FRAGRANT HILL

Last Saturday I woke up thinking we were going on a short leisurely hike. I put on comfy clothes, piled into our bus, and fell asleep. I woke up outside a village, dragged my butt to the base of the hill, and was told I was going to climb this hill.

That not so clear thing in the background

On our way to the steps at the base of this hill. There was beautiful scenery placed there to make you forget the torture that you are about to put yourself through.

I got to the base of stairs and realized I was about to climb 2, 300 steps up a steep hill and my heart dropped.

To make a long story short (I have to finish packing for our trip) I climbed those long steps in about 2 and a half hours. I got to the top, felt victorious, and took a ton of pictures with Asian people. (Asian tourists from country sides don't normally see non-Asians. So when they see someone that looks different, they like to take pictures with them.)

We ran down the mountain (Well, most of my group ran. I decided a leisurely pace would suffice.) and found a beautiful pond.

We somehow decided that more walking would be a good idea and went to a visit a Buddhist temple that was built on stairs. (Another 300 steps! Yay!)

Yep. That's my hill in the background

Then we went back down to our van and went to bed.

All complaining aside, it was a fun trip and I had fun going up the hill. I met a ton of people and got to talk and pantomime with them. My calves have now forgiven me and are ready to work just in time for our next hike in a few days. (Wish me luck!)

I have to apologize, I thought I could get another post up before I left for my trip and it doesn't look like its going to happen. So, i'll have to tell you about my daily life and my trip when I come back.

Take care.

HUDONG TOUR

Sorry guys for taking sooo long to update!!! To make it up to you I will get two more posts up before Saturday because A LOT has happened. :)

First things first, the Hudong Tour. We went there not last Saturday but the Saturday before.
It's a mix between old and new. It's a preserved area where the elite used to live before the Cultural Revolution. It's new because during the SARS epidemic people thought it was safer to be near water. Since there is a river running through the area, people flocked there. This created new businesses all along the water front.
But enough gabbing, here are some pictures. :)

The river I was talking about

The new shops that kinda look old

The door to one of the old houses for the elite.

By looking at the door, people could tell the rank of the person who lives there.

A little tid bit about these old houses.

These older houses are in high demand. People will pay at least 3 million dollars (for a small house) to buy the license to the house. Then they tear down the house and rebuild it to look the same as before but with modern convinces. (western toilets, indoor plumbing, etc)

I personally couldn't believe it when they told me and I still can't believe it now that I've seen the inside of one these houses. 

The houses are made like a big square with an opening in the middle. This is the courtyard in the middle.

One of the doors off the courtyard

The older couple that lives in the house and Mao

The man that owns the house is an artist. He placed a white piece of paper over a red one and used a knife to cut away all the parts he didn't want!

(The house that these pics are from hasn't been renovated. It is still lacks modern convinces.)

While we were on our visit, we ate dinner at one of the houses. (different house from the pictures above.)

This was the food on the table when we got to the house. About five more dishes were added to this pile. This is a normal meal!!!!

We learned to make dumplings after dinner

I bet you're all thinking that I walked a ton that day. I didn't. We got everywhere on rickshaws!!! 

FINALLY BACK ON!!!!!!!

The flight to China was extremely long!!!! It took about 24 hours!!! But it was a good time. I met a lot of nice people who gave me good advice and taught me some Chinese. :)

Mountains we saw while flying over Alaska

Some artwork in Tokyo's airport.

The first week here was a whirl wind of activities. We went to Tiananmen Square, an acrobat show, and the weird food market (not it's real name but it describes it pretty well).

                                    

2 pics of Tianamen Square

                                    

The moat outside of Tianamen Square

The acrobat show was really amazing. There were guys flipping little girls around while they balanced bowls on their heads and feet, girls spinning plates with their hands while they did flips, and 12 girls riding on the same bike. It was a ton of fun and I would have taken a lot of pictures but they weren't allowed.

The weird food market is a line of vendors that carry have interesting foods on sticks that they will cook and season for you. Certain people in our group had starfish, scorpion, snake, and pig testicles. I only tried the starfish which was okay. But I had a lot of fun taking pictures of everyone else.

The guys eating pig testicles. (they said it was really good)

The guys eating snake

Yesterday, we had a different adventure. We were given a scavenger hunt and we had to find our way to the Summer Palace by ourselves. The scavenger hunt was okay but the Summer Palace was AMAZING!!!!

Thanks guys for being patient!