China!
I just got back from 3 weeks in China. I was visiting my mom, who is the dean of our sister college! I took a million photos, but these are some of my faves. This was my second trip to Xian, China...I spent a month there over xmas '07! This post will be photo heavy, FYI before you click.
This is the Beijing Airport! It's been expanded since the Olympics, and isn't at all what I remember. The ceilings were so high! I loved the decorations for Chinese New Years...everything was so colorful and grand!
I stayed mainly in Xian, where my mother lives. We had a great time shopping, dining, and exploring. The following is a picture of my favorite meal, crispy skin duck! The chef comes table side to carve the duck personally, slicing a platter of medallions of skin, then of meat. Combine that with a crepe, hoisin sauce, spring onion, radish and cuc, and you've got the best food in the world! (imho)
We also had a chance to visit Art Street while in Xian. It's an entire sector is hand made ceramics, calligraphy, instruments, and carved jade! And much more. :) We found some amazing antiques and had a great time looking around. There were little wooden cages with one or two song birds hanging almost everywhere, that was kinda my fave part!
I also had some more modern experiences while in Xian. My friends Adam and Alice took me out for a girls night to KTV! The K stands for Karaoke. XD I can't sing worth a damn, but we had a great time trying...especially when they'd try english, and I'd try chinese!
One of our last events was a feast at Alice's family's house. They had us over or a TON of home made dishes! I don't know the exact ingredients or preparations, due to rough translations, but the picture says it all. Top row, starting on the left: Green beans and mushrooms, marinated celery and dried shrimp, noodles and frilly black fungus! Middle row: something a lot like thin sliced preserved corned beef, snow peas and peanuts, thin noodles and greens, and thick slices of wheat noodle! Bottom row: Pork innards, broccoli and garlic, and lotus root with ginger!
We also had a chance to visit Guilin while in China, and the nearby scenic town of Yangshuo. Guilin was much smaller than Xian, but still intimidating for a small town girl. Even the intersections were packed!
Mom and I had a chance to visit Seven Star Park while in Guilin, which was gorgeous. The lanterns from Chinese New Years were still up, and made for a great picture with the flowering trees in the back ground.
After Guilin we went to Yangshuo, where we stayed at the Yangshuo Mountain Retreat. It was GORGEOUS. The view from our balcony overlooked the Karst Mountains, and the scenery at sunset was just amazing.
The coolest thing about Yangshuo was our chance to take an authentic Chinese cooking class. Before we began, we went to the 'wet mart' and shopped for ingredients. This little boy was looking so longfully at the roasted meats that I just had to take a picture!
Part of our view from the resort was of the lovely Yulong River. All day bamboo rafts with tourists would float by, totally silent aside from the cicadas! We didn't take the rafting tour, instead we watched it go by about 100 times. Mom and I loved the stands of bamboo in the background that stood up like plumage.
The last view we had of Yangshuo was West Street. This was the tourist strip with lots of local craft stores and cute restaurants! Thankfully, it was one of the only places we didn't get stared at for being foreigners :) I bought hand painted glass bottles (the insides were painted, you know what I mean), scarves, hair sticks, and books!
Of course, I have a million more pictures, but I hope these were cool enough. I'm not sure if I'll ever go back, it's not the most comfortable country in the world, but I'm definitely glad I went back for this trip. Xie xie!
This is the Beijing Airport! It's been expanded since the Olympics, and isn't at all what I remember. The ceilings were so high! I loved the decorations for Chinese New Years...everything was so colorful and grand!
I stayed mainly in Xian, where my mother lives. We had a great time shopping, dining, and exploring. The following is a picture of my favorite meal, crispy skin duck! The chef comes table side to carve the duck personally, slicing a platter of medallions of skin, then of meat. Combine that with a crepe, hoisin sauce, spring onion, radish and cuc, and you've got the best food in the world! (imho)
We also had a chance to visit Art Street while in Xian. It's an entire sector is hand made ceramics, calligraphy, instruments, and carved jade! And much more. :) We found some amazing antiques and had a great time looking around. There were little wooden cages with one or two song birds hanging almost everywhere, that was kinda my fave part!
I also had some more modern experiences while in Xian. My friends Adam and Alice took me out for a girls night to KTV! The K stands for Karaoke. XD I can't sing worth a damn, but we had a great time trying...especially when they'd try english, and I'd try chinese!
One of our last events was a feast at Alice's family's house. They had us over or a TON of home made dishes! I don't know the exact ingredients or preparations, due to rough translations, but the picture says it all. Top row, starting on the left: Green beans and mushrooms, marinated celery and dried shrimp, noodles and frilly black fungus! Middle row: something a lot like thin sliced preserved corned beef, snow peas and peanuts, thin noodles and greens, and thick slices of wheat noodle! Bottom row: Pork innards, broccoli and garlic, and lotus root with ginger!
We also had a chance to visit Guilin while in China, and the nearby scenic town of Yangshuo. Guilin was much smaller than Xian, but still intimidating for a small town girl. Even the intersections were packed!
Mom and I had a chance to visit Seven Star Park while in Guilin, which was gorgeous. The lanterns from Chinese New Years were still up, and made for a great picture with the flowering trees in the back ground.
After Guilin we went to Yangshuo, where we stayed at the Yangshuo Mountain Retreat. It was GORGEOUS. The view from our balcony overlooked the Karst Mountains, and the scenery at sunset was just amazing.
The coolest thing about Yangshuo was our chance to take an authentic Chinese cooking class. Before we began, we went to the 'wet mart' and shopped for ingredients. This little boy was looking so longfully at the roasted meats that I just had to take a picture!
Part of our view from the resort was of the lovely Yulong River. All day bamboo rafts with tourists would float by, totally silent aside from the cicadas! We didn't take the rafting tour, instead we watched it go by about 100 times. Mom and I loved the stands of bamboo in the background that stood up like plumage.
The last view we had of Yangshuo was West Street. This was the tourist strip with lots of local craft stores and cute restaurants! Thankfully, it was one of the only places we didn't get stared at for being foreigners :) I bought hand painted glass bottles (the insides were painted, you know what I mean), scarves, hair sticks, and books!
Of course, I have a million more pictures, but I hope these were cool enough. I'm not sure if I'll ever go back, it's not the most comfortable country in the world, but I'm definitely glad I went back for this trip. Xie xie!