I'm having a really rough China day.  I miss my friends.  I miss my family.  I miss my kitties.

...

I started to write a despairing letter about my homesickness, but then I skyped with two very close girlfriends in America and I feel much better.

So good to know that I love and am loved and I'm sure again that I am doing the right thing for me over here in the People's Republic.

And now I'm watching Amelie and eating hoodles with murshrams and galic (typos intentional - that's how the noodle shop spells this dish on their menu) that  my boyfriend picked up for me.  All is well with the world again (both sides of it)

xoxoxo

This was the dinner that I'm thankful for this year: Turkey brined for a day and a half, gravy, green bean casserole, spicy mac and cheese, brussel sprouts with bacon, pork stuffing, carrots, scalloped potatoes, twice baked potatoes, spinach dip, cheese and crackers, bread, salad, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, apple crumble, home-made whipped cream, home-made egg nog, an inordinate amount of wine and beer. Thirteen Americans (well, 12 Americans and one Brit) who needed nothing more than this splendidly enormous feast to take the sting out of living abroad during the holidays.  The alcohol consumption didn't hurt, either.

 This was truly a wonderful, and much needed, American holiday.  I'm thankful for my fantastic boyfriend who is here with me, my friends and family back home, and to have many new friends with whom to celebrate this American tradition in China.  Christmas is just around the corner!  I've already got my tree!

What are you thankful for?

Love,
Ali

After a few day stint in Yangshuo, we traveled to Guilin in order to be closer to the airport for our 8:00 am plane ride back to Shanghai.  From Guilin, we took a day trip into Ping'an, where they grow rice on terraces cut into the mountains.  My favorite part about this vacation (besides everything about it) was the number of  people who said "Hello" to us.  It's funny because Chinese people in cities where little English is spoken seem to want to speak English to you way more than they do in international cities like Shanghai.  All that most of them know how to say is "Hello" and "How are you?" but they use it as often as they can.  Also, many of them say "hello" with the exact same accent and intonation as the shopkeepers who use English to try to get your attention as a foreigner.  "Hello.  Scarf?"  "Hello.  Bamboo?" "Hello. WatchBagDVD?"

Alright, pictures - commence.

This was in the bridge we walked under to get from our hostel to the main part of Guilin.  There were several hand-carved stone pictures of Chinese villages.  So beautiful.

These are the sun and moon towers on the river.  The sun tower is on the left, moon on the right.

The sun and moon towers by night.

And here is a picture of some random people who asked us to take a picture with them in front of the sun and moon towers.  We asked them to take a picture of us first.  One guy volunteered to do it, and all of his friends whipped out their cell phones to take photos of us as well.  Then they asked if we would pose with them so their friend could take a photo with each of their cameras.

Here's Adam just outside one of the towers.  We took an unguided tour.  We think that rolling this wheel is good luck, but we're not sure because it was all in Chinese and it was an unguided tour.

Buddha statue inside the moon tower

A photo of the sun tower from the top of the moon tower

blurry photo of the ceiling of the moon tower.  My crappy camera would not focus with all of those lights!

A very jovial Buddha inside of the sun tower

A much more somber Buddha inside the sun tower with lots of qian (money)

Hand shrine to Buddha

Another shrine to Buddha filled with qian

This lady sat inside of the sun tower playing beautiful music on this harp-like instrument.

My favorite story to this day.

 As Adam and I strolled through the market streets of Guilin, three of these girls walked up to us and asked if we spoke English.  We said yes and they asked if they could speak to us for a while to practice.  As I spoke to them, I looked back and forth to make eye contact with each of them.  Every time I looked left, another kid was added.  When I looked right, another was added.  Eventually, I was encircled with 11-year-olds asking me what my favorite everything was. "What's your favorite vegetable?" (cucumbers) "What's your favorite animal?" (cats and cows) "What's your favorite music?" (Lady Gaga - they were very dejected when I told them that I don't like Justin Beiber) "What's your favorite country?" (China).  Then, I looked at Adam and he was surrounded in his own circle of 11-year-olds wanting to know his favorite everything.

We talked with these children for a while when their English teacher came up to take a photo of all of us.  The second the flash of the camera went off, each child jumped out of line to shout at us "Can I have a picture, just you and me?!"  So we spent the next 10 minutes taking pictures with each child individually.  It really was the sweetest thing that's ever happened to me.

MUCH smaller, less developed town than anything we've seen in China so far...

with horses that trot through the streets

and cows living in small barns between houses.

Unfortunately, it was a very foggy day so we couldn't see very far, but you can sort of make out the rice terraces in the background.

