Dec 20~Anshun~

                                          

-Anshun- When we got to our hotel the night before we saw a picture of a minority group. Adam knew right away that they were White Hmong, so we asked the front desk if there were any minority groups in Anshun. They told us that there were none and we would find them up in Kaili(where we had just come from). Adam had been hoping to find some Hmong people to talk to, but all the minority groups we had seen were a different dialect. We woke up to snow and wind so we put on everything that we packed(which wasn't much). We knew we were going to be outside all day and so we were nervous about freezing. We got picked up by this guy and ended up waiting at his very cold office while he tried to fix his car. After about an hour he drove us to a hotel where a bus picked us up. We went and saw some different waterfalls and went into this cool cave.  The big waterfall is the only waterfall in the world that can be viewed from 6 different points. We were able to walk all the way behind the waterfall. It was really cool. We walked around the park and saw a lot of different minority groups. So every time we would pass someone that was dressed up or that was selling something we would say Hello in Hmong. Adam didn't think we would find any but I passed these little kids and I said Nyob zoo, and they said Nyob zoo back. Adam was so happy. He started talking to them in Hmong and their eyes got huge! The 2nd little girl on the left was so brave and started talking back to him. They were Green Hmong in White Hmong traditional clothes. Adam spoke mostly White Hmong on his mission but can speak Green Hmong. It was so cool! They couldn't believe that this foreigner was speaking to them. It was beautiful scenery! I tried to get a few pictures of the rice terraces from the bus but it was kinda hard. There is a picture of a bathroom- an open trench with running water. China-always an experience.

Dec 19 Kaili to Anshun

We left the Miao Minority Village late morning and took a small bus to Kaili where we waited at the train station for a while before getting on the train to Anshun. The train station was packed full. We noticed that the people in Southern are ALOT shorter than Northern China. In Weifang where we lived, we noticed that the people were average height. but because most of the minority groups are in Southern China the average height is a lot shorter. We really felt like giants there! The train to Anshun was 4 hours. I had so much fun playing with these two little boys. They were so cute. We got Anshun and our hotel was really close to the train station. We passed it because it looked too nice for us, but it was our hotel and it was really nice for a really nice price. We were starved and so we asked if there was any good food around and maybe a massage place. They told us to walk around and we should find something. I don't know how far we were supposed to walk but after a few blocks in the cold weather we went and ate at the hotel next to us. We cranked that heater up and had a good nights sleep.

Dec 18-Guiyang TO Kaili *Miao Minority Village*

Adam and I rode a bus for 3 hours to Kaili. It was beautiful country to see but we were both trying not to vom the whole time. We were winding our way up to Kaili the whole time. Our bus would pass on blind passes- they give a little honk to let oncoming traffic know- going too fast for those kind of roads. But we made it safely, passing only one accident. It was amazing to see the rice terraces and see people farming them with their ox. When we got to Kaili we were trying to find a McDonalds to get some fast lunch.....but there was no McDonalds for the rest of the Southern China trip until Kunming(the last city we saw). You know it is pretty underdeveloped if there isn't a Mcdonalds or even a KFC(yuck). So we skipped on lunch and got a taxi to take us to the Miao Minority village where we would be staying that night. Another crazy ride. We went SO fast back and forth through the switch backs. Again the scenery was amazing seeing the rice terraces and minority village after minority village. Adam was hoping that they would speak his dialect of Hmong, but they didn't. When we got to the village we stayed with a family. They made up some lunch of spicy cabbage soup, it was pretty tasty! We then went to a ethnic dance. It was really really cold but it was fun to experience a little of their culture. They did a beer dance and they tried to give Adam some beer, after that we walked around the village and bought a few things. That night was so COLD! I had two pairs of leggings, Jeans, 5 pairs of socks, 2 shirts, coat, scarf, hat, and gloves, Adam had his jeans, 2 shirts, sweater, coat, and beanie. We had a heater blanket on the bottom of us and 5 blankets and we were in a cold sweat the whole night! We hung out with some of the girls from the village and Adam chatted with them. They loved talking to him. We were so cold that we went to our room at seven and got under the covers, we watched a movie on our i-pod and then fell asleep!!  

