Come Buy 香草奶茶.wmv

So many fun times just hanging out -- "haee" (do nothing 无谓)-- but something about this Soy Street that I enjoyed. The lively atmosphere and local places nearby really made me call it home. So I thought it would be appropriate for me to end my Hong Kong experience here. The video doesn't portray the full Soy Street experience because my friends Stephy, Flora, Craig, Vanessa, Jason, or anyone else could not make it. I will sure miss drinking Vanilla Milk Tea here!

Beach

Jacob - you're hilarious. Hallie - your photogenic. As for me - I am soozai傻仔

Filipino Dinner

Thanks Filipino Baptist Church!!! You guys are such a joy to be around and I will miss coming to visit you all. I enjoyed the food and I'm glad that you didn't make me eat a "balut" aka Chicken Embryo!! Can't wait to go visit the Philippines someday.

Volleyball

It was a great day - gonna miss these fun times. Not too easy to get to the beach from my neck of the woods.

'Pearl TV' Interviews

Thank you Hallie - and happy birthday to you. I will be praying for you as you go to the United Kingdom for a year. Please know that we will always be in touch!
Thank you Jacob - I look forward to working with you in the future. I know that you have a big calling in life and I will support you wholeheartedly as you share the Good News of Jesus.
Thank you Nate - for all of the great arguments on who is the best NBA team. I appreciate your love for Lebron James and hope that your 40pt loss to the Celtics in Game 5 was acceptable :) (Rondo is amazing, isn't he? Probably because he is from Kentucky!)
Thank you Joshua - for your hilarious jokes and your fun personality. Be sure to get Thai food in Kowloon City more often!
Thank you Rodolfo, for caring about my future and giving me advice on how to be a minister. Your kind words have impacted me as well and I hope to be partnering with you in mission opportunities with the Philippines.
Thank you all, especially KIBC, for being such an encouragement for me in my transition back to the States. I am definitely Asianized and that means I will have to come back sooner or later. If not next summer, then hopefully after I graduate in 2012.
Know that I am trying to live my life according to Jeremiah 29:11 and Romans 4:1-2. My Life in Hong Kong is coming to a close, but I'm anxious to see where I end up next. Hopefully I will still be posting on this blog and please help me think of a new title!

乒乓 Ping Pong.wmv

Aaron, Peter, and I in the infamous ping-pong room at HKBU. Though I didn't play as often as they did, I did manage to dominate them both in a few friendly matches towards the end of the semester :)
Just good fun and good memories here on video for keepsake - I sure hope I don't get addicted to ping-pong when I go back to Georgetown College!

香港 Hong Kong: UNPREDICTABLE

Hong Kong is UNPREDICTABLE. Kowloon Tong is my neighborhood; more quaint and home of the rich. Jackie Chan lives right down the street - Bruce Lee's childhood crib is also here. My church is Kowloon International Baptist Church and it is a wonderful church with a cowboy pastor from Texas with members from Liberia, Pakistan, China, Philippines, US, everywhere! Kowloon Tsai Park is right next to HKBU's campus and it's awesome. From the park there is a nice view of Mong Kok and Tsim Sha Tsui at the edge of Kowloon.

Mong Kok is crazy! If ever I feel the need for a busy, local atmosphere then I go to Mong Kok. Here is where people of all walks hang out. But the best hang out spot in Mong Kok is definitely Soy Street. That's right - Soy Street. Here you can get Curry a la King, Vietnamese, Shanghai, Japanese Udon, Gaidanzai (waffle balls, Dantart, and most importantly....VANILLA BUBBLE TEA @ Come Buy! I probably go here at least once a week. You can also go the market and bargain/practice Cantonese :)

Tsim Sha Tsui aka TST is probably the most international hub in the world (I would argue). Indians hanging out at Chung King Mansions, tourists from all over the world to watch the light show at 8pm from the city skyline at night from the harbor. Businessmen and locals like myself also enjoy the occasional ferry ride to and from Hong Kong Island to TST for only 2 HK! I love taking bus no. 7 from TST to Kowloong Tong because I can see all of the activity going on from the double-decker bus second floor.

Hong Kong Island is definitely the highlight of Hong Kong. Only the rich can call this home and all other visitors simply admire the high class culture that goes from Wan Chai to the oldest city zone of Sheung Wan. You can enjoy the nice bars and restaurants at Mid-levels in Soho District or if you are a crazy party person unlike myself then you can have late-night fun at Lang Kwai Fung aka LKF. As for me, I enjoy putting on my suit and pretending to be an important businessman! Or I can dress casually and go to church on the 75th floor of Central Plaza to worship with Hong Kong City Church - which is such an amazing experience (and view)!

So what makes Hong Kong unpredictable? Well, alllow me to introduce you to the New Territories. North of Kowloon in between Shenzhen is quite a bit of mountains and reservoirs and of course beaches! Besides being home for a lot of residents, you can also hike and explore many areas around here. Kowloon Tong is the last train station before entering New Territories and my favorite train station on the line to Shenzhen is definitely Sha Tin. Something about the atmosphere and the fact that it's not on the tourist book that attracts me and I could definitely see myself living here if I were to ever consider coming back to work in Hong Kong.

If I wasn't coming back to Hong Kong, I would then consider Shenzhen. This is a recently sprouted city that is also like a Hong Kong a Special Economic Zone (SEZ). This SEZ is bigger now though and it's where I should be because it's in Mainland China! This would mean I could speak Putonghua! Cantonese is also used here, but Putonghua is encouraged as the lingua franca. Although I enjoy speaking and learning Cantonese, it just makes more sense for me to speak and learn Mandarin. So much more useful! Especially when all HongKongers nowadays can speak English.

Yea, but that's just a brief recap of my now home away from home. I have learned so much about Hong Kong and China having now lived here a year and I definitely want to come back and see how things change. I know they will because construction is the biggest business in Hong Kong and with all the tall residential buildings all over this small patch of land I can see why that is so!

Somber Goodbye.wmv

Time flies! I can't believe two semesters in Hong Kong are getting ready to be a thing of the past, but my time is nearly up. It's funny how I've traveled to Tokyo and Hong Kong, two of Asia's prime-time cities. You'd think coming from Kentucky I would go somewhere more quaint!

Either way, I'm gonna miss seeing the city lights and the crazy amounts of people on the streets. I guess I'm a city-boy now...and I was thinking about what it would be like to come back and work on Hong Kong Island. That would be nice, but who knows where I will end up in the next few years. I'm sure those few years will fly by too, and when that time comes I will be anxious to see where I end up.

