MHV 3

Wow! Lots to report since my last update... The rain finally let up a little, allowing me to spend more time outside, although I still had to wait for the crags to dry before going climbing. I spent some time hanging out at the Lizard Lounge last week, bouldering and meeting people. It is such a cool hang-out for climbers with a very laid back vibe. There are two other Americans in town, both traveling solo and looking for climbing partners, and we've been leaving messages for each other at LL trying to meet up. Hopefully, we can start climbing together regularly.

Well, I have sort of lost track of time here in China (somewhat intentionally, I suppose...it is summer), and it's difficult to recall everything that's happened in the last week or so. Last Wednesday, I finally got around to hoofing it up Yue Liang Shan (Moon Hill), the namesake of my village. It's only about a half hour hike-up, but the views from the summit are outstanding. I also checked out the climbing routes underneath the arch - let's just say that I'm not quite ready to get inverted on a 5.13c route. On the summit, I also met a British guy with whom I had a great conversation during the descent. After leaving the Royal Marines, this guy had decided to travel the world for a while. After spending 9 months traveling all over South America, he had come to China. Next, he would head for Mongolia, then Russia, then Eastern Europe. After that, he planned to walk home to England from Estonia. He refuses to use travel guides and is not concerned about what he'll do when he returns home (after his money runs out). Before departing, this guy told me that I have a very interesting life, but I'm pretty sure he's got me beat... I think that one of the most rewarding aspects of solo travel is the opportunity to meet and have enlightening conversations with fascinating people from all over the world, and I love hearing about ways that other people attempt to live life to the fullest. On Thursday, I embarked on an epic hike up a karst peak called Gao Ao (basically "very tall"), which had not been climbed in almost 10 years and had never been scaled by a foreigner. The "trail" was completly overgrown, with vegation rising well above my head and so thick that I could proceed only inch-by-inch. Despite what most people would deem as impassable conditions and the incredible heat, I eventually reached the summit and was rewarded with outstanding views. Of course, I was also rewared with a pretty nasty rash all over both arms, and the itching is driving me absolutely crazy. The next day was an exhausting one as well, as I woke up early and headed into town to meet the climbing guides I had reserved at China Climb. We headed out to an awesome crag called Baby Frog, where we climbed all day, again, in incredible heat. The views at the base of the 400 foot cliffs, which required a decent hike just to access, were amazing, although those from high on the rock were even better. I really enjoyed the day of climbing because, for once, I was receiving expert, formal instruction rather than just being belayed by someone. My Australian and Chinese guides worked with me on the ins and outs of lead climbing, and I now feel much more knowledgeable and safer. I led a 5.7 and a 5.9 and managed to muscle my way up (with the help of a top rope) a 30 meter 5.10b to finish the day. By the end of the last climb, I was very dehydrated (despite having drunk several liters of water) and overheated, so, after descending, I found refuge from the sun with my water bottle and a banana in a nearby cave, with cool air flowing through and a jaw-dropping view at my feet. Back in town that evening, I got to know my guides better over a meal of jiaozi (dumplings) at a local restaurant and then headed home for some much needed sleep.

