Yinyuan Hotel Taiyuan

... insisted that everyone take off their shoes on entry! So we lay on our sides enveloped in smelly feet odour! Pleasant! In fairness, it was cosy and warm though! The journey passed uneventfully. A toilet stop, a cheesy kung fu movie and some snoring..... Until....

The Bus pulled up to the side of the road, a few got out. Then the bus driver decided he'd have a nap. He had a ciggarette, climbed into one of the bunks and fell asleep. For about five hours ...

Z Wutaishanu jsme vyjeli autobusem v 8:10. Cesta do Taiyuanu trvala asi 4 hodiny, vetsina osazenstva ji prospalo - i kdyz personal autobusu se to snazil narusit poustenim nejake cinske superstar neuveritelne nahlas.

Jedna zastavka na benzinove pumpe. Zacina se zdat, ze toalety na benzinkach budou hlavnimi adepty na cenu "Zachod Julie Hubenakove". Hlavne devcata si porad nemuzou zvyknout na vykonavani potreby pred zraky ostatnich Cinanek ve fronte. O zapachu ani nemluve ...

... all these problems. Through internet, Native Chinese teachers can offer professional Chinese for Children and propose useful advice on how to learn Chinese. What's more, online learning also offers convenience and flexibility.

... a drink.

After we got off the flight in Taiyuan, Ms. Niu was there to meet us. You'll notice there aren't a lot of picture of us in this entry and that is because when we met her she had brought a professional photographer who was going to take pictures of us. I have to say it takes a really long time to do anything when you have to stop every 5 minutes to get a picture taken of you (by yourself usually) in front of ...

We get dropped off at the Qingxu service station at 2:30am. There's a 24hr convenient store, we find a row of plastic seats and tries to make it until the sun comes up. We have been on the road nonstop for 18 hours, have to wait 7 more hours before we can find a bed.

... it had rained earlier it was just a heavy fog. To get to the dam you must go into the mountains. I'm not sure of the elevation but it is about an hour drive. Near the end the bus goes through 5 tunnels, one of which is over 2 miles long. The tour takes you first to a point overlooking the dam at which time we could barely see across the dam. The 2nd stop is just under the top of the dam which gives the ...

... Jenze jsme nemeli paru, kde stavi, tak sla pani s nama a zkousela nas ukecat. Coz mimo jine privedlo mou mysl k zubum. Nevim, jestli v tehle provincii jsou zubari tak drazi, nebo jestli tu na zubni peci kaslou, ale v zivote jsem nevidela tolik zkazenych zubu jako tady. Nakonec bus prijel, zastavil na krizovatce a zacal vykrikovat jmeno mesta, kam jsme chteli, tak jsme nasedli a jeli. Do Pingyao je to cca 40 kilasku, pohodicka, pekny vyhled na venkovske vesnice a tak.

... an entire city where one cannot even see the living spaces of locals, a place where secrets happen too far for the outsider to conceive of - where public life is really public, out in the rat maze of temples, ornate gates, and 'hand that grasps the beef' vendors. I really loved Pingyao, and I think it is a great place for photos and speculations. Unfortunately, every other tourist in China thinks so too.

... is foundations have helped ensure its survival from the flood waters, which are now blocked by a dam. Probably only 50% of the halls' temple is open to visitors, while the other halls serve as storage and improvised bedrooms for guards. The halls are connected by screeching, squeaking walkways and bridges, that test your capacity for acrophobia. The highlight of the temple is the Three Religions Hall, which has statuettes of Confucius, Buddha and Laozi all seated together.

... pregnant!?), ECG, but not a modern ECG, this one looked like something from a Frankenstein movie with like 25 plugs placed all over my body...very strange! After the check up we went to this really nice restaurant in town and then did a bit of shopping because I needed a few supplies and then did some other basic shopping and called it a day. The next few days will just be prepping for class and getting acquainted.