![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/files\/1998\/05\/19987-300x220.jpg\")
<\/p>\nFor some reason, I had little documentation on the 1998 trip (despite a few pictures).\u00a0 When I put out a plea to participants, Heidi Keller Force replied that she had a journal she’d share.\u00a0 This entry is based mostly on her notes (which sort of equalled mine).\u00a0 It gives a student perspective on the trip (though I suppose she edited some evening episodes that she will deny happened).\u00a0 Thank you, Heidi.<\/p>\n
Professors: Dr. Hoyt and Dr. Jin<\/p>\n
Students: Heidi, Alison, Jackie, Jessica, Anita, Romi, Kristi, Heather, Kerry, Brian \u201cUdo\u201d, Glen, Brian M, David, Mahesh, Derek, James, Mike<\/p>\n
May 7\/8 \u2013 Korean Air \u2013 Chicago O\u2019Hare \u00e0 Seoul \u00e0 Hong Kong \u2013 Day 1<\/p>\n
Arrived at O\u2019Hare late in the evening. Very long flight to Seoul. Another flight to Hong Kong. Flew into Kai Tek airport on Hong Kong island and you could practically look into the buildings before landing.\u00a0 Pilots had to be specially trained to land here.\u00a0 The new airport opened later in the Summer. Arrived in HK and checked into the Park Lane Hotel. We all explored as May 9 \u2013 Explored Hong Kong \u2013 Day 2<\/p>\n Large breakfast buffet in the hotel Boarded a bus for a full-day tour of Hong Kong with guide Atmin. First stop was the \u201cSan Pan Tour\u201d, which included views of the famous floating restaurants of Hong Kong, fishing house boats May 10 \u2013 Guangzhou \u2013 Day 3<\/p>\n Up early for an express train to Canton\/Guangzhou. We were excited to see McDonald\u2019s on arrival and enjoyed a \u201ccheap\u201d $2 value meal for lunch. Walked the streets and noticed lots of people, dirt and bikes! Took a bus to visit the 5 Goat Temple and a porcelain store. Next stop was a real China food market \u2013 lots of live animals, raw meat, bugs and Chinese medicine. Stayed at the White Swan Hotel. Group dinner with more new foods to try \u2013 pigeon, eel, frog and clam! In the areas around the restaurant girls tried to sell us flowers and yelled American swear words to us.<\/p>\n May 11\u2013 Kunming \u2013 Day 4<\/p>\n Early morning flight to Kunming. Explored Golden Dragon Mountain and rode on a ski lift up the mountain. Explored several Buddhist temples and an art gallery where we had our names painted in Chinese. Lunch at the New York Caf\u00e9 which was a huge stir fry. After lunch we visited the largest copper temple. Checked into the Golden Dragon hotel. The group was on our own for dinner that night. A few of us went to the Happy Caf\u00e9 for dinner. No one in the restaurant could speak English and not sure what we ate for dinner. But it was a fun experience! Explored some of the \u201ccheap\u201d markets after dinner and saw lots of interesting people.<\/p>\n May 12 \u2013 Kunming & Train \u2013 Day 5<\/p>\n After breakfast we took a two hour bus ride to visit the Stone Forest and stopped at a pearl shop on the way. The Stone Forest was cool but very hot! Back on the bus and stopped at a Jade shop and enjoyed the beautiful countryside\u2026 including people plowing the fields. Drove through a bad storm and realized driving there is very unsafe. Safely arrived back in Kunming to grocery shop before the overnight train ride. The train ride\u2026. What an experience! The group was in one train car and split up into our own \u201dcabins.\u201d It was awful. Long, dirty, and the toilet was a hole straight down to the tracks!<\/p>\n May 13 \u2013 Train & Chongqing \u2013 Day 6<\/p>\n We were on the gross train all day! Let\u2019s just say it was an experience. May 14 \u2013 Yangtse Cruise \u2013 Day 7<\/p>\n Another early morning to catch a bus to the boat. Boarded the Yangtse May 15 \u2013 Yangtse Cruise \u2013 Day 8<\/p>\n May 16 \u2013 Yangtse Cruise and Wuhan \u2013 Day 9<\/p>\n In the morning, we got to see the dam they were building as well as went through the locks. A few took \u201ctitanic\u201d pictures on the front of the boat (it was the big movie in 1998). We had a farewell lunch on the boat and also received free shirts and shots with the captain. Once off the boat we boarded a bus for a three-hour trip to Wuhan. When we arrived in Wuhan we saw many familiar restaurants on our way to the hotel \u2013 McDonalds, KFC and more. We checked into the Changhai Hotel and several of us ran a few blocks to McDonald\u2019s!! After that we walked around and explored markets. Some of us bought Budweiser because they had a brewery in Wuhan.