China Dining with No Hot and Sour Soup?

(Nick)

Before I talk about today's adventures I must gush about Lijiang. WOW. Lijiang was so different from anything we'd seen so far on the trip. Not only is it located basically at the foot of the Himalayas, it is home to the Naxi minority which made it all the more fascinating. When most people visit China, they go to huge cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong. Although there is a "new Lijiang" (since it is such an ideal tourist destination), the old Lijiang was so great. I could've walked around for weeks! The many canals and wooden buildings, with Jade Dragon Snow Mountain in the background made Lijiang breathtaking. While I obviously think it is important to see the rest of China, I found it particularly rewarding and refreshing to see a minority group within China. Our guide, Kathy, was so outstanding, and she really made the visit to Lijiang quite an enjoyable one! Lijiang's exotic location made us think about going to Tibet, and Kathy told us that she also really wants to go to Tibet and that she has a friend who could help us plan a trip there. Now that would great!

We are now in Emei City (although we've spent the last two days in Chengdu). Today in Chengdu, before leaving for Emei City, we went to a the Wu Hou temple, a shrine commemorating Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang. Basically, in the third century, China was separated into three Kingdoms (Shu, Wu, and Hui). Liu Bei founded the Shu kingdom in Chengdu and was the Emperor, and Zhuge Liang was the prime minister, known for his wisdom. The shrine was beautiful; the statues of Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang were beautifully done and the actual compound had many gardens and courtyards. Near the shrine there was an old street that actually wasn't more than a century old, but it looked it compared to the bustling, modern city that is currently Chengdu. Other than a small portion of the ancient wall that surrounded Chengdu, it was very hard to get an idea of what Chengdu was like before modern times.

After our trip to the Wu Hou temple, we went to a restaurant for lunch, which brings me to the topic of food. I am loving the food in Chengdu because of its location in Szechuan province, which automatically means everything is very spicy! Although I have not been able to find my hot and sour soup (anyone who has been to a Chinese restaurant with me in the U.S. knows about my passion for hot and sour soup), I have really been enjoying all the spicy dishes! Come to think of it, I don't think we've had a bad meal in China yet. Every meal keeps on getting better! 6 seems to be the magical number for meals because we have been able to eat almost everything we are offered yet still stuff ourselves!

After another delicious meal, we got on the bus and drove to Emei City. It was about a 2 hour drive, so we used this time to rest (traveling to 6 cities in the span of a week and a half will do that to you!). On our way to Emei City, we stopped in Leshan and hopped on a ferry boat that took us to the largest stone Buddha in the world. It was constructed on the side of a cliff during the 3rd century. We'd already seen a big Buddha in Hong Kong on Lantau island, and we thought that was big! This one was enormous.

We are all doing well (although some of us are under the weather). We have had such a great trip so far. Although we are really looking forward to Xi'an and Beijing, we are SO excited about getting to Hangzhou in 10 days. Traveling has been wonderful but it is very tiring, and the idea of living in Hangzhou with host families for 5 weeks is very appealing to us! I haven't done any laundry yet, and I am hoping to tough it out until we get to Hangzhou (we will see how that goes....I'm sure my Mom will kill me when she hears this!).

Thank you to all who are reading this - it really means a lot to all of us!

Zaijian

Cheng Du to You!

(Ms. Luskin and Ric)

Cheng Du to You!

Terry and Ric thought we’d attempt a co-blog to bring you up to date on today’s adventures. We know you’re all panda-ing with anticipation (today being our long awaited trip to the Panda Breeding Center) so here we go!

(R) We arrived at 11PM last night. Strangest airport you’ve ever experienced. Our China Airlines 737 parked in a row of aircraft away from the available but empty and dark jet way terminals. Why use those when you have a humongous tarmac to play with? They drove a ramp up to the door, off loaded, and bussed us to the baggage claim area. Ditto for about eight other flights - bedlam but efficient. We inexplicably had our luggage in short order – if it was Logan we’d STILL be waiting - and squeezed our way through the single door exit. Our local guide Zhang Han (who I keep wanting to ! call John Paul) was there to meet us with a friendly sign and a welcoming smile. The airport is in the south and our hotel in the north, so it was a bit of a drive to get to the fabulous Cheng Du Tibet Hotel, a journey made longer by road diversions for a new subway system they’re installing. The Big Dig follows us east!

(T) Far and away the poshest accommodations of our stay. The room is beautifully appointed with dark woods, upholstered headboard walls, two comfy double beds, triple sized bathroom with separate tub and shower, CNN & HBO on cable, and free internet access (woo hoo!). Even heated halls and public spaces, and a coffee bar!

We started our day after breakfast by stopping at a local laundry shop for the benefit of several in our group (no names will be mentioned) who decided it was “time”. The bus pulled up – much to the amusement of a number of locals – and an overfilled laundry bag was dissected in a semi-public way! Zhang Han had to cajole the proprietor into 24 hour turnaround – they initially insisted that quicker service was not possible because of the crush of post-holiday laundry from locals.

(R) A land of laundry shops, and you can’t get stuff washed quickly? There’s an irony!

(T & R) The Panda Breeding Research Center has a woven network of paths through hundreds of acres of bamboo heaven! We saw our first giant pandas after a 15 minute walk along well manicured routes punctuated by the odd call of peacocks. Cameras flew out of pockets like guns out of holsters at a high noon duel. The pandas just stared out past their bamboo buffet with indifference…

The park houses pandas that are a variety of ages (since pandas are born in the fall, the youngest cohort of seven-month-olds). Their enclosures look fairly modern zoo-typical, with the visitors having fairly close access over a deep dry moat. Their behaviors ranged from idle bamboo munching, dozing on man-made wooden climb-arounds, and general rumpusing (our behaviors ranged among gawking, clicking, and ooohing). In the final enclosure there was a group of four youngsters who were engaged in a full fledged WWF session – and we don’t mean World Wildlife Fund! Several of us got some video of this unusual behavior which we’ll try to send back as an AVI file (Zhang Han, who knows a lot about “panders”, says that the adults are solitary beasts). We could have had our photos taken with one of the larger pandas but at 1,000 RMB per person, we politely declined. Thought about it though!

