Lin Yuan Mianyang

... budistes fent arts marcials o creuant barrancs sobre una corda metal.lica. Tot sigui per trencar una mica la rutina del viatge en tren i en autobus. El mes interessant de la visita es poder observar l'abast del terratremol que va sacsejar la zona ara fa cosa d'un any. Esllavissades i esvorancs que s'engoleixen carreteres, ponts caiguts, roques immenses que despreses per les tremolors acaben ...

... equivalent of the little 5/6 year old kids running around sliding on their knees on the polished floor with their mothers screaming at them for getting their knees dirty, at the wedding also. 2 little girls were extremely noticeable and adorable. They offered me some flowers and then wanted to pose for some pictures...and they really did pose! So cute. Reminded me of my cousin, Maddie, back home. The same evening we also got invited to go for a meal with Hilary and a friend ...

... camp not far from where we were and that we would walk past its entrance soon. *out comes my camera* I wasn't going to miss the chance to take pictures of the Chinese military without their permission now, was I? How could call my self a photographer? haha. Soon enough, we walked past the military camp entrance and a troop of soldiers started jogging out the entrance so I snapped, and snapped some more. They ran past me, and I snapped some more. I wasn't satisfied ...

... and gave it back to me for a small reward..........NEVER again! Not much more to say about Kunming really, other then that I really miss the bloody place! = [ I'll write more about my first week in Deyang in a couple of daysm ( or this evening if I get time ) and then I will be up to date on my time in China. Sorry if you have found this hard to read, but its more of an account for myself, then for you. Write Later Ray x

... In looking at this panda it really felt like it was a some guy in a panda suit practicing how to look like a real panda for a Halloween party or something. After seeing this panda we went to see a baby panda of maybe a couple of weeks that could have fit into the palm of your hand. Rachel fell in love with the little fella. After waiting what seemed forever, we were finally transported to the staging area to play with one-year old panda pups. The whole area didn't seem very ...

... them for shipment. Once we got them organized, village leaders came by and picked up several loads of varying numbers of tents. Hot work in +30C temperatures but we got them out of there and into people's hands in only a few hours while they had been sitting in the warehouse for over5 days. We are hoping our ~730 tents arrive by trainin Chengdu tomorrow.

June 7, 2008 After a lunch of spicy frog and tofu hot pot with an old friend, I gathered all of the necessary documents together and drove out to the dealership one last time. Another man was there to take me to the registration office, which was about an hour away. There was no rhyme or reason to the process we went through next. It took several hours to go from one desk to the next, getting papers stamped, pictures taken, and copies made. Several times ...

Last week, a friend of a friend made friends with a multimillionaire at the airport (millions of kuai, which is still quite a lot in China). He is 23, came from nothing, and now owns a baijiu factory (Chinese liquor) and several liquor stores. He invited us to come with him to his hometown to celebrate the national holiday.

... I received (one old lady almost fell over, she was so shocked), I guess not too many laowei make it up here. Langzhong seems to be famous for two things - a famous general, Zhang Fei, from the 3 Kingdoms period (they employed someone to dress up as him and stalk about town), and vinegar. Walking about, the smell of it assaults you once in a while, and there are several 'vinegar bars'. I didn't indulge. However, given that the entire place seems to shut down at 8, the only thing ...

... do because I still don't have my CC and ATM cards. I have tried some amazingly spicy food here! Sichuan food looks spicy but it does not smell that way. It has a sweet smell with a hint of spice but once you put it in your mouth, watch out! There are other times when my mouth was just a little hot, but I was sweating profusely. Apparently, the spice I had was on the mild side. I was told they tone down the spice to foreigners.