Fresh air in Anyang

Well it has once again been much too long since I updated - sorry for the delay! My parents got to Beijing this past weekend, and I am currently studying hard for midterms before jetting off to Yunnan for our spring break. Anyways, two weekends ago CET had its historical trip to Anyang, a medium-sized city in the Henan province south of Beijing. We left on a Friday afternoon and took a six hour train ride there, which was, like every part of China, extremely crowded (but actually quite comfortable). We were all quite exhausted after arriving there the first night and most people just collapsed and went to bed. The next morning we headed off bright and early to go hiking in the Taihang Canyon on the outskirts of the city. My first impression of the canyon was the the very advanced, civilized bathroom greeting us at the bottom of the mountain (which I was fortunate enough to use):


Luckily the air on the mountain was much more fresh than the air inside the bathroom. It was so refreshing to finally breathe some clean air as we hiked through the canyon. Many locals set up small stands along the trail selling their traditional carvings and dried fruit. Some locals even live on the mountain - quite the opposite of a metropolitan Beijing life!


We finished off the hike at a beautiful waterfall, and after a lunch at a local peasant restaurant, hiked some more in Wang Xiangyan in the afternoon. All the hiking made me feel more like I was in Lake Tahoe than in China - so much beautiful scenery!


On Sunday we visited the Museum of Yin Ruins and the Tomb of Yuan Shikai in the city of Anyang. Because I really know nothing about Chinese history, it was a little hard for me to follow along with what the tour guides were saying in their broken English. Nonetheless, it was interesting to see more Chinese architecture and goof around like the obnoxious tourists we are. Stephanie and I decided to do the "foot pop" from Princess Diaries while in the garden at the Yin Ruins.


In the afternoon, we went to the Chenghuang Temple, where local middle school students gave us a kung fu show, and then proceeded to try to teach some CET guys how to do kung fu. It didn't quite have the same effect.


We then saw a show of Chinese women dancing with traditional drums. This time it was the girls' turn to get embarrased, as they made us try out the drumming.


Overall the weekend was a very fun trip and a great opportunity to get out of Beijing. In a few days I will be departing again, this time for Yunnan with my parents for CET's spring break. Should be a good time! (but I have to get through midterms first...)