Today we went to the south of Shanxi province. It was very beautiful, there were mountains everywhere. We were told we were going to a cave, so when we first got out of the bus we saw a bunch of steps and so we thought that this would lead to the cave. Well we climbed the steps, and by steps i don't jsut mean a few easy steps, I mean a wall of steps-200 at the least. So we finished climbing the steps and were like where's the cave? Then we saw a path leading up a hill so we followed that whcih was hard cause it was very tiring. So we reach the end of the trail and look up, and there's like a huge line of steps all along the mountain ridges. And everybody was starting to walk and I'm like oh is this the way to the cave? Ok but I thought cave's were underground or on floor level but definetely not on the top of a mountain. But I decided not to question anything and jsut followed everyone else. And I don't want to just complain so I will admit that it was an excellent workout- at least 20 minutes of full out stair climbing. And all this while looking at the beautiful mountain ridges what more could you ask for? Well I can't even explain these steps with words so I hope a picture will suffice, although this picture doesn't even capture all the steps. Let's just say by the time I got to the top I was proud of it. And the view was amazing! We were at the peak of a mountain and we could look down and see the town and this military training camp in the valley. And so I look around the top of the mountain and start to wonder where the cave is- until the news reaches me that we had only climbed the mountain for the view. I was pretty upset. Although I really did enjoy the workout. Well we came down a different way than we went up somehow and we went past a river and mini lake that we waded in which felt really refreshing. And the trail that we came out on winded around a river until we came into the town. At the town we hopped back into the bus and went to a Chinese medicine factory, but we only saw the museum. I can't say I understod alot but I did catch that there were many influential Chinese scientist who found new herbs that served as medicine. And then along the wall there were many real herbs plastered against the wall with their name next to it. It was pretty nifty.
After this we went to lunch. Lunch was interesting. I guess South Shanxi province likes spicy food, and the majority of the dishes were spicy. I guess I should have known since there was a hot pepper garden growing right in front of the restaurant. But I'm getting used to spicy food and I thought some of the dishes were very tasty. Yet again they gave us lots of coke, and we were in a seperate private eating room than everyone else so it was just the American students in one room. Well this one guy kept coming in with a teapot that he said had wine in it. There were tiny teaspoon size glasses on our tables that he poured the wine in and he encouraged us to drink it. Well the smell alone persuaded me to decide against it, but I can't even explain how hilarious this guy's exspression was when he was trying to get us to try it. They don't have a drinking age CHina so it seems like drinking is a more casual thing that they don't make a big deal about.
After lunch we went to the cave finally! We had to climb a whole bunch of steps that I thought would never end again but it was worth it. The cave was pretty much naturally air conditioned so it felt really nice. The view was stunning this cave was really awesome. It took about 30 minutes to go through and it was really fun. There was this one part called the labyrinth which had a bunch of steps and I'm guessing this meant it was a maze. Well it was interesting finding our way through it because we never knew if we were going the right way. But then we finally found the way out. I was sad to leave because I really liked the cave but then there were these Buddhist monks giving us incence and thenI turn around and see a huge golden Buddha against the wall. Well they told us to make a wish and then put our incence in this sand pit. It was interesting. Then we waited another 30 minutes for the CHinese students who had stayed with the tour guide and were still somehow in the cave listening to the guide tell them interesting things in Chinese. I really need to learn Chinese I'm missing out on alot.
Then we made the 2 hour ride back to Xian where we all went out to dinner. They call it hotpots what we did. We all got our own little pot full of boiling water and there were heat pads on the table for every seat. So the water poiled on the heat pad and then they came out with a bunch of stuff to put in our pots like raw meat, noodles, and different chinese vegetables. It was really fun and a new experience. I forgot to take a picture though I'm pretty upset.
Tomorrow I have school and then on tuesday night i found out that me and Lisa are sleeping over at little Kelly and Kiernan's home which I'm excited about since they never seem to have sleepovers
After this we went to lunch. Lunch was interesting. I guess South Shanxi province likes spicy food, and the majority of the dishes were spicy. I guess I should have known since there was a hot pepper garden growing right in front of the restaurant. But I'm getting used to spicy food and I thought some of the dishes were very tasty. Yet again they gave us lots of coke, and we were in a seperate private eating room than everyone else so it was just the American students in one room. Well this one guy kept coming in with a teapot that he said had wine in it. There were tiny teaspoon size glasses on our tables that he poured the wine in and he encouraged us to drink it. Well the smell alone persuaded me to decide against it, but I can't even explain how hilarious this guy's exspression was when he was trying to get us to try it. They don't have a drinking age CHina so it seems like drinking is a more casual thing that they don't make a big deal about.
After lunch we went to the cave finally! We had to climb a whole bunch of steps that I thought would never end again but it was worth it. The cave was pretty much naturally air conditioned so it felt really nice. The view was stunning this cave was really awesome. It took about 30 minutes to go through and it was really fun. There was this one part called the labyrinth which had a bunch of steps and I'm guessing this meant it was a maze. Well it was interesting finding our way through it because we never knew if we were going the right way. But then we finally found the way out. I was sad to leave because I really liked the cave but then there were these Buddhist monks giving us incence and thenI turn around and see a huge golden Buddha against the wall. Well they told us to make a wish and then put our incence in this sand pit. It was interesting. Then we waited another 30 minutes for the CHinese students who had stayed with the tour guide and were still somehow in the cave listening to the guide tell them interesting things in Chinese. I really need to learn Chinese I'm missing out on alot.
Then we made the 2 hour ride back to Xian where we all went out to dinner. They call it hotpots what we did. We all got our own little pot full of boiling water and there were heat pads on the table for every seat. So the water poiled on the heat pad and then they came out with a bunch of stuff to put in our pots like raw meat, noodles, and different chinese vegetables. It was really fun and a new experience. I forgot to take a picture though I'm pretty upset.
Tomorrow I have school and then on tuesday night i found out that me and Lisa are sleeping over at little Kelly and Kiernan's home which I'm excited about since they never seem to have sleepovers
1 comment:
Very interesting and informative posts... although you apparently forgot to take a picture of the most interesting part of your weekend (as far as I'm concerned): the hot pepper garden!
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