On Friday, I, not surprisingly, slept quite late, and I then spent the rest of the day resting and doing laundry. I did make three new friends - an American guy and girl and a Japanese girl - all of them 2 years out of college. They are very, very experienced world travelers and are spending some time in China this summer before heading to law school at Stanford and Northwestern. The American guy actually landed a really cool job out of school as a foreign policy advisor for a senator. Anyway, I arranged on Saturday to meet them the following morning and join them for a trip to northern Guangxi province. Through a combination of buses and taxis, we ended up in the village of Ping'an by Sunday afternoon. Ping'an is located about 4 hours north of Yangshuo, high on a mountain ridge overlooking the spectacular Longji ("Dragon's Backbone") Rice Terraces. The rice terraces are built into the side of these incredible mountains so that they form a natural staircase for several thousand vertical feet and wind gracefully along the contours of the land for miles and miles. They also include an extensive irrigation network and represent an agricultural and engineering masterpiece. Additionally, scattered throughout the terraces are many ancient tombs, whose hieroglyphics I had quite a time trying to decipher. We stayed in a great little hostel, made entirely of wood, that is perched precariously on the side of the mountain, thousands of feet above the valley floor. I'm pretty sure you can't find a room with this kind of view, for approximately $2.50, anywhere else in the world. With clouds sweeping through the valley and the locals working well into the evening on the terraces, we enjoyed a great dinner (including a game of "guess how many chicken heads are in the soup"...although I, for one, prefer to eat the chicken foot) and a few games of cards. We split up the next morning, as they were headed for Sanjian, and I was doing a long hike as the first part of my trip back to Yangshuo. Despite torrential rain and, at times, low visibility, I set out for the distant mountain village of Dazhai, located almost a day away by foot (the only method of travel, anyway). Let's just say that I'm glad I know Chinese; otherwise, I'd probably still be lying on a rice terrace in the middle of nowhere. After a few hours of crossing mountain passes, following tiny paths along the terraces, and fording small rivers, I arrived in the tiny village of Zhongliu. Both Zhongliu and Dazhai, like Ping'an, are perched high on the side of a mountain - with most of the buildings being supported by stilts that rest on the hillside below - so navigating through them is very confusing. I eventually stumbled upon some sort of store, where I bought some peanuts and managed to get some vague directions to Dazhai. The locals were really excited to see me and wanted me to stay for lunch, but I knew it was going to be very difficult to make it back to Guilin by 8:00 PM, in time for the last bus to Yangshuo, so I had to decline. I set out again in the torrential rain (by this point, I was beyond soaked) in another seemingly random direction, trusting that the locals understood what I was asking when I requested directions in Chinese. Along the way, the rain diminished slightly, and I was treated to absolutely incredible vistas. At times I felt as if I were in a Pacific Northwest forest; other times, the scenery more closely resembled the highlands of Scotland. With each crossing of a mountain pass, a new view of rice terraces would unfold, stretching all the way to the enormous mountains in the distance. Sometimes, staring at the long, curving, parallel contours of the distant terraces would make me dizzy, as if I were looking at some kind of optical illusion. Raging rivers were always visible at the bottom of the valley, their thundering roar often just barely distinguishable, and small waterfalls dotted the hillside. This was truly some of the most outstanding hiking I've ever done, and I'm sure other backpackers would give it rave reviews as well. Eventually, I reached Dazhai, although this village, too, was perched high on the ridge. I hadn't really thought about how I was going to exit the mountains - I had just been told that I could get a bus in Dazhai - but I decided that since roads were not possible in such topography, and since buses require roads, I should probably head down. So, I followed some random path down the mountain side, crossed a few rivers, attempted to convince the villagers in Dazhai that I only wanted a bus, not food, and to my wonder and astonishment, ended up at what appeared to be a bus station. Twenty minutes later, I was on a bus bound for the city of Longsheng. The driver had attempted to explain to me something about getting off the bus and walking, but I didn't really understand until a few minutes later. Despite being high in these gorgeous mountains, I had forgotten that I would have to exit through an incredible gorge, with the only road being cut directly into the cliff. I also forgot that I had heard something about landslides being a problem in the area. Anyway, I started getting a little nervous as the bus began skidding around corners, with the cliff on one side and a sheer drop of several hundred feet to a raging river on the other side. That was just the beginning... Abruptly, we came to a stop and everyone started getting off the bus; this is when I noticed that the road was covered with an enormous landslide, spilling over into the gorge. This gorge was absolutely spectacular (more reminiscent of Costa Rica than anything else), and as I was busy admiring what had to have been a 500 foot waterfall, I failed to realize that anyone with some common sense might speculate that an area having just experienced a massive landslide might experience another. As I was walking slowly across the slide, my back to the hillside, people started yelling a bunch of Chinese I didn't understand. Fortunately, everything clicked pretty fast, and I turned immediately and sprinted out of the way of some falling boulders. It wasn't really that close of a call, but it did make me just a little more alert. During the rest of our ride out of the gorge (on a 3 bus shuttle), waterfalls cascaded down the cliff to our left and ran under the tires, small rocks slid down the mountainside, and enormous waterfalls became visible at each bend in the road (indeed, this area possesses some insane, mostly undiscovered potential for Class V-VI whitewater paddling). By this point, I decided there wasn't much I could do to make the journey any safer and worrying certainly wouldn't help, so I started taking pictures and ooh-ing and ahh-ing with the Chinese people each time we skirted the edge of the cliff. This was certainly adventure at its finest. Some time later, we arrived in the city of Longsheng. I was very lucky to be able to literally hop onto a bus for Guilin just as it was pulling away. Of course, my only thought was that I had misunderstood the Chinese and was headed either back to the gorge or to some distant city in the wrong direction (I'm not sure which would have been worse). Nevertheless, we were indeed headed for Guilin, where we arrived at exactly 7:58 PM. I made a mad dash for the ticket counter, sprinted to the day's last bus to Yangshuo (again, worrying that I was heading back to Longsheng or something)...and made it. An hour and twenty minutes later, I was back in Yangshuo, where I grabbed some dinner in town (which I ended up trying to eat while carrying on a long conversation in Chinese with my nineteen-year-old waitress, who decided to join me for dinner...There, now you all have something to gossip about!) and then hired a guy on a motorbike to drive me down the potholed road, in the dark, to Moon Hill Village (a journey which was probably more dangerous than my bus trip through the gorge). Yuan's father was still awake, and, after telling him "hen lei le" ("I'm really tired") and making a bee-line for my bedroom, I collapsed on my bed.

