"T" in Tennessee!

Halloween with the Little Ones!

Last night we held our second night of Halloween fun for our young students, ages 3-8 with most being around 5-6 years old!  I was in charge of the Eyeball Bounce which was a game with cups taped to the floor and ping pong balls with eyes drawn on them (Thanks, Alisa!).  The idea was to bounce the ping pong balls into the cups on the floor.  We had over 100 young students present with just as many or more parents (as a lot of them had both mama and baba (daddy) with them).  Once again, the kids had a great time and though another exhausting day for us....to see the smiles and hear the laughter of our students was very nice and made our efforts so worthwhile!

This wee girl (Wee?  Yep, that's the rhetoric influence of the folks I work and socialize with) was so cute but a bit scared of me although she did agree to pose for the photo! ha  I teach mainly older students at EF so a lot of the smaller ones know I'm a teacher as they see me a lot but aren't really that comfortable around me.  Kids here aren't shuffled into daycare at an early age...they are taken care of by their grandparents or a trusted Ayi (Auntie or caregiver) in their homes and just don't receive the kind of social skills at an early age the way younger American children receive from being in daycare environments.  It takes them a while to get accustomed to being around older "non-family" members and it can also take them a while to get used to being in an environment with children their own age.

This little boy was so cute!  He showed me his "pumpkin" you see that he's holding and just chatted and chatted away to me in Chinese! ha ha  I could only say, "Yes, Yes, it's wonderful!" ha  He was so proud of his "Halloween" toy!

As you can see, another crowded but FUN evening!

An adorable little Batman! :)  See the Mom in the background?  I was photographed and filmed a LOT on this evening.  I posed for lots of photos for parents with their small students.  I was so happy to do it!  :)

ha ha! :)  Kudos to this little girl's parents! ha

Some of the kids in my "Eyeball Bounce" activity room!

This little girl was dressed as a little "Korean" girl. So cute.

More cuteness!

See?  The little ones learn to throw down the peace/victory sign at a very early age! ha ha

This little boy, who is 3 and is named Jessie (English name), is very special to me as I was the first foreign teacher to talk to him when he and his parents came to our Center to consider signing him up for English classes.  He's been one of our students for well over 6 months now.  He's a very confident young boy and he has no problem attempting to repeat what we say to him.  So I enjoy talking with him and getting him to repeat dialogue.  A few weeks ago I was talking to him and getting him to repeat appropriate responses and when I said something that he thought was just too difficult for him to repeat he looked at me with such sweet eyes, shaking his head negatively and said, with conviction, "NO!" ha ha  We all erupted into fits of laughter because he was just so serious as if to say, "Okay, lady, I can say a lot but what you just said was too hard for me to repeat!" ha ha 

Teaching kids can be at times be very frustrating and exhausting (especially on Saturdays and Sundays, our longest teaching days) but a special moment with just one student can easily remove all frustration and reaffirm why we move to China to teach English to these wonderful kids! I've been here 14 months now and each day can easily bring a wonderful experience if you take time to notice, even if it's just a heart-warming smile from a neighbor in the elevator or a young child walking along the street.  Sometimes, older Chinese citizens in my neighborhood will stare intently at me (as you might imagine, I don't exactly blend in with local folks).  It happened yesterday morning as I was attempting to hail a cab.  An older woman was sort of "staring me down" as she stood close to me on the street.  Sometimes, as I did with her, I will stare right back but with a smile on my face and eventually, as she did, I will get a returned smile which just makes my day!  A smile is one of the few things that is truly universal.  It's as if, without words, we were saying, "Yes, I see you and you see me and everything is good!"

Halloween at EF, 2008!

Tonight we held our first of two nights of Halloween parties at our Center in Beijing!  Tonight was ages 9-15 and tomorrow night will be ages 3-8.  It was a true madhouse! ha  We have nearly 600 students in our Center now (we were also recently named an "Emerging Star" by EF headquarters, complete with a nice glass trophy to display in our Center).  Tonight we have 200+ kids (most 9-11 year olds) and with parents we topped over 300 in our Center at once!  Lots of the kids dressed up and we had prizes for best costumes.  There were 6 rooms that the kids traveled to in groups of 20 for games and fun and also a Haunted Room (a big hit!).  There was a refreshment room with drinks, cookies and popcorn and teachers in each room had big bags of candy to hand out to everyone.  The kids had a GREAT time.  Teachers and staff members were just exhausted and glad it was over! ha  Tomorrow night shouldn't be as bad, with a smaller crowd and activities scaled down to the young ones' levels (including Alisa doing face painting).  So...here's some pics:

Tons o' kids! :)

This is Hannah, one of my TB students.  I recently taught a Life Club class on country music and taught her and others how to dance the Electric Slide! ha  She really loved it!

ha ha!  This is Alan, one of our teachers from Australia, who was in charge of the Haunted Room and did a great job!  Kids in China love to be scared and parents even encouraged us to make it very scary! :)  Gotta love that!

