Xing Ping

An hour's bus ride from Yangshuo takes you to a very tiny village by the river, called Xing Ping. This was our hostel--the only hostel in Xing Ping. We ate pizza every day and loved it. 

This was our third vacation, but it was honestly less of a vacation and more of a series of manifestations that God is SO mindful of us and what we need. We travelled first to Yangshuo, which entailed a train from Guzhen to Guangzhou, then from Guangzhou to Guilin. Then from the train station in Guilin, we were supposed to catch a bus that ran to the Yangshuo bus station, where we would be able to magically find our hostel, I guess, because we never really discussed that part. 

First we missed our train from Guangzhou to Guilin. We really have no idea how that happened because we were at our gate over an hour early. The only thing we can guess is that it had a gate change that we didn't know about because we don't speak Chinese. Luckily the station allows one free ticket change, and we got another train out, but it was quite a bit later than we wanted. We arrived in Guilin quite late; about 8;30 pm, and it was much, much colder than we expected. It was pouring rain and I was wearing sandals. By the time we got out of the train station and to the place where the buses pick up, the bus we were expecting wasn't running anymore. We took a different bus (double-deck) in hopes that it would lead us to the correct bus station. We were honestly hoping pretty blindly at this point. It was almost 9;30, dark and pouring rain, we hadn't eaten a real meal since 11, and we still had a fair way to travel to our hostel in Yangshuo. We carried ourselves and our luggage onto that bus and I silently prayed that Heavenly Father would give us some inspiration. As we were talking about what we were going to do, two men came on to the bus and sat across from us. We had been looking in a Mandarin dictionary for "bus station" so we could point to it in hopes that someone would help us on our way. The men noticed that we likely needed help, and what do you know, they both speak English! We told them we needed to go to Yangshuo, and they told us we had gone too far on the bus. At this point I likely would have freaked out, but I was so tired and I really just had hope that God would guide us. But then (this would NEVER happen in America, and we probably wouldn't let it happen in America), these two men offer to get off the bus with us, get back on the bus going the opposite direction, and help us on our way to Yangshuo. They walked with us the entire way, let us use their umbrella, and when we finally got to the bus to Yangshuo, it was parked in an unmarked station (story of China). We never would have found it if it weren't for their help. Jim, the man who helped us all the way, was studying to be an English tour guide in Guilin. Heavenly Father knew exactly who to send to us and who we would trust. 

The bus ride was very long and rocky, and we got dropped off on the side of the road at about 11;30 pm. (Later we find out that there are two bus stations in Yangshuo, and we had actually been dropped about 40 feet outside of the one we weren't familiar with.) In China when you get off a bus, there are always five thousand taxis waiting to take all your money, especially if you're foreign. We passed these up because it was so late and they are generally sort of creepy people anyway. So we started walking. We walked in the rain on the side of a highway for half an hour, then we got to a place that looked vaguely familiar. We had been there before. We started showing the address to people in small shops and on the street, and they would point us in a direction that we hoped was right. Finally, we were impressed to stop and ask a man in his shop, who knew just enough English to tell us how far it was and which way to go. At 1 am, we stepped into an alley and found our hostel, wet and freezing. (Later we also found out that we walked a large circle around West Street, and if it had only been lighter, I definitely would have recognized that, but thanks heaven we were being watched over.) 

When we got there, the reception was still open (blessing) and our only roommate was still awake (blessing). And they had heated blankets and room heaters that went up to 30 degrees c (blessing). 

Now, the actual most miraculous part of this whole ordeal is not how Heavenly Father sent us angels in disguise or whispered the way to us or answered our prayers, but it is the fact that through all of this, I wasn't freaking out. Travel stresses me out like no other, and Heavenly Father knew me enough to bless me with calm nerves that night while we worked through all of the wrongs and rights along the way. 

After the rocky but blessed start to this vacation, it was so lovely and peaceful that I still think about it and just smile at how God seriously loves us so much and will help us when we need it. 

Since I already posted about Yangshuo, we will go to the second day, in Xing Ping. 

Mount Lao Zhai, 1159 steps and stairs to the best view in Guangxi province. 

Try your hardest to squint your eyes and find the tiny pagoda on top of that mountain. We walked past it and all I could think was How on earth do you get up there?

Then we found out how. 

It was a pretty intense hike. I can't tell you the elevation gain or how long it was, but it was definitely much harder than I expected. Almost as hard as the Great Wall, but in different ways. There were times when I seriously considered going back, but I kept thinking, Gosh, my dad would love this. If I were doing this with him right now, he would make me go all the way. And, I'll never be in China again, so gotta do it now! 