As you might guess, today was another rest-day, and I didn't do anything exciting. The computers are extremely slow today, for some reason, and I've had to answer a number of concerned emails regarding my well-being in regards to the flooding in southern China that has been all over the news. So, at the moment, I'm a little tired of being in front of the computer. If you are one of the authors of these emails, don't despair!! I'm quite safe - and indeed dry, at the moment - and do not intend to be washed away in a flash flood. I'm enjoying my adventure even more so than I had hoped, and things couldn't be better. Until next time, take care, and - whatever you do - don't take the bus!

MHV 2

Greetings... It has now rained non-stop, extremely hard, for three straight days, and the weather is supposed to continue through tomorrow. The rivers are very flooded, and the local schools cancelled classes for today and tomorrow. Luckily, my home is high enough that there is no threat of flooding. Because of the rain, though, I STILL have not been able to go rock climbing. I think I am going to go crazy! I'm heading over to the Lizard Lounge in a little while to do some bouldering inside, so I can at least get in a workout.

Sunday was one of the Xu family annual festivals, timed to coordinate roughly with the Dragon Boat festivals held throughout China. Fireworks were used the summon the spirits of the ancestors for the meal, and then we enjoyed a delicious feast. The food included pijiuyu, or "beer fish," which is a local specialty; not surprisingly, it is a large fish cooked in beer. An American family staying in Yangshuo also came home for the meal (Yu Lin had been acting as their guide), and I can't tell you how nice it was to have a conversation in English. I hadn't realized how long it had been since I had last spoken at length in English. Their two daughters - ages 8 and 12, I believe - both speak excellent Cantonese and some Mandarin. I couldn't understand how this was possible at first, but then the parents explained that the kids go to one of the schools experimenting with a new language program. Coincidentally, I had just read about this program and think it is one of the first intelligent things a US school, public or private, has done in regards to foreign languages. Students there are taught simultaneously in English and Chinese beginning in kindergarten. They begin with Cantonese (which, incredibly, has 9 different ways to pronounce each sound, as opposed to Mandarin's also difficult 5 ways) and transition to Mandarin in the sixth grade. Cultural activities are also part of the curriculum. The kids graduate with a complete understanding of China and both of its major dialects. Fascinating...

Xia Li had told me he wanted to go fishing with me yesterday, but I assumed that our plans would be cancelled because of the rain. Not so... We went out to one of the fields, which normally has crops but was flooded with water, and fished. I'm not sure, but I don't think the water was actually connected to a river or anything - just a standing lake - so I was very doubtful that there would be fish. Nevertheless, Xia Li waded out into the middle with his rod, holding an umbrella over his head with the other hand (there was still heavy rain). After an hour or two, we finally concluded "mei you yu" ("there just aren't any fish").