Kids in China don't celebrate Halloween.  They get a taste of it from their western/ex-pat English teachers so coming in costume means lots of different get-ups! ha  This beautiful young girl had on angel wings, carried a butterfly wand while wearing a freaky blue punk wig! ha  I just loved it.

This little girl, Lucy, is just 4 or 5 and came tonight because she couldn't attend tomorrow night during her age-appropriate time.  So very cute!  We chose her as a "winner" of one of the prizes for best costume based entirely on her cuteness! ha

Cute little twins in my "Pass the Vampire Bat' activity.  See the green straws in their mouths?  Kids lined up like in a relay race and had to suck on the straws to hold a cut-out of a bat from a kleenex and then pass it to the next person who sucked in and took it onto their straws.  They had great fun!

Prize time at the end of the evening!  I asked my Center Manager, Cathy, if we couldn't just say "Okay, folks, GO HOME!" ha ha  I'm just kidding, of course, but we were all ready to just clean up and go home and though the party was over at 8:00, it was closer to 9:00 before everyone left.

 Me, dressed as an American (yeah...very original) at our 2007 Halloween party!

Me, tonight at the party!  Yeah....I've aged a bit in the last year! ha ha ha

New Colleagues!

This afternoon, I met with our two new foreign teachers for a walking tour around their neighborhood, showing them supermarkets close to their apt. (they live in the same building, near our Center) and also a great gym, coffee houses, the closest McDonald's, and other places of interest for them.  Simone arrived 2 weeks ago.  Simone (pronounced Suh-mahn!) is from South Africa. Her parents were both born in South Africa.  But her grandparents were born in southern China.  So by race, Simone is Chinese, but her nationality is South African.  She is a wonderful person with a rich heritage.  She is experiencing what many foreign-born Chinese experience as folks look at her face and expect her to speak fluent Mandarin and are a bit confused when she answers in English with, "I'm sorry.  I'm South African.  I don't understand you!' :)  Tamara is from Canada (Montreal) so though she also speaks French, her accent is much like mine.  Simone is 29 and Tamara is around 27.  Both are a welcomed addition to our teaching staff.  Both are very excited to be living and working in Beijing!

That's Simone in the background and Tamara in the foreground.

Photo taken near my work!  I now really wish I had "claimed" the head because I can now think of all kinds of situations where I could totally use it! ha  But the photo really speaks for itself, right? These trash bins were just outside a salon where I've had my hair cut twice.  Oh...if only I had taken it!  I could have had so much fun with it! ha ha  Ah....hindsight is so 20/20! ha

I am now a ticketed person for a trip to the States in November!  Woo hoo! :)  Taco Bell, here I come!

A Friend Visits from the States!

My friend, Devon Gosnell, is in Beijing!  I worked for Devon at UT in Knoxville before she transferred to UT Memphis.  We have remained friends and she's a wonderful person!  She's also a native of West Virginia (where my father is from).  Devon is here in Beijing with her father, who is a young 91 years old (and I do mean young) on a 10 day Viking River Cruises tour.  They landed in Beijing late this past Monday and are staying at the Beijing Hilton (a fancy schmancy hotel here; very nice!).  I talked to Devon Monday night and told her I'd meet up with her and her tour group in Tiananmen Square Tuesday morning.

Lots of tourists in the Square!  However am I going to find Devon?  I took several photos with random Chinese tourists (some I posed for and others I noticed were taken by folks standing close to me thinking I didn't know what they were doing! ha).  The cutest one was a group of school girls who were giggling and wanting to get me in their photo so I went right up to them and posed, throwing up both my hands with the requisite victory signs!  They were thrilled. ha

This is a famous monument in the middle of Tiananmen Square.  There were teenager school kids standing at attention at the monument but I have no idea why. They may have been famous for something.  Who knows.