I'd like to go to Indonesia, or back to rural China (uniquely quaint). But I'd also like to travel to Singapore and Korea. Then I'd also like to check out Shanghai. Those would be my long term stays - my vacation would definitely be a 2 month Euro Pass (extended stay in Spain and then Austria with my friend Daniel). So much to see in this world, but I guess I better first see the Grand Canyon and Rocky Mountains!

Pizza Party.wmv

HK Museums and Sushi Buffet.wmv

This video is in honor of HKBU student ambassador Stephy Pang, my favorite Hong Konger hands down! She and I both are "Soozais", but when we are together we always have a good laugh. She helps me learn Cantonese and even tries to help me improve my Mandarin, so for that I'm very appreciative. Stephy is convinced that I am going to come back and work in Hong Kong so that we can have bubble tea and gaidanzai together at least twice a week, haha.
Thanks Stephy for helping Craig, Vanessa, Craig, and I have such a good time in Hong Kong. We will never forget you and will always keep in touch. Promise me that I will forever be your number one exchange student :)
Finally, promise me that you will see us again - even if that means you have to come to Kentucky!

Temple Street & Chinese Studies

旺角 Mong Kok with Jessica_0001.wmv

This video is in honor of my 知己 (best friend), who has been with me through thick and thin the past two semesters as exchange students at HKBU. She is from Guangzhou, China and is a student in Beijing studying abroad in Hong Kong. We will be keeping in touch for sure and though it is sad to go our separate ways, I know that we will always appreciate our friendship. Wish you all the best Jess!

HKBU *Star*

http://buwww.hkbu.edu.hk/eng/main/index.jsp
Check out the link! I'm on HKBU's website - that's right I'm a star (I'm guessing less than 1,000 people visit the 'prospective students' part of HKBU's website)

Crane House Interview - TA position

As my life in Hong Kong comes to an end, I am beginning to plan for my summer back in Kentucky. I'm excited, but I have mixed feelings. It's been a wonderful year with amazing experiences and lessons learned. My eyes have been opened to the world and my global perspective has skyrocketed. Although Hong Kong is pre-dominantly Asian in population and cultural heritage, it is also a special economic zone that attracts people from all cultural backgrounds.

But I definitely am in love with the Asian culture. I appreciate the history and how they try their best to uphold traditions of old. The Chinese are very thrifty people and I enjoy letting them share with me about their history and philosophy on life. Not only have I studied Chinese geography, politics, and philosophy, but I have fallen in love with the language. It has been difficult learning Chinese, especially when you are having to learn two dialects - including the most tonal dialect of Cantonese. My Mandarin proficiency has improved significantly, but I am still not as proficient as I would have liked due to the predominance of Cantonese.

When I compare with my classmates though, I can see how far I've really come. I've really worked hard and put a ton of independent study in these past two semesters. Doing this has rewarded me with the highest grade in my Mandarin class both semesters. Having taken Elementary Chinese twice now, I really feel like I have a solid foundation of the Chinese language and although it has been boring at times going at such a slow pace, I know now exactly how foreigners should approach Chinese. If I had gone at a faster pace, I probably would not have been able to see so clearly how best to approach Chinese.


I posted this video of my interview for a summer job position with Crane House Asian Institute as their teacher's assistant. With all of the time and effort I've had to put in learning Chinese, I've become very passionate about helping others better approach Chinese and I hope to be of help for Americans interested in learning. So, if you are an American considering studying the world's most useful and interesting language, then send me an e-mail or contact me through this blog and I will try to give you my advice.

I really would recommend you to come to Hong Kong if you are interested in living in Asia because it is the perfect jump start or "gateway to Asia". Although you don't here Mandarin that often, you can still get a more welcoming experience for the beginning stage of your potential lengthy stay in Asia. Anyways, I don't regret being in Hong Kong one bit. It's been the perfect city for me to start my career in Asia and I can't wait to come back because I know I can forever call it home.

Destination: 北京

This Easter was without a doubt an Easter that I will not soon forget. I had the blessing of celebrating Jesus' death and resurrection with my dad in Hong Kong and Beijing. He arrived in Hong Kong on Good Friday and we went to worship our awesome God together in the 75th floor of Central Plaza on Hong Kong Island. This is where Hong Kong City Church meets each Sunday for it's worship service, but they happened to have a special Good Friday service which worked out perfect because Easter Sunday Dad and I would be flying to Beijing for my Easter break.

Wow, where do I start? Well, how about the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square? Here's some pictures of our walk “逛一逛” around this very historical place. By the way, these pics do not show you how ridiculously ginormous the Forbidden City really is. There is no way the Emperor had time to check out all of his crib!






After a nice stroll through the Forbidden City, we began to be curious about all of the billions of corridors we were passing. Ashamed for passing up so many, yet hurried because of our appointment with Elizabeth in a couple hours, we decided to check out an art gallery at one of the eastern hallways. Choi Choi, my Chinese Art Studio professor (who by the way is the epitome of traditional Chinese heritage still alive today...with his long white hair and 100 years of age and spontaneous behavior just like Laozi would propose in his Taoist book Daodejing) would be extremely proud of me for the studying I was doing of ancient Chinese artifacts. Very interesting to see and I wish I had more time to read and learn all the gory details of each artwork.




As we approached the northern gate of the Forbidden City, we were able to enjoy the serene Imperial Garden for a little while before meeting Elizabeth back at the southern gate of Tiananmen Square. Here dad and I really felt warm and fuzzy because of all of the beautiful ancient trees throughout this part. What we had seen before was nothing but a bare, vast concrete city. But now this area had been specially preserved and was much more lively. It seemed that we saw people from all over the world gathering in this garden and the atmosphere was splendid!






After a long morning in the Forbidden City, we met up with Elizabeth. Being an encouragement for her was such a blessing and we had productive conversations as we stopped by Starbucks and then journeyed to Summer Palace. Although Elizabeth has been to Beijing quite a few times, she has yet to see the Summer Palace. So it was a perfect way to spend the day together! Although this wasn't the prettiest time of year, this park is just as big as the Forbidden City and much more beautiful.






After Summer Palace, we headed over to Beijing University before dark. Walking the streets of this very prestigious university where very very few are accepted gave me a cool vibe. I've been strongly considering going there for grad school and so being able to get a sneak preview with my dad and Elizabeth was pretty neat. Can you tell how geeked out I am about possibly studying Chinese language and culture here?


