China Part 2

Sorry in advance to all who read this.  I am not an excellent or exciting writer so I pretty much just telling what happened.

Day 7: Today was a Le River boat cruise.  AMAZING!!! It was a bit chilly but the sights were beautiful.  Nowhere else in the world do you see those type of mountains and a river cutting through them.  We ended at Yangshow a fishing village with tons of shopping.   We had about 2 hours to shop and we didn't even scratch the surface of all the stores.  That night we went to a show on the Li River.  It was directed by the same man who did the opening and closing ceremonies for the Olympics.  It had a very similar feel to it too.  The show was Incredible, the transitions were a bit long and we couldn't understand what anyone was saying but we all still enjoyed it.

Day 8: The next three days in China was a local holiday similar to Memorial day in America, the English translation is called Tomb Cleaning.  They go to their ancestors grave and light fireworks, burn money/things for their ancestors.  We were driving up to Yao Mountain and it was crazy how packed the streets were and the mountain side(where all are buried) I’m shocked we didn’t run anyone over as we went up.  Then you take a chair lift to the top of the mountain, well it was super cold and rainy but Kelsi and I decided to brave the elements and take an open chairlift to the top…..we were soaked and freezing by the end.  The top we could see nothing due to all the clouds L and they have an alpine slide type thing to go down and it was closed we were so sad! I totally would have gone even in the rain storm! We even tried to convince them to let us do it.  The way down Kelsi and I decided to take an enclosed chairlift down, not as fun but kept lots dryer!  Later we went to Elephant Trunk Hill, never really understood the significance of it and then to a kindergarten.  Because it was a holiday there was no school but many parents but their kids in art/calligraphy/kung fu/dance classes.  Man these kids were amazing their artistic ability as a 5 year old is 100 times better than mine is or ever will be! Later in the day we went to the Reed Flute Caves.  These are natural caves that the Chinese villagers use to hide in them during the war to be safe.  It was enormous.  I have also never seen so many completed columns inside too.  That night we went to dinner and it was kind of funny because there was a large group of French people that were quite drunk and singing loud and not really caring about those around them, then another group came and sad down and started yelling at these individuals as we are sitting in the tables between them not understanding a work of what they are yelling at each other.  Haha oh man us Americans in the middle of a French argument!

 All the tombs and fireworks going off on the mountain

 Our open chairlift up the mountain

The view from the top! Excellent eh?

 Kung-Fu Class

 Reed Flute Caves

Day 9: Today was a flight to Shenzhen and where we met up with Sheldon the man that Brent knows and set up the entire trip for us.  We went to Splendid china and Cultural center. We needed more time at the park.  It was a miniature version of all of China on one side of the park and then different villages’ cultures on the other half.  I only saw about 1/3 of what I wanted to but we attended 3 different shows while at the park, all very enjoyable just wish I had more time to see the rest of the park.

Day 10: Today we went to another park, called Window of the World.  This park was a smaller version of the entire world; you had Mt. Rushmore, New York, Taj Mahal, Pyramids, Big Ben, ect… It was fun to walk around and see all the sites of the world in a matter of hours.  It is also a very popular place for Chinese to come because most will never be able to leave the country so this is their only opportunity to see what is outside of China.  Afterword we went over to Hong Kong…well Kaloon.  This took a lot of walking, with all our luggage.  We walked to the boarder then walked across….of course going through customs and then getting a train to get down further into “Hong Kong”.  After we took a taxi to our hotel.  This was my first Taxi ride ever, not going to lie I was a little nervous and it was me Kelsi, and Aubrey in the car.  But we got there safe and sound and I rode it 2 other times also while over there!  That night we went to Ladies Market.  During the day this is a normal set of streets and at night they shut them down and turn it into a market.  The government did this because the unemployment rate was so high and they had a surplus of what was made at all the factories so they decide to sell the surplus and give all these people jobs.

 Us at "Niagara" Falls

 Everywhere all the locals would take pictures of us, sometimes they would ask and sometimes you would just look up and you saw like 3 cameras pointed at you taking your picture.  This is Kelsi an Aubrey being swarmed by Chinese Students all wanting their picture taken with them

Kelsi at the Ladies Market

Day 11: Today we made the journey to Hong Kong Island.  Here we used all public transportation.  We went over on a ferry and then a bus to a cable car station then up to Victoria’s Peak.  It was beautiful to see the Hong Kong harbor and all the HUGE building so close together.  The view was a little foggy but that is to be expected with a city.  We then went to the History Museum of Hong Kong. They have quite the history and it was nice to have Sheldon’s personal touch to it all too.  That night most went back to Ladies market but I’m not a shopper and had done more than enough of my fair share on this trip so I relaxed at the hotel on the roof at the pool, it was nice!

