I finally get to say goodbye to the big cities of China and not too soon.  I am leaving for Yangshuo today.  Yangshuo is a small town about 1.5 hours outside of Guilin.  It is known for it beautiful landscape and outdoor activities.  In fact it is one of the most popular spots among tourists because of its beauty.  Yangshuo is situated along the Li River among the Karst Mountains.  It is suppose to be so beautiful there that the 20 Yuan bill here in China has a picture of the mountains on the...
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I just got back from the Chengdu Panda Research Breeding Center and it was amazing.  I saw tons of pandas, giant and lesser.  I woke up about 6:30am to make sure I got there early because that is when they feed the pandas and it is also when they are the most active.  Getting there was difficult at first.  I stopped like 3 taxis, but none of them spoke English at all.  They didn't even know what a "panda" was.  So I went back to the hotel to get them to write down where I wanted to go in Chin...
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Having just spent the last day traveling by miserable train I decided to take it easy today.  I needed to catch up on my sleep so I slept in and missed the cheap breakfast buffet.  So instead I had beef noodle soup for lunch.  It was okay.  It was noodles, beef, bok choi (I think), some other kind of vegetable I have never seen before, and a spicy broth.



I then headed back to my room and caught up on my hygiene (shaving and all that stuff).  I even got a workout in as I haven't been able to wo...

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Chinese trains SUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Just like the country, they are super crowded.  In fact they can overcrowded to the point where you have people standing up in every piece of free space including the right in front of your face.  This was my 3rd train trip in China so far and they all SUCKED.  I like traveling by train, but the crowds just make it uncomfortable.  I can't say each ride was worst than the last one, but they have all sucked for different reasons.  The first rid...
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