Now onto day 3, where dad and I began our endeavor to the Great Wall. This was our dream and it was about to come true! I could hardly believe that we were actually headed to hike it together and everything felt so surreal. When that sunset and dad and I were gazing out onto the wondrous maze of a wall dating back to 7th Century BC, I knew I had to snap out of the dream and soak up every second. That we did. Dad and I had probably the best conversation I've ever had with him in my life and I can see how we are now becoming best friends. Dad, I know you'll never forget conquering Simatai Great Wall with me, nor will you or I forgot those annoying villagers following us so we could be their stinking book! I highly suggest that everyone go and see this historical site before you die - it's crazy to think that it is still standing after all of these years.

阳朔，广西，中国

The last days of Chinese New Year were spent in Yangshuo, Guangxi, China...sleeper buses, rock climbing, bamboo boating, amazing drinks and food, and incredible fireworks!

Public Diplomacy and Strategic Communications Review: Key Issues for Congressional Oversight | The Heritage Foundation

Public Diplomacy and Strategic Communications Review: Key Issues for Congressional Oversight | The Heritage Foundation


你会不会说中文？
If you can't answer that question above in Chinese, then I can answer it for you: You don't know how to speak Chinese. Well, though I have spent 1 and a half years of fairly intensive study in Mandarin, I am far from gaining fluency in the immensely challenging language.

Think about globalization and the role that United States plays in our global society. Now think about China and the role they play. Pretty big responsibilities for these two nations, huh? Well there is a problem: language barrier. If diplomacy is going to be effective, we need to be able to communicate with them effectively. That being said, China has already started to learn English. Now, America needs to make an effort to improve relations with one of the globe's most influential countries if not the most influential in relation to the global economy. Our national strategy for strategic communication is thankfully realizing the need for promoting outreach programs for China and Chinese language teaching for Americans. I for one am convincing my friends here in Hong Kong to start learning as I have because it just makes sense to know Mandarin when you think about the number of speakers. In our flat world it is just so useful. If you are considering to learn a foreign language because you only speak English and feel that you are at a disadvantage (which you are) then please take my advice and start learning Mandarin - also known as Putonghua 普通话; meaning "the popular language". So be cool, 学中文！

Kunming

It's a bit late, but here is the last video of Kunming made by Craig. This was the tail end of our Chinese New Year trip and we were tired. It was great to see Quqi though and go to her hometown in Yuxi! Although I regret the food that we had...never want to eat Yuxi BBQ again.

Why Are Parent-Child Suicides Rising in Hong Kong?

Why Are Parent-Child Suicides Rising in Hong Kong?

Just read this article online and it struck me hard because I just heard a deep lecture given by Ravi Zacharias. Ravi is a well known Christian apologetic who has been referred to as "the present day C.S. Lewis". He was born in India and is now a professor at University of Oxford. He is remarkable keen with his words and thus is a marvelous communicator. His explanations for life's toughest questions in today's intellectual world are so awesome. The question which he is now going around the world to answer is "What does it mean to be human?"


The other day I was watching him speak on you tube because of my friend Daniel recommending me too check him out. My friend Daniel is from Austria and is studying Religion and Philosophy as an exchange student here at Hong Kong Baptist University. Anyways, he is very passionate about apologetics and its importance in today's society due to the great influence that professors have on the educating of our next generation. I really admire his heart and see much truth in the need for making sure that Christian education is emphasized more amongst the body of Christ. We need to be able to stand firm in our faith and know the Word and be able to defend ourselves against the enemy. The word is like a double-edged sword. So, I started to feel bad because I don't memorize verses enough. I do on a number of occasions, though not regularly, open my Bible for encouragement and direction. But also when I am needing spiritual nourishment - which when I go a day without opening the Bible, I tend to become hungry rather quick.

So that day I spent around 5 hours or so watching Ravi Zacharias and other speakers about apologetics and debates they would have with Atheists or Muslims. The following day, I went to my Mandarin class which I take with Daniel, and he tells me that Ravi Zacharias will be speaking at Hong Kong University on March 18 at Hong Kong University....that very night! I was like, "are you serious?" Yea, very surprised, I couldn't believe it was true because I had just watched him on you tube the day before after he recommended me to listen to him probably a month ago. Luckily, I didn't have plans and decided that I must go with Daniel to hear Ravi speak.

Low and behold, he was speaking on the question which I stated earlier and saw on you tube: "What does it mean to be Human?" (in accordance to the Christian faith). So Daniel, our non-Christian friend Billy from mainland China who is an amazing student, and myself set off for Central Hong Kong which was home to the area's most prestigious university - HKU.

Seeing him in person was crazy - his hair is white like the snow and his dark Indian toned skin makes his hair look even whiter than snow! That's not really correlated with anything other than the fact that this man had a demeanor that was up to par with the likes of Billy Graham. Anxious to hear him speak, including all other 1000 in attendance from all kinds of backgrounds, I started to feel a little giddy about where I was and couldn't wait to hear what he had to enlighten us with! He's just that smart. Before he started his lecture Daniel and I were thinking of questions to ask him because the best part is the Q&A session afterward. The one we wanted to know was how he would define evil. However, it was unnecessary to ask because he answered it in full within five minutes of his lecture!

It's really hard for me to extract his lectures and let you know in full what I got out of it because for one I can't remember it all and two it's just so highly academic! But he has made me sure of this: All humans have intrinsic value and the Declaration of Independence is the only national document that adheres to that truth for human rights with this statement: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness."

Wow, talk about a bold statement with some rock solid truth to back it up. The only absolute in this world is found in God. Nothing is naturally absolute in man and though we as Christians believe that we are made in God's image - we are absolutely not capable of answering all life's questions. Realizing that we all have this freedom to choose, I know that Christ is our only choice for salvation - which is found through God's perfect love and grace which being what we all naturally long for.

I appreciate Ravi Zacharias and what he is doing for the defense of the Gospel and the God's Holy Word. I will be considering Oxford as he has programs for students and coincidentally Georgetown College has a partnership with the Regent's Park College in University of Oxford.

U.S.-Indonesia Relations: Build for Endurance, Not Speed | The Heritage Foundation

U.S.-Indonesia Relations: Build for Endurance, Not Speed | The Heritage Foundation

This is a wonderful article composed by Walter Lohman, Director of The Heritage Foundation's Asian Studies Center. As I hope to be taking part in a summer internship with an Indonesian non-profit organization in July, I was hoping to gain a better perspective of our nation's relationship with Indonesia. It seems that our relationship really plays a significant role in today's global economy and especially in regards to the War on Terrorism.