They might have been some young Olympic performers.  I don't know.  So where is Devon???  Luckily, she gave her English-speaking tour guide my mobile number and he called me and said, "We're west of the monument!"  I'm like, "Okay, but which direction is west?" ha  "We're facing the Great Hall of the People."  Good.  I know where that is so I walked in that direction looking for a group of Westerners.  The Square was FULL of folks so finding Devon without the aid of mobile phones would have been like finding a needle in a haystack despite the fact that most of the folks were Chinese and I was looking for a group of Americans.  We got lucky!

Connection complete!  Devon and her father, Ken Gosnell!  See Mao's portrait in the background?  Mr. Gosnell certainly doesn't look 91 and truth be told, he got around just as well or BETTER than I did on this day as we did a lot of walking and up and down lots of stairs in the Forbidden City.  It was so great seeing Devon in Beijing!  I've been here almost 14 months and this is my first visitor from the States!  I've worked for lots of great folks in my past but Devon is one of the BEST and has been so good to me.  She bought me my first digital camera just before I came to China for the first time 3 years ago for a visit with Chinese friends and all the photos on this blog are taken with that camera!  Devon has become a good friend and I'm fortunate to know her.

You just can't take enough photos of Mao's portrait! ha  See all the little folks standing underneath?  I've said it before but this portrait, I believe, remains the largest single painted portrait in the world.  It looks to be about as big as 7-8 folks standing head to toe and is replaced once a year with a new portrait.  We are now headed into the Forbidden City.  I've been here, as I said, 14 months, and this is the first time I've been inside the Forbidden City since moving here (I spent half a day inside when I came here in 2005 for a visit).  It's kinda like living in Orlando but never going to DisneyWorld except when friends visit. :)

We're inside now and this is the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

Look at the last sentence.  It says the Hall of Supreme Harmony (Tai He) means "the harmonious operation of all things on earth."  If only that were true and we could all operate harmoniously.

Devon's tour group and English-speaking Chinese guide.  He's been leading tour groups since 1971 and his English is quite good.

The gardens at the back of the Forbidden City.  See the pole?  The cypress trees are very old and if it looks like a tree or branch might be in jeopardy of falling, they support it with steel poles.

Very old and very beautiful.

Devon's group was only able to spend about 2 hours in the Forbidden City.  It'd take two entire days to see all the buildings and sights inside the the walls of the Forbidden City.

Just a few folks milling around at the back gate of the Forbidden City! ha

After leaving the Forbidden I was able, through the kindness of their tour guide, to board their motorcoach and travel with them to a restaurant for lunch.  We then headed to the Summer Palace, which I have visited several times.  I decided to take a taxi home at this point.  Today, Devon and group headed to the Great Wall at Badaling and I met her at her hotel tonight for dinner with her father.  Most of the folks in Devon's group are in their 60s and more than one told me tonight how much they were amazed at Devon's father's ability to climb the Wall, climbing further up than many in the tour group!  Tomorrow they will enjoy a tour of a traditional Chinese neighborhood (hutong) and then fly to Xi'an in the afternoon to see the terracotta warriors (which I visited last month).  They'll spend one night in Xi'an and then travel to where they will board a nice cruise boat and spend 5 days cruising the great Yangtze River.  They'll end up in Shanghai where they'll enjoy a couple of days before flying back to the States.  It was great seeing Devon, meeting her father, and spending some time with her in Beijing, my adopted hometown.  Now....who will be my second American visitor?  Come on over and I'll be sure to show you around this amazing city. :)

Videos of Southern China....Guilin, Yangshuo and Longsheng!

I've just spent a lot of time uploading videos of my recent trip to southern China!  You can view them by going to www.youtube.com and typing in tinchina85 or tinchina in the search box.  Enjoy and let me know what you think, lest I think all my videos are crap with no interest. :)  I've been searching for good flight prices to come home to the States for a visit.  Looks like the days of getting a roundtrip flight for less than $1,100 are over. :(  Perhaps something to do with rising fuel prices?  In any case, I have a reservation but will keep silent about it since I'm not fully commited to it and still searching for a better price.  My short visit to the States will be very busy but will try my best to see as many friends as possible.  My priority will be spending time with family so if I don't get to see you....then know that I'll return to the States permanently in the fall of 2009.

Southern China Adventure....the Finale!