Dec 17- Yangshou to Guilin-to Guiyang

Dec 17th- We froze the night before and almost every night in Southern China! We were definitely not prepared for the cold weather. That morning we took a bus from Yangshou to Guilin where we went to the Reed Flute Caves. Huge caves that are lit up by colored lights. It gives it a really cool effect. Then we took a taxi to Elephant Trunk Hill park. Southern China is a little different than NE China where we lived. Adam and I could see a lot more "shady" stuff happen there than up North. The taxi drivers would try to rip you off and charge ridiculous prices and not hit the meter. Of course we knew that you always have to make sure they hit the meter, and everyone that we talked to thought Adam was amazing and loved talking to him! We went to Elephant Trunk Hill park and enjoyed another boat ride. The water is really low during this time of year so we could only take the boat to a few different sites. After we got off the boat we got a taxi that said she could take us to the airport. Not surprisingly as soon as she got in the car she starts calling other taxi drivers to pawn us off.  She couldn't find one and so we got dropped up and got some instant noodles and some snacks. As we walk out of the store the taxi driver comes flying up to us and said that her friend could take us. haha So we made it to the airport where we flew to Guiyang. That night on the flight as we were taxiing in someone was snapping their seat belt, they kept snapping and snapping! It was driving me crazy! Finally after the 8th time I looked back at him he stopped, just so another person a few rows back could start snapping! We were glad to get off that flight and get to our hotel.

~Yangshou~

Yangshou is a beautiful town tucked away in the limestone peaks of Southern China. The view of the city is from our hotel room. After taking the Lee River cruise from Guilin to Yangshou we checked into our hotel room and warmed up before our next adventure that afternoon. Adam and I had to go buy a hat and gloves because it was so cold, then we went to a village and rode a bamboo raft down the river. We stopped and fed the Water Buffalo and enjoyed the landscape. Along the river are bird fishers. Fishermen on their bamboo rafts float down the river with their bird(I can't remember what type of bird) that has a ring around their neck. The fishermen throw the bird out in the water and when the bird catches a fish it can't swallow it, so it brings it back to their "master" and the fishermen than put it in their basket! It was really amazing to see. The limestone peaks are beautiful and the water is a beautiful jade color. We were so cold that we thought we would rest and warm up a little before dinner. We fell asleep and woke up groggy and hungry. We must have been really dazed because we went to KFC. We even had an option of McDonalds which actually tastes like McDonalds. KFC is AWFUL! Only out of desperation would we eat at KFC and Yangshou all though small had a variety of western food available. We walked around the town and went through the markets. We ended up playing some arcade basketball on the side of the street. That was really fun and there was this guy that was insanely good and hit the highest score you could get each time. We walked down by the waterfront and had fun looking at all the many trinkets that we knew could not fit into our already stuffed backpacks(and it was our first day of traveling!)!

1st stop-Guilin-

 Before we left Weifang we had to pack all our bags and leave them in Qingdao for the three weeks while traveling because we could not go back to our campus just in case we were "infected." Our Waiban got us a van to take us to Qingdao University so that we could leave our luggage with the BYU teachers. As we were saying our good-byes in Weifang and getting ready to leave, Adam asked me if I had got our paychecks from James. No, I didn't. I can't believe that we almost forgot to get paid!! James had forgot to get us money too- so we had to wait while he figured out how to pay us. Kayte almost paid half our salary with her savings! James got us our money and Kayte was able to keep her savings and get her paycheck too. Kayte came with us and we had a great time driving to the University. The driver didn't really know where he was going to Adam talked to him and told him where to go(not that we have ever driven there! Adam is like a GPS!). Well the driver turned on the road.....then did a u-turn....and went a totally different direction. He stopped and asked for directions....kept going straight...u-turn again...stopped again for directions..finally Adam was able to talk him into going the way he thought would get us there.........and what do you know, we made it to the university! One thing about the Chinese is that they will do what they are going to do, regardless of your input (that is with everything-the tailor, getting pearl necklaces, ordering, etc). We went to the University and said hi to our BYU friends and they were so nice to let us leave 4 big suitcases and 2 carry-on's scattered through their apartments. We took an evening flight to Guilin. As we were taxiing in on the runway a few(maybe 10) people got up to get stuff out of the overhead bins before the plane had even stopped. The flight attendants rushed through the isles and sat them down, as soon as the flight attendants were gone they ALL stood back up to get their stuff! It was very funny. We got to Guilin late that night. We were expecting "warm" weather. We had only packed our backpacks with 2 pairs of jeans, 3 shirts, a coat, garments, and some socks. We were FREEZING!!!
~GUILIN~
 Has amazing scenery! We went on a 4 hour boat ride and we were amazed at the beautiful landscape around us. We rode the boat to Yangshou where we stayed the night.