Reunited!

Jeremy gets the prize for being our very first house guest in China!
Who's gonna be #2?

What a feast!

We came back recently from attending a 3-day banquet! The 4 hours it took us to get there was nothing compared to the 62 hour bus ride it took one friend to reach Hong Kong. It was really exciting to see so many friends there. We saw Zeta, who is doing well! It was quite a feast with dish after dish of well-prepared food. We even saw 162 go swimming. What a sight! We left HK satisfied and happy. Sorry, no photographs were allowed.

Until next time!

We had a great time!

Yangshuo - Day 4

Our last full day in Yangshuo was spent souvenier shopping on West Street! It was fun looking at all the stalls selling everything under the sun. We put our bargaining skills to the test! Jessie successfully bargained an item from 280RMB to 75RMB, (see picture of her holding up the bag of goods) and Phil got his item down to 120 RMB from 485 RMB. I think they did pretty well! The best part of the day was lunch! West Street is a pretty touristy area with lots of foreigners, so there were lots of Western restaurants to choose from. We ended up with what else? Pizza!!! It was really good with a thin, crispy crust and loads of cheese and toppings. Just as good as any pizza in...Phoenix! =) Of course, NYC pizza is the best.

Yangshuo - Day 3

Ever wonder what it feels like to be followed by the paparazzi? We found out in Xing Ping when we were followed for hours by middle-aged Chinese women. It all started when the bus pulled into this little town, and a crowd of 6-8 women gathered at the door. We thought they were all getting onto the bus. As soon as we stepped off the bus, they all swarmed around us with brochures in their hands, offering us a great price for a scenic boat ride up the Li River. We quickly told them we weren't interested and walked away. We thought that would be the end of it, but no! 4 of them started following us. Even after we told them not to follow us, they still trailed behind us. We ignored them and went about exploring the town. This is what being famous feels like! They even sat outside the cafe waiting for us when we stopped for drinks and lunch! The funniest part is when a full-blown shouting match erupted between the women and our waitress at the cafe. Turns out the women found out we had agreed to take the boat ride with the waitresses' brother. They accused her of stealing their business. At one point, a lady (she seemed like a person with authority) came to stop the argument and hear both sides. Then she walks over to us and tells us it is our decision who we want to take the boat ride with and the most important thing is to enjoy our lunch and eat in peace. At the end, the waitress told us to take the boat ride with one of the other women instead because she didn't want them to be mad at her. All this fighting for 150 RMB (about $23US), which was the cost for a 2 hour boat ride for all 3 of us! At the end, the boat ride was lovely and peaceful. The scenery was spectacular. A nice way to end a very interesting day!

I finally gave in....

...and bought an umbrella to sheild me from the blaring sun. I think this officially makes me a China girl.

Yangshuo - Day 2

The day started off with bacon, eggs and toast which we haven't had since we've been in China! Then it was off to explore on bikes. Our destination was the 1,400 year old Banyan Tree. We quickly got lost and ended up riding through open fields and greeting the smiling faces of the villagers. We eventually saw our ancient tree, but like most road trips, getting there was half the fun. Our ride back was quite memorable as well, but for different reasons. After 5 hours of biking we were tired, hot, sticky and looking forward to a cold shower. We were less than 10 minutes away from our hotel chugging up a small hill when a big truck carrying pig manure zooms past us. The stench nearly knocked me off my bike. As I was trying to ride my bike with one hand while clenching my nose with the other, a bigger truck comes roaring past us leaving a trail of black exhaust fumes in our path. At that point, Yangshuo wasn't quite looking so beautiful. However, a couple hours later while we were enjoying our dinner on the patio of our hotel watching the colors of the sky change as the sun went down, we were charmed by this riverside city once again.

Yangshuo - Day 1

Hi Everyone! After a 3-week hiatus, I'm back!! Since my last post, we've settled into our apartment, got internet connection and even taken a trip to Yangshuo!

We've heard from so many people what a beautiful place Yangshuo is, so we decided to check it out ourselves. We survived a 6 hour bus ride and a stop at a sketchy looking rest area selling questionable food and arrived in Yangshuo just as the sun was about to set. Beautiful it is, this little city surrounded by karst mountains and nestled along the Li River. After settling into our room we walked along a dirt path past squeaking pigs and women drawing water from a well to the riverside. There, we boarded a little raft to cross the river where all the restaurants and shops are located. We heard the local woman sharing the raft with us telling the man to charge us 10 Yuan! Fortunate for us, he was honest man and didn't listen to her and charged us the normal fare of 1 Yuan each. On the other side, we enjoyed a dinner of beer fish (pijiu yue) and stuffed tofu (dofu niang) and cold beer!! Delish!