China!

So here is a copy of an email I sent to Suzy describing some of my Chinese adventures! It was such a great trip! I went with one of my good friends Marian, and I was there from April 16- May 3. We were flown over to watch my cousing Jen's children while she and her husband went on a cruise to Europe. Marian went to tend some of Jen's friend's children, as they too were going on the cruise.

They didn't end up going on the cruise because of the volcano, but it was a blessing in disguise as I was able to fly home along with Jen & Kevin to my Grandfather's funeral. That was a very sweet time. I then went back to China, and that is when the following adventures took place!

We were in Beijing for two nights, and saw Tienaman Square, The Forbidden City in one day and went on a "rickshaw" ride (a bike that a man peddles) throught the Hutong or old Chinese streets. That was really fun and cool. We walked probably 10 miles or more that day. The next day we went to the Great Wall and the Summer Palace. In the morning we had a driver & guide pick us up, Jenni helped us arrange everything. But the driver decided that we had to go and see some factories like a Jade factory and that it would be impossible to do that. So we called Jen & Kevin--they tried to work things out, but they were not cooperating. So, Kevin had us get out of the car and get in a taxi. He said, "Get out, get in a taxi, don't say anything to the other driver, given the phone to the taxi driver & I will negotiate a deal." That is what we did. Kevin spoke with the cab driver and then the van passed us. Jenni was on the other line with the guide people, and they said they would cooperate and take us where we wanted to go. So then we stopped the taxi, payed him a little bit & got back in the van. It was really a crazy start to the morning, and made it a little more exciting.

I hope that makes sense, but this trip has been full of too many exciting or unexpected things. First the volcano erupting, then Kevin and Jen having their cruise cancelled. Grandpa then passed away, and we were able to come home for that funeral. I think it was a blessing, and all part of the Plan...Heavenly Father is in the details.

Coming back to China, Marian lost her wallet, which had her bus ticket in it to Beijing, so then I had to return mine, lose about 20 yuan, and then we bought plane tickets. One of our flights to Guilin we had scheduled on the wrong day, so we had to change it, one of Marian's tickets was under the wrong passport number, so that was a little frustration. Its kind of funny the crazy things that happened, but we have also enjoyed our trip! We can look back and laugh at most of it!So after getting back in the van, we then went to the Great Wall of China. It was awesome!!! We probably hiked 3 miles at least on the Wall, and it was actually quite steep and a lot of stairs. It is incredible to think of how they built that! We rode an Alpine slide down from the wall on tobagans, and we got to the wall on a ski lift. The tobagan was a highlight! We had to stop at a factory, and then we went to the Summer palace. We hiked another 1.5 miles, and ran up the side of the mountain like little goats to get to the top of the palace. It sits on 716 acres, and is on a steep hill. That was another fun trip. At the end of that day we felt like we were going to have awesome calf muscles! We slept well that night, and got up early again, ate our big complimentary breakfast at the Courtyard by Marriott (I love Marriott!!) Went to the Temple of Heaven and then hailed a taxi to the Airport to fly to Guilin.Once their we expected our contact "Ping" to be at the airport, but I looked over and saw a Chinese man holding a sign that said, "Jan Bangerter". It was kind of fun, so we walked over to them, and he took us to Yangshuo which was about 1.5 hours away. It was a beautiful town in some outstanding mountains, but it was a tropical, hot area. We went to our quaint little hotel called the "Snow Lion Resort". It has a Swiss lodge feel to it. We there met our guide Ping, and her cousin Kenny who would be showing us around.That night we went on the river and watched the comerant birds catch fish & the little Chinaman with his bamboo hat catch them on the Li River. It was really neat, and we have some awesome pictures of everything! Then we tried to find a place to jump in the river, but we couldn't find a clean shore. The mountains were lit up for a night show and that was beautiful. A little side note.

May 1-May 3, all of the days that we have been traveling have been a HUGE Chinese holiday, so everywhere we went there have been thousands, and probably close to millions of people! It was crazy dodging in and out of crowds of people!Our last day was a Sunday, but there is no church here. We enjoyed nature and beauty around us, and had a little Sunday school on top of the Moon! Moon hill. We hiked that in the afternoon after he floated on a bamboo raft down the 'dragon' river. That was really fun...and we took some great pictures! There were little waterfall parts and people would be below them taking pictures and then try to sell you one. We said now to the first 4, but then on the 5th and 6th we each bought one. They are kinda fun. The hike to Moon hill was beautiful and hot! We also got in a great work out their, and are going to have awesome legs! It felt good to do all of that walking, hiking, toning this weekend. After that full day, we went back to Yangshuo had a nice dinner and then took a taxi to the airport. Oh, I forgot to tell you the best part!....we also rented scooters and drove them all around the countryside and saw rice patties, and other farmers, water buffalo, we weaved in and out of traffic, and all over the place through crowds and we survived! We had the real China experience doing that! Our Guilin trip activities only cost $50 each! We were impressed that we did all of that for so little. The exchange is 6.8 RMB or yuan to $1.

fabric market & one day's purchase

the Castle's beautiful community