Ski trip!

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My host family took me on a ski trip with them on Friday after Dr. Meng and I stayed overnight at the hospital for call Thursday night. It was a 45 minute drive from the city to the neighboring mountain that housed the 'Way of the Ancient Emperor' ski resort. Resort may be pushing it - Qinhuang Gudao (Path of the Ancient Emperor) this was 3 sloped ranging from beginner to less beginner and a cafeteria. With the warm sunny weather, it was a perfect day to ski with the family.

To start, only the 2 beginner slopes were open with either the type lift or the treadmill type lift, which had a ditch being built around it when we first arrived and only opened later. The amount of klutz on these slopes was entertainment enough to make the trip worthwhile. The bigger slope opened in the afternoon, so we took a break for lunch, then headed back out. Luckily, excessive klutz meant few people felt brave enough to go on the larger slope, meaning it was literally empty on a few runs. It was fun to watch the Drs. Meng (re)learn to ski with their son, Toni, as teacher and guide. Toni was the only kid on the bigger slope when he joined me there for most of the afternoon.

The air was a breath of freshness compared to Shijiazhuang City despite the electrical plant nearby billowing smoke. This was so until the winding village we passed on our way to the ski area started burning trash as we headed back out to the parking lot. Never imagined I'd have a chance to ski in this part of China, but the lack of crowds and great weather and company made it such a fun trip. To top it off, we spent 2.5h in rush-hour snarl on the way back to town, mitigated by a fiery spicy fish dinner in a mall in the city center. You can be in relatively remote city in China, but one thing is for sure: Even this mall had 2 Starbucks.

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