福建土楼

On my last day staying in this historical "living village" my curiosity over came me and as I looked up at these rocks in the hillsides.  So i spent the better part of the morning climbing around until I found one that I could get close enough to see what they were.  As my feet carried me closer their came a point at which they stopped on their own accord. It was at the same moment that I realized it was not just rock but someones final resting place.  I felt like an intruder and wanted to retreat without further disturbing the people whom I was staying with.

Random dried fruit picture.  I loved the fruit before they dried it, but once they let it sit outside in the sun and sprinkled salt on it I found them revolting.

a break between trains

Here is a snap shot of my sanity between the day long train rides, when ever I would have a few hour layover I would run out of the train station back pack and all down the streets of what ever city or town I was in, to release the tension of sitting still for 12 hours longer than the human body was ever meant to.

黄山

This was truly one of my favorite days spent in China.  I spent the entire 12 hours of the day climbing up the many stairs which outline the Mountain's frame. watching crowds of Chinese people walk in the other directions down the Mt. past me.  They would all smile at me or state and some would ask me "累不累?" ("are you tiered?").  At first I was telling the truth when I responded with "不累" (not tiered), by the afternoon the 30lb pack on my back and the 6 hours of hiking up the Mt. had turned my internal answer into hell yes, but I kept responding with 不累.  By the time the sun started setting I finally gave in and began telling people the truth "很累" (really tiered).  However, take a look at these pictures, it was worth it, every moment of it.  The sky around me was unbelievable, I felt like I was in a different world, filled with excitement at the newness of my environment. 

I felt like I was in the heavens...not away form them but part of them for once in my life

If you look closely at the fence you will see many locks

The locks are put their by lovers who make the journey up the Mt. together.  They place them on the chain with everyone else's as a symbol of their hope for everlasting love.

Also check out those stairs...they came up to my knee and over the edge was a 2000ft drop straight down.  I have never felt an adrenalin rush like that before.

By dusk I finally set up my tent on a platform in between two Mountains in hopes that no one would see me and inform me that I was not aloud to spend the night there, and in fact I would have to stay at one of the very expensive hotels on a near by Mt.  What I did not account for was how exceedingly cold it would be between the two mountains...so I pilled on everything fabric that I owned, towels  shirts, socks, and yes underwear ...not that this helped me sleep, because it was far too cold for that, but it helped me not freeze up their on the Mt.  As morning broke restless hours later I rose to the most powerful sunrise of my life...considering I no longer had any food to speak of and the night before my diner had been a few dried apricots and a peace of tofu...I was surprisingly content and happy.

Goodbyes

After staying with Val for over a week (and reading the entire lonely planet guide for China) I decided that I needed to get a move on-Somewhere it did not matter where, i just needed to move on...I had begun to attach to her and HuangShan (the city she lived in).  Which in the end just made it harder to leave.  From then on I realized that I could only stay places for a few days before I needed to leave.  This created a feeling of internal home, instead of placing that onto people or places.

I chose to go to the near by Mt. HuangShan and climb it before I left that side of the country behind me.  It is one of China's famous Mt. and used to be a retreat for tranquility away from all of the crowds ..however, today the tourist are packed onto the Mt. just like any city in China.

Bamboo Forest

And there it was, my heart was still racing from the fear of the unknown in the tunnel, but sure enough the bamboo forest was just to our right.

While we were inside the forest walking around we found someones dinner all locked up.  - I had an overwhelming urge to free her.

Tunnel on Through

By this time I had given up hope of ever finding the bamboo forests, Val on the other hand was still determined .  Alright then I said feeling like we where sure to miss our bus ride back into the city.  And with that we made our way through this tunnel on our rickety bicycles.   My thoughts are the same as your, it looks short-no big deal.  Well half way through when i thought I would be at the other end I looked around and could not see a thing, that is when a car pulled into the end of the tunnel.  Ok, get over, get over, please don't hit me, please don't me- few it had passed, and so had i through the tunnel.  Looking back the way I had come I knew that I would not want to go back through that retched tunnel, but it was the only way home.  

Val

My third couch surfing host Val.  I loved staying with her.  She reminded me so much of my own culture back home.  She is a hippie form Portland.  I had been deeply missing talking with people fully in my native tongue and having them easily understand me, and I think she felt similarly.  We had a great time talking and sharing China stories.  She was kind enough to take me to a traditional Chinese painting class which she had been getting from a professorial painter in exchange for teaching his grandson English.  We spent the afternoon learning how to hold the brush right and apply the proper amount of pressure in order to leave the proper amount of ink on the page.
That night I thought back to all of the traditional Chinese paintings that I had seen.  None of which I had liked, they all seemed simple and lacked beauty to my eyes.  I began talking to Val about this and immediately she pulled a video off her self which she popped into the TV and invited me to sit down with her and watch.  It was an hour documentary about traditional Chinese painting.  To my amazement after watching for one hour my perceptions of beauty had completely changed.  I looked at the paintings and saw how beautiful they were.  The documentary had explained the experience which Chinese painters convey.   How they will walk around a mt. all day, go home and then paint from memories with  the hopes that the viewer will feel what they felt up in those mt.

larger than life plant musicians

A really funky larger than life live musical garden which I stumbled upon one rainy afternoon in Shanghai

yes we are made out of plants

and someone has to trim us regularly so we keep our shape

Couch Surffing in Shanghai

My first couch surfing host.  He worked for the Chinese government in Shanghai.  We played guitar at night and he gave me the low down on Chinese culture seen through Americans eyes.  Unfortunately I was so jet lagged that I slept right through most of the time I spent with him....what a great guest I made.

traditional Chinese tea house

gorgeous old tea house

surrounded by tourist alleys packed with shops

filled with tons of Chinese nicknacks

上海 museum modern art

Honestly there was not much art here...but these few paintings I was deeply intrigued by.

They had a strong sense of moment and emotion which many of the other art pieces lacked. 

poker face

Speaking of the recreational activities of the elderly population, here is another common morning pass time in the cities, card games-usually involving gambling.

workout equipment for all

This is one of my favorite modern structure in Shanghai.  It is a public exercising machine, beautifully colored and made out of simple materials.  They were everywhere, mainly used by the elderly population (that is when they are not dancing in the streets or practicing taichi)

照片

After watching lots of Chinese people take pictures here, I finally felt comfortable doing so as well.  (only to find out later that we were not supposed to)

om

I decided to go visit one of old traditional Buddhist temples in Shanghai...a major tourist site and a place for Chines people to come and pray.  Imagine lighting whole crates of incense on fire and you start to get a sense of the magnitude of the aroma in this holy place.  Mix that with the ever present sound of monks chanting and the pleasant metallic gong reverberating through your soul.  It was for me a place so beautiful and enchanting I found my footsteps slowing in hopes that they could dwell in this place but a moment longer.

Fish and I

My first night in Shanghai I stayed with the
nicest family who owned fish whom  I
befriended.  I felt a connection with them, I
understood them more than anything
else in China so far.

clothes pins

Learning experience #1: See those little clothes pins which are used to hold up the clothes? well I did not, and found all of my clothes dispersed 7 stories below over trees and side walks.  This is a lesson that I had to learn a few times, for weeks later I was still climbing up peoples balconies at night trying desperately to get my underwear off of there railings.