Home sweet home

Finally back!

I have to prepare for school and work, but I will be posting more pictures soon.

Can't wait to see you all again!

First set from China!

Got into the Beijing Airport and took a taxi to the hotel my prof. was staying at. Then we went straight to Tianjin where we spent two days at Nankai University (note: you can click on all the pics to enlarge them!):


My Room:


and I just about passed out when I saw that Nankai had a Lotus Garden!


Then we went shopping in the Culture District:


Got a wonderful hair washing and head massage (despite the barbers here not quite understanding the "diagonal stripe" concept... I Wonder what Chinese candy canes look like!)


For the computer nerds... yup that's a WoW Horde Calling card:


Korean BBQ =DDDD


Pop'n squat train toilets... no seats baby!


Then we went to Taishan and, despite the rest of my group being weenies, me and our guide climbed the mountain!

Apparently the mountain is Precippous =P


Food on the top of the mountain

The top half of what we walked (bottom half was covered by trees):


Then we went to Qufu to see Confucius' town!

His teaching temple:


And apparently they use their heads here:


Show and Dinner in Qufu:

Me and sign outside of the hotel we ate at:


Confucius' grave:


Grave Puppy!


Daoist Temple at the base of mount Taishan:

Daoist Bamboo Garden:


1500yr old Pine:


I leave for Shanghi tonight sooo More pics to come!

Climb Much?

So I leave for the Chinas in five days. I am excited to say the least.

Looking at climbing some nats while I'm in Guangzhou:

Baiyun Shan Routes" height="300" width="352">

Leading Routes (left to right)

No.	Height	Degree	Rating
1	12	90	5.9
2	17	85	5.11
3	18	85	5.10
4	18	85	5.10
5	18	85	5.11
6	19	85	5.10
7	20	85	5.9
8	18	80	5.8
9	17	90	5.12

Not to mention they have a bouldering Gym:

1. BT Club
   549 Bing Jiang Dong Rd
   Guangzhou City, China
   http://www.btclub.com.cn

Because of my finals I will have to miss the Beijing tours. No biggie though, I see westernized cities all the time =P

Dan, Dan, The China Man?

Well it seems as though my good friend Dan might be coming to China with me to teach English as a foreign language. It will be nice to have someone I know go with me and we can look out for each other, plus he's a damn cool guy and if he does go we're going to have a jolly good time.

ROCK!

-Big Ben out

Prepermaration

Thus begins the grand saga that is... (dun,dun,duuunnn)

Big Ben In Little China (echo,echo,echo)

I am planning to make this a photo blog, there will be food reviews, music reviews, and whatever-happens-to-perk-my-interest reviews.

More to come so stay tuned....heck, it's better than the mind-melting hypno-box (aka television)