<\/p>\n May 17 \u2013 ANOTHER overnight Train Ride \u2013 Day 10<\/p>\n Up again early for breakfast. Stopped at a store for more food for the train \u2013 ramen, water and chips ahoy! Boarded the train at 10am. The train was much cleaner than the last one and had a regular toilet. We all rested on this leg of the trip.<\/p>\n May 18 \u2013 Shanghai \u2013 Day 11<\/p>\n May 19 \u2013 Shanghai \u2013 Day 12<\/p>\n After breakfast, we all visited the Jade Buddha Temple. We then went to May 20 \u2013 Beijing \u2013 Day 13<\/p>\n Up early for breakfast and headed to the airport. Two hour flight to Beijing. Once safely in Beijing we met our tour guide for the new few days. (Note \u2013 each city we had a new tour guide. Lee was our tour guide that traveled with us the entire trip). Checked into the Landmark Hotel which had a Hard Rock Caf\u00e9 on the main floor. We visited the Temple of Heaven. Some of the group went to a Korean dinner and others to bed early. It\u2019d been a long few days.<\/p>\n May 21 \u2013 Beijing \u2013 Day 14<\/p>\n Breakfast and then off to explore. Our first stop was to Tiananmen Square. We got a group IWU photo on the edge of the square and in front of the Forbidden City. The Forbidden City was the next stop and was amazing. Lunch at McDonald\u2019s and more shopping at the local markets and stores. It was a game for the group to see who could get the best deals\u2026 and some the most stuff \u2013<\/p>\n Mahesh! That evening the group went to dinner and we all celebrated Dr Jin\u2019s birthday! We celebrated a few birthdays during the trip.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n May 22 \u2013 Beijing and the Great Wall of China \u2013 Day 15<\/p>\n After breakfast, we headed out to visit a pottery shop, the Ming Tombs, and a friendship store for lunch. Then off to the Great Wall of China! This was a highlight of the trip for all. We took an IWU picture of the group on the wall. Lots of walking and climbing \u2013 didn\u2019t realize how steep it was May 23 \u2013 Beijing \u2013 Day 16<\/p>\n Today was the last full day in China. What an unforgettable trip for the entire group! Visited the Beijing Zoo to see the pandas. After we went to the Summer Palace. We all did more shopping \u2013 including several of us buying the singing Mao lighters, beanie babies, visiting a silk market, the friendship store and more. That evening the group all went to our farewell dinner and enjoyed Pekin Duck. We had our last group meeting of the trip and talked about what it meant to all of us. Back to the hotel to stuff our suitcases with all of our souvenirs\u2026<\/p>\n May 24 \u2013 Heading Home \u2013 Day 17<\/p>\n We were all up early to start the long journey home \u2639. Hoyt had already left the group as he was staying for 10 more days. Jin and Lee (our guide for the trip) took all of us to the airport. Dr Jin looked very worried leaving us (he was staying in China). One of the students on the trip was taking several swords onto the plane in the cabin (can you imagine now?) and others were taking many beanie babies (they were hot back in the US and one student maybe had a suitcase full?). We safely made it to Seoul and after talking in the airport, the 17 IWU students boarded the plane for the long flight back to O\u2019Hare. What an unforgettable trip. Thank you to our IWU professors for making it such a great trip and one that many of us still talk about over 25 years later!!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For some reason, I had little documentation on the 1998 trip (despite a few pictures).\u00a0 When I put out a plea to participants, Heidi Keller Force replied that she had a journal she’d share.\u00a0 This entry is based mostly on her notes (which sort of equalled mine).\u00a0 It gives a student perspective on the trip … Continue reading “May 1998 (Mostly) A Student’s View”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mayterm-1998"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8195"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8195\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9505,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8195\/revisions\/9505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/factrack\/files\/1998\/05\/IMG00822-1.jpg\")
