Shenyang 沈阳

I've been sort of lazy about updating my blog, as I have been busy studying, teaching, and planning the next few months of traveling. As part of my prep for the future journey, I had to get more pages for my passport, which can be done in Shenyang, the capital of a province adjacent to Jilin province.

We had been meaning to take the train down to Shenyang, as there are other Maryknoll teachers located in the capital and visit them. Thus, Matt and I took the slow train down last Thursday, which translated into a 7 hour train ride, usually its 4, but it was the only train we could take at the time.

Shenyang is the fifth largest city in China and is 5 times the size of Jilin. While Shenyang does have some nice western perks, like Starbucks and Listerine!, it noticeably had more air pollution. I was so excited to find Cool Mint Listerine in a local drug store. I had given up my quest for the refreshing minty liquid and had resigned myself to sub-standard dental hygiene, but Shenyang has almost everything.

They even have a Carbohydrate-laden Great Wall!

One thing that Shenyang is lacking are things to do, which is not only a problem in this country, but as Patrick and Matt pointed out: its a major problem in most cities. The Shenyang crowd frequents the bowling alley, so we bowled our hearts out, 2 nights in a row.

Visiting the U.S. Embassy in Shenyang was an interesting experience and it was nice to be on American soil for a while, until we walked in; we were greeted unfortunately by the smiling faces of the leaders of our country. It was surprisingly easy to get more pages put in and we only had to fill out 1 form and wait. Our passports were returned with a bunch of pages, stuck in with scotch tape. It looks like a fourth grader put it in. Oh well, I hope its not confiscated at any border. Regardless, its a free service and was relatively stress-free, aside from the surge of disbelief and anger when passing those photos, twice.

Overall, I had a pleasant trip to Shenyang, but realized that I'm glad to be living out in the "country." When I first got to Jilin, I was overwhelmed with the size, the amount of people, but now it seems so small compared to Shenyang. Even though we don't have some Western amenities like Starbucks (I don't even go there that much, but its nice to have the option), I enjoy being in Jilin.