Today, a day off, I took a 1.5 hour bike ride around my community!  It was nice and cool and before I returned home a full moon displayed itself in the sky.  Hazy at first, it soon rose above the haze and was absolutely bright and beautiful!  I'm getting better and better at negotiating around cars, buses and people when biking.  I rode down one street that is not that commercial so it was an easy smooth ride with no bell ringing! ha  A bicyclist here uses their bell to warn people and cars that they are approaching so they will step to the left and let you by or, in the case of a car, not suddenly open their car door on you as you pass.   A bell is essential!  As Americans we are used to passing on the right so when I was approaching a girl riding her bike I negotiated to the right of her but she also negotiated to the right (uh, I guess it was her left) so we both came to a full stop in front of each other....smiled....and then continued on our way! ha  Yesterday, also a day off, I met up with Colin and James and we took a taxi to ZhongGuanSun where Bravo's, an Italian eatery, was our destination. I enjoyed a delicious smoked chicken penne pasta dish for 16 RMB ($2.25) and we also shared a delicious pizza for just 25 RMB.  We then walked around the area for a while (known for all kinds of deals on electronics and right in the middle of some famous universities here) before returning home.  A nice, relaxing evening.  I will most likely book my ticket home for a visit this week.  I'll be arriving sometime in November, most likely.  It'll be a relatively short visit which I'll spend mainly with my immediate family members with a short stay in Knoxville to see friends and take care of some business.  I am so accustomed to ways of living here that I wonder what it'll be like to visit the U.S.  By the time I arrive, we will have a president-elect.  Will I go into a restaurant and expect the kind of service folks receive here in Beijing?  Will I yell out "Fu yuan" (wait person) and expect them to trot over with a smile on their face to attend to whatever I need?  Will I look at the price tag on something and say "Tai gui le, pian yi diar" (that's too expensive, give me a lower price!)?  Will I get laughed at?  Will my senses be overloaded as I will be able to understand all the conversations around me while here it's easy to tune out all conversations as my brain doesn't process the language?  Will I be depressed that random folks on the street don't yell out "hello" to me and generally don't care about my existence? ha  It'll be interesting for sure!  It'll give me a taste of what I can expect when I return to the States for good next Fall.  I've read a lot about reverse culture shock for folks that have spent an extended amount of time in Asian countries and am already preparing myself to experience many of the symptoms.  Still, it's not going to be easy.  Okay....onto the last of my photos from my recent trip while listening to a little Chicago Transit Authority (their debut album!):

Local housing high up in the mountains of Longsheng.

A local walking path between residences.

In the States, we call this "feed corn."  Lots of chickens and animals around to enjoy it!

I was proud of myself for not taking the "easy" way! ha

I talked a few minutes with this woman (in my limited Chinese abilities).  She showed me many beautiful things that she had embroderied by hand.  I bought a couple for very little money and did not haggle with her over the price.  She was so nice to me and also showed me photographs of herself with some of the things she had made. You can see a bit of her "long hair" in the front of her cap that covers the rest of her hair.  She makes her living from tourists like me trekking up to the top of this amazing mountaineous region to view the incredible terraced rice fields.  I was happy to contribute.

See?  These elderly ladies make their living by carrying tourist luggage to the top to their hotels.  As I said, it's just a bit sad to me.  I realize it's their living but it does so much damage to their spines. 

Incredible loads as these woman cross a covered bridge with benches where I was relaxing. The umbrella is as much for the glaring sun as it is possible rain!

Incredible loads!  She was bringing down loads of fruits and vegetables to sell.

Breathtaking scenery!

After returning from the top of the moutains by mini-bus, I thought we'd be continue on to our next hotel stop (a famous hot springs hotel in the region).  But I was wrong.  We had yet another great local minority tribe experience to behold.  It began with walking across the river to their village.  Our guide thought it cute to cross first and then shake the bridge for all who crossed after her! ha  I was undeterred and made my way across though many wooden planks were splintered and broken.

After most of us had crossed, our tour guide, holding her wand with teddy bar atop, decided not to shake the bridge for our youngest tour group member to cross! ha

Trekking along to the village!

The villagers put on a nice show for us with singing and acting.

The locals served us a delicious "soup" of oil and uncooked rice which, surprisingly, was very very good!  

The Yao long-haired ladies unwrapped their long hair and showed us how they wrap it on their heads.  don't be fooled by the hair that they are holding. It's their own hair from where they cut it when they married.  I have a video of this and will post it soon and let you know.

