Last stop before Hangzhou: Luoyang

(Chris)

Well, the 4 of us are almost at the end of our tour of southern/central China before we settle down for 5 weeks in Hangzhou.  Our last stop: Luoyang.

We spent the day yesterday in the beautiful town of Pingyao.  With a well-preserved city wall and beautiful pagodas and temples, it was a delight to spend the day wandering through the streets.  We had some trouble understanding our tour guide, Wang, but he was a very pleasant man.  

We said adiós to Mr. Wang at 1:00 a.m. this morning to catch the overnight train to Luoyang.  The 4 of us had a great night’s sleep!  We had ‘soft sleepers’ - as they call them here - and we slept for almost the entire 10 hour train ride.  I think we’re all starting to run out of steam ...  

On (Window) Display in Pingyao

(Lizzy)

We woke up on the train this morning, groggy and confused about when our stop would come. Unable to find anyone who could clear up our confusion in English, and no less puzzled by the train conductors hand gestures in response to our questions, we decided to wait it out. Ryan suddenly realized; however, that the captain was using Chinese finger counting, and the sign he made with his pinky and thumb meant we would arrive at 6:00 AM.

After finally making it off the train all together and with all of our things, we were greeted by our new guide, who talkatively led us to a large golf cart. We loaded our luggage and piled in, cold and tired. We checked into our very authentic hotel, complete with rock-hard beds, no heat, and a shower head in the middle of the bathroom. Though it is very cold here, people make no effort to avoid it or use heat. In everything from houses to restaurants to hotel rooms, it is very difficult to escape the cold. Doors are often left wide open, only sometimes shielded by a thick quilt hanging from the threshold ...

Gypsies!

(Colin)

On the morning of February 15^th, 2011 AD,  in the Julian Calendar of the west, the Sarcastic Four arose from a decent slumber.  I myself did not enjoy the softness of the mattresses, as I am more of a firm mattress person, but I’m not one to complain about mattresses, so I shall continue.  We ate at the hotel’s breakfast buffet for the third and final time, and enjoyed the music that they played, which was the exact same as they had played the two days before.  Though consuming bad noodles to bad new age jazz is not something that one would consider ideal breakfast, we got more than a kick out of the massive contemporary wingbacks that we sat in, and the plethora of watermelon.  Aching to get out of new age jazzland, we quickly went back to our rooms, and packed.

During packing, I had the interesting predicament of a gourd flute that I purchased in Lijiang, which I had dismantled the evening before in a fruitless attempt to repair it.  My bags were full, by back was already straining under the thought of my backpack, and I hated this flute with the force of a thousand suns ...

Space Invaders

(Ryan)

Today was the day we visited Pangliu village. We started out early in the morning by piling into the van and heading towards the outskirts of the city. We picked up Richard on the way. For those of you who don't know, Richard is the amazing person who has coordinated most of our fantastic trip so far. Because of him, we have been able to pack so much into the past few days. On the way to Pangliu, he told us about his life growing up in the village and how hard school was for him and his classmates. Of all the students in his class, only two, including him, went on to University. The testing process had been extremely difficult when he was in school. On the journey into the village Richard explained how the city of Xi'an was expanding and soon even Pangliu would be absorbed by the condo complexes and parks.

When we arrived in Pangliu, it reminded me of the Bai villages we had seen ...

K(C)ool and The Gang

(Chris)

Before I explain the title of this blog entry, I'd like to first just re-visit what Lizzy probably talked about in her post.  We had the opportunity to visit two small villages outside of the city of Dali a few days ago and these visits were very memorable for me.  The people of these villages are of mostly Bai descent (one of the 56 minority groups within China).  They were probably the nicest people I've ever met in my life!!  The women of the village invited us to a wedding reception and to their temple while a group prayer was in session.  In the pictures, these women are easily identifiable by their beautiful, ornate headdresses.  Our tour guide, Nancy, was also of Bai descent and is the most pleasant person you will ever meet!  (She's the one force-feeding Ryan at the temple.)  She was so happy and proud to share her culture with us and it was an honor to be invited to such special events within this community.  Please look through our pictures to get a glimpse of a culture that truly exemplifies what it means to be a good human being!!

Now, let me explain the title of this blog entry ...