This was quite the day. First, we left Yangling for Xi’an, about a two-hour drive east. On our way to Xi’an, we detoured to the eighth wonder of the world: the Terracotta Warriors. I had been to a touring exhibit a couple years ago, but seeing the full army was something else entirely. There were two smaller areas to view, but the main part was actually insane. I did get a little bored after spending about two hours though because you can only look at a bunch of statues for so long.

We finally arrived in Xi’an and they gave us a couple hours to familiarize ourselves with the hostel and surrounding area. I took the time to nap in maybe the most comfortable bed I’ve ever slept in while abroad. One quick shower and change of clothes later, I met everyone downstairs to walk over to the Muslim Quarter.

Jacob told us ahead of time he had a roommate from Xi’an that would be happy to show us some of his hometown. The plan was that Yimeng, Jacob’s roommate, would pick us up from the Quarter and take us to dinner.

The Muslim Quarter was exactly what I wanted to experience in China. The main street was about four cars wide, and every building was two or three stories tall. The vendors varied in handmade traditional candies to cheap trinkets you see everywhere to noodles being pulled several feet into the street. There were neon signs, all in Chinese, so many smells, and as it got later into the evening more people started to fill the place. Towards one end was the pirated goods bizarre, full of the finest “Made in China” designer items in all of Xi’an. I personally take way too long when shopping because of my severe indecision, so a few of us only glanced through most of the place.

Eventually, Yimeng showed up and took five of us to hot pot; I like to call this part of the trip Adventures with Yimeng. He never told us what his dad does, but our dinner was held in a private room with our own waiting staff. During dinner, Yimeng asked if any of us were interested in experience some night life, and after we said we’d love to he said “OK tell me how many people want to come and I’ll get it arranged.” After dinner, we met his parents at their “house,” which was like having a one-story home inside an apartment building. Yimeng’s parents were very kind and generous, and his mom tried her best English with us.

As we walked outside, a Mercedes pulled up and Yimeng told us to get in and it will take us to the club. He said he’ll meet us with everyone else and took off. We arrive in front of this place called “PapayaX” and the place is lined with foreign cars parked outside. About ten minutes after we arrive, almost all the other students on the combined business and journalism trip show up in their own Mercedes SUV escorts. As Yimeng gets out of his car, the manager of the club comes to greet us all and escort the group of fifteen American students to their own booth. Immediately, two carts full of different alcoholic beverages are brought to our tables and they make pitchers of cocktails. After that, I don’t clearly remember what else happened. However, there was a lot of dancing on many places, such as the table, the booth, the DJ stage, the speakers, the dance floor, and maybe even the bathroom stall. I do remember being the most mentally coherent and collecting everyone on stage and the dance floor to go home because it was like 2 AM and we had a long day ahead of us.

I still follow Yimeng on Snapchat and we’ll probably hang out with Jacob when we’re all back at UNL.

In the entire two weeks of the trip, there was only one class we had to attend, and it was today. One hour of beginner Mandarin, plus one hour about Chinese business agriculture and why Nebraska cares, equals two hours of one classroom full of bored business and journalism students. The room itself was decorated in hammer and sickle communist propaganda, so at least that was cool.

Afterwards, we were released for a couple hours because it’s a Chinese custom to have 12 PM to 3 PM off for lunch and nap time. We walked to a nearby street market that greeted us to with a fresh fruit stand and small noodle place. There were a lot of locals and places to eat, but I was more interested in trying more food at the university’s cafeteria. Don’t remember what I had for lunch but I know it included some bubble tea, which I am a big fan of.

Everyone met at the dorm for our departure to the farm. In a surprising turn of events that our faculty weren’t expecting at all is the forty-five minute presentation at a Chinese government facility. We learned about the glory, innovation, and generosity of China and its agricultural industry. Once finally arriving at the research farm UNL sponsored, they told us more about the pivot irrigation Nebraska brought and how much impact it’s had.

Even better than the farm, we were then taken to a group of museums: entomology, agriculture, and taxidermy. Honestly, the grounds and buildings were really cool, but the content was just a bit lackluster. At the end, the faculty told us we can either walk a mile back to campus or take the bus. As a combined agreement we took the bus back to campus and then walked down into town to hang out. Other people went to watch intramural street basketball.

Last thing we did that day was an all-expense paid night of KTV. I’d always wanted to enjoy Asian karaoke culture, but putting twenty-something college students in a room that blasts music and is full of alcohol, not my kind of party. Of course hardly anyone sang and the playlist consisted of 2000’s rap/hip-hop classics like Pitbull and Eminem. So most of the J squad left early and explored Yangling at night, and I was crazy hungry. Apparently, Yangling is exactly like Lincoln: everything is closed by 9 PM. In my desperate search for food, I did end up finding some of the best I ever had the entire trip. Some literal hole-in-the-wall, I had a Chinese hamburger and some cold noodle dish with cucumbers; all I did was point at something on the menu that was 7 yuan and the chef smiled and started at it.

This was my last day in Yangling and I was glad to leave. Reminded me too much of Lincoln and not enough China.

First day of the real trip, I woke up at 7:30 am, surprisingly full of energy. Some of us gathered up for a morning stroll, but the true nature of our exploration was one of our most primitive instincts: find some food. After wandering the campus for some arbitrary amount of time, we finally came discovered a source of nutrition. It was a small grocery store stocked with basic necessities: instant noodles, processed carbohydrates, booze, and water. None of us really understood what exactly we were buying, but the pictures and colors gave us a general idea between red bean and potato filling. Fifteen yuan later, I bought a half liter of water, sweet potato sandwich, and some chocolate panda bread; there was a depressing drought in protein.

We returned to the dorm eventually and were joined by the rest of the J school students in Prof Weber’s room. Apparently, the faculty had already gathered food for us ahead of time because there was a box  of “goodies” awaiting our arrival. So, all nine of us were gathered in the professor’s dorm living room around a small coffee table, devouring the processed delicacies of a Chinese grocery store.

Sometime later, some of the business people arise and John takes us down to a market right outside the gate of the school. They fed us enough steamed buns to feed a small village. We also got plenty of pictures.

The order of events that occurred next I may not be remembering correctly, even though I’m writing this only a day later.

After the morning market buns, the J school squad, at this point “kewl kids,” took some group pictures with Jacob’s selfie stick at the top of the steps. We then made our way down into the surrounding urban area and stopped in a café for those of that find coffee a more than necessity. The coffee was decent, and of course we took plenty more pictures.

Somehow we spent way too much time in the café, and I still needed to buy a towel. We head back up the mountainous stair case and stop in the market. At this point, my only pair of shoes were already soaked through and even though it was cold and wet out, I was sweating from the layers I had to wear. The towel was pink, covered in elephants, and only 25 yuan (about $4 USD). Once everyone bought whatever they needed, the J squad returned to campus for the tour.

The student volunteers showed us around campus, and it was this beautiful mix between urban and forest that’s so difficult to describe. On one side of the small road would be an old, five-story apartment complex covered in clothes hanging to dry, and on the other side of the road would be trees and a field of flowers or some kind of wheat.

They released us to fend for ourselves for a couple hours, and I honestly can’t remember what I did the rest of that day. I can recollect, however, how quickly I fell asleep on the most uncomfortable bed in existence; it might’ve been an actually plank of wood with a blanket and pillow, but I was so exhausted it did not matter.

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton