Sunday, November 16, 2008

the school trip to Huang Shan (Yellow Mountain)

Had to take the opportunity to travel again with our school. And now we know why! We always have so much stuff that we really need the other people going to help us carry our stuff!
These pictures are not in order, but probably nobody cares about that except me so I'll just comment on each as usual.

Here's Eli driving the boat we took on the last day. The boat stopped at two tourist attractions but we (our family) did not get off the boat to see the first one because it was raining too hard.

We thought we would just wait it out and enjoy the peace and quiet under the roof of the second floor of the boat. It wasn't long when Eli informed us that he had to pee. Since we were on the second floor we weren't willing to go downstairs (where the squattie was) because then we would have to get wet by the rain, so I just led Eli to the edge of the boat and told him to pee off the edge into the water below. Just as he was almost done, however, a man on the first floor stuck his head out directly below us and was emptying a bucket of something into the water. Eli quite accidentally peed on the man's head and back! I yelled "Xiao xin! (watch out!)" but it was too late and I just whisked Eli out of sight and pulled up his pants. I did not find out if the man realized what had happened or not! And I was thankful for the rain!

Some beautiful misty views as we cruised along the river.

We were very happy to have two other kids along for the school trip. This made it all the more enjoyable for Eli and Dana. Here Dana is getting picked up by her friend James. She didn't mind at all.

On the third day we went to a place with beautiful trees, streams, waterfalls and many suspension bridges. I think this may have been my favourite place because of its natural beauty. It was a good reminder that not all of China is concrete, crowded or polluted.

Scott couldn't resist taking off his socks and shoes and wading in the stream. Well, the stream used to not be polluted!

I thought my dad would enjoy this sign, there are so many signs like this: not quite right, but the meaning is clear.

This one was taken on the top of Yellow Mountain on the second day of our travels. We were so blessed to have good weather because 200 days of the year it is raining on Yellow Mountain. So we were able to have good views and not get too cold.

We borrowed another backpack so we could safely stash both kids while on the mountain. Some spots were just plain too dangerous to let little slugs run around.

Sometimes on our hike atop Yellow Mountain we would find ourselves in a cloud. It really gave a "crouching tiger, hidden dragon" kind of feel to our time. Definitely needed my brother Albert around to do some bamboo grove ninja-leaping moves to complete the effect.

Dana wasn't always impressed that she had to stay in the backpack, but she coped by eventuallly napping.
Where we were (Anhui Province), is known for its strange pine trees. Here's a picture of one.


Esther, Eli and James climbed their own little mountain in a park on our first day of travels. These three loved to chase each other and race around. Scott and I owe it to them the fact that Eli went to bed quickly and slept soundly each night.

These big signs were each dedicated to a different person for specific virtues. The highlight here for Eli? Eating fresh sugar cane. So much lore and history was lost on me because when travelling with young kids my attention span and interests by necessity just end up matching theirs. So I wish I could tell you more about this place, but I was probably busy talking to Eli, or changing Dana when the guide was talking.

At this village, there were old-style houses of the wealthy that we could tour. Quite intricate and well-preserved carvings!

All the people on the edge of the lake are artists, mostly doing watercolour paintings. Seems like an ideal place to practice.

Check out this man's artwork! It's too good to call it a "sketch" I think!
We really enjoyed our trip and afterwards got to go to Nanjing to visit our friends there for three days and two nights. I was really excited to use the serviced apartment's washer (and dryer!) because Eli was in serious need of clean clothes!

Unfortunately our camera's batteries were all used up so we don't have any pictures of our time there but Eli really enjoyed playing with our friend: "Let's play ball Mr. David!" he would say, over and over again!

And of course, it's always good to come home isn't it? We feel pretty satisfied with ourselves, having survived 3 overnight trips on the train with 2 kids under 4, not too shabby!

turning the big 30!

As of the end of September, I can report that I've officially survived my twenties! And Scott surprised me with wonderful birthday weekend plans to boot!

On Saturday, Scott organized a babysitter for the whole day, hired a driver to drive us to an unrestored section (Jiankou) of the Great Wall near Beijing. In our travel book it said that it was "for serious hikers only" and it lived up to that. Here are some pictures to give you some impressions of our time.

I really liked the symbolism of this shot, such contrast.

At the highest point of our hike there was a man selling firecrackers. A lot of people like to set them off in China, anytime, anywhere for many reasons. Why not at the highest point of a particular section of the Great Wall?

Here was one of the more precarious parts of our hike, if you look closely, you may be able to tell that the bottom of the ladder is no longer fixed to anything, so it was a bit shaky, but we knew it was sound because we had just passed someone hiking in the other direction.

It is a lot more exciting to hike the unrestored sections of the Great Wall. Sometimes you have to figure out how to get from A to B. Here we had to come down through an opening in the top of this tower ad then crawl through the space where Scott is crouching.

And it was nice and steep, good exercise, excellent weather, beautiful views, cleaner air. I really couldn't have asked for a more fun and full day.

This was at the start of the Great Wall portion of our hike, although we needed to hike about an hour and a half to reach this point. My brother Albert will have to critique my technique in this picture, I know something is definitely lacking!

This is on the way up towards the Wall. Apparently someone sleeps here sometimes!

Here is a praying mantis I almost stepped on. Quite a good size, about the length of my middle finger. Very camouflaged, except the green underside caught my eye against the rock background.

And just beyond this sign, quite a well-travelled trail to the Great Wall.

Where our driver dropped us off, the village had springs of water in which they farmed fish (red snappers I believe). Our driver said the eggs for these fish were imported which explained why they were going for quite a hefty price.
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We ended up at a restored section of the Wall called Mutianyu at about 1830, and then rested our jello legs during the drive into Beijing for something to eat. We went out for dinner at a Tex-Mex Restaurant with a real down home-like family atmosphere, complete with wandering toddlers and friendly servers. They served good-size portions and we were glad because we were ravenous! We got home at about 2300, but what an awesome day it was!
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On Sunday, we relaxed, played with the kids and later went over to a friend's place for what I thought was going to be a low-key dinner with friends. Well, it turned out to be a surprise party! Lots of people were there including my Chinese teachers and some neighbours! Scott really outdid himself, even organizing a big game of Pictionary, dividing the group into teams and using a massive whiteboard to draw on. You just have to have games and/or karaoke at a party like this. It was so much fun, I think I'll turn thirty more often!
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