(T) Our next encounter was with the far more active Red Pandas; we fell hard for them! Raccoon-like faces at one end, long white-ringed tails at the other, red brown upper fur with black bellies and legs. They prowled their enclosures inquisitively, in contrast to the introspective, noisy munching of the giant pandas. Apparently these fellows are a comparative bargain – it cost just 50 Yuan each to be photographed enjoying the company of a red panda while it munched apples. Each of us put on giant clear plastic gloves and an oversized surgical gown, and then sat in a special chair where a zoo attendant plonked the content munching beast on our lap! A thrill fo! r all . Then off to the gift shop (proceeds in support of panda research), where Drew joined the “Man Bag” contingent with a spiffy panda backpack.

(R) Back to the bus for an hour long drive to Sanxingdui Museum, a fantastic compound along the Duck River. We had yet another terrific Chinese style lunch at the museum’s restaurant then set off to take in the amazing artifacts whose origin continues to puzzle scientists and archaeologists. The articles they found pushed back the known date of habitation in the area by about 1,000 years. Since there were no written records of any kind, the Shu people are still a mystery to be unraveled.

Another mystery to be unraveled is how anyone survives a journey anywhere on Cheng Du roads – especially rural routes. Road rules? Here they are merely vague suggestions. And while some countries have right hand or left hand driving customs, here EITHER seems to apply, while crossing the road at all angles seems also to be de rigeur. It all seems to be a giant cosmic mathematical game of “avoid the moving objects” as people on foot, on bikes, on tricycles, on mopeds, on motorcycles, in busses, cars and trucks all bob and weave for position. Dodging potholes adds to the excitement. In fact, the latter seems to be a perfectly acceptable excuse for cutting off anyone at any time.&n! bsp; “Excuse me! Didn’t mean to veer into 3 lanes of on-coming traffic. There was a big hole in front of a large section of vacant pavement. Thanks so much for swerving to avoid me.” Our implacable driver never so much as raises an eyebrow as he calmly and safely maneuvers us through the frequent chaos. Zhang Han seems unconcerned. “Han”? Perhaps the Force is with us? In any case, Terry and the kids seem oblivious. They’re all asleep!

(T) Napped our way back to Cheng Du city where we see many pre-1990’s structures with royal blue windows. It seems that clear glass is a more recent phenomenon. We drive to People’s Park, home of a flower show as well as a lovely inner city garden. There are very Victorian curving lines of contrasting color plant material but much is potted, not planted in. At the end of a long walkway overlooking a small pond there is an enormous green moss covered elephant topiary bearing the Beijing 2008 Olympic logo. No one is sure why – as the elephant is certainly not the Olympic mascot!

We headed for an outdoor tea house by the shores of that small pond. There Drew discovered soft ice cream cones being sold from a cart; that had the other kids gaping with envy. As we headed for a table for tea, we were accosted by a cadre of “ear-cleaners” who persisted for a good length of time.

(R) We ordered, then sipped our Jasmine tea as they looked on, standing much too close for far too long. Apparently they couldn’t hear our polite and repeated statements in multiple languages that we did not require their services (would you want your ears cleaned in a tea house buy a guy wielding a large tuning fork and a bouquet of metal swab-like things?). They suddenly vanished – perhaps scurrying off to clean their own ears… Leaving the Tea House, the kids stop to buy 4 more cones from the cart. Terry and I resist but I am envious and slightly resentful. Once upon a time I could eat that way too, with no adverse consequences. I probably gained another pound and a half just being in the proximity of ice cr! eam c arnage…

(T) On the way back to the bus we observe a retired peoples’ band accompanying singing swarms of older people who are hanging out and listening. Zhang Han says they can also be seen dancing hour after hour. We motor past the remnant of the old city walls, dark grey with a tall, sloping crenellated top. 2000 years ago they ringed the entire city and over the centuries were frequently renovated. But most of what survived was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. Only 200 meters now exist. Hearing this, the kids talk about how much change the older people of today’s China have seen.

(R) Speaking of seeing things, we’ve had quite a day! We get a few hours break then meet in the lobby at 7P for a local dinner none of us is quite ready to eat. We walk a few blocks to a restaurant where the Sichuan cooking style can be… tamed and controlled. We pass a nearer place, where Zhang Han suggests with a broad and knowing smile, that it would be “very dangerous” for people who are unaccustomed to the heat of local peppers. None of us are inclined to argue!

Lone Runner and Vertical Treadwalls?

(Drew)

I woke up an hour early to go for a run around Li Jiang, something i had not done for a while. While i ran i noticed something, i was getting stares from everyone on the busy streets surrounding the hotel. Its a funny feeling knowing that 100+ people are watching you. I guess i stick out more than i thought. I rarely see people running on the streets which is such a contrast to the amount of cyclists and runners you see on the streets of Dover Sherborn in the morning. I got back to the hotel and scrambled to take a shower before the breakfast buffet closed. We had some time between breakfast and our tour with kathy of Black Dragon Park and the Dong Ba cultural museum. We took the time to walk around the old parts of Li Jiang going in and out of the various shops. The girls found one shop which seemed to match their fashion needs so they spent a while trying things on. We returned to the hotel and met kathy and began our short walk to the park. The park had a lake in the middle surrounded by several pagodas and ornately decorated bridges. The water was amazingly clear so we could see the many different types of fish that inhabited the lake. The park was beutiful and very peaceful. Other than a momentary seperation from Ric and Terry and several failed attempts at seach parties for them, it was a great experience.

We went to lunch before we went on a tour of the Dong Ba Cultural Museum. Our lunch was one of the better lunches ive had since being in china consisting of rice, sweet and sour chicken and deep fried potato puffs amoung a variety of other tastybits. The Don Ba people have their own language consisting of characters that resemble pictographs more than chinese characters. The museum had an exhibit that showed all the ethnic dressing of the Don Ba people. The spiritual leaders of the Dong Ba people wore different outfits for different occasions such as for funerals the priests would wear a black robe with a scepter and a feathered head dress.
We had some downtime between when we got back to the hotel and when we had to leave for the airport and fly to Cheng Du. The four of us went out and looked around in the shops although we were instructed not to let the girls reach for thier money to purchase more clothes.