 Hong Kong Island

Victoria Peak

Day 12:  Another day of shopping….that is about what Hong Kong has to offer.  We went to the pearl 

market and afterword we went to the temple.  It was so cool to go to the temple, we had the opportunity to do a session and Sheldon has some names for the boys that were in the BC time!  After one of the workers took us up to the sealing rooms just so we could see all of the temple.  An interesting fact about the Hong Kong temple is that it serves over ½ the populations of the world! That night we went back to the Harbor we see the sky-line at night! BEAUTIFUL.

Temple

Harbor at night

Day 13: The flight home.  We did have a layover in LA that Brandon and Chelsea came and picked us up and went to dinner and the beach for a bit but mostly another long day of being on a plane.

China Part 1 (only 6 months later)

Well it all started with an early wakeup call on Saturday March 26^th , so we could to head to the airport, and  I said my goodbye’s to Michael, this will be the longest we ever of not seeing each other, and  we started our 24 hours journey to Beijing.  Yes you heard right we landed in Beijing almost exactly 24 hours from when we left Salt Lake.  One long day of airport/airplane food and sleeping in a sitting position.    We were greeted at the airport by Bruce and then taken to our hotel.  We had an early morning call everyday but it was worth it because our days were jam packed!

Day 1 in China:

Today started out by going to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City.  Bruce our tour guide made fun of Americans telling us the joke that in Tiananmen Square you can fit 1,000,000 Chinese people, 2,000,000 Japanese people, and 500,000 Americans.  Also another interesting fact he was telling us is that the majority…well mostly all Chinese citizens do not even know that riots even took place at Tiananmen Square as Brue put it why would we believe we never saw it or heard about it.  Crazy how much information we all have and what they don’t have.    Tiananmen Square was cool but nothing really to see.  There is Chairman Mao Zedong Mausoleum there but it was closed.  Across the street is the Forbidden City that was built in the 1400’s during the MING Dynasty and now is open to public to walk around.   Oh my it is HUGE!  We walked through so many squares to get to the most important square(where the thrones were) , and then behind that is all the living area and quarters MAN it just kept going!!!  Also something to note was you could tell the significance or how important a building was by how many animals were on the edge of the roof of the buildings.  After we headed to the Panda Zoo.  It was a normal zoo but has a Panda section that we went to.  It was fun to see a Panda Bear but zoo’s will never really be the same since Africa.  Also this was the first time we got to experience a bit of Chinease culture.  The parents will cut open a slit in their children’s pants and when they need to use the restroom they just spread their kids legs wide and let them use the bathroom.  Even if it was in the middle of the pathway at the zoo!  After we went to the Summer Palace.  This is like Forbidden City except this is where the emperor would go during the summer seasons.  It was beautiful on a lake, and has the longest outdoor covered corroder in the world. 

 Tiananmen Square

 Forbidden City....On the Emperors bridge

 The animals indicating how important a building was

 Summer Palace

 Day 2:

Today was a drive to the great wall, we went to the Badaling section. Along the way we stopped to see the Olympic venues the Birds Nest , Water Cube and the Olympic village.  Then continued to the wall. There are three sections that have been remodeled so you can climb up on the wall, the rest is all just a pile of rubble.  WOW the wall is incredible! It just goes up and down these mountains as far as you can see.  I don’t really know how to describe it, it just keeps going and amazing to think they built it on a mountain side.  The wall was amazing; we were able to climb up and went to the highest point in the Badaling section.    I know it’s on a mountain side I  somehow just wasn’t expecting it to be a difficult climb but it really was a climb, I can’t even imagine patrolling that on duty.  That night we went to the acrobatic show.  The show was entertaining to see different acrobats that the men and women can do. 