I spent a lot of time studying and reading yesterday because of the rain. I'm trying to really expand my Chinese vocabulary. I also played the Chinese version of "Sorry" with my xiao pengyou last night. I found it interesting that you have to roll a 6, not a 1 or 2, to get out of the start area (I believe 6 is a lucky number in China). One last note: for some reason, I haven't been able to read my own blog here in China (I can only make posts), probably because of government restrictions on accessing certain websites. Because of that, I can't read any comments my readers make. Please continue to do so, though, as I may find a way to access them, and can always read them later. Additionally, I have thus far been unable to post any of my pictures but am still hoping I will find a way to do so in the future. Signing out -

1st Update from Moon Hill Village

Hello to all... I've been here in the Yangshuo area for a few days now and have finally found time to post an update. After my last post, I flew west about 500 miles from Hong Kong to the city of Guilin. I got in late that night and took a riverboat the next morning about 35 miles down the Lijiang River to the town of Yangshuo (pop. about 30,000, although it feels much smaller). The scenery along the river was spectacular. Immediately outside of Guilin, cliffs rise up on either side of the river and karst topography abounds everywhere. The term karst refers to a unique geological phenomenon in this area; the region is covered with over 100,000 completely vertical peaks, each about 1,000 feet tall, which rise up out of the rice paddies and the countryside. Their summits are often hidden in a mist or fog that is characteristic of the area. On the boat trip, these peaks stretch out to the horizon in all directions; in addition, there were water buffalo, remote villages, locals getting water from the river, and many other interesting sights. The trip was pretty nice and everyone was fed lunch en route. I met another university student, from the Netherlands, also backpacking solo around China, and we shared advice and information. Upon arriving in Yangshuo, I was met by my local host, Xu Yuan (note that Xu is the last name). She took me to my new home, in her village. The village, about 6 miles down a potholed road, is refered to by several names including Li Cun, Yue Liang Shan, and Moon Hill Village. It's claim to fame is the nearby peak called Moon Hill, which, due to erosion, forms a very large arch.

The village is really amazing, and living there is an incredible cultural experience for me. It basically consists of a scattering of really small homes nestled in the mountains and surrounded on three sides by the cliffs. Approximately 600 people live there, although I would have guessed fewer. The Xu extended family numbers about 300, I think, and farms on a signficant amount of the land. I still haven't figured out exactly who everyone is that I am living with or how many people live there, but it's a rather large group. Yuan and her sister-in-law, Yu Lin, are both local guides, and Yu Lin has an eight-year-old son with whom I spent time yesterday. There is also a seven-month-old baby named Ni Ne, who, not surprisingly, gets lot of attention. The "heads" of the family are really probably not that old, but they seem very traditional. They speak a rather strong dialect and probably do not leave the village often. Everyone in the family is extremely nice; I can't emphasize this enough. They have told me so many times to "make myself at home." Actually, I think they are as excited as I am about this experience, as they are very curious about my culture and home. Also, many locals are literally desperate to learn English, so they can guide foreigners, so I think my family is hoping to benefit some from spending five weeks with an English-speaker. However, that doesn't mean I've been speaking much English. Like last year in Costa Rica - when I suddenly found myself living with only Spanish-speakers - carrying on simple conversations and doing routine tasks is exhausting! It takes so much concentration and focus to learn a new language immersion-style. I've been very pleased with my understanding and can speak Chinese at what I would term a "minimally proficient level." I can have simple conversations with locals, bargain for a better price, tell the bus driver where to drop me off, etc. One of the most interesting parts of traveling in China as a foreigner is the feeling that I'm an animal in a zoo. I was well-prepared for this before I came, as it's discussed in nearly every travel guide, but it was still a little disconcerting at first. Locals riding bikes always do "double-takes," and those walking just stare. Often, they say "Haloo!" and laugh or try to ask where I'm from. It's in no way disrespectful at all; they are always friendly and are just curious. When I respond in Chinese, though, they usually go crazy and start asking me all these questions (usually the same ones) - how do I know Chinese, why am I here, for how long, etc. It's so funny, and, actually, it's an excellent way to improve my speaking and listening.

The best part of living with a local family, as I learned last year, is that you are considered a party of the family and therefore a part of the family's network of friends. The other day, one of the younger men in the family, Xia Li, took me around on his motorbike (nearly every family has one), bought me a snack, and introduced me to his friends. We sat by the river in Yangshuo and practiced Chinese and English and talked about our different cultures. Yesterday, I was guided by Yu Lin's eight-year-old son (whom I call my "xiao pengyou" - literally "little friend") to a little fishing hole off the main road to Yangshuo. We caught two fish with bamboo poles and then his dad cooked them for lunch and invited me; again, I was introduced to all the friends. The dad is the electrician at a local tourist site called Dragon Cave, so, afterwards, he gave me free admission to the cave. It was pretty cool, with lots of colored lights making the rock formations look bizarre, and included a boat ride on a subterrainean river. Before I could leave, one of the guides saw me and practically begged me to go back into the cave to help her identify mistakes on the English signs in the cave. There were far more mistakes than correct sentences, so this took a while, but I didn't mind. The guide was so appreciative and thankful, and she told me how all the foreigners laugh each time they see a sign. This didn't surprise me in the least, and I showed her a picture I had taken earlier of one of the more comical signs!

