Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost.

I'm sorry I haven't blogged lately. I've been busy finishing up the semester at school. Today was my last day of teaching (middle school) for a while… I'm off for just over two months for summer vacation, which I plan to spend backpacking around China, so get ready for some epic blogs! Traveling always results in interesting adventures J

 

I still have my adult classes to teach on Tuesday's until the end of June, so I'm pretty much going to lay low in the village and perhaps take a few short trips until I'm done with that. I'm headed to visit some friends in Hong Kong June 14-16^th and likely to Nanjing for a couple of days before the end of June if the spirit moves me.

 

Of course, this is all subject to change at a moments notice, but here's my general plan for the rest of the summer:

 

The real adventure begins in July. Armed with my summer traveling bonus, a backpack, and the Lonely Planet guide to China, I'm taking a high-speed train from Shanghai to Beijing to meet up with some fellow English teachers for a whirlwind tour of China. Of course I'll start with the tourist thing and check out the requisite sites of Beijing: The Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, The Summer Palace, The Great Wall, etc. and eat some Beijing Duck. I also hope to meet up with a few Rollins friends that live in the city!

 

The next few months will be a whirlwind of $5/night hostel dorms, crowded bus rides, street food, ancient cities, and overnight train rides.  From Beijing, I will head to Datong, Pingyao, and Xi'an to see some ancient walled cities, antediluvian caves, hanging monasteries, and of course, the infamous Terracotta Warriors.

 

After Xi'an, I'll take a train to Chengdu to check out the Giant Pandas (and hopefully get my picture with one) and indulge in some Sichuan hot pot. This region is known for its spicy food! Yay!

 

From Chengdu I'll head to the Yunnan province in the south to take a break from big city life. This province is known for its fantastic scenery. The plan is to check out the Stone Forest outside of Kunming, buy some tie-dye in the hippie backpacker haven of Dali, and go trekking through Tiger Leaping Gorge.

 

Following Yunnan, I will be off to beautiful Guilin and Yangshuo to do some bamboo rafting down the Li River, and biking  through the countryside amongst the rice fields and karst landscape.

 

After that, I'm off to explore Hangzhou, Suzhou, Tongli, Zhujiajiao, a region famous for ancient canals, beautiful gardens, lakes, and temples.

 

Mid-August will find me in Qingdao, home to Chinese Beer Tsingtao, for a few days at the International Beer Festival. After that, time and money permitting, I hope to take a flight out west to Urumqi, to check out the desert and maybe do some Camel riding along the Ancient Silk Road.

 

I'll be back in the village, exhausted and broke, by September first, just in time for the beginning of the fall semester.

 

"The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page." – St. Augustine