 Water cube and Birds Nest

 THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA

Day 3:

Today started out going to the Temple of Heaven.  It was amazing it has now turned into a local park.  The ‘elderly’ come here and sing, play chess, play games, and exercise.  They were great in letting us join them in the exercises of tai chi, and tai chi ball as well as aerobic exercises.  Also in the middle of the park is the Temple.  This is where the emperor would come and make a sacrifice to god.  He would first fast a week of food and women, then offer the blood sacrifice.  Afterword we went to Yonghe Palace, a Buddhist temple.  The temple was fascinating there were like 80 Buddahs is all and if you wanted to pray to their god they must pray to all 80 or it doesn’t  really count as a full worship.  After we took a tour of a Hutong.  These are the traditional houses in Beijing.  The door of your house signified your class in society.  Then behind the door is an open courtyard and on each side is a room that an entire family will share or 4 separate families.  Also the bathroom is not in the home, it’s a public one outside of the house that an entire neighborhood shares.  Our tour guide lives in a Hutong  and she made it apparent that she can’t believe that people are moving into apartments.  As she put it there is no more socializing and you don’t  know everyone around you, you’re not as close knit as a family.  I believe that its true I just can’t believe people want to live this way, again cultural differences.

 Temple of Heaven...This is where the Emperor would fast

Enjoying some aerobics in the park with locals.  The instructor was like a Richard Simmons type!

Day 4:

Today we flew to Xi’an.  When there we first went  to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda.  A large Buddust Pagoda(temple).  Afterword we headed to the Dumpling Feast.  Lets just say a 18 meal course meal of dumplings.  Definitely wasn’t the best meal, probably the worst that we’ve had.  And easy to say I don’t want to eat dumplings really again! Hahah. Then we drove up to the hotel and above the front door of the hotel is a gigantic  banner saying “Warmly Welcome Elder Brent Bishop and the United States Delegation” haha yup we are the united states delegation!

 The Pagoda

The displays inside the Hotel....I don't have the picture of the banner on my computer

Day 5:

Today was the Terracotta Warriors, Middle School, and Xian wall. We first went to a store/factory to see how they are making the souvenir Terracotta status today  and then we went to the dig sites.  There are 3 in total.  And all are still be excavated to find new ones.  It was crazy to see them all and to see how small the pieces are that they dig up.  Interesting fact….all the warriors were painted but when they excavated ones that are painted the paint deteriorates in a matter of days so now if they find them they rebury them and are waiting for technology to advance so we can preserve the paint.  After we went to a Middle School, I felt like a celebrity or something they had a huge  welcome banner (the same saying that was on the hotel) and then there were photographers and the huge video cameras everywhere.  The English class was there to welcome us and then they would grab one of us and took us around the school and talked to us and asked questions back and forth.   It was crazy what they go through each day, many have given up all hobbies because there is no time.  They go to school then go home and do hours of homework, then sleep for a few hours and repeat.  Man just wish some of my students and all students appreciated what they have and the freedoms they are given! Later in the day we went to the Wall of Xian.  It is pretty much just a city wall that was used more in times of war.  You can rent bikes and bike around the wall but because it was raining they wouldn’t let us L  That night we went to the Tang Dynasty Culture Show.  The show was excellent, and the costumes were amazing, at the end a banner dropped from the ceiling saying “Warmly welcome Elder Brent Bishop and the United States Delegation”  We then got to go up on the stage a take a picture with one of the dancers!!! WAY COOL!

 Pit 1 of the Terracotta Warriors

 The wall of Xian

 The sign at the Middle/High School

 The show!

Day 6: Today we went to a local village and ate in their homes.  It was a pretty nice house and neighborhood and the food was excellent.  It was also the first time I HAD to use chopsticks because forks were not available.  Across the street from this home was an art gallery of a pretty famous artist in China.  We were able to meet her and she even taught us how to make a paper-cut(type of art) of the Chinese symbol for happiness.  Then we went to the airport.  Man that was an adventure.  We had a delayed flight many gate changes and confusion between the languages of what was actually going on.  Luckily about 3 hours after our originally departure time we boarded the plane to Guilin.

Aubrey, Kelsi, and I with the famous Artist. She drew that picture as we were all watching!

