Justin Walls' world travels have been fun for this family.
While studying abroad in Paris, France, and Spain, his parents and sister visited him there and toured the sites. But when he joined the Peace Corps after graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, they did not expect to see him during his two-year assignment in China.
So it was a pleasant surprise when Tom and Karen Walls of Jamestown figured out they had enough frequent flyer miles to bring their son home for Christmas. Yet Justin declined the offer. Instead he suggested his sister, Amanda, visit him during her summer break from Lees-McRae College. In August, 20-year-old Amanda packed her bags and off she went on a once-in-a-lifetime trip.
“I had never traveled alone,” said Amanda. “Before it was always a family thing. But I was OK with going by myself.”
A 1999 graduate of Ragsdale High School, Justin was very excited to receive the plum assignment of teaching English and film studies at Southwest China Normal University in Chongqing, China, when he joined the Peace Corps. Having been in the country over a year now, he has made many friends and has become comfortable living in the Far East.
With the decision made for Amanda to visit, Justin began planning for her trip. He wanted to show her all the sites and introduce her to the country he was becoming to love so much. Because the trip from Chongqing to Beijing is a 47-hour train ride, his parents treated him to an airline ticket. Arriving in Beijing several days prior to Amanda, he was able to arrange lodging and plan what they would do in the city.
Amanda's journey started with a 20-hour flight to Beijing. Planning to leave from Greensboro with connecting flights in Charlotte and San Francisco, Amanda was forced to change plans when one of her connections was delayed. As a result, she arrived in Beijing without one of her bags. But Justin was in the Beijing airport waiting for her when she landed and she was excited to begin her trip.
Because she was so tired from her journey, Amanda and Justin made it an early night with plans to go full steam the next day. They were to stay in Beijing for several days to see the sites there and in the surrounding countryside before going on to Chongqing.
“The youth hostel was very nice,” said Amanda. “We had our own room with two beds and a bathroom.
“About 3 a.m. I woke up and heard Justin being very sick. He had food poisoning from some bad noodles he had eaten at a mall before I got there. We had to get an ambulance to take him to the hospital. He had to stay in the hospital for 12 hours on an IV drip.
“He had a card with information about his home and doctor. The Peace Corps gives this card to all its volunteers. That helped. But I had to pay the ambulance on the spot. I just gave them some money, I don't know how much, and they gave me some change back.”
Despite this less than auspicious beginning, once Justin felt better the pair began their vacation in earnest. They visited Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace and the Great Wall. They took in a performance of the famed Beijing acrobats. Justin, ever the teacher, wanted to show Amanda all the historical and cultural aspects of the city. Amanda, while she appreciated his efforts, wanted to include the shopping districts in the tour.
“I don't know what I was expecting, but Beijing was nothing like I expected,” said Amanda. “It was so big and so dirty and polluted. It was not as crowded as I thought it would be. There were so many people there from so many different places. It was really culturally diverse.
“I was surprised that you could get on a bus and ride out in the mountains that reminded me of the North Carolina mountains. That was kind of cool. Once you are out of the city, it was very pretty.
“My favorite thing was visiting the Great Wall. It was really far from the city and you could see the sky. It was just really cool to be on the Great Wall.”
Unfortunately, the brother and sister team experienced another bump in their plans. Amanda was severely sunburned and developed sun poisoning and strep throat. Once they made it to Justin's apartment in Chongqing, she spent a couple of days eating pizza and watching videos of “Will and Grace” because she was too sick to go sightseeing.
“It was worth it for all the things I got to see,” said Amanda.
When she felt better, they toured Chongqing and visited Justin's Peace Corps host family in Mianyang. They also visited Shindu, a city on the border with Tibet, and toured a panda reserve.
Justin has one more year before fulfilling his commitment to the Peace Corps. He then would like to remain in China another year to study the Mandarin language before returning home, where he is considering entering graduate or law school. Whether he will be able to come home to visit during the next two years is uncertain, but Amanda is ready to go back if the invitation is issued.
“I would like to go back, but I would want to go to different places,” said Amanda. “All in all, it was a good trip. It was a once-in-a-lifetime trip. Not everybody gets to go to China.”
