Peking
Happy birthday dad!
we stayed in xian for about 5 days. really nice city and good markets. then we caught a train to zhengzhou, which is close to the shaolin temple. the bathroom on the train was the worst i've seen yet! and our hotel in zhengzhou was pretty sketch, but at least it had heat. i didn't take my socks off cause the carpet was pretty nasty.
we caught a bus to the shaolin temple, which was quite the adventure. it should have only taken at the most 2 hours to get there, but apparently we caught the bus to scamville. the bus kept stopping at lesser important temples where we had to pay extra entrance fees, and of course we didn't really clue in that it wasn't shaolin. and no one spoke english, but they knew the word money! when we finally got to shaolin, we only had 1.5 hrs there (we had wanted to spend the whole day there).
apparently there are 7000 students of kung fu that attend shaolin temple. any day of the week you can see them practicing on the grounds, except the day we went - sunday. oh well. we caught a kung fu show that was pretty cool. one monk threw a needle through a glass panel and poppped a balloon. another monk was hit hard on the back while resting his neck on two spears. and man are those boys bendy! we also met a guy from denmark who was studying kung fu there for 25 days. he said they train 6 hours a day. but apparently he was used to it, he was studying fighting in brazil prior to this, and was planning on going to korea, japan, thailand and then back to denmark to learn various forms of fighting. he said he was a businessman, so maybe he is a professional fighter or something. he was definitely huge, probs 6'5. a wall o'meat. kevin and i didn't talk to him long though cause he started ranting about spiritual crap and completetly lost our interest. kinda a weirdo.
so then we decided to take the bus to beijing. we were tired of train station line-ups and the bus seemed easier. except there was a heavy snow storm on the way so the bus took 12 hours instead of 7. also the bus dropped us off in the middle of nowhere on the outskirts of beijing, with no enlish signs or speakers in sight. we were finally able to get a cab to take us to a metro station, though he probably ripped us off a little.
so far we really like beijing. it's one of the biggest cities in the world, 16 million peeps! we plan to stay here about 10 days before our last haul in shanghai. we are going to try and relax and take in the sights slowly.
the other day we went to the FORBIDDEN PALACE! it was madness. i was like a kid in a candy store. i don't know what else to say. i've walked where emporers have walked. i've seen where they've slept. and best of all, kevin and i put on costumes and posed as emporer and empress in the wedding chamber (fake, of course). awesome!
next will be the great wall. we just need to decide which section we want to see. then the summer palace. there's a lot to see in beijing. and it's nice that there is a metro to use again. i hate using the public buses, the drivers are insane. and so are the crowds.
i'm afraid that kevin and i will not be posting anymore pics. we've decided to make everyone wait to see the rest. that way you will have to visit with us. and they will be the best (forbidden city, great wall, etc.)! sorry.
how are you doing, leanne? are you about ready to pop?
congrats on the new house, sheri and corey!
sorry i missed you guys when i called, mom, kristina and justin. but it's probably good cause my card ran out anyway after i left the message.
love you all and see you soon!
we stayed in xian for about 5 days. really nice city and good markets. then we caught a train to zhengzhou, which is close to the shaolin temple. the bathroom on the train was the worst i've seen yet! and our hotel in zhengzhou was pretty sketch, but at least it had heat. i didn't take my socks off cause the carpet was pretty nasty.
we caught a bus to the shaolin temple, which was quite the adventure. it should have only taken at the most 2 hours to get there, but apparently we caught the bus to scamville. the bus kept stopping at lesser important temples where we had to pay extra entrance fees, and of course we didn't really clue in that it wasn't shaolin. and no one spoke english, but they knew the word money! when we finally got to shaolin, we only had 1.5 hrs there (we had wanted to spend the whole day there).
apparently there are 7000 students of kung fu that attend shaolin temple. any day of the week you can see them practicing on the grounds, except the day we went - sunday. oh well. we caught a kung fu show that was pretty cool. one monk threw a needle through a glass panel and poppped a balloon. another monk was hit hard on the back while resting his neck on two spears. and man are those boys bendy! we also met a guy from denmark who was studying kung fu there for 25 days. he said they train 6 hours a day. but apparently he was used to it, he was studying fighting in brazil prior to this, and was planning on going to korea, japan, thailand and then back to denmark to learn various forms of fighting. he said he was a businessman, so maybe he is a professional fighter or something. he was definitely huge, probs 6'5. a wall o'meat. kevin and i didn't talk to him long though cause he started ranting about spiritual crap and completetly lost our interest. kinda a weirdo.
so then we decided to take the bus to beijing. we were tired of train station line-ups and the bus seemed easier. except there was a heavy snow storm on the way so the bus took 12 hours instead of 7. also the bus dropped us off in the middle of nowhere on the outskirts of beijing, with no enlish signs or speakers in sight. we were finally able to get a cab to take us to a metro station, though he probably ripped us off a little.
so far we really like beijing. it's one of the biggest cities in the world, 16 million peeps! we plan to stay here about 10 days before our last haul in shanghai. we are going to try and relax and take in the sights slowly.
the other day we went to the FORBIDDEN PALACE! it was madness. i was like a kid in a candy store. i don't know what else to say. i've walked where emporers have walked. i've seen where they've slept. and best of all, kevin and i put on costumes and posed as emporer and empress in the wedding chamber (fake, of course). awesome!
next will be the great wall. we just need to decide which section we want to see. then the summer palace. there's a lot to see in beijing. and it's nice that there is a metro to use again. i hate using the public buses, the drivers are insane. and so are the crowds.
i'm afraid that kevin and i will not be posting anymore pics. we've decided to make everyone wait to see the rest. that way you will have to visit with us. and they will be the best (forbidden city, great wall, etc.)! sorry.
how are you doing, leanne? are you about ready to pop?
congrats on the new house, sheri and corey!
sorry i missed you guys when i called, mom, kristina and justin. but it's probably good cause my card ran out anyway after i left the message.
love you all and see you soon!