Hello from the rooftop of the world! We landed here in Lhasa about 4:35pm, taking pictures of the changing landscape the whole way in, flying over brown tundra, snow-capped mountains, green hills with green and yellow-colored waters running through them. The lakes and rivers are lime green and yellow here...beautifully surreal. The weather is warm, low 70's right now, and the first thing you notice is how clean the air is and how crisp are the views. The sky is literally resting on your head we are so close to the heavens. The airport is surrounded by mountains and at first [View Full Entry]

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Gunkumsan! That is hello, in Tibetan...we have just spent a week in Lhasa and have much to write about - especially some amazing pictures. Jennifer and I have just finished traveling on a train from Lhasa to Chengdu, about 50 hours, and we now have internet access. We are putting together some blogs in the hotel and then walking to the local Starbuck's a few blocks away. We will be putting up some info tomorrow morning but until then wanted to say all is well, we enjoyed Lhasa and Mt. Everest, and Tibet!, so much...so much to write about...stay tuned! S&J [View Full Entry]

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Back to Xi'an Hello, from the capital city of Xi'an, in Northwest, China. We have left the surly city of Zhengzhou and are spending a few days here in one of our favorite places to stay in Xi'an; the HQ Guesthouse, owned by our friends Todd and Mei. We are in back in Xi'an to receive our final paperwork from our Tibet tour company before hopping on our first flight inside China since landing in Shanghai almost seven months ago, headed to Tibet. Up to this point in our adventure we have been traveling in the Eastern provinces and are now [View Full Entry]

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Jinan, China Jinan is not a hot tourist destination in China so people mostly travel through on their way on to bigger, more attractive cities. But it is called the City of Springs and it is the capital Shandong Province. It has a history of some 2000 years is famed for its numerous relics. It is also the home of Lu Cai (Shandong cuisine). We had to pick what we were going to do in one day and we decided to hit the lake right across the street from our hotel. Overall, a great choice! Daming Lake Park Located in the [View Full Entry]

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Qingdao/TsingTao Our first stop is Qingdao (青岛; 青島; QīngDǎo; TsingTao), easily one of the most beautiful cities we have seen in China. Old town has a strong European influence from the Germans (hence the beer) and it reminds us both of southern California, around the Laguna Beach area, or even a little like Carmel by the Sea as the multitude of beaches are littered with high rocky hillsides, huge boulders and craggy shoreline. The weather is also beach-like; it's hazy in the morning, warms up nicely in the afternoon to dripping sweat temps, and the [View Full Entry]

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Check out the map above. We are using it to show our travel plans starting from our home city, DanYang, and then four to five weeks of trains, planes, taxis, trikes, and just plain walking. Itinerary Zhenjiang (Jiangsu Province) From our city, DanYang, we are starting with a fast train to Zhenjiang (because DanYang is so small we can't get to our first stop, Jinan, from here). Then we hop on another train that travels all night and Friday morning we will be arriving in Jinan. Jinan (Shandong/Henan Province) Only in Jinan for a few hours but we are coming back [View Full Entry]

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Before moving to China in January, 2009, a year of researching taught me there are two issues not to be broached over here in the Middle Kingdom. All of the foreigners on all the message boards and websites call them The Big T’s; Tienanmen Square is one, and Tibet the other. For weeks after my arrival I danced around these issues when they came up. I remained polite and servile, wanting to be the good tourist, an Ambassador from the USA. But afte [View Full Entry]

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Hello from the thriving metropolis of DanYang, China. It's early Tuesday evening here, pouring rain right now, mixed with some small hail, which is not unusual for this place and time of year. It is in the mid-90's during the day with high humidity and it does not cool off in the evening but just like Tampa, Florida, we get some great storms here! Me and Monkey Girl (they have a children's TV show here called the Monkey King and that nickname cracks her up!) are in the last week of teaching Summer Camp at my high school, Sheng Dan Zhong, [View Full Entry]

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Went out for a nice meal this evening for our once a week date night :), and although at 6:00pm, it was a balmy 94 degrees here in DanYang, the #1 bus offered us a nice breeze and for 1 yuan apiece, you just can't beat the scenery, the smells, the immersion deep into everyday life here in central China. We love taking the bus these days basically because a cab gouges us for 6 yuan (about .60) but the bus takes us to the same place, albeit with a little xtra diesel fuel for flavor, and costs only 1 yuan [View Full Entry]

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After the turbulent bus ride to Tangkou, all I could think about when I got off and looked around was, where is hotel and how far of a walk is it? A friendly man in a dark blue Adidas track suit greeted us, pulled out a card with his restaurant (in English!), and began chatting with us. He wasn't selling anything, he was just friendly. He introduced himself and asked us where we were staying. He knew where our hotel was and said he would take us to the hotel. Our instincts were good and sure enough, within minutes we were [View Full Entry]

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