As we left the "theater" where they put on such a nice show for us....they served us a thimble-full of potent local liquor and pinched us on the butt!  Can you see the local woman grabbing the butt of one of our group?  They caught me by surprise and I whipped around and ended up stepping hard on the foot of a local lady which caused a few squeals and me saying "dui bu qi, dui bu qi!" ha (I'm sorry,  I'm sorry).  So funny.  The locals were also very aggressive in trying to sell us their wares.  One lady just persisted on following me out of her village with her basket of silver bracelets.  It took buying one for 10 RMB for her to quit following me! ha  I gave it to my friend and colleague, Seven, who liked it a lot.

After leaving, we continued for 2 hours along a very bumpy road (if you can call it that) to the famous hotsprings hotel where we would stay the night, only to return by the same bumpy no road route the next morning!  I had my swimsuit with me but went down to the hotsprings and told the folks I wanted to see the hotsprings first.  They repeatedly showed me the sign which said no further entry without having a swimsuit on.  I repeatedly said, "Yes, but I just want to SEE the hotsprings!'  They showed me the sign again.  I said, "Yes, but WHY?" This went on for quite a while during which time I also told them that I had paid a lot of money to stay in their hotel and wanted to SEE the hotsprings before using them.  After we went back and forth many times and I had just about given up hope, they decided it was okay to lead me to the hotsprings without a swimsuit on! ha  I decided it just didn't look clean enough to "swim" in so went back to my room and taught my students, Linda and Nicole, how to play SkipBo! ha  I had a much better time with them than I think I would have had in the hotsprings.

Linda and Nicole posing for me the next morning before we left and continue on our way back to Guilin to the airport.  It's a good thing we arrived at this hotel under cover of darkness.  I learned on our return to Guilin that the "road" we had traveled on (which was much like riding a horse for 2 hours) was being completey reconstructed and there were parts where we were literally inches from the edge of the "road" which plummeted down a steep cliff to the river below! :(  I prayed a lot!

The road might have been "iffy" but the views were amazing.  We made it back to the airport in Guilin without a hitch and arrived safely in Beijing! :)  It was an incredible trip/adventure and one that I'll always remember.  Stay tuned for news about posting my videos on youtube.  Hopefully tomorrow night.  I'll let you know.  
 

Part IV...I think! ha

So last entry was ending our day in Yangshuo with pizza on the "Foreigner" street. :)  The next morning we headed by bus to Longsheng to view many wonderful sights and terraced rice fields!  It took us about 3 hours to get there and it was well worth the ride.

View from the bus.  When Chinese folks travel...there's NO rest for the weary! ha  We were up early every morning by 7:00 a.m. having breakfast and schlepping our suitcases to our bus.  It was a very busy schedule for four days but well worth any lost sleep.  After several hours on the bus (I tried hard not to doze for fear of missing out on the incredible countryside)...we stopped in a village in Lonsheng for a delicious lunch!

Delicious chicken broth soup served from a tall wooden container.  And you can see the big buns of steamed bread which is very dense but very good and filling.  I ate half a bun.  There were more delicious dishes to fill up on.

Ahhhh.  Delicious dishes!

One of the minority tribes of the Longsheng area. Go here to learn more: 

http://www.chinahighlights.com/guilin/longsheng/attraction/minorities-tribes.htm

These woman sang to us and then offered us a small thimble-full of some very potent rice liquor!  We gave them a few yuan (12 to 24 cents) as they passed us the local "nectar."

  

Local residences and a few tourist stalls.

This beautiful lady, from the Yao minority, was wonderful.  She did her very best to sell me a silver bangle bracelet, which I didn't want.  Did I buy one?  You bet I did! ha  And for my purchase I was able to take several photographs of her without guilt.  She was VERY short and as you can see they wear huge silver earrings which create HUGE holes in their ears.  I showed her the small silver hoops I was wearing in my very small ear holes! ha  She was just a lovely older lady and you can see some of her VERY long hair at the front of her headdress.  I was told that the Yao women only cut their hair when they are married and then again when they die.  But one of my students said they also cut their hair when they reach 18 years old.  I have video of them revealing their long hair and how they wrap it onto their heads and I'll upload it to youtube.com soon.

After lunch we abandoned our big motorcoach for a small van-type bus to travel up the mountain to see the village where folks tend to rice terraced fields and also enjoy a healthy tourist population (though when you get to the "top" it's not really the top as you then have to hike up a couple of miles to get to the very top where there are several hotels and cafes and many tourists).