As a representative of the United States, I hope to help develop a good relationship with the 10 Indonesian students that I will be partnering with this summer. Knowing that George W. Bush and now Obama have done much to promote democracy in Asia through the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Nations) as places like Burma struggle politically. As well as promotion of education through the $157 Billion annual funding for Indonesia to start more schools. As for the promotion of peace and the war on terrorism, George Bush formed a wonderful relationship with former Indonesian President Megawati who condemns the attacks on 9/11 and now after having terrorist attacks from Islamic terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah in Bali and other parts of Southeast Asia they are desperate to make sure that they can control these extremists. We have a mutual perspective towards the War on Terrorism and I feel that new Presidents Obama and Yudhoyono will take the necessary steps together even though Obama has yet to make a visit to mother's husbands home country of Indonesia.

As for the economy, I find it ironic that I am now in Hong Kong and in high pursuit of Chinese language and culture. When you think about the rise of China and the impact they are making towards the global economy - especially when they are undervaluing the renminbi for successful exports - you can't forget that Indonesia is just a short plane ride across the South China Sea for quick and easy trade transportation. Especially when you realize that Indonesia is the 4th largest country in the world! That makes it clear that a partnership is needed to be built. Our bilateral relationship with Indonesia as far as imports and exports must increase so that we can start to have closer trade and investment ties with our highly influential economies.


Of course our main goal is to establish democracy in Asia. I think that Indonesia is our best bet for starting any political trends in the Asia Pacific and the rest of Southeast Asia. Please take the time to read this if you have nothing else to do because it's very informative. I definitely recommend all Global Scholars to have a look at this.

If not, at least be supporting me as I pray that God shows me the way this summer - if that means acceptance into this highly competitive summer cultural exchange internship then so be it! Regardless, he is always faithful and will lead me to the cross where his love conquers all. Hope everyone has a wonderful Easter and be sure to sing praise for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ! Glory to God and may we be forever thankful for the Gospel.

China Learns to Say 'Hola' | Asia Society

China Learns to Say 'Hola' | Asia Society

According to a recent panel conducted by the Asia Society, the economic integration of China and Latin America is developing rather quickly. Their relationship is improving significantly and they are showing signs of growth in trade. However, as we have learned in class, doing business internationally always creates some barriers and each country must accommodate one another so that they can achieve the desired "win-win" relationship.

In today's global society, the relationship between China and Latin America is very important. The heavy competition that has risen in today's global economy has forced these two regions to negotiate so that the trade barriers can be settled and so both parties can benefit from each other. Hu Jintao has been working with Cuba and Costa Rica on bringing about free trade agreements. Although there has been a lot of political downturn with Latin America, Hu Jintao is still striving to help Latin America also benefit from the stronger Chinese economy.

China is so much bigger when put on a scale with Latin America. They have more investment in capital, are able to save more, have cheaper labor, and they are more unified. Latin America on the other hand doesn't have technology, yet has expensive labor and more internal barriers.

Because Latin America has problems and differences in terms of per capita income, China is needing to focus on obtaining well developed manufactured goods from them. They are able to get commodities and well manufactured goods from countries like Brazil, Mexico and Argentina. Further economic integration is needed from China and Latin America by integrating countries like Peru, Chile, and Costa Rica. As for China, most manufactured bases are along the coast near Shanghai and Guangzhou. They are focusing on growth through exports.

Both sides are cooperating to solve trade issues. Latin America as of now doesn't play a huge part of Chinese imports (only 5%), but it is growing. Agriculture to China from Latin America has a 15% tariff. The free trade agreements in place have given tariffs a tendency to come down so 90% of products are fully liberalized by the 10th year.

As we look at Chinese political economy, they need to encourage domestic consumption instead of strictly relying on exports for obtaining sustainable development. At the same time, if China and Latin America want to help their relationship benefit both sides then China must be willing to help the smaller Latin American economy grow and develop. However, China is not like the United States who would go the extra mile to try and fix their economy. China expects Latin America to figure out how they can make this economic integration work and China will make sure it benefits them.

Because of the linkage of these two economic regions, the already wealthy Chinese economy should help Latin America get to the point where it is not only exporting commodities. This would require Chinese investment in infrastructure throughout Latin America and also Chinese companies must be willing to set up shop there. Latin America must be able to learn from China's experiences so they themselves can know how to succeed and experience industrial diversification and revolution through innovation.

Knowing that the only way for this relationship to improve is for Chinese companies to go to Latin American countries, there are now some International Business lessons needed to be learned by the Chinese. Lesson number one: know how to say "Hola!" Of course learning the language is a great way to connect with those whom we do business with internationally. Actually, this isn't much of a problem because most can communicate with each other using English.

But there are cultural differences between Latin America and China such as urban violence and crime which is non-existent in China. As far as China's difference from Latin America is that they seem to be only worried about themselves and their own benefits. This is a rather controversial opinion, but I for one somewhat agree. If you look into China's history they have never been one to intentionally change, influence, or harm another society. That being said, they don't feel obligated to help others in regards to their economic development. Unless of course by doing so they will be able to better achieve their own economic goals; which are very high goals.

How then should they deal with these cultural differences? Well, the Chinese companies can't use the same marketing strategies or approaches in Latin America as they do in their home country. The best way for a firm to overcome these cultural barriers is to have fluency in Spanish and or Portuguese. This would obviously require them to have workers who are from Latin America. When they do this, then they will have a chance to start advertising and effectively communicating their product in their new country.

The language barrier is just the first hurtle needed to jump. The next is the image that the Chinese companies' status and image and whether it's new Latin American consumers see them in a positive or negative. Our textbook refers to this as source effects and it's a barrier because if there is a bias against foreign firms then it can really keep the Chinese companies from being able to compete with the already established international and domestic businesses. The best way to jump this hurtle is by trying to get rid of the image of Chinese heritage. Although this may seem a bit unfair, it must be done in order for the Chinese companies to achieve it's goals. A good way for them to avoid having to compete with more preferred companies in Latin America is to go to the countries with less noise or competition.

The next hurtle is religion. These Chinese companies will have to be careful when dealing with Latin America because practically all countries are apart of the Roman Catholic church. Confucianism ethics is without a doubt effecting the Chinese business ethics and they have to be willing to respect any differences or controversies that may be faced in regards to the different beliefs and practices done by its Latin American colleagues and consumers. This means that companies must be mindful of Sundays and it's holiness. Although the boss of a Chinese company entering Latin America may find it silly to lose a day from progressing in it's business workload, they must realize that they have to sacrifice this time to cooperate with the new culture. In order to cooperate they must allow it's Latin American workers to attend mass each Sunday and also show respect towards lent. By doing this the Chinese company will be able to win the favor of more Latin American workers and possibly receive mutual respect from the consumers as well.

