There are just some things I do not understand in the world and this place is one of those things.  Somehow each day in Yangshuo is better than the last.  I have really enjoyed myself here and I may stop back here again on my way home.  Today I took a tour of Silver Cave.  If you have ever been to a cave then it is nothing new to you.  Caves are interesting, but the tourist caves all pretty much look the same.  That being said though I still enjoyed the tour (even if it was in Chinese).  Here...
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If there is such thing as nirvana (heaven on Earth) this might be it.  For the first time in my travels I actually thought I could live here for awhile.  In fact I even looked into jobs teaching English here and they seem to be very easy to get.  I guess I have something to think about now.  Anyways, I woke up early today and saw the sun rising over the Li River as I had breakfast.



After finishing breakfast I hopped on a scooter (driven by a hotel employee) and went to the bus station.  From t...
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I just can't say it enough.  I LOVE YANGSHUO.  This is the kind of place I could just stay at for a very long time.  It looks sort of tropical.  It is very relaxed and laid back.  The weather is nice (at least this time of the year).  The scenery is too die for.  I am finally being able to relax in China.  Shanghai was just stressful and boring.  Beijing was better, but still very busy.  Xi'an and Chengdu were just not very friendly and accessible for westerners.  Yangshuo is just perfect.  J...
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My thoughts last night about Yangshuo being a great place were right.  In fact it is soooooooooooo much better than I thought.  I absolutely love this place.  The river is beautiful.  The mountains are gorgeous.  The town is so cool.  It is a total tourist trap of a town, but I don't care I love it.  I am a tourist and I do feel trapped here by the beauty and uniqueness of the landscape.  So I guess they are doing their jobs around here.  I even enjoy being ripped off by the vendors who prete...

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It is about 1am Monday August 30th over here.  I just got into my hotel in Yangshuo, a little town outside of Guilin.  I couldn't see much on the 1.5 hour drive from the airport in Guilin to the hotel in Yangshuo because it was nighttime.  However, I could make out the shape and size of the Karst Mountains and all I can say is WOW!  This may be the most beautiful place I have ever been and I haven't even seen it in the daylight yet.  Also keep in mind that I used to live in Maui, Hawaii.  Tha...
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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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Here are a couple things I have noticed and thought abour while here in China.

1)  The cities are all huge.  They have tons of high rise buildings (apartment and business).  There are no single family homes from what I have seen.  Smallest I have seen is a 3 story condo type building.  I guess to accomodate everyone you can only go up.  Therefore the cities have tall buildings all throughout them.  Not just in one little area like we are used to in San Diego ro most other American cities.

2)  D...

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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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7am.  That was the time I was up and out the door today.  I was excited because I was on my way to see the Terracotta Army and Horses.  I wanted to get there early to make sure I made it because today was my last day in Xi'an and I the only reason I came to Xi'an was to see the Terracotta Warriors.  So I hopped on a local bus to the train station, which only cost $0.07, and boarded another bus.  The second bus only cost $1 for a 45 minute ride out of town to farm where the Terracotta Warriors...

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I got into Xi'an yesterday morning by overnight train (13 hours long).  When I got here it was cold, wet, and raining.  There were tons of people fighting for few taxis and I had no idea how to get to my hotel.  I was hating Xi'an already.  Actually I am just getting tired of big, crowded cities (even San Diego is too big for me at times).  Luckily I found a taxi and got to my hotel eventually and I wasn't too wet.  Although I found out later she overcharged me by 5 times the normal price, bu...
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I have been sick with a Chinese cold and in bed for the last 2 days and I needed to get out today.  48 hours of Chinese language television of which I have not understood one word so far.  At least they have a sports channel and with sports you don't need the commentors to understand what is going on.  So I have been watching the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore.  Well today I woke up feeling better and it was my last day to explore Beijing before moving on to Xi'an (where the Terracota ...
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Yesterday was the day.  The day I got to see the Great Wall of China.  I had to take a 1 hour train ride to Badaling, which is where the section of the wall is that I was going to see, and this time I got a seat.  It was interesting to hear the locals owww and awww as you passed other sections of the wall on the train.  You could tell that they really cherish the wall and it was an important destination for the locals to go see.  Once we got to Badaling I spent the next 3 hours walking the wa...