The airport was very small (for a change) so we didnt have to walk a long distance with all our luggage which barely passes the weight requirement each time. The flight to Cheng Du took about an hour and a half. The descent in the airplane was painful because i have had a cold for about a week so my ears could not equalize. I thought it would take days before i could hear again, all i could hear when we landed were distant mumbled grunts. My discomfort from the plane was slightly comforted by the hotel we are staying which is very nice. Our tour guide originally told us that we were staying at a tibetan hotel. The hotel has a free gym and sauna as well as a bowling ally on the fourth floor. The gym has a "tread wall" which is a tread mill only for rock climbing (Imagine a vertical treadmill with footholds).

Sleep was much needed. Another day in China... Successful.

Under the Spell of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain

(Cady)

Hey everyone!

So, first off, we've received word that a LOT of people are actually following the blog this year (including most of my extended family- hi g'ma, g'pa, nanna, popop and everyone else!!), which is awesome! Thanks to one and all for reading about our excellent asian adventures. We can't actually see our own blog here so I didn't get to read Drew's account of Nick's inadequate toothbrushing methods or what Em wrote about our absolutely amazing electric scooter tour of the countryside around Yangshuo. Since we left off in Yangshuo though, I will begin there (yesterday, which was wednesday, Feb 13).

Actually, yesterday was pretty uneventful since nearly the whole day was spent traveling. We did the whole sleep in, pack up our rooms which manage to get incredibly messy on the two night stays (anyone in my family can probably imagine the clothes strewn across the hotel room floor...). Rico picked us up from the hotel at quarter to eleven and we headed across the street to the Mei You Cafe. The only reason I am including this is because lunch was amazing, delicious, fantastic- do I need any other adjectives ? Some favorites were the sweet and sour orange chicken and the eggplant (Nick and I are having a field day with all the eggplant here!). I find that I am thouroughly stuffed after every single meal here because the food is so good. Everyone has tried pretty much everything. Drew's parents- you will be happy to know that your son has been tranformed into an all-eating machine and any previous picky eating habits have been abolished. So, that was lunch, after which we bought DA BAI TU (chinese milk candy) and headed off to the airport. So, it was goodbye to Rico (who, I don't know if you all have been told, but is adorable and looks like a parakeet ), and hello to several hours of sitting on planes and in the airport. Guilin to Kunming, then Kunming to Lijiang. We were left rather exhausted but Em and I did get to go some good people watching in the airport.

So, we arrived in Lijiang, very tired, at about 9 last night. We met our guide, Kathy, who is adorable and full of energy. She realized sometime during her rapid fire speech on the Naxi people and the city of Lijiang that we were not quite up to remebering anything of substance and decided to save the rest for today. Some highlights of what she told us though- there are about 300,000 Naxi people left. They practice the dongba language and religion. The religion actually has a lot of similarities to that of native americans, including the use of totem poles and the idea that everything has a "guard," one of the most famous of which is the life guard. Naturally, every time she starts talking about the life guard I want to say Drew is a lifeguard too! No really though, it's all very interesting. The Naxi people themselves are fascinating. First of all, the women do all the work. One of the first things that Kathy told us about them was that to be darker and larger is most beautiful to the Naxi people because it shows that a woman is strong and able to work. The men on the other hand, are raised to do no work, and basically spend their childhoods doing whatever they want (this has changed a bit, though all the guys we saw today in the village WERE rather thin and lanky...) a lot of what we've experienced so far today has had to do with Naxi culture. (end of yesterday...)

Today we has to rise and shine at 6 am. which was easy when we were still jetlagged, but not so much any more. We set of at 7 for Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. Our first impression was, why on earth would they stick so many adjectives onto the name of one mountain? But, we learned that it's because there really is snow on the mountain, and to the people who named it, the mountain, which has many peaks, looks like a dragon. And since it looks almost delicate, and since the mountain is holy to the Naxi people, they called it "Jade" too. So there you have it. The mountain itself was beautiful! We took a chairlift to get up to the higher observation point, which was a lot like a ski lift. Kathy said that usually this time of year there is a lot of wind and the chairs usually shake back and forth. That wasn't actually a problem for us though, and we made it up very quickly. We walked around this sort of valley at the foot of these enormous peaks and it was absolutely breathtaking. I mean the figuratively and literally of course, since we were at altitude. It was exactly how we picture the foothils of Tibet, and it probably IS very similar, considering how close we are to tibet. We had quite a few things on the schedule, but decided to cut out the really touristy attractions and stick to the authentic stuff.

After the snow mountain, we has lunch at this ornate little inn that served us yet another amazing lunch, involving many different dishes. My family would remeber the egg and tomato dish that Ella made for us- we had that, which was actually Em's favorite. Ric and I were big fans of the eggplant (yes, eggplant again!) and pretty much everything else. yum. After that we visited the Yufeng temple (I think that's the name), which is a Tibetan temple that is still very much in use. The temple itself is very decorated with all sorts of colors. There are silks and tapestries, tapestries, and carvings everywhere. The monk who was inside gave us incense and showed us where to bow (pray) and where to put them. Then we hiked up another breathtaking set of stairs (this time I mostly mean literally) to the camilia courtyard. The courtyard has this gorgeous camilia tree growing in the middle which the current lama of the temple guards every day. The tree is several hundred years old I believe, and at one point they wanted to cut it down and sell the wood, but the lama said that if they wanted to cut the tree then they would have to cut him first. Pretty cool, right? They also call it "couple's tree" because it is actually two camilia trees that have grown together to make the beautiful shape. Since it's valentines day, and taking a picture with the tree is supposedly good luck for couples, Terry and Ric obviously seized the opportunity (yes, yes, adorable). Nick has a soft spot for people asking for money so he gave a couple RMB to some little old ladies who were singing in front of the temple. What a gentleman. We went out the other night in Yangshuo and he ended up giving one hundred RMB to a man playing the erhu (chinese instrument). Just thought that story was amusing.

