This is the after effect...  Read more!

HOTPOT
probably the worst meal we ate while they were here in China. Billy pretty much hated me for the rest of the trip after eating a sichuan pepper in the hotpot, which I wasnt paying close attention to him eating...
This is the before picture...  Read more!

One Night in Duckhead....

Oh Billy.
One of the most memorable pictures of the trip. Billy was a champ with the food--but he paid the price a few times with the China belly.
This is him moments before he devoured the duckhead. Yes, that is a duckhead and he attempted to eat it, but couldn't crack the skull to eat the brains--the Chinese with us were slightly mocking him for not accomplishing a simple task.
We ate Dog later in this meal.  Read more!

Okay, Billy and Virgia have left my part of the country and should be in Hong Kong by now-- I hope they are in Hong Kong, at least.
I am tired from all of our journey, but its time to load some of the highlights of the trip, for both of you that read my blog!!!

This is Betty, one of the many women in Chenzhou that I love and adore. She has a rather rough looking boyfriend from Changsha so we try to keep our attraction to a minium, but she bought me the cutest birthday present, three months later.....
She is purely adorable.  Read more!

Another milestone in my life...
On top of the great wall of China, hours after a blazing snowstorm.... What a great moment.  Read more!

Walking along the great wall....

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One of the main Buddhas in the Lama temple--even though you arent supposed to take pics!!  Read more!

Lovely Lily and her friend Anna posing with our entourage of kids in the Lama temple, Beijing.  Read more!

Two female tibetian monks inside the Lama temple area, Beijing.  Read more!

Some things have happened recently which have allowed me to freely introduce someone I have been seeing over the last period of time I have been in China. This is Lily from Germany--she is 26 and lives north of where I am.  Read more!

Once you arrive in Xian, the warriors are everywhere--such as this one adventerous warrior advertising a local Hotel. I have to tell you I appreciate these much more than the totes that plaugue the tourist areas...  Read more!

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Exhaustion and the great wall
--We have been going like cokeheads on crank for 13days now...
6 left until sanity trickles back into my life.
Today the plan was to sleep on the great wall of China --having the chance to watch both the sunrise and sunset.
Billy and Virgie are both up there right now--I decided to let them have one night on their own as I have made a firm decision that I can find much better things to do in the city of Beijing in Freezing WEATHER.
More on this later...
I am going to be going to bed --at 11:00pm because I am so spent.
Tommorow I get to go and see the bloated remains of One greathelmsman in Tiananman Square.
Check, check, check ya later. Read more!

Hong Kong nightlife.
So many lights and so many touts...
"Suite Boss?"
"Sir, Rolex sir? Cartier?"
"Hashish man?"
But we still managed, in all the chaos, to find a kick ass Indian restuarant in the hostel that we were staying in, the famed _______ Mansions, which is a city within its own walls, packed insanity.  Read more!

Ikea Hong Kong.

For Heather, with love.  Read more!

For those of you who complain that I never show any pictures of temples or any of that kind of thing, I present you with the forbidden Buddha image. This is from Hong Kong, so the Chinese might not rage terror on me as I have previously imagined that they would. I was told by a monk that it was okay to photograph this Buddha, so I am absolved of any true responsibility.  Read more!

Nothing more satisfactory than plucking ones facial hair pondering issues of current affairs and posing with a giant golden buddha in Hong Kong on a rainy day.  Read more!

Monkin It

Hong Kong.
10,000 Buddha Monastary
2 American Idiots
Priceless.

(We are attempting to mimick the dudes)  Read more!

I have some friends in from America, so the blog is taking a small hiatus while we get some travelling done in and around the country. Thus far it has been an amazing trip, encompassing many different things about China and Chinese lifestyles.
We have just around from Wong Shan mountain, one of the five most famous peaks in China. It is located about 4.5 hours from here in Hunan province. The trip was a complete and totally exhausting journey and I am looking forward to a few days rest before heading off to Beijing and Xian before coming back to teach for the final stretch.
This picture was taken at the Seven Stars Park in Guilin. If you have been following the blog, you will see these pictures as very familliar. This time, I had a killer monkey after me. We think it had to do with the red hat pictured above, but it was difficult to assess as I was fleeing the scene whenever the thing would approach. I did get time to notice that he had HUGE testicles. I might post that picture, but I am trying to keep this family friendly.  Read more!