Day 28: Turning 20

Day 28: Today was my birthday, and today was also my first birthday away from home. Especially since this birthday was my transition from my tens to my twenties, I couldn’t help but feel slightly disappointed about being so far from home away from my family and friends. However, all of my amazing new friends of the 2016 LBAT program ran into my room at midnight (as I was about to go to sleep) with a cake singing “Happy Birthday.” I felt so loved, and I honestly can’t describe how happy I felt after my little birthday party. I especially loved the strawberry on the cake because I’ve been craving strawberries for a long time while in Shanghai, but I wasn’t able to find a single fresh strawberry while here.

 

After going to sleep in a great mood, I woke up to get ready for our field trip to the Jin Mao Tower (AKA 金茂大厦 / jīn mào dàshà) in Pudong, which is the very “modernistic” side that we always saw across the Huangpu River on our visits to the Bund. It was definitely interesting to finally cross over the Huangpu River (although we took the subway) and get to see the tall skyscrapers up close. When we arrived in Pudong, we no longer saw Chinese traditional buildings and designs. Instead, we saw clean roads, cars following transportation rules, and modern skyscrapers. Doesn’t the area look amazing? And yes, the last picture is a picture of officers that we saw walking around casually with a shield and a pitchfork-like tool.

  

 

  

Going up to the 88^th floor of the Jin Mao Tower was amazing. The weather wasn’t the best, but it also wasn’t the worst, so we were able to see a beautiful skyline of Shanghai although it was slightly foggy. The observation deck was decorated very nicely with lots of souvenir shops, historical information, and a wish tree! There was also a window in the middle of the observation deck to look down on the 88 floors beneath the observation deck, or the inside of the Jin Mao Tower. Like everything else, it was really cool, but I was a little disappointed that I couldn’t get a better picture because of the window reflections.

  

 

Our trip to Pudong was pretty quick, so some of my classmates talked about going back later today or sometime this week. I feel like if you visit Shanghai, Pudong is somewhere that you just have to visit (especially since the most people use the airport in Pudong to get to Shanghai, too). Seeing the area definitely reminds you about the rapid changes that China is currently going through. After getting back to the hotel, we ate lunch at the hotel restaurant, and I was surprised by my professor with another cake and flowers. Wow, two cakes in one day - how blessed am I? My classmates and professor sung "Happy Birthday" again, and we had many different Chinese dishes for lunch. Today was an awesome day and an awesome birthday. I felt so blessed and loved the whole day, and I ended the day with my favorite strawberry milk. What a great way to enter my twenties!