Back to today though, after the temple we went to the village closest to Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. None of us can remeber the name right now, but it still preserves the Naxi culture, and in fact you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who speaks mandarin there, as most people speak dongba. It is also the previous home of an American named Joseph Stone, who came to study plants of the region and ended up spending 27 years in Lijiang. He's pretty famous in the area, as he was the first to bring in western influence (this was around the 1920s acording to Kathy). It was nice walking around the village- the houses are so old and beautiful (a very used word in this entry, but bear with me, when you all see pictures you'll see why), made of wood and bricks with tile roofs, basically exactly the way you would picture an old Chinese house. There weren't any hawkers either (a VERY rare thing here) which made the whole experience feel extremely authentic, just like riding through the villages on our electric scooters did.

After that it was back to Lijiang, which is a great mix of new and old. We walked around the "ancient neighborhood" where our hotel is actually very conveniently located. Kathy showed us around and we were able to take in the (I have to say it...) beauty of it all. The buildings, like the village, are old and ornate, though a little more modern and less run down. There are tons of shops, and colors, and OH the sky is open here! What I mean is that we've had a lot of cloudy weather in China so far, but when you're this far west and up in the mountains, the air is a lot cleaner and the sun is usually out. So although we were freezing earlier this morning, it got really nice towards the afternoon. Not being on the SNOW mountain helped too. One of the prettiest aspects of the old city part of Lijiang are the canals that run all through the area. They're not big enough to boat in, and they don't smell, even though they have fish in them. It's kind of like having a big fish pond running along side the streets of an entire area. We asked Kathy how the fish get there and she told us that it is a tradition for people to buy the goldfish of golden trout (both types are in there) and release them in the river/canal while making a wish. So, naturally we went out and found a place to buy our wish fish and release them into the canal. The lady selling them scooped the goldfish up with a copper ladel and one by one we got to release them into the canal while whispering a wish to our fish. The whole thing felt really special, and it was just fun being able to set one more lose in the canal.

After that we came here to the internet, where I typed half of this, but more on that in a bit. Then dinner- a Naxi style hot pot. We were led into a room with an old carved table and chairs, that I include because Ric and Drew, having rather long legs, didn't actually FIT under the table. oh well. The hot pot was literally a HUGE copper pot filled with broth, veggies and pork, and then out on our table were all sorts of other leafy greens and meate and mushrooms. We got to add all of those to the broth ourselves. Is hearing about the food boring? I hope not, I think my family will enjoy it at least. Besides, food is an important part of any culture, especially here. BUT ANYWAYS, after dinner we went to see a show of dances from China's different minorities. The dances were quite good and some were actually hilarious. Well, sometimes we humor in parts that I don't think we were supposed to such as two men on stilts coming out dressed as swans in tight white jumpsuits, flapping their majestic wings. oh boy. The show itself was supposed to be funny at parts though, and we all ended up liking it a lot. That brings me to right now- sitting in a HUGE room full of computers and teenagers playing every RPG possible. Especially WOW (world of warcraft)... in other words, we are in Drew's idea of heaven. But now the boys have left and Em is waiting for me so I must bid you all adieu. Sorry for any spelling errors, I'm not going to check this one over. Happy valentines day everyone!

See you all in one month and three weeks!

Reflections on Surprises

(Ric Luskin)

I knew China was going to be a land of surprises. Little did I know that my biggest surprise was arriving to find that I couldn't get into the country! I know that my border exploits were covered by the kids in an earlier blog - the good thing about being deported back to Kowloon was having unfettered access from the many available internet stations (my favorite being Pacific Coffee, a chain that for my money beats Starbucks hands down). If it hasn't already been noted, we can't access the blog from within China...

It goes without saying that if a visa issue was to arrise, it was far preferable for me to get bounced than Terry or one of the kids! The blood runs cold imagining what would have happened if it was one of the others who received the "Sorry... there is a problem..." greeting at customs. For me it was a minor inconvenience, albeit one frought with complications. A few days to cool my jets in an amazing international city - how painful could that be? Lets start with this premise. Imagine arriving in Manhattan on New Year's eve and needing to find a hotel room in Times Square. Now further imagine needing to get an official government document processed during Christmas when governemnt office are all closed. Suddenly both of these scenarios were my reality. Only I wasn't in New York. I was in Hong Kong which, although unquestionably international, is still a very foreign place.

To make a long story short, all worked out in the end and after a 48 hour delay I was able to savor a terrific reunion with Terry and the kids here in Yangshuo - a most amazing place to be sure. While I'd have preferred to have arrived like a "normal" China Exchange member, I certainly have a whole slew of separate adventures recorded in my journal that I will be happy to share with relatives and friends at a later date. In the meantime, gotta scoot to meet up with Team China for the next leg of our amazing journey. And while I welcome all of the surprises yet to come our way, I'm hoping that none will be quite as jarring as the one I experienced last Saturday at Guangzhou train station.

PS - even though I was deported, I still had to pay for the train ticket back to Hong Kong! You'd think deportation would be "free"...

Scooters and Cormorants

(Emily)

hi everyone. today was our free day in yangshuo! after a fitful night on box springs (better for your back?), we were ready to greet the day with gusto and verve. it started off cloudy , but by midmorning the sky had cleared up into a gorgeous sunny day (the second we've had so far), so team china was pretty stoked about the activities we had planned for ourselves. we had decided pretty early on that we wanted to go electric scootering instead of biking around the villages since they just seemed so much...faster. our tour guide of yesterday, rico, had pointed terry in the direction of uncle sam, a tour guide who rented scooters and bikes. he had an office on west street and we were his very first customers of the day (we got there before it technically opened). he was really nice and asked us where we wanted to go, showing us a map of yangshuo and the surrounding areas. we opted for the one less traveled by tourists and after some confusion and scooters not being charged enough, we were off!

