Day 7: Jiuzhaigou to LA: 7/30/17

Back to USA! I can finally post freely on Facebook again! I was able to post directly to Facebook once and then not able to pass the Great Digital Wall of China since. I had to use my FindPenguins account to post my travel journal.

I have to say the most surprising thing about this trip is the fact the bathrooms in China have improved a lot. Our guide said the government had launched a movement called "bathroom revolution", so agencies in China have invested lots of money to build better bathrooms. Even though they are still not as good as the Western ones, at least we saw a lot less horrifying things in them now. Some of them even have toilet papers! Unthinkable in the past.

Also, Chinese tourists litter less now too. There are garbage cans every few hundred meters, so they are really good at putting their trash in the cans. Some even recycle! Although some people still spit on the floor. I think there are too many smokers in China, and many of them have lung issues, therefore need to spit a lot. At least the government has banned smoking indoors. I only saw one person smoked inside, and I told him to get lost. He walked away with his young son unashamed. Horrible person!

With so many changes (many more high rises and highways), what hasn't changed is the kindness of the people. Everyone we met has gone out of their ways to make our travel easier. When I forgot my shoes, the hotel sent someone to bring them to me to the airport; the wife and father of our guide in Chengdu, escorted my parents from airport to train station in our absence; our VIP minibus guide in Jiuzhaigou made herself the guidance angel of my parents, always made sure they were safe and sound at every site.

Sichuan is known for its amazing cuisine, and we had so much amazing food! From the best mapo tofu, to very authentic street food; from extremely tender yak meat, to Tibetan stuffed pancake made with local corps in the mountains. Every where we went, people were shocked how much Evan could handle the spicy food. He even challenged a chef in a little family restaurant to make the dishes as spicy as he could, and the food was spicy and wonderful!

Saying goodbye to my parents was hard. They had turned 80 years old this year, and my mother has terrible knee problems that she can't walk very well anymore. She told me this may be her last trip, and she had a really good time. She then thanked me for enabling her to see how much of the world in the past 10 plus years. I of course told her this would not be her last trip, and I would bring her to see as much World as she wants!

We will go back to China in 2 years!Read more