Ni Hao Lai Zi Zhong Guo (Hi from China)

Hey Everyone! Well im in China and having fun. I've been here for 9 days and have 8 more to go. I have been in Beijing for 4 days, then down to Macau, Hong Kong, and a city called Guangzho (not sure on that spelling). Hong Kong was huge! It was a lot of fun. It was nice to hear proper English!

Macau was fun, I did a little gambling. The Portuguese influence was really strong and quite cool to experience while still being in China.

We went to the Great Wall (at Balading) and that was impressive. It is the same part of the wall that all the US Presidents go to (but Clinton chose to go to another section of the wall). We also saw the Forbidden City. That was huge. However big you think the Forbidden City is, multiply it by 10 and that is how big it is. It's vast!

Oh and i saw Chairman Mao's body. Looks good for a guy who has been dead for almost 30 years.

It has been really interesting to try to understand just how old the culture is here. We went to a relative of Yuning's in a small city called Baoding and there was a 7 year old girl playing a traditional Chinese instrument. It is the size of a long thin table but is played sitting down plucking strings like a guitar. They told me that the instrument design was over 1,200 years old. Not many people knew of what is now Minnesota 1,200 years ago!

We spent Christmas in Hong Kong. That was fun. We went out to the bars. It did have a good Christmas feeling. There were people singing carols, decorated trees and other seasonal things around. Hong Kong is really a multicultural city. People of all races, creeds and religions all seem to get a long there. What I started to be surprised about was how everywhere we went during the Christmas season, songs were playing...for example in the train station. The songs coming from the speakers were pretty religious in nature, yet no one was complaining that there were no Kwanza or Jewish songs. It seemed like peoeple didnt care, the songs were festive and that was all that mattered. I have read a lot about the decreasing seasonal spirit in America and I hope it isn't true. I really liked how extra friendly people seemed to be around the holiday season. Now I read about the Seattle airport and how they had to take down 10 Christmas trees because a rabbi complained. In Hong Kong, it was a season to be happy, regardless of who's "imaginary friend" you chose to worship. There were more than 10 people who randomly wished me and Yuning "Merry Christmas". That was great.

Sorry for that rant on the lack of a festive spirit!

Now to the FOOD! Here is what i have eaten: Ox Tail, Chicken's feet, Pig's feet, Cow Stomach, Duck, and Goose eggs. The food really is the staple of the culture. When we went to the Forbidden Palace, there is a sign above a room that says "Food is our God" and they mean it. I have put on 3Kg since being here for 9 days! AHHH. But overall it's good food.

Well, i hope everyone had a Merry Christmas (and Happy Kwanza) and hope you have a great New Year!