The next big hurtle would be marketing and advertising strategies. Obviously when you are preparing a speech you must first take into consideration your audience. If you are talking to a bunch of professionals in the subject, then you should be sure to get your facts straight and should have a very in depth analysis to present. But if you have an audience of people who are not very knowledgeable of the subject, then you would need to change your delivery style to keep them entertained and also make sure that you keep it simple enough for them to understand. The same goes for these Chinese companies who will be entering Latin America. Of course, each company will have their own product which will be intended for it's own particular group of consumers. It is important that they get in tune with their consumers and make sure they can keep them interested and attracted to your product.

As far as global advertising, it is not always standardized although there are those who think it should be. The truth is it isn't so the Chinese companies going to Latin America will have to deal with the different legal and cultural environment. Although, in dealing with this hurtle it can bring up costs having to deal with localized advertising efforts instead of having a set internationally recognized slogan. If the Chinese companies that come to Latin America can come with an already established brand that is known worldwide then they will not have to worry about this problem. So there is much value in a company's advertising campaign.

However, it definitely benefits to mix up the advertisements so that they can be more suitable to the region. For example, they could integrate the globally known Olympics to relate to the people of Brazil. This would be an excellent way to establish their brand in Latin America because the next location for the 2012 World Olympics will be in Brazil. Ironically, the previous one in 2008 was in Beijing so surely the Chinese companies could take advantage of this correlation to become a likable brand in Brazil and the surrounding countries as well.

The last hurtle that these Chinese companies will have to jump is pricing. The Chinese government’s way of regulating prices is not the same as the way of governments in Latin America. China has been a target of antidumping from Latin American countries such as Argentina and Mexico. Latin America is trying to protect its own domestic markets and China has been unable to be competitive by dropping its prices below the cost of production. It’s difficult for Chinese companies to deal with this issue because it’s hard to take legal actions and defend their rights because of the strictness of the Chinese government. Also their market status has not really been fully recognized as of yet so this makes it hard for them to make any agreements. Though, Hu Jintao is making more effort recently to fix these economic problems.

Overall, it seems that China is willing to jump all of these hurtles to have a win-win relationship with Latin America and its economies. In my opinion, China must be willing to take more risks with its business there if they intend on achieving all economic goals in the next decade or so. This means making more foreign direct investments in the region and changing its strategy of exports. I believe that China is taking the measures necessary to show the globe how it needs to be recognized and its status is surpassing Japan and my home country of the United States better start taking notes!

Tiger Leaping Gorge.avi

Simply stunning. GORGEous as we were saying. This two day hike was unforgettable an my definition of mountains is no longer the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee (no offense Craig). The Halfway Lodge was so beautiful and I would love to go back again someday. Highly recommend that you hike this trail.

LiLi's Adventure

So this is Craig's second video production. Here we are starting our adventure with Lili, a Naxi-Tibetan whom we met while in Lijiang. She took us to see a Bai minority monastery and horse-back riding throughout many Naxi villages. Enjoy!

The Beginning.avi

This first video is recapping the first days of our trip before Chinese New Year celebrations as we go from Kuming to Dali to Lijiang in quick fashion.

Yunnan Trek - TLG, Lijiang, Dali, Kunming, Yuxi 云南游：虎跳峡，丽江，大理，昆明，玉溪

Finally, my heavily anticipated itinerary to and through Yunnan is complete! What an amazing time we had. Without a doubt the most adventurous 10 days of my life. Have you ever read the book Wild at Heart? Well, I haven't but I'm pretty sure that Craig, Jason, and myself should read it because God really ignited a fire in is to adventure into his glorious creation. Talk about revelation! This trip was full of different revelations from God - number one being his omnipresence. He is alive and is working in all parts of this world. The number one lesson I will take from this trip is how worth while it is to join in on the work that God is doing, has done, and will continue to do.


So the trip started with just mua. My flight to Kunming left from Hong Kong, whereas Craig and Jason were flying out from Shenzhen. I was a bit nervous not being with them from the get-go because I wasn't certain how easy it would be to find each other in Kunming, but it all worked out fairly smoothly. I beat them to the Kunming Airport by like 30 minutes and in that time I was able to hook up with a travel agent to help get us to the long distance bus station. Daniel from Austria and his German friend Lucas happened to be on the same flight Craig and Jason, and they even considered coming with us to Lijiang 丽江, but Daniel was pretty sick and felt that he needed to stay in Kunming until he felt good enough to travel by long distance bus to a more remote area. So, we unfortunately ended up splitting up from the get go.

From that point on, it was just The Three Musketeers. Our first mission: get to the long distance bus station within the next 30 minutes for the last sleeper bus to Lijiang at 9:30pm. Mission impossible because when we got there and I spoke with the ticket counter they said only two beds available. So, we had to go to Dali instead. This was no problem because I was actually looking forward to seeing a bit of Dali anyways. The sleeper bus was an eventful experience for us, especially for Craig and Jason with it being there first time. We were too nervous to put our belongings in the trunk like everyone else so we all slept with our huge backpacks. Not the most comfortable thing to have shoved in with you on a tiny bed where you have to shove your feet under a tiny metal rod/shelf for any other belongings. Speaking of feet, our first hilarious experience was the Chinese dude sitting in front of Craig saying in broken English, "move your shoes. They have smell!" haha.

After 7 hours or so we finally arrived very early the next morning to Xiaguan which from there we had to take a mini-van to the main gate of Dali 大理. Immediately we started to look for a bank because I couldn't get money in Kunming because the banks didn't take MasterCard. For some reason, Dali didn't have as well! I was pretty frustrated and thankfully Craig and Jason had gotten enough money out in Shenzhen before coming to get us by. Thank you Craig for lending me 2000RMB! After that frantic search, we then went to check on getting a bus ticket to Lijiang. When we got to the ticket counter, the guy informed us that the next bus was leaving in 15 minutes, and then the next in like 5 hours. Right on the spot we had to decide whether to go straight to Lijiang or stay in Dali. For some reason, which I am kind of glad, we decided to leave Dali and go on to Lijiang.


So we started walking with this guide to the bus pickup spot and along the way he stopped and pointed at this small store with a guy making these pancake things called Baba. He said we should get some for breakfast. What a perfect snack! Cooked and filled with honey (well the one I had was salty) they are really tasty treats. Now with a sweet taste in our mouths and adrenaline pumping for the heavily anticipated Lijiang Old Town, we got on another bus for about 6 more hours.