we were quite the sight. cady got her powder blue scooter while i got yellow, a scooter that was....yellow to co-ordinate with my ginormous suitcase, also known as big yellow. nick had the same blue one as cady while drew and terry had the same yellow one as me. ric was special in that he got a very sleek silver scooter. after a rudimentary lesson on the controls of the scooter, we were on the main road, making a left turn with bikes and scooters and trucks (oh my indeed) whizzing by us, giving the stinkeye to the scared tourists. after a while on the main road, the traffic thinned out until we were the only ones on the wide open road, with mountains sprouted up in front of us with farms in the forefront. but the interesting part came when sam led us to a lesser road (read: dirt path) to a farming village, complete with stray dogs and water buffalo. it was so pretty, with trees of mandarin oranges flanking us and the mountains gleaming from the sunlight in the backdrop that we were speechless for a while. there were people working in the fields and people sunning themselves outside, appreciating the nice weather with a game of cards. the simple and happy life of the farmers made everything else seem so complicated in comparison (hold on while i charge my phone, ipod, camera, and laptop).

we also rode a water buffalo! there was a man farming in a field where we had stopped to take pictures of the li river and our surroundings. after taking pictures of him and the water buffalo (he was happily posing with it), he offered to let get on it. terry, nick, drew, cady, and i all jumped at the opportunity. i can now say that i have sat on the back of a water buffalo!

while our tour was supposed to last two hours, we didn't want it to stop and kept going. i took a couple of spills because of my habit of running over the divots in the road instead of around them, but it was worth it. i'd do it all again in a heartbeat. the view was breathtaking... rice paddies, orange trees, verdant mountains, dusty paths, traditional houses... i can't even begin to describe the happy feelings and calm that was washing over me as we were going through the small villages that looked so untouched by modernity. i didn't see any iphones! for the next group going to china: we all highly recommend renting scooters from uncle sam with a tour. scooters are faster than bikes, so we got to see more than if we had biked. not to mention the exhilaration of cruising around, on the bumpy roads, with the wind in your hair. it's all very lord of the rings, zelda-esque (team china has an obsession with lotr, zelda, and narnia... in fact, i just bought the ONE RING, which i found in a silver shop on west street)

we also went cormorant fishing with one of uncle sam's friends. we went at 7:30, the sun had already set, and met at the wharf. his friend had about five cormorants and a long wooden motor boat (which had a computer onboard). the li river was eerie at night, illuminated by only the lamps that were hanging off the bow of the boat to attract the fish. i kept thinking of the effect that the water gave in titanic, with the light reflecting off the water, flickering onto the stone cliffs. the cormorants were so cool! they have little mohawks and sounded like hippogriffs from harry potter. they were also really playful, nipping each other and splashing around on the river. they were tame and didn't have any leashes connecting them to the boat, but they did have strings around their neck to prevent them from swallowing the fish. once they had caught a fish, the fisherman would scoop them up on a pole and shake the fish from their beaks.

well that's all for today! zaijian!

"NO we're not a couple!"

(Yang Ni Ke aka Nick)

My entry into mainland China was not a very pleasant one. If you didn't already know, I got sick on the trainride from Hong Kong to Guangzhou. I then proceeded to vomit once again in our private room of probably the sketchiest restaurant I have ever been to. The tour of Guangzhou felt like a blur and all I wanted to do was sleep. Luckily I passed out in the hotel for 14 hours! I awoke feeling much better. Unfortunately, my experience in Guangzhou was not a very good one and I was rather happy to leave.

Guilin was amazing. A bit chilly but I guess that is to be expected considering its the coldest winter in China in the last century. The actual city is a little built up but the tall peaks surrounding it make it very picturesque. Last night after our tour of Guilin, we decided to get full body massages. We had our own private room. The massages were a little too much for the girls, but the rest of us found it relaxing. Cady and I are probably the two most ticklish human beings known to man, so of course we happened to be right next to each other during our massage session. We spent the whole time giggling. Our masseus' didn't really understand the concept of being ticklish and were kind of perplexed when we would just burst out into laughter. At one point we were laughing so hard, my masseuse asked me if Cady and I are a couple....which was greeted by a firm NO from each of us.

Today we went on the famous Li River cruise from Guilin to Yangshuo. Words cannot even describe the views we saw today...simply breathtaking. The mountains surrounding the Li River are very narrow and tall..it looks like another planet. The whole time we thought we were in the Lord of the Rings or Chronicles of Narnia! Our cruise lasted 4 hours. We had our own table inside where we got tea and lunch, but the whole boat was three stories high and the top story was open air for sightseeing (I spent the majority of the 4 hours of the cruise on this top story...brrrrr). I probably took a couple hundred photos in the span of 4 hours. Towards the end of the cruise, a Chinese girl approached Cady and I. We thought she wanted her picture taken but in fact she was just very friendly! We found out that she was a university student in Hangzhou of all places! We told her that we will be in Hangzhou in a couple weeks to study at Hangzhou High School, and she told us that it is the most well-regarded school in Hangzhou. The rest of the group joined us later and we spent the rest of the cruise talking with her...we used some of our (minimal) Chinese skills and she spoke amazing English. She then went down to the first story and brought up her family. Her family was very unique; her mom has a boyfriend from South Africa who lives in New Zealand but works in Abu Dhabi (wow). Her two step sisters live in London and New Zealand. We had a lot of fun meeting them and talking about both of our trips to China. We got a picture with them at the end! A very interesting family. Talk about international....We got the email address and phone number of Jessis (Jing Jing) so we can contact her when we get to Hangzhou....hopefully we can meet up!

Now we are in Yangshuo. It is by far my favorite place so far. Although it is reachable by car/bus, the fact that we took the Li river cruise to get to Yangshuo makes it feel all the more isolated. Yangshuo is very different from the other cities we've been to so far (Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Guilin) because it is not nearly as built up. There are no high-rise apartment complexes and it really does feel like a small town/village. It is very touristy but not in an western way. There is only one main street (West street) with lots of shops, cafes, restaurants, bars, and clubs. The architecture is very much Chinese. Yangshuo is a mountain village, surrounded by the skinny peaks of the Li River. In Guilin, these mysterious peaks surrounded the city, but in Yangshuo, the peaks are literally part of the city. The hotel we are staying at (The Paradise) is the best in Yangshuo and has a great location right on the end of West street. We spent all of yesterday afternoon shopping along West street for people at home (don't worry Mom and Dad, I did not forget about you!!!). Everything is so cheap and it is so much fun to bargain (Cady got two scarves down from 100 yuan to 25 yuan). Last night we went to a performance in Yangshuo that is the only theatrical performance in the world to use the water as a stage and the mountains as the background (according to our tour guide Rico). It was amazing...there were 600 actors total, 300 professional and 300 locals. It's kind of hard to describe the actual performance but it was just breathtaking..lots of special effects yet so natural being performed on the water with the Li river mountains the background! It was very well done (directed by Zhang Yimou), and its a very popular show in China right now (sells out every night), so thanks Rico for the suggestion!

