The yellow mountains

Going to a national park in China over their mid-autumn festival was a bad idea. I have never waited in so many lines just to get inside a park. The bus left our hostel at 6:20am and we got to the base of the mountains around 7:30 and then we waited in line for about three hours before we saw anything! So, crazy.

My little group decided we wanted to take the cable car up and then hike down. But, once we got to the top we could not find the way down by hiking so we had to take the cable car back down. Oh well. Just to get inside the mountains cost about 60 bucks! But, it was worth it. I cannot even begin to describe the beauty that I saw in those mountains. They were like no other mountains I have ever seen. Plus, hiking with a million Chinese people was quite the experience. And in the sea of black- haired people, older Chinese men were carrying older people around on chairs. Insane!!

Ancient tunxi was the city about 40 mins away and that was where we stayed. It was such a beautiful city. Our hostel was right downtown and I loved that! Seeing the full moon here was breath taking. The fishy pedicures was such a strange feeling. Not sure I want to do that again. I could not stop laughing from the moment I stuck my stinky feet into the water. I am sure I was quite the spectacle for the Chinese. My feet did feel heavenly after I took them out. So, it was worth all the tickling.

I would say that my first vacation here was a success. It was a good one to see the difference between living at a school in China vs. traveling in China. They are very different. All the bathrooms are squatters and smell really bad and take some talent. Haha. I had my first experience with dropping my whole pack of tissues in the hole without being able to use it first. Yuck. I am going to be much more careful from now on. And I have never gotten so many stares. Seriously, I am sitting on the train back to Nanjing right now and I have three Chinese men just staring at me. Oh, boy. Hand sanitizer is my best friend. Oh, and trying to buy clothes here that fit me is quite difficult. In fact last night I had one Chinese women run after me saying she had "big red pant" for me. Haha. I didn't want them. People here call me big all the time. I think it is super funny. And that's all folks!