On the bus ride I finally was able to sit calmly and listen to the family next to us speak Mandarin. It was such a relief to finally hear Mandarin instead of Cantonese. At that moment I was reassured of all the hours I've put in for my Mandarin studies. Meanwhile, Craig next to me was asking me all kinds of questions about the language and I was excited to help him progress in his own studies. Then Jason, big playa, was in front sitting next to a Chinese girl asking her all kinds of questions on how to say this or that aka flirting (just kidding Jason).


Arriving in Lijiang late that afternoon, we were pretty giddy. With backpacks strapped on and adrenaline now fully pumped, we entered the Old Ancient City after quickly passing through the New City and started walking the cobbled streets. Definitely a touristy kind of place, but regardless of that fact it was undeniably cultural and the unique architecture and souvenir selection had us sold. Naxi paper, naxi clothes, necklaces, Pu'er tea, Dongba Characters, Tibetan scarfs, and much more. Of all that I had ended up coming back with a Dongba Character for "climb every mountain", a blue and white Tibetan scarf, and Pu'er tea. Pretty good seeing as I had no where to fit whatever I decided to buy!


Our first meal that evening after getting our hotel was a tough decision because of the amazing selection. Craig had done some research and printed off food reviews of most of the restaurants. We ended up picking Naxi Restaurant across the bridge and the main stream in the northwest part of the Old Town. Wow is all I can say. Delicious goat cheese, Sulima 苏里玛 and pineapple juice to drink, garlic and butter sauce with cooked spinach, crossing bridge noodles 过桥米线, eggplant, and I forget what else but we ate it all and were completely satisfied. Maybe we spent a bit too much, but we were way to excited about trying all the new foods and so we convinced ourselves that it would be worth it to splurge a bit.

No better way to walk off a meal than to get lost in the narrow mazed streets of Lijiang Old Town 丽江古城. It was so surreal being there because just a few months ago I was so excited about the possibility of coming but wasn't sure if it would actually happen. Well, after arriving to our hotel that evening and putting our belongings down in the nice room with three beds and a bathroom I was surely aware that this was going to be an awesome vacation.

When it came time for our first night's rest in a room with a bed, I took the time to do some journaling and reflecting on all that was happening. Having Craig and Jason there made it definitely a lot more fun and we had no idea how much more great memories were about to be made the next 9 days.

Journal Entry February 13, 2010: Chinese New Year Eve

What a day! God is incredible! He completely revealed himself to us today. Last night I was wondering if there was any Christians in this area. I began to pray for a sign. So we got up @ 10:40am this morning (12 hrs of sleep!). So excited for the day ahead, we set off to Black Dragon Pool 黑龙添 up just north of Old Town. En route, we stopped to get some walnuts and fruit. The walnut cakes aka Lijiang's gaidanzai were a delicious snack with yummy bean paste inside the ball shaped cakes. The fruit was such a satisfying choice as we enjoyed the best oranges with seeds to spit in each slice; and these strange small green apple-like things that we don't know the name of. Also we had this huge purple fruit that had juice inside and came with a straw like coconut.

After breakfast on the go, we found out from locals that you could by pass the 80元 ticket booth and get in the Black Dragon Pool for free. If it's free, it's me! Entering the pool area was so cool. Such a serene landscape and seats to relax and enjoy the scenery were everywhere. We found a nice table with a great view of the pool and Chinese style building on the other side. Just gorgeous. The fish were so easy to spot in the clear water and they were swimming without fear of being caught along the edge of the pool next to us. Jason got sick after eating the fruit. He went to go find a bathroom and Craig and I began to worry when didn't come back after 15 minutes or so.

Finally, we saw him talking to a family. He introduced them to us and happily told us that he was a missionary from South Korea. Wow, I thought. I was so thankful to meet him and immediately knew that God meant for us to meet. He had a Korean wife and three adopted Chinese children. They seemed so delighted to see us and we were just as delighted. They didn't speak a lot of English, so I had to really try hard to speak Mandarin with them. God helped me a lot and we were still able to communicate okay.

Waking up with an adrenaline rush, we all went out to get a nice breakfast at Prague Cafe. Oh wow, what a wonderful place for foreigners lol. With English speakers and English muffins, what could be better? Well, muesli was on the menu and was a must for Craig and Jason. As for me, I just wanted some coffee! While eating this lady walks up the stairs and starts talking to us about how she would take us on a tour of this Bai Minority 白族 monastery and then horse back riding through Naxi 纳西 minority villages. Personally, I was pretty excited to here her offer and the price seemed reasonable. But Craig was feeling a little iffy about the whole thing and for good reason because this lady had the craziest personality. She was a straight up nut! We call her marijuana lady because she jokingly said that she smokes marijuana everyday - who knows maybe she was being serious. Anyways, we needed transportation to Tiger Leaping Gorge and we thought that it would be a good experience for us to better understand the ethnic minority groups in China so we decided to accept her offer.

What an experience! The drive wasn't too bad and along the way I was able to learn a lot from Lili about the Naxi Dongba 东巴 religion and history. She also explained to me how the Naxi people in Lijiang are being bullied by Han majority businessmen and such. She thought it was unfair how they were able to have a better chance of becoming successful and wished that the minority groups were treated more fairly. I find it interesting how the Chinese government may be showing favoritism, but at the same time I feel that Lili had a pretty ethnocentric opinion about the matter and would like to hear other opinions before gathering my own.

Soon we arrived at the Bai monastery and it was in a rather beautiful location as we had to scale up a mountain side. The view from the monastery was great and the people were so glad to see us. Here Craig was able to get some wonderful photos of people as they were all happily gathering with their families for the Chinese New Year. It was rather difficult to understand all that was going on at the monastery for it was all rather foreign to me. But Lili said that they were Taoists, although I could see Buddhas at the top inside a cave so that really confused me. They were burning incense as well and burning prayers so that made me think that Lili didn't know what she was talking about. Regardless, I was glad to see and experience the rituals taking place and to see how the families would gather was definitely special.

After this wonderful experience, we hit the road again towards a large open land of 28 Naxi villages. This land had a beautiful lake and mountain scenery surrounding all of these similar styled homes. We must have went through all 28 villages because we stopped at a dead end in this beautiful remote area. Immediately we were welcomed by some villagers and they already had horses ready for us to hop on and giddy-up! This was Jason's first time on a horse and I was excited to get on one again because it had been quite a while since I last rode one. With adrenaline pumping once again, we set off with our new friends who couldn't speak a single word of English as they lead us to an unknown destination. I was so giddy that I could care less where we were going, but my camera was out and I was taking tons of photos.