After the show, we came back to the hotel and were greated by Ric who finally got into mainland China!!!!!!!! Terry was so happy to see him and so were we. It surprised us that he actually got here (he took a plane from Hong Kong to Guilin and took a taxi from Guilin to Yangshuo....dirt roads and all).

We are about to go rent mopeds to drive around the Yangshuo countryside so I must go. There is so much to talk about!!! Hope everyone is doing well in Dover-Sherborn. We are having so much fun!

Zaijian,
Yang Ni Ke

Flavor of Narnia!

(Ms. Luskin)

It was a relief to turn the calendar page to a new day today! Nick’s feeling ever so much better, and we could actually focus on the expedition from Guangzhou to Guilin. Our guide swept us along to the airport quite expeditiously, and moved us from the end of one check-in line to the very front of another – there is clearly some arcane airport wisdom that only guides are privy to!

A smooth flight, and we were met by Rico, the guide who arranged last year’s travel in Guilin and Yangshuo. He’s a young fellow not long out of university, easy-going and quite knowledgeable. Fubo Hill was our first stop after lunch: one of the limestone hills that tower so precipitously above the Li river plain. (I’d thought that hill images like these in Chinese paintings were idealized, based far more in fantasy than reality – and here was one rising up in front of us, exactly as pictured!) The surface was craggy, punctuated with greenery, and laced with the most remarkable switchback of stone steps; we agreed that this had such a flavor of Narnia! The small stone parapet at the top gave a fantastic view for miles in all directions.

From the great heights on to great depths: Reed Flute Cave was an extensive cave system with stalactites meeting stalagmites along a winding path, with moody lighting and occasional audio to help us visualize some folk-tale scenarios: a mirror covered with a drape to frighten a bad centipede away was not least among them! The students sang their way along quite merrily as we went!

A quick and chilly trip to Elephant Trunk Hill, the symbol of Guilin, and now we’re hoping to try acupressure foot massages before we pack it in for the day!

UH OH! Border Snafu!

(Emily and Cady)

Greetings to America from Em and Cady,

Well, today was very eventful to say the least. By eventful, in this case, I don't mean in an entirely good way, though it was one of those days that will probably be very funny to look back on AFTER the trip. Besides, there are good things to tell as well!

Anyways, we got up by about 7:30 for our last morning in Hong Kong. We decided to go searching for tai chi by the harbor before breakfast, though we never actually found anyone practicing tai chi. It was a gorgeous morning, the nicest we've had yet- there was no fog on the water, and the sun was even out! That made the walk by the water front absolutely beautiful and a perfect ending to our time in Hong Kong. The area around the water front is a lot like the Hollywood walk of fame- there are handprints and names of many different famous chinese actors (including Jackie Chan...and Sammo Hung!!! that one's for the Ahn family...) and a big bronze statue of Bruce Lee. Hong Kong is very glitz and glam which is probably why Ella (an exchange student who came from China last year) compared it to our Hollywood.

So, after our escapades around the harbor we were all rather famished and excited to eat. Ok, enough about that. To the train station! Train ride was pretty uneventful, nice watching out the windows... reading, journaling... and now for Emily's train thoughts:
hi everyone. i don't use caps so just bear with me. viz: this is evidence that i didn't fall asleep on the train! the train ride was really interesting. besides going backwards (more on that later) we got to see a really nice view of rural parts of china. the abject poverty of some parts was emphasized by the backdrop of developing high rises, which i thought was pretty interesting. picture rice paddies with little tin shacks and farm fields with an urban skyline as its backdrop. the dichotomy of the two was really interesting to see. the sight of the yards of cloth draped over the walls of the tin shacks was thought provoking for me because in ds and even hong kong, we haven't seen this type of life, especially one that coexists with such projected luxury (skyscrapers). ok those were just some ramblings from me and cady's bored so now we will tell you the real reason as to why we're writing and why you aren't hearing from terry (who was next in line for the blog writing) or nick (who was second in line). this is all very gov- line of succession esque.

soooooo. after the train station, nick, drew, cady, and i went through customs no problemo. then after waiting for terry and ric for some time, we realized that something was up. cady went investigate.
(back to proper capitialization). It seemed like Ric was having difficulty getting through customs, and upon further inspection it was discovered that he indeed no longer had a visa to China. The problem was actually that he was technically supposed to be in China yesterday (Hong Kong doesn't count unfortunately) and since he wasn't, the visa expired. UH OH. So Terry is trying to stay calm while the customs guy, who was actually very nice all things considered, was telling her that her husband had to return to Hong Kong and re-apply for a visa. All said and done, Ric did have to go back to Hong Kong, where I assume he is now, and we continued on into Guangzhou, which is where we are now.

hi, emily again. after the whole fiasco with the ric not being able to enter the country, we decided to go on with the day. rosie, our lovely and very knowledgable guide met us at the trainstation and in a matter of minutes i had learned that guangzhou has 9 million residents and 3 million migrant workers/foreigners, so there are 12 million people in the city altogether. however, guangzhou has a 15 million person cap, so the city is close to its limit. canton is not a city, it is a mispronounciation of the word guangdong, which is the province that guangzhou is the captial of.