I have also started running, and I just can't imagine a more amazing place to train. It's very difficult to describe, but when you've been running for twenty minutes or so down a dirt path, turn around to look back, and see only karst peaks, enshrouded in fog...it's just amazing. I can literally just forget about everything, losing myself in the beauty of the landscape, and follow paths that meander around the cliffs and through the rice paddies. Sometimes I end up at a dead-end at a river or small village, and I never know where I'm going, but that's all part of the adventure. As most of you probably know, I love the scenery around Lexington; nevertheless, I can't help but feel sorry for my cross country friends who are conducting research at W&L this summer and are doing workouts on the Chessie Trail everyday :)

You may be interested (or not!) about what it's like living in the village. Basically, my dwelling consists of two or three buildings which enclose a small courtyard. A couple different families of the Xu household live in separate little areas, although everything is connected. The top three floors of one of the buildings is the "guesthouse," which has ten rooms I think. It's actually quite nice - simple, of course, but perfectly fine according to me. I'm currently the only person staying in the guesthouse. Downstairs is a small family room with a TV, and there is a well in the courtyard. I guess the eating situation is what has most fascinated me. In the kitchen, which is very rustic, is a small, extremely low round table. The adults and I sit around it on tiny, tiny (like, a foot off the ground) stools. EVERY meal consists of rice, and there is nothing I am more happy about than the fact that I happen to like rice. On second thought, there might be one thing: the fact that I'm quite proficient with chopsticks. If I weren't, I honestly don't know what I would do, and, by the end of this trip, I guarantee you I will be able to do things with chopsticks that you'd consider impossible! Lunch and dinner consist of four or five dishes - mostly vegetables except for one or two meats (chicken, pork, fish, duck, snail). Actually, I usually don't have any clue what I'm eating (they might tell me in Chinese, but that usually doesn't really help...), although I do know that I ate pumpkin leaves last night. There are a lot of really different and unusal tastes for me, but I like pretty much everything. The method of eating (which is the same for most of the locals, I think) involves everyone having a tiny bowl and chopsticks. After filling your bowl most of the way with rice from a pot, you just start taking food from the main dishes with your chopsticks - usually two or three bites at a time. You can eat directly out of the dish or place the bite of food in your rice bowl. Fish bones and things like that are just thrown on the floor (to be swept out later). They eat quite rapidly, usually not drinking anything with the meal, and leave when finished. Everyone takes cooking very seriously and is proud of what he or she can make. Although the meals are simple, they really are very good and filling. Breakfast is either fried rice with a goose egg and some vegetables or a bowl of noodles with vegetables. I drink tea all the time, too, and have really come to enjoy it. Also, there is tons of fruit (I live with a family of farmers), and we often snack on that while talking or watching TV. I may eventually get tired of rice, but, for now, the food is awesome (and you probably know how important food is to me).

Well, today was a complete washout, with torrential rain (tropical-storm style), and the rivers are flooded. I was going to go "frogging" (looking for frogs) with my xiao pengyou, but the rain changed our plans (it also caused me to wimp out of my run this morning...oops, I shouldn't have written that). Anyway, I'm spending the day exploring Yangshuo, which is a pretty cool town. There are lots of cafes, small restaurants, and shops. The vendors are very aggressive, and I'm constantly saying "bu yao, xiexie" (no thanks). I checked out the rock climbing cafes (there's about five) the other day, and they're pretty cool. I think I'm going to make a reservation with Karst Cafe to get a guide for tomorrow so I can learn where all the crags are. After that, I'm going to spend more time at the Lizard Lounge, which is a cool place with a bouldering wall and lots of climbing memorabilia; apparantly most of the climbers hang out there to climb and socialize in the evenings, so it's the best place to meet people.