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I have made some interesting observations over the last week I have spent here in China.  First, I have never seen a female smoking cigarettes.  I have seen plenty of guys smoking, but no women.  I am sure there are some female smokers, but maybe there is an old double standard created by society that women don't smoke or at least in public.  Just to be clear I have not seen a single female smoker.  None at all.  I just thought this was weird that out of all the people I have seen not one fem...
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What a long, busy, tiring day I had today.  I went to see 3 places today.  I saw the inner parts of the Forbidden City, Jingshan Park, and the Beijing Zoo.  I don't know if I mentioned it before, but the weather is sooooooo much better here than in Shanghai.  Actually I am liking Beijing much more than Shanghai in all areas.  There is just so much more to see and do here in Beijing than Shanghai.  Anyways, I got up early today knowing I had a lot on the schedule today.  On my way to the subwa...
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Today I got up early with the desire to see the Great Wall of China.  I did my research so I knew exactly how to get there.  Should be easy right?  Well it would have been except I didn't expect the train to Badaling (which is where the section of the great wall I wanted to visit is located) was sold out for the day.  So now what?  Well luckily I had already figured out how to get to all the other places I wanted to see so I just chose a different destination and I was off.  One thing I have ...
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Sunday morning I took a train from Shanghai to Beijing.  The ride was about 10 hours and I had no seat reserved because all the seats were sold.  So that meant I was going to have to stand or sit on the floor for the entire 10 hour ride.  I was not looking forward to the trip, but it had to be done if I wanted to get to Beijing.  The first 2 hours were okay.  I sat on the floor between train cars and I actually had plenty of room to spread out.  I was thinking to myself this is not so bad.  I...

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Well today I accomplished nothing.  In fact I did nothing at all.  It was a lazy day here at the hostel.  I played around on my computer.  Checked email and stuff like that.  I took a nap.  Went to the store and bought a few supplies.  I figured I would take it easy today because tomorrow I have a 10 hour train ride to Beijing and I have no seat.  So I get to stand or sit on the ground for the entire ride.  I have talk to other people who have rode the train without a seat and they all say th...
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Today is August 13 and I went to the 1st National Congress of the Communist Party Of China (CPC).  It is a monument and museum of where they held there congress sessions.  I did not realize that China was still communist (sorry I don't follow politics very much).  I thought it was interesting to see what they had to say about the subject and from their point of view.  To them they felt it was the only way to get rid of foreign influences and unite all of China successfully.  I wasn't allowed ...

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Today I decided to see the Bund and the surrounding area.  On my way I stopped to get a steamed dumpling from a street vendor.  It was filled with green and brown mystery stuff.  I think it was vegetables and tofu.  It was okay.  So anyways, I believe the Bund is the oldest building used for official business in Shanghai.  It was built during the days when Shanghai was a French colony and it is still used today.



The Bund is located along side the Huangpu River.  There is a huge walkway along t...
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Hey all.  Today I got up and ran a few errands in the morning (store and money exchange).  I bought a delicious local apple for breakfast.  Anyways after the errands I starting wandering the streets looking for a place to buy a train ticket to Beijing (I am leaving for Beijing on Sunday).  I was lost and another nice local started to help me.  His name was Bill.  This guy works for an American company so that is how he learned English.  So Bill walked around with me for like 10/15 minutes try...
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So it is Thursday August 12th and I am in Shanghai.  I got here yesterday afternoon.  On the plane ride over I was already eating food I would never normally eat.  I am not a very adventurous eater, but I told myself I was going to try all kinds of local foods.  So on the plane to Shanghai I ate shrimp (I am not a seafood eater), mushrooms (I don't eat most vegetables nor fungus), some unidentified meat/seafood (I don't know what it was - it kind of looked like octopus, but it was very chewy)...
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