We dismounted at this random basketball court in the middle of a poor village, and then walked into a local family's home. This was an interesting experience indeed! We were greeted by about 10 family members from toddler to elder. They had a room with chairs and a fireplace and dead animals hanging from the ceiling. We sat down on the floor in a large circle and just awkwardly sat there. I tried to speak Mandarin with them but none of them understood and instead spoke this strange dialect. The guy next to me offered me a cigarette and I said yes only because I thought it would make the atmosphere less awkward. Craig thought it was funny and obviously enjoyed taking pics of me puffing it up with a village dude whom I just met.

After a few minutes of hanging out with the family, they had us come outside to see these two younger newlyweds in their nice ethnic outfits. They both were very happy and they seemed to be very excited to see us and seemed proud to represent their family in front of us. We took pictures with them and gave them a little money because they were so nice to us and obviously could use a bit of help financially. I would have given them more but Lili said what I was about to give was too much.

After saying goodbye, we rode the horses another hour or so back to the "original place to eat food and drink beer!" according to our crazy tour guide. The Naxi hotpot and Baixue Beer was actually pretty good - although I would have preferred to have a glass of water! We were so hungry though that it didn't matter what they gave us. After dinner we told Lili that we needed to hit the road for Qiaotou, which is the small town where we would begin our trek of the heavily anticipated Tiger Leaping Gorge.

We made it that evening after 2 hours of beautiful views out the window from the mini-van. Saying goodbye to our new friend Lili was tough, but we knew that she couldn't wait to go home and have some Mary Jane. Thanks to the handy Lonely Planet Southwest China book, we knew exactly where we were going to stay the night: Jane's Guest House.

Have you ever seen Pirates of the Caribbean? You know the oracle lady? Well Jane is freakishly the same. The same hair, talk, expressions, attitude, demeanor, everything it seemed. No joke! Anyways, she made us dinner upon arrival and it wasn't amazing but the room sure was. Especially for the price we paid. I couldn't believe how cheap it was and the room was totally for backpackers. The whole environment was obviously flavored for hikers and I was loving it! Craig, Jason, and I were all so ecstatic about being there and we knew that we were in for an amazing adventure. Especially after talking to a British family who had just got back from doing part of the hike until they were stopped by a landslide of boulders the size of their heads. Although it was kind of scary to hear their life threatening stories, they still obviously were in awe of the mountain views. After hearing that I had much to sleep on that night and sleep I did because those beds were soft and the blanket was even softer!

The next morning we got some hearty breakfast aka "baba" and then set off for the main event: TLG. All geared up and ready to go we followed Jane's directions to get to the beginning of the high trail 高路, only to realize that we had gone 2km past the entrance! So we ended up hiking an unnecessary 4km before even starting this ridiculously strenuous trail. And believe me this was not a walk in the park! No sirry, this was uphill for miles. After 30 minutes we had already started to drip in sweat because of our heavy bags and we started to strip down even though it wasn't even that warm outside. Yea, thank goodness that we were only 19,19, and 21 years old! Our youth came in handy because we were in for a heck-of-a hike.

There weren't really many other hikers on the first part of the trail that morning, but soon we ran into some Koreans and Chinese who had much less gear than us. They must have thought we were crazy with our huge bags as we raced pass them rather confidently and seemed to be flying up hills with much haste. I think Craig and I were a little too excited and plus our competitive drive was making us feel the need to dominate the trail in cool fashion. Unfortunately, I think we made a mistake in doing the uphill part of the 16km trek so quickly because Jason started to have trouble breathing and his lungs were hurting. We started to slow down from then on and this was for the better I think because we needed to enjoy this beautiful scenery and not zoom through it all.

I was so proud of Jason though because not once did he give up. The whole way up hill and through the toughest part known as the 28 bends he made it backpack and all - and the whole way we had this guy following us with a horse waiting for us to pay him to use it for carrying our heavy bags. We made it our goal to persevere and finish the difficult part of the trek without any assistance. That we did! When we made it to the first breakpoint we loaded up on oranges and water and said no to the cheap marijuana being sold lol. Jason started to regain some strength and we met up with some French people from Jane's and together we started to tackle the second quarter of the trek towards the Halfway point. This second quarter of the trail was 10 times as beautiful as the first quarter because at this point we were at least 1500 meters high. When we first got a visual of Snow Jade Dragon Mountain 玉龙雪山 I couldn't believe my eyes.

It was heaven. The sunlight glistening against the glacier peaks and the clouds cuddling up against the skying mountain tops. It was just unbelievable. The three of us were so amazed and they finally understood why I wanted us to hike Tiger Leaping Gorge. It's the number one trail in all of China for a reason. And the reason was right before our eyes. The French were great company as they gave us sausage and wine as we sat gazing at the wondrous, glorious Snow Jade Dragon Mountain. No one has ever gotten to the top of the mountain because of it's peculiar shape. At 4500m high, it's not Mt. Everest, but still it has yet to be conquered. The mysteriousness of this peak really makes you relate it to heaven as you wait for the clouds to move so you can actually see the top. I still am not sure if I ever saw the top...but maybe Craig or Jason did I'm not sure. After spending quite a long time in sight of the sacred mountain, we realized that we better give ourselves enough time to get to the Halfway Lodge and or Tina's Guest House before dark.

We first decided to keep hiking to Tina's Guest House because we were making such good pace in the hike. However, Jason was really getting sick and the dust and wind had started to mess up his lungs to the point where Craig and I had to carry his bag for a bit. I know Jason would have rather felt more up to par, but I'm actually glad that his sickness made us stop because the Halfway Lodge was by far my favorite place in all of Yunnan. The location and view of this place is just ridiculous. The balcony they have and the surrounding rooms for backpackers from all over the world just made the coolest environment. I was astonished when we saw the view from our room's window and though Jason was sick I know that he was still astonished by the beauty.

I helped Jason get situated and tried to figure out why his lungs were effected and Craig and I were fine - especially when he is in better shape than we will ever be. I came to the conclusion that it was because he had been breathing improperly by only using his mouth. The dust was messing up his lungs because he was breathing it in through his mouth. If he had breathed in through his nose and out through his mouth then his nostril hairs would have stopped most dust from getting into his lungs. Although I'm not a doctor, I was glad to have figured out what the problem was!