At the point where the small vans let us off, we still had a great distance to traverse by foot to get to the stop.  Though there were plenty of men to "carry" folks to the top....I didn't cheat. But then...I also didn't make it to the very top! ha  Hey....I'm big and old! ha  But they certainly tried to get me to employ them to "carry" me to the top.  Lots of folks hoof it up and then it's MUCH cheaper to get a nice comfy "ride" down so I saw many folks being carried down the steep paths.  I did hike for a long distance but ended up stopping, relaxing, conversing with locals and enjoying the trek back down.

They certainly made it look very appealing to be "carried" to the top!

For a while the path was very wide with lots of folks.  The path would soon turn into small paths of very steep rock/stone stairs......lots of stairs!

At the top, there were many hotels and restaurants!  Let me say again that there is no way to the top except by manpower.  Many tourists choose to spend the night at the top.  Do they haul their luggage to the top?  No.  They pay elderly porters (mostly women) who carry huge woven baskets on their backs to carry their luggage.  I watched many of these women traversing to the top with heavy loads on their backs, all hunched over.  And I also saw them coming down from the top with no loads on their backs, yet still hunched over from years of this kind of making a living.  A bit sad to see.

Beautiful, no?  It's nearly midnight here but I've just plugged in early Michael Jackson and getting a second wind! ha

Even if you click on the photo above to see it bigger, you may not be able to see that this hotel sign boasts about having internet! :)

Local bamboo waiting to be used in housing construction.

I'm going to stop now and continue this post tomorrow night.  You know....I've been extremely fortunate enough to see many places in many countries in my lifetime. It all started when my mother saw fit to pay for me to have the opportunity to see many European countries when I was a high school student as part of the People-to-People High School Student Ambassador Program.  It changed my then young life at barely 16 years old.  I was also able to see several different countries/cultures when I worked part-time for American Airlines and could travel nearly free.  I also know that some of the incredible places I've had the pleasure of seeing are one time shots.  I'll never get to visit them again.  I feel this way about Longsheng.  I will never get to visit this particular area in China again.  So know that I took time out to just sit and observe and "drink in" the amazing culture I was momentarily a part of.  A beautiful, clear day and a good time for some self-reflection. Some things are just very hard for me to put into words.  It's hard for me to convey just how lucky I feel to be experiencing all that I am here in China.  I can only hope that these posts of photos and words can reflect just how happy and "in my element" I feel.  My job here is sometimes very demanding and I do work hard.  But these times when I get to travel around the country make it all worthwhile.  Sometimes the "means to the end" is SO worth it! :)

Stay tuned and hopefully tomorrow night (I have the next 2 days off) I'll end posts of this adventure and move on to some local (Beijing) adventures. :)

Guilin Trip, Part III, Yangshuo!

So now we're in Yangshuo and after leaving our river boat and getting to our bus, we continued on our way to Silver Cave for a little caving adventure!  I was told that those who tour the cave will have good luck and be wealthy!  Here's hoping!  Then again.....I practically ran through half the cave but that's a story I'll tell later in this photo entry! ha

Beautiful views taken from inside our bus.

We stopped for gas and Nicole's mother brought some fresh grapes and lycee nut fruit!  Delicious!  Of course, you peel it to get to the delicious fruit inside.  Very good!  I will definitely miss all the different fruits here that aren't so common at a Kroger's in Tennessee!

Lots of folks "lining up" underneath decorated trees to enter the Silver Cave.

Views while waiting to enter the cave.

 

Now for the cave story:  The cave was amazing!  My camera just doesn't take good "night" photos so I left the photo-taking to my student, Nicole, who took lots of great photos and when she sends them to me, maybe I'll post some. Suffice it to say that this cave had some amazing stalatites and "mites" and it was really great.  Now....I've been in a lot of caves.  I love caves and have visited Mammoth Caves in Kentucky far more than once (one of the largest caves systems in America).  I have also spent the night in a cave (Cumberland Caverns) and been on a bit of wild (spelunking) caving.  But folks....this was undoubtedly the hottest most humid cave I have EVER been in.  About halfway through I truly couldn't take it anymore.  I was pouring sweat like a pig!  My only thought was to get OUT!  I brushed past many folks and their guides and was concentrated on nothing more than getting out of the cave.  It really was that bad for me. ha  At the end of the cave there were vendors all set up to sell folks all manner of things.  I practically ran past them and up the stairs to get out! ha  Without going into TMI (too much information), let's just say that I'm getting older as a female and I was extremely HOT in the cave! ha  Emerging into the open air was such a relief....and it was a hot day!  I found my way to a vendor selling ice cream and enjoyed relaxing with my ice cream until my friends and tour buddies emerged. :)

