Finally finishing my October National Holiday posts about a month late, I'm glad that I took the time during the trip to jot down my observations. 

Here are a few things I don't want to forget:

1. Children everywhere (Xi'an, Hefei, Huang Shan) would run up to John and I and say, "Hello, nice to meet you." Some would add, "How do you do?" These children are being taught English in their schools. Their parents stand by and do not understand, but encourage their children to talk to the foreigners. At six or seven years old their English is roughly where my Chinese was last December after one semester of instruction. I might know more Chinese than they know English, but I have a two-decade head-start. When they are my age, if they keep practicing they will certainly be fluent in two languages. (Also interesting, John and I were discussing on the train that we might take the HSK before leaving China. The HSK is similar to the TOEFL; it is a language examination for non-native speakers. If you score high enough, you can be employed by a Chinese company. Serena overheard us talking and said she couldn't wait to tell her friends. Her friends have all been studying English for many years and have to study hard for the TOEFL so they can attend graduate schools in the United States and Europe. They often say they cannot wait for China to become bigger and more powerful and have American students studying hard for the HSK.)
2. Outside of Beijing, I very rarely saw toilets. They used Cesuos, which are simply holes in the ground. The holes are made out of the same material our toilets are made out of, but there is no place to sit. You have to squat. I have memorized the few buildings at my school that actually have toilets. The big famous library is not one of them.
3. "Necessities" like toilet paper in bathrooms, hand soap or paper towels at sinks, or napkins at meal times are not available. You may request napkins with a meal, but they are almost never brought without first asking about them. Some guests just don't use them, others bring their own. I now always carry small napkin packets with me. 
4. At meals, drinks are served warm. You can order beer or soda, it will almost always be warm. Serena says most people prefer it that way. 
5. The showers in our hotel (and Serena's house!) have little blue/red stickers to indicate cold/warm water. 100% of the time, they were mislabeled. I do not understand how this could have happened.
6. English is in vogue. Companies will try to have English signs whenever possible. This leads to unbelievably hilarious "Chinglish", like "please stand closer to the urinal" and "do not trample on the monument," or a young girl (I should clarify -- a toddler) who had a cute shirt with two purple elephants on it with words that read: "the brains of lesbian women respond to sexual hormones."
7. Most people outside of Beijing were very shy to foreigners. Wanting to practice our Mandarin, we would say, "Nihao!" to as many people as we could. The vast majority of the time, people wouldn't even respond with a smile.
8. There is no BBB (Better Business Bureau) that I am aware of. As there is no easy way to complain about a company, there is little incentive for certain companies to improve. Our tour bus was completely run down. Every light was broken, most chairs were falling apart, and the tour guide lied to us as mentioned in a previous post. Normally I would think capitalism would fix this; another company with better services would come up and put the first company out of business. The company stays in business because they know the right people - and new companies will be too hard to start without the connections upstarts would lack.
9. In every city I've been in so far, the driving in China has been horrendous. Not bad, not lousy, but horrendous. Rules are not followed. Horns are honked continuously. Seatbelts are not worn (the cabs have them removed as they are not used anyway). I've been hit by two cars. No big deal, worst case scenario you dent their car. They can drive away and what can you do? At one point in Hefei I got out of the car and had an emotional fit yelling in English at the cab driver and simultaneously complaining to John and Serena. I felt bad - it wasn't their fault. But the driver put our lives at risk - going probably 60 miles per hour on crowded streets, swerving in and out of traffic and pedestrians. Every cab does it. Serena said he was also showing off to his foreign guests. It was offensively dangerous.
10. Food is served without drinks. I constantly have to order water separately, and about half the places I go don't even have any available! Serena said it is "common knowledge" that you shouldn't drink while eating - it upsets the stomach's balance.

That's about it for the trip. A lot has happened since then as well (our trip concluded on October 10!) and I will try to update the blog more frequently!