Ok, cady here. Rosie took us to a traditional Chinese restaurant for lunch. The food itself was delicious. We got to eat in our own room (the foreigner zone!) and had a whole array of dishes served to us. One of which were oil fried prawns which stared up at us with beady little fried eyes and we, being the gallant adventurers that we are, gobbled them up (maybe a bit of an exaggeration...) with Viz in mind the whole time. Actually, we were quite proud of ourselves because we all tried everything that was presented to us, even those who aren't big seafood eaters (snaps for Drew!). Nick, on the other hand, wasn't feeling great. He got pretty motion sick from the train ride, and took drammamine way too late to save him, so he didn't eat anything except for soup. The meal went well, and we were all quite full when Nick began to look a little pale/green. Well, he didn't actaully appear green, but looking back now it would have been a very appropriate color for him to be. As we're finishing up- popping a few last prawns into our mouths- Nick gets sick. Bummer. Ask him about the story, it's really very funny. Don't worry parents of Nick, he's fine, and getting some sleep now.

back to emily for some info about the tour and whatnot after lunch:
ANYWAYS, we went to the dr. sun yat-sen memorial where we learned about the revolution that took place and the beginnings of the kuomintang (KMT/nationalist party). i was amazed to hear that dr. sun yat-sen was indeed pro-communist and that he was all for cooperation, unlike his successor chiang kai-shek. the memorial itself is a huge theater housed in an ornate traditional pagoda shaped building complete with a 5 meter bronze statue in front. inside, the theater was painted in only blue (representing the sky), red (people's color), and yellow (emperor's color) to symbolize the things he stood for and what he was to the people (a leader/emperor).

after visiting the memorial, we went to the chen family temple, which was a nondenominational house of worship that was donated (cady and i are suspicious that donated could be a double entendre for seized, but this is all conspiracy theory) in 1949 to the government. i didn't find it very interesting but it was gorgeous with many ornate wood, ivory, and stone carvings. i thought that it was a little too touristy for me (there were trinket shops inside the temple, which kinda ruined the ambience...it's one of our words of the week).

cady's turn

Speaking of the temple, I thought it was so beautiful, it reminded me a lot of being inside of the Alhambra in Spain. Just the attention to detail inside, combined with the sunny day made for a really nice scene. Lots of good angles- yes, I have been taking good care of the camera mom.

Alright, this has actually gotten very long. Internet is going to be the first thing in mainland China we spend RMB on! Can we just turn this entry in as our position paper? Well, that's it for now. Oh wait, impressions of Guangzhou real quick:
Contrary to Hong Kong, the urban parts of Guangzhou seem to exist because cities need to. Hong Kong is all about show and excess whereas Guangzhou is a little more laid back, and a little less chic (let's you breathe a little more... no irony intended). Old Guangzhou is very romantic (Emily thinks it's like Moulin Rouge- romantic in a grungy way with laundry hanging out the windows to dry and vines growing on the apartments) as we have decided to deem it, and pleasant to walk around. Actually, Em Drew and I went for a walk and found men selling many a live sea critter. Again, we thought of you, Viz.

OK OK OK we're done!! Much love to you all!

Toothbrushes and Lantau Island

(Drew)

I woke up at 6:30 to take a shower before heading to our breakfast in the hotel. The view from the breakfast room is absolutely breathtaking. As we sat and devoured our western style breakfast we overlooked the channel between Kowloon and Hongkong. Massive cruise ships and barges passed through the narrow channel.

During breakfast Ric had some news for us. A sigh of relief followed by a celebration with fireworks and a marching band (slight exageration) came when team China heard that Mitt Romney had dropped out of the Presidential Race. Nick and I have clearly not adjusted to the water situation. Everything must be bottled water. After Breakfast i heard a loud yell from the bathroom in our hotel room as nick announced that he had forgotten to use the bottled water to wet his toothbrush. Nick then rinsed his toothbrush again with bottled water. I commented how bad we are at remembering to use the bottled water. Nick nodded in agreement as he proceeded to put his toothbrush under the tap water again... another loud yell of frustration from nick and i was on the ground laughing hysterically. Only 5 minutes later i used the tap water on my own toothbrush. We have work to do.

We took the MTR to Lantau to take a lift up into the hills and see the "Big Buddha". The ride up gave us a panaramic view of all of Hong Kong and Kowloon. We arrived in the village at the top that was more of a
tourist attraction than a real "village". The "Big Buddha" was biggerthan i even imagined it to be. Many flights of steps led up to the Buddha which towered over its observers at least 40ft. At the base insence filled the air around Po Lin Temple. Many worshipers lit insence of all shapes and sizes. The outside of the temple was covered in stone work of what looked like chinese scholars and dragons. The trip was very well documented on the cameras the group brought. Unofortunatly the temple and the large Buddha seemed to be more of a tourist attraction and a good photo than a place of real worship. I found my self being rather hypocritical when i commented on everyone taking pictures of everything rather than really enjoying what was there. Of course that was what i had been doing the entire time.

We entered a tea shop before departing from the village. The tea shop showed us the traditional way of serving tea and all the items needed to prepare for it. We were given a list of many different types of tea to choose from. Our group was split in two, our group (me,nick and emily) ordered the famous Dragon Well Tea from Hangzhou. The cups given to us were similar to the size of thimbles so we must have gone through about 25 cups of tea each. It goes without saying, it was delicious. Team China are tea addicts.

We took the cable car back to the base of the hills on Lantau. The group decided that taking the ferry back would be more fun than the MTR so we preemtively boared what we thought would take us back to
Hong Kong. Unfortunatly we were quite far away from our intended destination and had ended up traveling north to the western part of Kowloon.

By the time we got back to Hong Kong we were absolutely starving and some of us (not mentioning names) were grumpy. Some honey glazed pork, garlic chicken hot pot and noodles quickly fixed that problem.

Our adventures in China have been everything i expected so far. Hong Kong is so full of life but enough places speak english so the culture shock has not killed me yet. My legs are completely dead after each day, but the girls just keep going and going. Our hotel room can be a relief at the end of the day.

Jetlag? Ha! Team China scales Victoria Peak on the first morning!

(Cady)

Ni hao and hello to everyone!

I am currently sitting in an internet cafe in Kowloon with Em enjoying some hot tea. Actually, I don't have much room for the tea because we had such a huge lunch, but I'll get to that. Well, we have been in Hong Kong for less than 24 hours, which quite frankly is amazing because it feels like it's been ages. We seem to have already accomplished so much. Come to think of it, we've spent more time traveling to China thus far than we have actually experiencing it! Now, I'm sure you folks at home are all wondering how the excruciating total of 21 hours in the air turned out. Truth be told, it wasn't so bad. I believe Terry is going to write an entry tonight about our day(s) of travel, so I won't get into the gory details of the flight. All I can say is thank god for sleeping medication- Heath Ledger here we come. Not to worry though one and all, we are all quite well and not dead in any way shape or form. Actually quite a bit of today was spent improving our form, but I'll get to that as well. We finally arrived in Hong Kong at around 6 pm last night, Wednesday, February 6. We were all, not surprisingly, quite energetic and eager to walk around once arriving at the YMCA, which is where we're staying. The hotel turned out to be very nice, and once we spent twenty minutes or so settling in we set out to find some sustenance.

