At nearby Songshan is another famous temple, the Shaolin Temple – home of kung fu. Before heading back to Hefei, we journeyed to this beautiful place hoping to see some awesome monks practicing the true arts of kung fu. We … Continued
Hundreds of thousands of hand-chiseled Buddha effigies and the first Buddhist temple in China also call Luoyang home. These were our destinations for day two. Longmen Grottoes A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Longmen Grottoes are an impressive monument to … Continued
An ancient capitol city and home to Chinese Buddhism, Luoyang, Henan is a great city to visit. May 1 was International Labor Day, a holiday that China recognizes meaning school was out for a few days. Aaron and I took … Continued
When I arrived in China eight months ago, I asked just about anyone who spoke English what there is to do and see in Hefei. Most everyone mentioned the same place, Lord Bao Park or Baohe. In fact it’s the … Continued
In China, schools don’t compete against each other in athletic competitions. They do compete in language, debate and other scholarly competitions, but there is no NCAA equivalent in the Orient. However, this doesn’t mean they don’t play sports. Instead, each … Continued
I’ve created an Adventure Patches – China Map with locations of my adventures throughout China. Using Google Maps like I did for my Adventure Patches Map, I’ve marked the locations of my adventures all across China and marked off areas … Continued
After descending the mountain we made the hour drive to Huangshan City, the biggest city of the region. It is also the transportation hub for the area with both train station and airport for people wanting to get to the … Continued
After Hongcun we went to Tangkou, the small town just outside of Huangshan national park. The travel people we worked with (a professor Melissa taught last semester) had booked our hotel and everything should have been fine. However, when we … Continued
Surrounded by fields that this time of year are bright yellow from the canola flowers lies the ancient city of Hongcun, our first adventure for the Tomb Sweeping Day vacation. With Aaron, Melissa, Fernanda (Spanish teacher here at AHU), and … Continued
I’ve passed it on the bus dozens of times and I mean baker’s dozens not regular dozens. The front entrance is marked by five towers shaped like lotus stems and pods. Behind the fences I could see old style buildings … Continued