After the caving adventure, our bus took us back to our nice hotel in Yangshuo where we had only time enough to check in and then board the bus for our dinner at a restaurant to enjoy the famous "beer fish" in Yanshuo.  Having only eaten Pringles potato chips for lunch I was plenty hungry so didn't think of getting any photos! ha  After dinner we had about a hour to spare before heading to an amazing outdoor show called Lui Sanjie Impression.  We paid extra to go to this show (320 RMB) and oh my gosh....it was worth every penny and then some!  The director of this incredible show, Zhang Yimou, also directed the opening ceremonies of the recent Beijing Olympics.  The venue was open air, with incredible karst mountains and the Li River as the background.  I can't possibly put into words how amazing this production was and the impression it made.  I am not kidding at all when I say that the cost of the entire trip was nearly worth viewing this amazing production.  I bought a DVD of the show so family and friends in the States can be sure that I will be sharing it with anyone who wants to watch.  Here's a few photos but my camera just doesn't capture the thrill at all.  So I point you to this site to read and see more:  http://www.yangshuo-travel-guide.com/liu-sanjie-show.html

Like I said, folks, the photos just don't serve well for this amazing show but here's a few more!  I could easily see elements of this show that were used in the Opening Olympic ceremonies!  So cool!

The show was performed almost entire on the river! It was just great!  I really can't say enough about it.  The outdoor theater seats about 2500 and every seat was filled.  They perform 2 shows a night and the second one (the one I saw) is the best because it's completely dark and the mountains all lit up in the background are a sight to see!

You really can't tell it....but everything was dark and then the lights came up and we were mesmerized by all these guys holding up red fabric while standing on thin boats on the water, which you couldn't see.  And they looked like they were walking and running on water. Incredible.  I didn't understand a word of the beautiful Chinese songs being sung.....but it didn't matter.  The emotion was there all the same!

All those folks in the background were wearing costumes with many lights on them that they could turn off and on!

After the show ended, about 10:00 pm, we headed by bus back to the hotel.  Linda, my student, had developed a bad headache so she and Nicole's mother didn't go to the show.  Back at the hotel, Nicole's mother was raring to go so Nicole, her mother and I headed out to the "Foreigner" street (West St.) in Yangshuo, very popular with all the young backpackers that come to Yangshuo.  I treated Nicole and her mother to a couple of pizzas at a cute little Italian restaurant and as we sat on the street, some Chinese musicians entertained us all! 

An amazing day that ended wonderfully with some pizza and local musicians! :)  I feel so blessed to have seen all that I have seen so far in China.  Life just gets better and better here as I experience more of this absolutely amazing country!  I love America and I am proud to be an American.  But I've always felt very comfortable in other cultures of the world.  It may sound crazy but if I had the money and the youth....nothing would make me happier than to spend time in every country on this incredible planet.  Yeah.....I'm 47....and I'm weird! ha

Guilin, Part II, the Li River Cruise

Friday morning, after breakfast, we boarded our nice motor coach for an hour ride to the point where we would board a tourist boat for the 4 hour cruise.....a 4 hour cruise (yeah...I'm old. ha).  We would end our cruise in Yangshuo, a small town situated in the middle of many karst hills and known as a prime destiations for backpackers, rock climbers, cyclists, etc.  There's also many cave systems in the region.

Boats, boats, and more boats! :)  A big tourist thing to do.

Nice, comfy seats and a deck on top.  The young boy is the youngest member of our 16 member tour group, 7 years old, and had the English name of Tiger. :)  I gave him an American one dollar bill and spoke a little English with him.  The boy loved steamed rice (mi fan) and shoveled several bowls into his mouth at every meal. ha  For a 7 year old, he was fairly well-behaved being that he was among nothing but big people.

We towed this fisherman's boat for about the first hour and he supplied the fish and seafood that folks ordered for lunch, which employees cooked up at the back of the boat.  Our lunch, already arranged, was not good.  We didn't even touch it.  We had been warned that the food on the boat would be bad so we brought along our own snacks for lunch which, for me, consisted of entirely Pringles potatoe chips.

My lovely, smiling girls.

Boats following boats, following boats.  Occasionally, they'd blast their horns and faster ones passed smaller ones.  The river is extremely shallow so passing was not easy as they had to be careful not to get stuck on the rocky bottom.

Local fisherman.

Oxen grazing on the rocks?