When we first arrived in Hong Kong it struck us as being much like NYC: lots of skyscrapers, people, and lights. Upon walking around however, we discovered that Hong Kong is far more eclectic than New York, and much more neon as well. Not to mention, full of exceptionally trendy people. We have spotted more amazing boots here than is believable, but leave it to Em and myself to notice that. Really though, Hong Kong is vibrant and modern- very East meets West. The architecture is amazing too, I find myself snapping photos right and left because all of the buildings have so much character. Anyways, we ended up settling on a little upstairs Szechuan restaurant, whose neon sign must have particularly caught out eye. The food was excellent, taking a page out of the book of Viz we ordered a vast array of food and shared everything. It turned out that we were quite hungry and fish (yes, Nick and Drew both tried it!) szechuan beef, scallion rolls, and very spicy chicken were all devoured. First dining experience in China: success!

After filling of travel weary bellies we decided to visit the night market in Victoria Park. It seemed like literally every extremely trendy young person, group of people, or couple had come out to the night market. We waited in line for a good half hour, which served for an excellent people-watching experience. Once we actually got into the market though it was so packed that we couldn't even move! We were basically forced to surge with the crowd, it was much like a crowded concert or the opening of the first Ikea in Massachusetts... So, we decided to head back to the YMCA, but the journey was good overall because it prepared us to use the metros today. Once returning to our rooms we journaled a bit and fell into bed. Amazingly enough we all managed to be down for breakfast by eight this morning. In fact, despite the fact that we didn't end up going to bed until about 3 am, we crawled out of bed with relative ease at 7:15 this morning. So much for jet lag. The buffet breakfast at the hotel was further proof of Hong Kong's eastern and western influence as I had dumplings, steamed pork buns, scrambled eggs, and toast all on a single plate. Quite delicious. It was a bit misty in the morning, but we decided to tackle Victoria Peak, and I mean that quite literally.

First though, the metros- they are absolutely wonderful. Efficient and extremely clean, the metros are great for getting from one place to another in Hong Kong. Rick said that being in the metro here (which they call the MBT I believe) looks like an asian version of the London tube stations. I find it very comparable to the metro in Rome as well. I guess that's what a hundred years under British rule will do to a place; give it good public transportation. We've taken the metro quite a bit not, but have yet to take the Star Ferry, though I believe we plan on doing that tomorrow. This morning we took the metro over to Hong Kong Island and walked from Central Station to the Peak Tram. Seeing Hong Kong during the day was awesome, lots of hustle and bustle. So we get to the Tram and Team China decides that we'd really like to walk up Victoria Peak. It sounds easy enough- walk up past the botanical gardens, find Old Peak Road, and follow it to the top. Rick and Terry stick with the tram and we arrange to meet at the top. Team China then sets off on our adventure. The first people we asked for directions literally told us to turn back, I think they thought we were a little bit crazy for wanting to walk up the peak when we could take the perfectly good tram. Crazy? Ha! So we continue on, meanwhile the roads are getting steeper and steeper. Wow, it's just like being in the Andes Mountains again. The roads eventually give way to a concrete path that winds up the forested peak. The road was beautiful- the best word that I can think to use for the trees is craggly, which isn't even a word according to Yahoo spell check. Actually, just think Lord of the Rings and you can have a pretty clear picture of what the area was like. Of course, ascending the peak turned out to be a bit more physically draining than we anticipated, but arriving at the top, all of us quite a bit more sweaty than we were at the beginning, was a fantastic feeling.

Once we reached the top, quite a feat indeed, we relaxed for a bit in a coffee shop, and then the six of us took a walk around the top of the mountain, which to our delight was flat contrary to the vertical nature of our precious "stroll." We decided to take the tram down the mountain, and visit the Manmo temple. The walk there from the tram station was nice- it took us through the "SoHo" area of Hong Kong, which is where much of the international population comes to play. We saw the outdoor escalators and every type of international restaurant we could possibly imagine. The temple seemed very preserved, considering that everything outside of it was several stories higher and much more modern. The air inside was thick and smokey with incense and the floor was packed with people, mostly of the older generation, looking for a blessing on the New Year. We didn't do the whole routine, but we did donate some money, beat a drum, and ring a bell. Afterwards it was scrounging time again and we settled on a Greek and Mediterranean restaurant called Olive. We decided it wasn't cheating not to eat Chinese food since the international food in that section of Hong Kong is such a part of the culture. The food was excellent- complete with pita, babaganough, and olives (as the name would suggest). After lunch we were ready to return to the Y and hunt down a source of internet.

So now were we are. Nick has joined us here, so you should all be able to see the pictures he uploaded from today. Tonight is the New Year so we should be seeing a parade and fire works in about two hours. Anyways, this has gotten long enough, so zai jian everyone!

Gung Hay Fat Choy! (Happy New Years! in Cantonese)

[and here's what they'll be seeing tonight! .... Ms. Viz]

China Bound!

(Ms. Viz)

As always, the morning of departure comes with excitement and a bit of apprehension that things go smoothly and the group gets off without a hitch. Compared with the major snowstorm and the delays of last year, this morning was a piece of cake, until we noticed that Emily's name had been misprinted on her ticket! At least 10 people must have proofread the ticket before departure but never caught it. Luckily she was able to fly but will have to undergo special security searches. With her backpack filled to the brim it will make life a bit more interesting! Nevertheless, this group's good spirits could not be daunted by such a minor glitch. Their enthusiasm and excitement are unmatched. It was with a mix of joy and sadness that we said goodbye at the gate; they have been a pleasure to work with and Dover-Sherborn is very lucky to have them as this year's exchange group.