More Yu Gardens

Yu Gardens

On the hottest day of the year in Shanghai, we began our day with a guided tour of the beautiful Yu Gardens and Bazaar. We were interested in the beautiful wood and stone carvings and learned that only real dragons have 5 toes and the frog beneath the dragon's mouth symbolizes wealth because it lives off the saliva of the dragon. It was fascinating to hear that lion statues always come in twos. The Bazaar was filled with many interesting Chinese bargains, but it was too hot to haggle over prices and we had to hurry on to our next stop in Shanghai.

Shanghai Concert Hall

We got to sleep in today due to jet lag, and since most of us fell asleep as soon as we hit the pillow, nobody could complain. After a breakfast consisting of noodles, dumplings, spring rolls, and bacon we piled onto the buses, learned some Chinese from our amazing tour guides and went to see the Urban Planning building in Shanghai. In the building there were huge models of the whole city of Shanghai (one took up the whole third floor), art exhibits and virtual cities (that made you dizzyJ). Lunch was on the go and some of us found out that Pizza Huts in Shanghai are actually better than America’s, not to mention pirate themed. Then it was off to a four-hour rehearsal. Long and tiring? Yes. However it felt really nice to play again after almost two days. We had a couple of hours to explore the city a little after that (with a parent or chaperone, of course). Some got ice cream and shopped around while others learned that policemen don’t like kids playing Frisbee on their grass. Then it was time for our first concert in China!! We play with fourteen local high schoolers. They joined us for our welcome songs and our march. The overall concert was amazing! We even had to play one of our encores twice.
Exiting the Shanghai Concert Hall after our first concert. We played to a sold out concert hall. People were waiting in line hoping seats would become available.

At Ten o’clock we went to a pretty late dinner consisting of rice, dumplings, some meat thing, some other meat things, this other really good thing, and of course, watermelon. Now with our stomachs full (?) and the thoughts of beds swimming in our minds, we are on the bus riding the roads of Shanghai. What will tomorrow bring? More rice and dumplings? Probably… Autumn
Breakfast, lunch and dinner dumplings

Beautiful flowers were presented to Dr. Dennis

1st Night in Shanghai

After checking into the Rainbow Hotel we had two hours to shower and relax before a night on the town.

The Pearl TV Tower and other beautiful skyscrapers along the river.


Dinner and entertainment.


The view from our night cruise on the Yangtse River.

Shanghai Arrival

We arrived with all of our luggage and instruments.

The cellos and basses all arrived safely without any injuries.

Outside the Shanghai airport loading up our buses and instrument truck.

Seoul International Airport

Right now we are gathered at the gate in Seoul with four hours to kill. Groups of friends catch up after the twelve-hour flight and others participate in exciting if somewhat hushed card games; the 14-hour difference has caught up with everyone. How strange it is to recall everyone chatting in lively tones just 13 hours earlier on the plane, adrenaline rushing and hearts pounding. The flight itself was better than anticipated; the flight attendants were very friendly and charming with their broken English: “’Scusors!” (excuse me) and “You want om-road or pancake?” (omelette or pancakes). Much of the plane was silent for the first few hours with most people trying to sleep, but as time passed, friends gathered in the aisles to chat with each other, eager to stretch their legs after hours of sitting still. Surprisingly, the 13 hours passed quickly and now MYA members look forward to the beginning of their Asian experience. Theresa
We are passing the time in the airport by reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollow, playing cards, slurping up Korean noodles and sleeping.

O'Hare International Airport

The line was long, but checking in at O'Hare went smoothyly and we took off right on time at 1:00 A.M.

The flight was long, but we arrived on time and successfully passed through security. The flight attendants were very nice, but it was sometimes difficult to understand them. One of our dinner options came with an instruction booklet telling us how to properly enjoy the food, which was reassuring. The TV persisted in showing random programs such as Mr. Bean, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and various random films with subtitles. Some of us escaped into the aisles and attempted to play cards, but we were discouraged from this after a few minutes. Natalia