 So now I noticed that they're actually grazing in the river's edge.  Were they just cooling off?  Nope!  They were actually going underwater and munching on greenery growing on the river bottom.

 

So you can see that their heads are under water, right?  I actually counted and some stayed that way with their heads under water for at least 45 second.  Amazing.  They would lift their heads with strings of green stuff hanging from their mouths.

As this boat passed us, folks noticed me standing on the side of the boat (I was the only foreigner on our boat) and yelled out "Hello,hello" and took photos of me! ha  I reciprocated with a photo of them.  If you click on the photo and zoom you can see them waving at me. :)

Okay...just a few more. I promise.  But the scenery was far more beautiful than these photos can possibly convey!  As I said before, I feel very fortunate to have been able to go on this trip and see such amazing sights in southern China.

As the day got longer, the skies became bluer.  Nice.

How many times can I say "amazing?"  Not enough.

The trip has ended!  The boats travel back up the river, completely empty of tourists, in the afternoon, to do it all over again the next morning.  As they passed us I saw workers washing dishes and linens on the back of the boats and also bathing themselves and hanging their clothes up to dry.

We had to walk quite a distance, uphill and past many booths selling trinkets, to get to where we would take an electric cart to the bus parking lot in Yangshuo.

Chinese tourists lining up (yeah, right) to take the carts to the bus lot or into town.  Chinese folks don't understand the art of lining up. ha  It's all just a huge mass of folks competing for a single line area.  Frustrating.  After boarding our bus, we continued to our next sight....the Silver Cave.  More on that wonderful experience later. :)

 

Guilin....Amazing Scenery!

Wow!  What an incredible trip I have had!  So much to write about and SO many photos! ha  I'll try to choose only the best ones.  We left Thursday, October 2, and landed in Guilin in southern China, where it's still pretty hot, about 1:00 pm.  We met our tour guide at the airport, along with the 12 other Beijingers who were part of our tour group, and boarded our nice motorcoach for immediate sightseeing.  I was like, "We're not going to check into our hotel first and have a rest?" ha ha  Nope.  Rest would come much later in the day!

From left to right, my student Linda, Nicole's mother, and my student, Nicole.  We are at our first stop in Guilin,  Elephant Trunk Hill.

You can see the stairs to the top of the Hill.  We didn't climb to the top.

The elephant's trunk dips into the water!  Folks were everywhere.  It was national holidays (which last a week here) so there were lots of tourists. more than usual.

This is a tour group being "held together" by their orange baseball caps!  Our tour guide held up a rod with a brown teddy bear hanging from the top.  So we just had to follow the teddy bear. :)

There were severall small boats cooking up fish, shrimp and crabs on a stick!  Very delicious and I enjoyed the shrimp!

We placed our order.

Linda crunches down on some fried crabs!

 

Some cool dining!  The LiJiang River is very shallow and many people enjoyed the cool water on a hot day.

Linda and Nicole enjoy wading in the cool in search of the perfect rock for me.  Linda found a small, sooth black rock shaped like a heart.  Perfect!

Incredibly clear waters.

Our tour guide.

Our next stop, the Twin Pagodas on Fir Lake.

The firs!

A place in the King's residence where students took their testing.  Kinda hard to cheat when you're separated by brick walls.

Linda and Nicole study the "mock" test they were given to complete with an ancient writing brush.

As you can see, no graffiti means no graffiti.  If only it were so simple in the States!

Sugar cane being stripped for delicious sugar can juice drinks....at 4 RMB a cup (60 cents).

The stripped cane is fed into this machine which presses out the sweet juice.

Finally, around 6:00, we checked into our first hotel (we stayed in different hotels each night as we were in different places each night, despite my belief that Guilin would be where we returned each day).  Dinner was at 6:30 in the hotel restaurant and was delicious, as was all our meals.  Here's some views from our hotel room.

Guilin and the surrounding countryside is full of karst formations, limestone "mountains" which were left after water erosion when this area was once (many, many years ago) completely under water.  You'll see many more karst formations in my next  entry as we traveled down the LiJiang River.

Sunsets over Guilin.  Despite a bit of a foggy (translation: polluted) day....amazing!

After dinner, Nicole, her Mom, Linda and I took a taxi to the two famous pedestrian streets in Guilin and walked around for a little shopping.  Returning to the hotel around 10:00 pm we didn't take long to get to bed as we had an early start the next morning for our 4 hour river cruise down the river to Yangshou, where we would spend our second night.