My China Summer Experience Summary
By Naomi Meng
My summer in China went by so fast. It seemed to have just started when we were aware that it was about the time to return to Springfield. Different from other summers we spent in China, this time, our summer vacation was two-weeks shorter and we spent almost half of it traveling in the country. There are many first times that I saw, experienced and felt. Such as, it was the first time that I went to visit Xi’an – well-known for being the capital of ancient China for 13 dynasties over 1,000 more years, and to visit my grandparents’ hometowns in the southeast China.
My Grandparents’ Hometowns
A place we have been to in the summer is my grandparents’ hometowns, which are about 100 kilometer (62 miles) apart in Zhejiang Province in the Southeast of China. My grandparents had left their hometowns after they graduated from the college, and went to work and live in Beijing ever since. But most of their siblings and relatives still live there. When we met them this summer and had  dinner together, it was the first time that I was able to meet sooo many people that were related to me in my life! In America, I see lots of my friends from the big families, but never thought I would ever have a family as big as theirs.
Chinese people call relatives on their father’s side or mother’s side differently. From grandparents, parents in-law, uncles/aunts, cousins to nephews/nieces, they all have specified names to be called depending on where you are on the family tree. I was always confused “who is whom” with so many people around, and only knew that one should never call a senior with his or her first name directly.
Travel by High Speed Train
The cool part about traveling around China was that we didn’t drive a car or take a flight. We took the high-speed trains instead. The train could travel more than 300 km (about 186.4 miles) per hour! But when we sat on the train, we even didn’t feel it moving so fast! The train was so stable that we could let a coin stand by the window and it would remain balanced without falling for a loooooong time!
The Chinese train system now connects most of the major cities in China. It takes us only about 4-5 hours to travel over 1300 km (807 miles) from North to South. That is about the distance between Chicago and New York City!
The Mobikes
In China, particularly this summer, a new type of transportation is gaining so much popularity. All of sudden, you can see tons of bicycles – the Mobikes for mobile-bike – placed in the public areas, such as subways entrance and bus stops. People can easily ride the bikes from one place and drop them in another place after they use. They just need download the Apps on their phones, then use the Apps to scan the QR code on each bike, and receive the password to unlock it. It only charges one Chinese Yuan (about $0.15) for each ride, and you will be charged after you use and re-lock the bike.
It surely brings great convenience to people who usually have to take a long walk to the nearby public transportation or destination. Many people even choose to ride the bicycles rather than take a taxi or bus to avoid heavily-jammed traffic in Beijing. To certain extent, the Mobikes advocate a low-emission lifestyle among people. However, sometimes, too many bikes are parked or scattered around within the already-crowded public areas and by the roadsides. Some are even thrown in the middle of the streets! Damage is often found in those bikes, such as scratched-out QR codes, a missing seat, or a broken brake. It becomes a huge problem of maintaining and keeping those bikes in order and from  being stolen.
I truly enjoyed my summer vacation and am now back at Rountree in fifth grade and attending WINGS.