Cow Back Gorge

                                       


We love to spend time in the mountains. Luckily, Xi'an is surrounded by mountains. We took a drive to a town called Zhashui, which is an hour and half away. The road to get there had several tunnels which cut through the mountain. The longest tunnel was 18 kilometers (11 miles) long.
Mr. Kungfuyankee found a "nice hotel" online. When we got there it was nice and new, however the awesome swimming pool was not as advertised, in fact it had never been built. The kids were disappointed but they liked the karaoke stage.
We spent Saturday morning at a cave. We took an elevator up to the entrance and went through the cave. At one point it was full of stalactites and stalagmites but they had been destroyed. Plastic ones were erected in their place, a typical Chinese thing to do. The highlight of the cave was riding down a huge granite slide.
We then went to Cow Back Gorge, a beautiful hike up the mountains. We went to the top of one mountain and then took a gondola up to the top of the peak.
After our hike we bought $2 fish nets and let the kids try to catch fish in a small stream. I think this was the highlight of their weekend.

My Guide to Moving to China

We have officially been out for over a year. What a difference a year makes. This is a compilation of what I wish I had brought, what was totally useless and my tips for those moving to China.

What to Bring:

• Good attitude and sense of humor. Crazy things are going to happen. Laugh about it. Life will be easier and you will be a lot happier. 
• Download wechat, it is the primary form of communication in China. 
• Deodorant is not sold here. Bring your own.
• Books in English (some can be found on Taobao)
• Smoke and carbon monoxide detectors
• Board games, card games
• Scented candles
• Clothes. The clothes here are really tiny and won't fit most Americans. Name brands such as GAP, H&M, etc. are much more than in America because it is taxed as a luxury good.
• Buy a VPN or two. I like express VPN and Vypr
• Feminine Hygiene products: you can find cheap pads, but there are no tampons in China. I would bring my own pads as well as tampons.  
• Make-up is available, but is expensive and many of it has whitening chemicals in it. 
• Baking items: the Chinese don't bake. Bring your own small cake pans, pie pans, etc. The ovens here are very small mine measures 11x14 inches.
• Insect repellent 
• Food: It is very hard and or expensive to find many common western foods, and some foods such as popcorn will be confiscated if it's mailed to you. This is a list of food I would bring.
•  brown gravy mix, ranch dressing or ranch dressing mix, popcorn, pudding, Jell-o, chocolate, US brand cereal, salt crackers such as Ritz, pretzels, mayonnaise (you can find it, but it is sweet and gross), pancake mix, maple syrup, turkey stuffing, cranberry sauce, BBQ sauce, granola bars, baking powder, chocolate chips, taco seasoning, sloppy joe mix, Dr. Pepper, vanilla, muffin mix, coffee, baby formula, vitamins
• For Children bring: books, high quality toys (the toys here are cheap and fall apart. Name brand toys sell for double the price), construction paper, index cards, car seat, strollers, quality back packs, quality shoes
• Medication: any prescription medication, Aleve, Tylenol, etc. allergy medicine, anti-diarrhea medicine,  cold medicine and cough drops.
• hand sanitizer
• Shoes: the shoes don't get bigger than a US women size 8 and men size 11
• hand lotion
• contacts and contact solution
• A momento from home and chocolate for the days you are homesick 

Frequently asked questions:

• Should I have a baby in China? No way! health checks will be ok, but they don't give epidurals, three women and their babies are placed in one recovery room, you need to provide your own sheets, food, etc. The Rhogram shot is illegal in China, so if you need that you have to smuggle your own in. If I were pregnant in China I would either go to the American hospital in Beijing or Shanghai or go out of the country to have my baby. 
• Is it safe: yes, but use common sense. Look both ways multiple times when crossing the street, pay attention to your surroundings, etc.
• Should I learn Mandarin? Yes, most of the population does not speak English. Learning even just numbers and a few phrases makes things a lot easier. 

Don't bring:

• Too many clothes. Chinese only wear one outfit a week, although I don't suggest that you really don't need tons of clothes and most apartments don't have closets to hang them in.
• Dishes: I used to host dinners and parties at my house and needed a lot of dishes. Here we get together with friends at restaurants, so the dishes are unnecessary. 

Chenguy Rena Vineyard

The Chinese love to pick seasonal fruit in local groves, patches or vineyards. Since it is grape season in Xi'an, I decided to visit a local vineyard and winery. The grounds were beautiful and well kept, although it's late in the season and most of the grapes were gone.

I am glad they keep disheveled people out.

New perspective

I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, otherwise known as LDS or Mormon. When boys and girls reach 18 or 19 years old many serve missions away from their hometowns and families to share the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Many of these missionaries serve in foreign countries and learn foreign languages. Upon returning home, these missionaries give talks about t their mission experiences to their congregations. Inevitably, if the recently returned missionary served in a foreign nation he or she would give their talk and halfway through would come at a loss for the English word they wanted to use.

Being the cynical person that I am, I would think these missionaries were just trying to show off their language skills and I would silently be screaming in my head “the word you are looking for is window, wiiiinnnndoooow. How hard can this be? This was your primary language for 18 years. How do you forget this?”

I’ve been living in China for over a year and although my Chinese isn’t good, I find myself forgetting English words.  Last week I was talking with a friend and couldn’t think of the word wall. Seriously? It is so simple, yet so hard to think of at the time.  So to all of these returned missionaries I had silently judged, please accept my sincere apologies. I know understand that sometimes a person really can’t remember simple words in their native tongue after living in a foreign country.

Mount Hua

Mr. Kungfuyankee has been wanting to climb Mount Hua for sometime. This weekend, he and some friends made the trek. Mount Hua is one of five of holy Taoist mountains in China. It's been a sacred place since around 200 BC. Taoists believe the mountain is the home of the God of the underworld,
Monks, nuns and pilgrims carved a network of stairs and paths into the granite mountain, but since it became popular with tourists it has been reinforced and in some parts you must wear a harness. The government likes the presence of monks and tourists on the mountain because it guards against illegal logging.
The mountain boasts of five peaks, with the southern peak being the highest, reaching 7,087 feet.

Da Xing Shan Temple

                                       
The Da Xing Shan Buddhist Temple was an important center for Buddhism during the Jin Dynasty (265-316 AD).Many southeast Asian scholars came here to translate scripture, and it is the site of the Mi School of Buddhism.
The temple compound is the size of a city block. It was very serene and quiet inside.

The Forbidden City

The Forbidden City was the imperial palace from 1420 to 1912.  The Forbidden City is so named because it was forbidden for commoners to go there. Only imperial dignitaries were allowed in the outer courts, wives, concubines and eunuchs were allowed in the inner court, and there were parts of the Forbidden City that only the emperor was allowed.
When the communists took over the emperor was allowed to live there for a few years, but was ultimately kicked out. They then turned the Forbidden City into the Palace Museum that houses tons of relics from the imperial times.
While we were there Beijing experienced the worse flooding it has had in twenty years. The Forbidden City was full of water, but it was cool to see the dragons spitting out the excess water.

This slab weighs 20 tons and took

soldiers 3 months to move to the 

Forbidden City which was 12 km away.

The number of mystical animals denote the importance

of the building. This building has nine animals so it 

is really important.  The first animal is always a man on a 

phoenix. According to legend it denotes an emperor

who ruled harshly and was beheaded. It is a reminder

to always rule with grace and dignity.

In Chinese folklore dragons were friendly and 

spit water instead of fire.