Floating the Logan River

While Michael and i were babysitting the twins we had fun throwing rocks into the river by our house and that sparked the idea in our head how fun it would be to float down the river.  So we mentioned the idea to Dan and LJ and then we planned it.  We choose a day and it just so happened to be the only overcast and colder day of the week but that didn't stop us.  The water was so dang cold but we still stuck it out. Oh man we had so much fun, laughing pretty much the whole way as people flipped out of the tubes and anticipation of the waves we could hear and the many comments by people along the banks of the river who watched us float down.  We also had many casualties along the way....Michael lost one of his favorite hats.....LJ lost one of Dan's shoes......I lost one of my flip-flops but we were able to retrieve it.......Dan lost his shirt, but again we were able to retrieve it.....and MY tube popped.  The majority of the river is super shallow, however I just so happen to pop my tube in a strong current and a part where you cannot touch.  I was swept away struggling to get up for air and getting quick breaths with a little bit of water as LJ is trying to catch up to me and Michael and Dan were to far away to really do anything but watch.  Luckily we hit shallow water not to far after I popped and was able to stand up and cough up a lot of the water.  We were also near the end and next to the trail.  So I jumped out and walked to the car while the rest floated down.  Needless to say I have a much better appreciation of the power of a river!  We all still had loads of fun but were severely cold as we waited for our tubes to loose it's air.  We then all came to our place drank hot chocolate and got into sweats and blankets trying to warm up. (picture below).

We had so much fun(really) that we wanted to do it again....this time we knew what to expect and were more prepared with the right shoes, with sticks and with life jackets. We also had some of our friends come us this weekend (Bryan and Lacey) so we decided to battle the river once again.  This time the river was higher(weird) and thus we went quite a bit faster(fun)   We had no casualties and only one person was dunked  even thought it should have been two...still don't know how Dan stayed on his tube...anyway we were still cold but not nearly as bad because the sun was out and we didn't get as wet as the first time.

We are planning on doing it again soon....if anyone wants to join....we might try a new river though...the anticipation of not knowing what is ahead adds quite a bit of excitement during the float :)

CAMPING TRIP

Michael and I both claim to love camping....however we have been now twice since we have known each other. We still both claim to love it(and we really do), but it just never seems to happen.  The weekend of the BYU-Utah game Michael, LJ, Dan, Kaitlyn, and a few friends decided to go camping.  It was a blast....minus the fact that it rained, no more like poured, from 11:00 to 8:00.  Needless to say we didn't get much sleep.  Then Michael's dad got us tickets to the game so we drove down to Provo to watch our team play terrible and get slaughtered.  It's pretty sad to say that the best part of the game was the BYU marching band half-time show.  All of you that watched the game on TV or listened to it on the radio I'm so sad that you missed it, those there and saw it know exactly what I am talking about.  :) We left the game early because we were sick of the turnovers and still had a 100+ mile drive ahead of us to get back to Logan.  We still got back to Logan at 1:30 a.m. so I am glad we left early! A few pictures of the weekend follow:

San Diego....Labor Day

Michael and I wanted to make another trip to visit Brandon and Chelsea in San Diego. Since Memorial Day I didn't have work and Michael has no school we thought that would be a perfect time to see them. Our original plan was to leave Wednesday night and come home Monday night. Due to some class conflict we couldn't leave til Thursday night and therefore couldn't go to six flags :( A bummer but we still had a good time. We drove all through the night and arrived around 3:00 am in California where Brandon and Chelsea had beds awaiting us. The next day we slept in and then went to the beach. Michael brought this giant rubber band and shot Brandon and Dan, I think he hit LJ once to because she got in the cross fires.

Playing 500 on the beach

And lots of boogie-boarding. The waves were quite large so they had lots of fun riding them in

We then went to this cliff and watched these glider things(in the background) take off.  It was crazy they just run and step off the cliff and then the wind picks them up and they just glide around.

The next day the boys were enthralled in all the football games so the girls decided to get a pedicure.  We thought it would be fun to ride bikes/scooter over there.  So this is our line riding through the parking lot.

The boys then decide they wanted to go golfing....yup you heard right Michael went golfing.  He had a blast. I guess the course was 18 holes but the holes were all about 70-100 yards long.  Of course we have no pictures because it was just the boys there!

We then met up down at the pier and walked around.  Everything was super busy due to it being a holiday weekend but we enjoyed walking around.  Then we stopped at statue depicting the famous picture taken in time square outside and aircraft carrier museum .

Brandon and Chelsea

LJ and Dan

Michael and I

Aubrey and LJ (LJ is wearing Brandon's hat and Dan's shoes hahah)

We then went to Coronado island and rented a 6 man bike.  Yes there are 7 of us...we are just cool like that.  

Sunday evening we enjoyed a walk around the neighborhood 

All in all it was an amazing trip.  Thank you Brandon and Chelsea for letting us come crash you place for a weekend!