China's Southern Capital and other fun things

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One of the many things I miss about home is trees. There are plenty in Suzhou, but they are all very landscaped - nothing is natural. I miss seeing tree covered hills and knowing that I can easily drive to foresty hiking areas. Even on the outskirts of town, everything here is factories and buildings and roads for as far as you can see.

Nanjing (literally 'southern capital) has many sites of historical significance, but when my friend Luke and I went there we spent most of our time hiking. Many famous buildings are located on a group of beautiful green tree-covered hills, and we wandered on and off the paths for nearly 4 hours. It was serene and a wonderful remedy to the business of city life. We also squeezed in some China things, like Sun Yat-sen's mausoleum and a pagoda of some sort.

I've been extremely busy dealing with the craziness of work and planning my upcoming trip, but am still finding time to finish up my sight-seeing to do list around Suzhou and spend time with all the people I will miss when I leave. I also want to find time to write a couple more blogs about China and a follow-up to the last one - some people responded with some great questions. Until then I hope you enjoy some of my funny photos from around town, and happy world cup to you all!

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Photos

government troops target practice
just kidding - it was a group of guys playing paintball

Pagoda
The Chinese love to comment on how tall Luke is - "Ta hen gao de!" was said by almost everyone we met. If it were me I'd get SO annoyed, but luckily he has more patience than I do!

can you read what his shirt says?
Clothing with English words is very popular here even though most people who wear it have no idea what it says. Usually it's gibberish, but occasionally you'll come across jewels like this one.

Birthday dinner with friends!
We splurged on the expensive Mexican restaurant across town. I'm eating Mexican food for a month when I get home.

Comments

[Ben murray]

Hang in there!
Hey Army, Glad to see that you're still enjoying China. I know a lot of my friends who went abroad for about a year were pretty burned out at the end. I can't wait until you get back to San Jo (you know). I hope you're ready to coach! Ben

[Uncle Jim]

yea, yea, yea
continue to have fun while you can. We really do miss you very much. See you in August?!

[Allie]

DYING!
I am DYING at that kid's shirt. hahahahhahaha. Thank you so much for that, Amy. PS missmissmissmissyou!