So I'm finally writing these about 6 months too late, but I think I can remember most the important stuff, ha. This entry is for June 19th, 20th and 21st I believe... City stuff In an earlier entry I mentioned walking through a very interesting park, well above is the video of this "everyday" park with much more activity at 8am than any park I've been to back in the states! Terracotta army was earlier along with a trip to Huashan. After staying up 36 hours and hiking all paths Huashan, I took a much deserved nap. Everyone else was of course still at Huashan when I woke up. I headed to the Big (Wild) Goose Pagoda Square - 大雁塔 Dà Yàntǎ - to get a better view of the city. The Pagoda - located at ... read more

(Huashan Hike Continued) Instead of waiting at the actual peak, I followed along a more precarious path to a more isolated location. I picked out a spot and then searched for some shelter, it was sooo cold. There was a hotel about 15 minutes walk away where I saw a group of girls huddled together in a hallway, haha, but I decided to bear it outside right at my spot to get the full experience (and not accidentally fall asleep) and not miss the sunrise. I enjoyed the night view over the villages, valleys, and few lights that I could see below. I don't know any other word but "majestic" (again) to use to describe it. I made a make-shift tent with my poncho between two rock (almost a crevice) and ate my muffins and kiwi ... read more

The train took 14 hours, putting our arrival right at noon. Sam and Parker knew where the hotel was according to a few maps and after asking a few random people and walking through an interesting park, we found it. The park was a shortcut to our hotel, but was also a tourist site in itself! There were several randomly placed carnival/fair style roller coasters that looked as old as the City Wall, but a bit more unsafe, ha. And the best part was, they were actually still in use as we found out yesterday. In the morning and around late afternoon there were over, at least, 200 people in this small park. Elderly women performing terrible costumed-dances, a few Kong Fu groups, a few Taichi groups, and several badminton players some playing with a hackey-sack ... read more

8am was almost too early today, so sore from working out yesterday...but that's when we all hopped on the bus for our scheduled and free field trip to Zhujiajiao, a canal town known as the Tiny "Venice of the East" and one of the four ancient towns technically in the Qingpu District of Shanghai, but really right outside (1 hour drive). Zhujiajiao is an ancient water town well-known throughout China more than 1700 years old. With an area of 47 square kilometers, the little fan-shaped town contains the intersections of various rivers and 26 lanes (acted as a large distribution hub in ancient times) including the Caogang River. It is said that to visit Zhujiajiao without seeing the bridges means that you have not really seen Zhujiajiao! There are 36 bridges including the ancient Fangsheng Bridge ... read more

This weekend we decided to go to Huangshan - Yellow Mountain - a very famous scenic/cultural location for a majority of Chinese people and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We would leave Friday, stay in Tunxi (an hour from Huangshan) for the night, then hike up Huangshan, stay at a hotel on the mountain, and then hike down. We had 4 guys and 4 girls (more inclined to use the cable-car). Groups of four make transportation and accommodations, SO much easier! Oh and as you'll notice in the pictures, I got my first haircut in China, they tried to charge me 85Y, but I bargained them down to 30Y (who knew you even had to bargain for haircuts!?). It was decent, but had to finish it when I got back to my room with a razor, ... read more