has no knowledge of Chinese culture at all. Samantha looks a bit shamed. Finally, she goes to visit some Chinese Muslims and gets a lesson about how long Islam had been in Xian. He tells her since the traders came on the Silk Road. For a Communist country, China sure is religious. Though I'm surprised no one's mentioned Confucius yet. Samantha asks if she is properly dressed and the Chinese kinda skirt around the issue, saying she is properly dressed as a Western woman. She asks if she should be more covered, but is told only if she were to become a Muslim.

After all that walking, Samantha goes to a spa to get pampered. They put her in something I would only wear if I were pregnant and massage her feet--at one point using their hair! Now, I admit I'm one of the most ticklish people on the planet. That massage? Not for me. But it looks very relaxing and she got tea. All for 17 American dollars. Samantha talks about her hotel for a bit, saying most of the Chinese hotels are Western brands but with a Chinese influence. But I remember the hotel she stayed in while in Sichuan and it was gorgeous! And aptly named Shangri-La.

In the last part of the episode, Samantha goes to visit the terra cotta statues that have long guarded the first emperor of China. They've stood there for over 2,200 years old--older than the Catholic Church! Some farmers found them while digging for a well and now they are housed in an airline hangar. They are a big draw for Xian and what put the city back on the map, according to Xian. Each statute is unique as the faces were modelled on actual soldiers.

Samantha made me laugh with this: she says that if there is a major archeological find, then there must be a gift shop. And she finds a place where they make the soldiers as it would've been done 2,200 years ago. Samantha watches and then asks if she can have one. The man (who speaks English) tells her that he can put her face on a soldier's body if she wanted. Samantha ponders this as a way to scare off her neighbors, but the fact that it would take a month to make causes her to say, "Thanks, but no thanks. "

I must say, China in the World Showcase never really made me want to go. Of course, my dad's the only one who doesn't get motion sickness so it's not like we do the 360-movie there. But after watching these Samantha Brown episodes so many times to accurately recap them as well as the rest of the China Week shows, I know want to go. Kinda. If it's that reasonable, I may brave one VERY long plane ride there.

Would you? Tell me!

Reflections of China

In the second installment of Samantha Brown's Passport to China, Samantha goes to the Sichuan Province.

She goes to visit Buddha--a giant one carved against the mountainside. She climbs to the top of the mountain and thirty-minutes later, she finds what looks like the line for Space Mountain in Disney Hong Kong. Actually, it's the line to go back down the mountain to the bottom of the Buddha statue. Samantha unknowingly went on a big Chinese holiday, explaining the long line. She gets the bottom and even through the camera lens, you can tell it is HUGE. Samantha continues to explore China's religions (odd comment for a Communist country) by visiting a daoist temple to practice some tao chi. We used to do tao chi in my Global I class in high school. Our teacher would make us stand up and do some moves to calm down as he had our classes all in the afternoon. He figured we were all worked up so we wouldn't be able to learn. It was actually quite refreshing and we'd remind him if he forgot to start the class off with it.

Samantha also takes a cooking lesson and tells us that Chinese cooking isn't what we're used to in America. Same goes true for Italian. I had a heck of a time trying to find chicken parm. I finally got when I returned home and went to my favorite Italian restaurant. I didn't even open the menu. If you want a taste of real Chinese food without going to China, go to Epcot. The restaurant there serves the type of food Sam was learning to cook.

Afterwards, she takes her translator Joel out for a shopping spree. The Chinese, she learns, love a good bargain and the vendors expect you to haggle. She goes to a block just full of stores, mostly antiques. She finds something and with Joel's help, finds a good price for the cups. It was interesting because she liked the original price--about 40 American dollars. And for two actual China cups, that IS a good price. Also, I don't know when these Passports were filmed--not within the last three months as Sichuan was the province rocked by that horrible earthquake back in May--but if it is relatively recent, looks like China's not a bad place to go to get bang for the American buck. Side bar over, Samantha eventually bargains her way down to around 30 American dollars.

But the big part of this episode: the PANDAS! My cousin absolutely loves Panda bears and it's easy to see why. They look so cuddly. Samantha visits a place whose main purpose to preserve the panda, stop them from becoming extinct. She's able to visit with these cute one-month old panda twins, who are sleeping in an incubator while Mom takes a break. They look adorable. Samantha was right--unless they moved, it was easy to mistake them for stuffed animals. Next, she put on a surgical gown to go into a pen with one-year old pandas affectionally known as "Kindergarteners." One of them nearly got a good swipe at our favorite traveler. She then visited the 4 years-old or "Teenagers" but wasn't able to go in. They were eating. Samantha was also able to feed the panda, throwing apples in for them to eat. To top this experience off, Samantha was able to hold a panda, who dwarfed her. Lucky.

The commericals in between pleaded for money for the panda refuge as it suffered damage during the earthquake.

And in one of the last parts I want to highlight, Samantha went to a mall that looked like it came out of The Jetsons and got her picture taken. That looks like it would be fun. She said it's a big trend in China for the women to go and get dolled up for a portrait sitting. Samantha wore a beautiful red and gold traditional Chinese outfit before getting her hair done. They added a weave, matching Samantha's hair (in a part where she admits she isn't a natural blonde). While she looked beautiful, stick with short hair, Sam!

Looking at that street of stores Samantha visited, it reminds me. I never found the part of Charing Cross road that's just lined with bookstores. If there are any Brits reading this on the world wide webs, please give me directions for the next time I'm in London (whenever that might be)!

So, tomorrow, Xian. (I've seen the episode. It's great, but I want to get in another viewing in case I missed something).

Wonders of China

In honor of the 2008 Olympics being held in Beijing, the Travel Channel has dedicated this entire week to programming about China. And my favorite traveler has gone to China. In a three-part Passport to China, Samantha Brown shows us different things to do in China.


In the first part, Samantha goes to Beijing. She visits Tiananmen Square, where Communist China was born and where the famous protest was held. It's very large square--Brown says it is the length of 90 (!) football fields. She does a cute "Hello...Hello...Hello" as the camera flashes to different parts of the square. She meets a friend who gives her a tour of the square, where everything starts off with "The People's..." like "The People's Memorial."

Interesting side note: One of my journalism professors was actually at Tiananmen Square the day of the protests. She and a bunch of American journalists captured the events and then quickly got out of the country. As they passed through airport security with the footage, they reminded each other "You don't speak Chinese." So as security yelled at them, they each said, "I don't speak Chinese," and boarded their planes. Quite a risk, but one journalists have to take to get the news out.

Samantha next goes to the Forbidden City or the ancient palace of the Chinese emperors. It looks so beautiful. I wouldn't mind living there. She also visits a Chinese acrobatic show, trying to do some of the tricks. I took one look at the child who had bent backwards with her feet stretched out in front of her face and said, "Ouch." I know I'm not flexible enough to pull that off, and neither was Samantha. I agree with her--it's a lot better to watch it then be in it. She spends a day at the ancient Chinese emperors' summer home which is just outside the city and worlds away. It's on a river, set among trees and looks like an ideal summer home.

To cap off the episode, Samantha goes to the Great Wall of China and is greeted by...souvenir vendors. She's surprised. I mean, seriously, for someone who has been everywhere INCLUDING Disney World where nearly every ride exits into a gift shop? She takes a cable car up to the wall and walks along one of the great wonders.

Part Two: Sichuan (Pandas!) tomorrow
Part Three: Xian on Friday.

Right now, the Travel Channel is making my gray day sunnier by having a Samantha Brown marathon. Looks like I'll be able to do mini-recaps for those Great Weekend episodes I missed.