One of three very questionable ladders that we had to climb. There were many parts where they were wires and posts to keep safety. Looking back on it, this is like top three most potentially dangerous hikes I've done. 

But it was also one of the greatest views of my life, so definitely worth it. 

It was very quaint and precious.

Biggest bamboo of my existence. 

Xing Ping is also home to the site of the 20 yuan bill. A must-visit.

Xing Ping holds a special lovely place in my heart, and I will forever love how tiny and cute it is, along with the memories of how overwhelming God's love is in my life. 

Pagodas (Xiaolan and Jiangmen Saturday Shenanigans)

This is Longshan Park in Xiaolan. It was great because we didn't have to take the 202 bus to get there. We took a Saturday in October to paddle boat in the pond and have a picnic and also 

climb this here pagoda. It was a lot more work than I anticipated, actually, and rather exhausting because it was October and still raging hot. 

Anyway, we paddled around the pond for an hour and it was rather enjoyable. 

It was really pretty. 

But hot. 

Two weeks later we partied in Jiangmen and climbed another pagoda which was horrendous. 

It's 709 meters tall if you're wondering. Also it's 11 floors, and approximately 586 steps one way, and that doesn't include the mile uphill walk to get to it in the first place! It was legitimately almost as killer as the Great Wall. But the view from up there was really great. 

This is the city flower of Jiangmen. I won't even attempt to guess what it is, but it looked really pretty. 

Guzhen

This is where we live. On the third floor which is really the second floor, but also the first floor of apartments above the shops. We lived in apartment 309 next door to Chandler the cook and Rene who are married and Tommy is their son whaaat. 

Guzhen is a very small town in the very south of China in the city of Zhongshan. Most people have never heard of Zhongshan unless they live near it, and people never know what Guzhen is unless they live in Zhongshan. It is the lighting capitol of China and I'm not even swinging that around lightly. (Lightly, LOLZ) There are lights EVERYWHERE. Once we went exploring north of our apartment building for 90 minutes and all we saw was lights and some cool and maybe questionable street food. Anyway, that's Guzhen, so it's kind of boring, but they have a Miniso now and they're getting a pizza place and the German restaurant is hopping so it's getting there. 

We lived right smack in the middle of a huge complex of 24-storey apartment buildings. For the first month I couldn't get over feeling closed in all the time, but it really is a wonder. Most countries live like this, except the US, and even in some places in the US, this is totally normal. Not for me, though, and it was one of the hardest things to get used to. 

This is the school. It's precious, and every inch of the entire building is painted. Walls, ceilings, windows, floors. No joke. 

The hallway outside our apartment. I can't even begin to estimate how many times I walked this hallway, especially considering afternoon ice cream runs and Saturday morning noodle expeditions.

If you go to China and stay in a big international city or in fancy hotels, you will probably never see a squatter. (Grandma, I'm looking at you.) But most residences and non Westernized cities and towns have squatters. I won't talk about them much, but let you use your imagination. They stay pretty clean what with the whole bathroom acting as your shower, though. 

This is Tang and he is the most adorable Chinese man. I don't even hesitate to say that I would probably date him. In addition to being adorable, he makes the greatest spicy noodles and strange fried food in the world. I crave it every day. 

The family who owns the Muslim restaurant almost directly underneath our apartment. Green glass doors and home to the greatest fried green onion pancake. Dip it in spicy soy sauce. Costs a dollar. 

Streets of Guyi, Guzhen. 

Here is the park which we walked past to get to the super market (and also the Chinese snake doctor. A story for later...). 

And a cute picture just for good measure. 

Humans of the Summer Palace, Olympic Plaza, and Bei Hai Park (Beijing Part 2)

The Summer Palace was another one of my very most favorite things we did in all of China. It's a beautiful courtyard and park with a big pond and boats and it's so awesome. We went on a Sunday and it was a very good Sunday activity. 

Shortly after we got there, we walked past these three little girls and I just couldn't stand how cute they were, so I asked their parents if I could take their photo. The rest of the day I just took pictures of cute people and it was seriously glorious.

 Anywho, it was gorgeous and awesome and I still love it. 

We also went to the Olympic Plaza which was insanely crowded but cool. We only walked around it and didn't go into any of the buildings, but it was still really cool to see them in person after religiously watching the Beijing olympics all summer with my grandma in 2008. 

Also look at this adorable little family! 

Also also the pollution was insanity but it made some real awesome sunset photos. 

The next day we went to Bei Hai Park which was real awesome and I liked it lots. There were old couples dancing, people playing instruments and singing, and people all over dressed in holiday outfits. It's like the Central Park of Beijing.  

Here's an 8-second video of old people dancing to Scarborough Fair sung in Chinese.