<\/a>small groups in the early afternoon \u2013 walked around, fitted for suits, etc. First thoughts on Hong Kong \u2013 overpopulated, dirty and the terrible smell! That evening the group took a ferry to Cheung Chau Island for a dinner full of seafood \u2013 crab, squid, mussel, lobster, shrimp and blue lady beer. Took the ferry back and enjoyed the Hong Kong skyline at night. Subway back to the hotel.<\/p>\n<\/a>and straw hats. Next stop was to Repulse Bay with a view of the hotel with the hole in it for the dragon to drink out of the bay. Took pictures at the Happy Buddha\u00a0 statue. Lunch was at the Revolving 99 restaurant with a full buffet \u2013 all free except for a $7 coke! Journeyed to the highest point in Hong Kong to enjoy the views then took a steep tram down the mountain. Visited the Stanley Market. Dinner that evening was with one of Dr. Hoyt\u2019s friends and included our first attempt at chopsticks on the trip. Several students decided to enjoy the Hong Kong nightlife to end the HK leg of the trip.<\/p>\n<\/a>Finally arrived in Chongqing at 5pm in the evening to what my notes say the \u201cdirtiest city ever.\u201d Took a tour bus to the highest point of the city and could see tables from the bus of raw meat with bugs all over it\u2026 gross! At the top of the mountain we saw a map for the dam they were going to build in the Yangtse River. Checked in to the Chongqing Guest House Hotel \u2013 not the nicest of the trip but working bathrooms and a shower! The group dinner that night was at the Hot Pot. The dinner was good and the buffet included a variety of foods such as brain, blood curd and chicken feet! Some students were brave and tried many things including the hot pot liquid!<\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a>Cruiser, which would be our home for the next few days. Our lunch that day was a preview of the same meal we\u2019d eat during our time on the ship. That afternoon a few of us watched a Chicago Bulls game in our rooms. A surprise to watch that in the middle of China. Our first stop was to the Ghost City. It included lots statues and superstitions like trying to run up the steps without taking a breath. After we went to an <\/a>acrobat show and sat on tiny chairs. It was a fun show. Back on the boat we went to the Captain\u2019s cocktail hour, group dinner, celebrated a birthday, karaoke, attempted to view stars on the deck but couldn\u2019t due to the terrible pollution and more.<\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a>Visited White King City and got our first view of the gorges. After lunch of the same food, we all put on life jackets for the small boat tour through the lesser of the three gorges. The small boat was quite an adventure and felt like it was going to fall apart a few times going over rocks. Lots of beautiful scenery and we were all glad to get back on the ship. Group dinner and another fun night on the cruiser.\u00a0 I think it was Anita whose\u00a0 splendid rendition of “I just called to say I love you” still warms my memories of the Yangtze cruise.<\/p>\nThe train arrived in Shanghai at 7:30am. We got off the train and ate breakfast at our hotel the Jin Jiang Tower. A few of us went to KFC. We then visited an art museum. Later in the day we met Omar who was an IWU alum who was running a chicken feed plant for Cargill in Shanghai. We checked out the Shanghai waterfront, enjoyed ice cream bars and even took a fun \u201cCharlies Angels\u201d picture. Later we\u00a0visited the Friendship Store, something Hoyt mentioned a lot in marketing class. After we went back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. Dinner that evening was at the Gap with most of the group, Hoyt, Jin and Omar and Tuan from IWU. The entire group went to an acrobat show after dinner which was awesome. To end the night, Omar and Tuan took out a group of us to an English bar and a disco.<\/p>\n<\/a>Nanjing Road, which was similar to 5th<\/sup> Ave in NYC. Lunch at the Hard Rock Caf\u00e9! Dr Jin showed us the building where he grew up, which was near the Hard<\/a> Rock. Next we went to a garden which was neat to see in the middle of the city, another market and then the Children\u2019s Palace. We all enjoyed the palace and took lots of pictures of the cute kids. That evening the group went to dinner with Steve and son who were also from Bloomington.<\/p>\n<\/a> in some areas. Lots of fun pictures taken with the group. After several hours we headed back to Beijing. Such an amazing part of the trip. Later that evening, several of the group went to the Hard Rock for dinner and dancing.<\/p>\n