So today we went to Jin Li, an old town, which seemed more like a tourist attraction. There were tons of bargaining in little side shops and old women selling flowers and sweets on the street. Many little children were running around, as there were gigantic fixtures where they could climb and play on. They had a little outdoor tea house where regulars played games of mahjong as they drank jasmine tea. It was easy to get lost in Jin Li because the streets turned randomly, making it seem like a corn field maze at farms. I tried hami-melon ice cream which was actually really good, and just ended up walking around taking pictures of really cute babies... you can go right ahead and call me weird, but it was very entertaining and somewhat fun. Today ... read more

So today- was pretty much the highlight of chengdu for me. On our way to Le-shan Mt (Giant Buddha) we made a pit stop at a tea harvesting farm, which was really pretty, although that was where I realized that I can barely walk anymore without having everything ache afterwards. At Le-shan Mt, where we viewed from a speed-boat for probably just 10minutes we got to wave at random people who were actually at the foot of the Buddha, and everyone started taking pictures of us- mostly because there were Caucasians on board. We went to Ermei Mt hotel, after- and had 2 hours of free time - so the majority of the group decided to get a 2hour body massages for 120 yuan which if you think about it is a really good deal considering ... read more

WE MADE IT!! Arriving at 7:20pm at the train station in Chengdu, we had trouble finding our tour guide. While we thought that we were suppose to find a sign with our two teachers' names, our tour guide ended up having a sign with Celina's and my name. We decided that we were lost in the middle of Chengdu after 5 minutes without seeing anyone, until someone ran over to us. I mean- who could ever mistake a group of 10 with 7 people who are far from looking any bit Asian? Anyhow, we got to the Shu Feng Garden Hotel - which was absolutely gorgeous We got to eat at the restaurant in the hotel- which was the best thing in the world since we were all starving. So we all ended up shoveling every ... read more

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CLAIRE AKA 明月!!!!! I THOUGHT THAT YOU DESERVED THE VERY FIRST SHOUTOUT THAT I DECIDED TO DO- I LOVE YOU!! AND I'M GOING TO MAKE A VIDEO JUST FOR YOU!! I HOPE YOU'LL ENJOY IT!! (WHEN I POST IT IN 10/11 DAYS..)HAVE AN AMAZING DAY!!! I'LL BE THINKING OF YOU THE ENTIRE TRAIN RIDE!!! (26HOURS OF CLAIRE!!!) HAHAHA, LOVE YOU!!!- MICHELLE... read more

Thank goodness jet lag did not affect me at all, because I got to go out and about with my host sister, host mom, and my host sister's aunt. We went to Qianmen steet, where there were tons of shops and apparently the number one restaurant for peking duck. (Cora- it's not the restaurant with the duck statue in front.. but hopefully I'll get Ms. Ding to bring me ther sometime, so I can take a picture with it.) We started to walk around and I was pushed into store after store, to look around. While I did not have my wallet on me because I wasn't planning on buying anything, my host mom with her sister decided to pick random things and buy them for me, even though I insisted that they not. My host ... read more