I drank more tequila in China than anywhere I’ve ever been.
Over Christmas holiday during my junior year at Ole Miss, I went to the Middle Kingdom with 20 other college students from around the United States.
We got to visit several parts of the country but mainly spent our time between Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong.
Looking back, it was an incredible trip, the trip of a lifetime really.
And of course, because I was young, stupid and full of myself, I took it for granted.
We saw incredible sights, ate amazing food and got into some absolutely bonkers situations while we were there.
We did sunrise aikido at the Summer Palace, ate eel soup in Suzhou and climbed to the top of the Great Wall sporting a wicked hangover.
We saw Peking Opera, visited the Shanghai Art Museum and attended afternoon prayer at a Buddhist shrine that changed how I thought about religion.
We spent New Year’s morning in Tiananmen Square and gazing at the embalmed body of Chairman Mao.
We sampled street food most Americans would find abhorrent.
We also drank all the tequila we could find.
Which led to shenanigans.
I suppose such behavior could be expected from a group of college students.
One our first night in Beijing our group leaders asked us to write down three goals for the trip.
Being of the cheeky sort, I wrote down the following objectives:
1. Have fun
2. Learn about Chinese culture and history
3. Don’t go to jail
I failed one of these.
Tomorrow: The Adventure Begins!
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