By Jordan Delp

Jordan Delp is a men’s basketball player at Augustana. He is blogging about the team’s trip to China. For more posts about the Vikings’ journey, click here.

Last night was our final night in Guangzhou, so we wanted to make sure we had a good time. After dinner, we all hung out in the room for awhile, and actually had the opportunity to hang out with one of the local citizens, Kevin Haotian Lai. Matt Pelton was Kevin’s counselor at a summer military camp in Indiana this past summer, so it was cool for us to meet him and hear what he had to say about his hometown. Afterwards, we decided to see what the Guangzhou night life had to offer. We found a night club called “Honey” and had probably the most fun night we’ve had on our trip. The environment was not unlike what you would see in the states, with a bar, tables throughout and a dance floor. What was a little different was the treatment we received, because we were given VIP seating and lots of attention.

Today we flew from Guangzhou to Wuhan, a city located in central China. There are some striking similarities between Wuhan and the Quad Cities that we had a chance to learn about today. For one, Wuhan is technically made up of three cities that are separated by a river. The Yangtze River is, like the Mississippi, the biggest river in the country. Furthermore, both the Quad Cities and Wuhan were the first places in their countries to connect the different sides of the river by dual bridges, the bottom for trains and the top for cars. There are also a few differences between the two cities as well. First of all, the Yangtze River is 70 feet deep versus the 9 foot depth of the Mississippi and it is one mile across, which is four times the length of the Mississippi from side to side.

We ate lunch at a place that serves 3,000 people and is the largest “cafeteria” we’ve been at so far on our trip. At all of our stops but one, we have been eating authentic Chinese cuisine and it’s safe to say that it’s been a little different for all of us. We’ve all been forced to try new exotic foods none of us have ever thought about eating. Things like lotus roots, moon cakes, and stir fried bullfrog are just a sample of the different kinds of food we have been offered. The style here is also interesting, as we eat in a “family-style” environment with a “lazy-Susan.” In this style, none of us have our own entrée, but they bring out many courses for us and put them on a circular plate that spins in the middle of the table. We then get to pick and choose what we want and don’t want to try.

We also practiced today at Central China Normal (Huazhong) University in Wuhan, a place that has a strong connection with Augustana. Soon, six Augie graduates will come to Wuhan to begin teaching English at the University for one year. The practice court was an interesting environment, sort of another open-air court where one rim was high and one was low. It was cool though, not a place where you would normally get to practice. Also today, we found out that our schedule has changed again, and we will be playing a professional team on Friday with a few players added from the National Team that will be playing in the Olympics next summer. This should be an interesting experience and a chance for us to really compete. More on that later.