Many bananas

Look at that!  This was taken on Adam's and my walk through the mountains.  So incredible.

rice terraces

We came across this funny sign.  I love the English translations around here.

You can see the water that gathered on each ledge.  In the Spring, these mountains look like stained glass from above.

We stumbled on the side of twelve misty mountains.

Annnddd you can pay these nice gentleman about $3 and they will carry you our your children all around the mountains on a covered bamboo carriage.

When we came down from the mountains, we meandered along some paths in the village.

Adam walking up the stairway to Heaven.

 All in all, an epic journey.  Our next vacation is in the works for next weekend.  We're going to Suzhou for two nights.  Then, Christmas in Hong Kong and Chinese New Year in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.  I can't believe this is my life right now! :)

Happy travels!

Love,

 ...a month and a half ago.  I'm the worst at updating this site.  The problem is China and Google don't always get along, so oftentimes blogger.com is very, very  s  l  o  w.  And I have terrible patience for waiting for Internet sites to load, having grown up in the age of "life after dial-up."

Anyway, the People's Republic of China is kind enough to grant its citizens one national holiday per year.  It takes place in early October and is a lovely time to see 1,338,299,500 people trying to travel at the same time.  Living in a densely populated major city in China, we decided to explore a less populated (except during National Week, when somehow every city is equally populated) city in China.  We went to Yangshuo, the land of a zillion karst peaks after which the landscaping in Avatar was partially inspired.  We stayed in a hostel in Xingping, which is about 30 minutes outside of Yanghsuo.  You can catch a bus that goes from Xingping to Yangshuo everyday for about 7 kuai (just over $1).  I loved having the option of going to a more developed city or staying in Xingping for quiet, laid back adventures.  Our Xingping neighborhood bordered the Li River, several markets and small clothing tents, and a clubhouse with late night ping pong.

This is the dining area and brick oven of the hostel where we stayed in Xingping.  That brick oven created many delicious pizzas for us during the week.

more of the hostel

The stairs leading up to the sleeping quarters.  On the other side of that wall was a spiral staircase that was very cool, in theory.  Not so much in practice.

The stairs going up to a different section with more private rooms and private showers.  Adam and I stayed up there one night in the middle of our week (we had some booking issues).  We had a balcony that overlooked the neighborhood.

Here's my boyfriend and his eyebrow.  Karst peaks in the background.

Our neighborhood in Xingping

The bus we took from Xingping to Yanghsuo a few times during the week.  No more seats?  No worries, they'll throw in some stools and you can sit in the center aisle for the bumpy half hour ride over unpaved country roads.  Or, if you're like me, you can sit on a platform next to the driver about 3 feet from the windshield.  And when you get into town you will be moved to an aisle stool so the police don't stop you for illegally sitting your passengers on platforms next to the driver.

Bamboo?  Bamboo?  I heard this word so many times during National Week.  Bamboo rafting up the Li River is a huge tourist attraction in this town.

This man was our river rafter.  He stood on the back of our raft paddling us up the river.  That cigarette never left his mouth.

He even took us over a (two foot) waterfall!  And, on the other side of this dangerous escapade were tents where we could purchase a picture of us tackling said waterfall.  The picture tent after the first of three waterfalls sold photos for 50 kuai.  The second was only 30 (same quality).  If you think you would wait until the final waterfall where the price would drop even more, think again.  Once you reach your last option for proof of bamboo waterfalling, you will pay 80 kuai.  Very clever marketing scheme, indeed.

Karst peaks and daily bus trips.

Look at that!  Unbelievable!

taken from the Li River

taken by our bamboo rafter on the Li River

We met these lovely travelers at our hostel and they came with us on a day trip to Yanghsuo.  They also turned us into giants.  This is in front of a cave where there is a giant mud pool that we floated around in for a while before soaking in the natural hot springs inside of the cave.

Bike ride through the mountains

Hands down, the most delicious Chinese food I've had since arriving in China.  pork dumplings, garlic cucumbers, and fried chicken covered in real sweet and sour sauce and not a mix of ketchup and sour sauce like what they have in Shanghai.  Mmmmmm.

This is the entrance to the Impressions light show where 600+ people dressed in traditional tribal Chinese garb dance and perform on the Li River, all set to the most impressive light show I've ever seen.  After a brief introduction performance, the first act came on.  Their entrance was so dramatically beautiful that I was literally moved to tears.

So that was our trip to Yangshuo.  Toward the end of the week, we moved on to Guilin, where we stayed for two nights.  From there, we went to Ping'an, a village where they grow rice in terraces cut into the mountains.  Blog soon to come.

Happy travels, everyone!

Love,
Ali