If you've read this far, then you definitely deserve a pat on the back. My future posts will definitely not be anywhere near this lengthy. Since this is my first post from Moon Hill Village, there were just a lot of things I thought I should write about. Thanks for reading, and have a good one -

Hong Kong

Nimen hao dajia, from Hong Kong! I've had an excellent time the past few days here in HK. Jet lag has been pretty tough, but I'm finally starting to get over it I think. My friend from W&L, Arthur, who lives on Hong Kong Island, has been an amazing tour guide. After a ridiculously long plane ride on Friday-Saturday (left the States at 8 AM on Fri. and got here at 6 PM Sat.), I arranged to meet Arthur on Sunday, and we spent the afternoon exploring Kowloon (where my hotel is). We found some cool shops, including several "outdoorsy'' stores, one of which had a climbing wall. We also took the Star Ferry across Victoria Harbor, which is absolutely beautiful - incredible mountains rising up out of the ocean in all directions, and skyscrapers everywhere. Monday and Tuesday were spent driving around Hong Kong Island with Arthur. We had lunch on Monday at a nice Indian restaurant in the village of Stanley, which is right on the beach, and we also checked out Stanley Market. Unfortunately, Victoria's Peak, the highest point in HK, was covered in dense fog (and then a torrential downpour of rain), so there was no view, but we still had fun in the cafe on the summit. I did a little shopping at Pacific Place, one of the nicest malls I've ever seen in my life. We basically drove all over the island on Monday and saw everything. I've had some great meals - Cantonese, Thai, lots of dim sum! - and the city has so many incredible restaurants. I've also been amazed by how efficiently the city runs - the subways and public transit are easy to navigate and, in my opinion, everything is much more technologically advanced than in most US cities. I spent some time in Times Square yesterday and then went back to Arthur's place for the highlight of my HK experience - a hot-pot dinner! A hot-pot is basically just a smorgasborg of various meats and vegetables that you dip with your chocksticks into a large pot of boiling, spices-laden soup to cook. It was so good, and Arthur's family was really nice to include me for such a wonderful meal. After that we went to Mid-Levels and Soho to check out some of the clubs for a while, and then I returned home pretty exhausted. I'm still at the hotel now but will leave shortly for my flight from HK to Guilin. In the morning, I'll take a riverboat down the Li Jiang to Yangshuo. Thanks for checking in, and I hope everyone's well!

Pictures

FYI, I am going to try to upload some of my pictures, during the trip, onto my Webshots page. Just go to http://community.webshots.com/user/mistaajg to look for new pictures (in the "China" and "Taiwan" albums). Thanks!

Trip Overview

Here's a quick look at what I'll be doing for the next 2 months:

Friday, June 10th: Leave for China

Saturday, June 11th-Wednesday, June 15th: Relax in a hotel in Hong Kong and enjoy the big-city sights. Visit with friends from school.

Wednesday, June 15th - Thursday, June 16th: Head west from HK to the city of Guilin, where I'll embark on a boat journey down the spectacular Lijiang River to the town of Yangshuo. There, I'll be met by my host family (hopefully) and taken 5 miles to the village where I'll be living.

Thursday, June 16th - Sunday, July 17th: Homestay in Yue Liang Shan (Moon Hill Village). Speaking Chinese. Maybe working a few days a week with a tutor. Rock climbing every day on some of China's most famous routes. Exploring the incredible scenery - towering limestone pinnacles in all directions. Running on dirt roads through the rice paddies. Setting out on multi-day backpacking expeditions in southwestern China (including the renowned Three Gorges). Meeting people in Yangshuo.

Monday, July 18th: Layover in Hong Kong

Tuesday, July 19th-Thursday, July 28th: Living in a hostel in the beautiful surf town of Hualien, Taiwan. Surfing everyday. Whitewater kayaking and rafting. Possibly a summit attempt on Yu Shan, the tallest peak in both Taiwan and this region of the world.

Thursday, July 28th: Layover in Hong Kong

Friday, July 29th: Back to the USA (Come visit!)

Welcome!

Welcome to my "Adventures in China & Taiwan" blog! For my grandparents - actually, for my parents, as well - and those of you who aren't too computer savvy . . . "blog" is short for "web-log." It's a relatively new innovation that is having profound impacts on politics, the media, and all forms of communication. While this is my first experience with writing a blog, I hope it will prove to be an effective means of documenting my upcoming trip to China and Taiwan. My current plan is to try to update my blog about once a week during the trip. I can't promise that I will write anything exceptionally interesting, but if you're curious about what I'm up to or - more likely - worried about my well-being . . . I invite you to log in and experience the adventure vicariously.