Soon he started to get back up to par and then we went out to join the rest of the hikers for dinner. What a group! We first met two guys, an Australian and a German. We had a good conversation, but didn't really connect with them as well as we would have liked. But God was definitely at work as later this young American couple sits down with us and introduces themselves. Drew from Oklahoma City and his wife I forget where she was from though. They were both teaching at a University in Xian 西安 and were passionate disciples for Christ. It was so encouraging to listen to Drew and all that he had to say about China and I was so glad to meet them. Jason especially. After meeting the Korean family in Lijiang and now this couple in TLG, he was really wanting to join in on what God is doing in China.

After dinner, though it was cold, I went up to that balcony and gazed at the stars for a bit. They were so beautiful. I hadn't seen stars in months because Hong Kong is so polluted and the city lights light up the sky and clouds. But here was so nature - so heavenly. I wish I wasn't so tired and in need of rest because I would have stood there all night on that balcony until sunrise. But I did end up eventually going back to the room and slept with those stars in sight from my window.

The next morning I got dressed and went right back out to that balcony to watch the sunrise slowly over the high peaks. Hear is where my amazing facebook profile pic was taken (way to go Craig~haha). The weather was really chilly, but I was so not going to miss out on the sunrise from this view - I would so love to go back to that spot again someday. After a great breakfast at the lodge we all set off early for the second half of the trail. My shoulders were so soar from the big blue Lafuma bag, but luckily we wouldn't have to anymore uphill hiking. But the distance was still rather lengthy.

At this point my pants were pretty disgusting and I had worn all of my shorts and shirts - only putting on fresh underwear and socks. The weather was cold again but we would heat up because of the hike. My black Columbia jacket was so useful as it broke away the heavy wind and wasn't too heavy. But the wind was absolutely ridiculous on this day. It would randomly just start blowing so hard that we had to stop and grab the nearest rock so we didn't go off the cliff to our right. Yea, kinda scary but very adventurous! We crossed a waterfall that was kind of dangerous but I made it through without much trouble and so did Craig and Jason. We started to see a bunch of goats and then also some random village folk who were just sitting enjoying the view as chill as could be. This whole stretch still had beautiful large mountains, however we could tell that we were starting to get to a lower elevation.

We finally made it to Tina's in time for a late lunch. We had arrived much earlier than the other hikers because of our quicker pace and the fact that we started earlier in the morning. I think I would have liked to take it a little slower, but the timing all worked out in the end because we ended up going down to see the Tiger Leaping Stone, get up the crazy ladder of death back up the cliff and then back to Tina's right when Drew and his wife whom I wish I could remember the name (Amber? maybe) were getting ready to take a bus to Qiaotou. We originally planned on going to Daju, but everyone was saying that it was not a good idea because it would be difficult to get a bus back to Lijiang. So we decided to save time and money by joining them and their mini-van back to Qiaotou.

This was a great idea because we were able to get to know Drew better and I was looking forward to hearing more about him after seeing the evidence of Christ in his life from the dinner conversation the night before. I think I speak for all of us when I say that this guy was sent by God to help encourage us in our own walk. He definitely helped me see how urgently I need to join in on what God is doing on this side of the world. I am excited to see God at work and this revelation that I have received is without a doubt been a blessing and I am anxious to see how God continues to equip me for my career as I seek to bring him glory to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).

The drive to Qiaotou along the trek we just hiked was not easy because the road was blocked from a landslide. So we waited a while and then had to get on a bigger bus with a bunch of Americans. This was pretty cool and the fact that basically all but 3 people on the bus were American was very awesome. We all connected and Drew with his excellent communication skills kept the conversations interesting the whole trip. Some were even singing praise and worship songs so it was definitely a surreal China experience!

Finally we made it to Lijiang and Drew and Amber invited us to eat dinner with them in the Old Town before they would head back to there friends house in Shuhe 束河. Before we went to eat Sichuancai, we had to get a room for the night and that was rather difficult because now Lijiang was much busier than when we had arrived on the 12th. We ended up staying in this crappy room that was too expensive and didn't even have three beds or hot water. It was frustrating but we dealt with the cards played and made it through the night. But I had a bad headache so I was grumpy anyways. Using my scarf as a pillow didn't help things and neither did eating the "death ball" which was the ultra spicy ingredient used in Sichuancai.

We went to the long distance bus station that morning to get a bus ticket to Kunming as soon as possible. We left around lunch and arrived in Kunming that evening only to be warmly welcomed by the worst weather I think Kunming aka Spring City has ever had. It was freezing! After just leaving heaven I think this was a huge drop in excitement, but luckily the hostile we were staying in, Cloudland International, was legit. The food here was good, the atmosphere was cool and chill, and the beds and showers were okay besides the fact that the first night they didn't have hot water.

Although Kunming itself sucks, this hostile really met our standards. They offered us internet access which was a first (Lijiang no way) and they had great maps and information for traveling to surrounding areas such as the Stone Forest 石林. We wanted to go to the Stone Forest even though it was 1.5 hrs away so we went to get a bus ticket but the bus station was a hassle to get to and when we got there we were disappointed when they said that there weren't anymore going that day so we had to buy the ticket for the next day - which was fine because we were 2 days ahead of schedule. We were tempted to go see the rice terraces in Yuanyang 元阳, but I was worried we wouldn't make it back to Kunming in time to meet up with Quqi on the 20th.

That night we had a nice dinner at the famous 汽锅鸡 restaurant which I forget the name of lol. Amazing food and we definitely made the most out of this horrible city with horrible weather. After another nice night at Cloudland with a late snack and hot shower, we woke up the next day and started the day off with a nice Swiss breakfast. Yum - and I also got some coffee so I was ready to take on the day, no matter how freakin' cold it was. We headed early so we could make it in time for our bus that left at 10:30ish or so. We made it just fine and I got a liter of tea for the bus ride: bad decision. With still 30 minutes or more to go until we arrived at Stone Forest, I was about to burst in my pants I had to go so bad. It was the most painful feeling ever - having to hold it in that long was extremely difficult and definitely the worst part of the trip for me. That made me moody for the rest of the day and so I'm sure I got on Jason and Craig's nerves with my negativity, but we ended up having a good day still because of the fact that Stone Forest was such a joke.

Probably the most touristy place for Chinese people. So many people there and hardly any foreigners. We were tired and grumpy because it was the tail end of our 10 day trip, but we managed to laugh and kid about all the funny Chinese tourists in particular "Mr. Relentless". This dad was trying to take pictures of everything and there wasn't nothing that was going to stop him, not even a gajillion other tourists pushing shoving on the top of a lookout zone. It was kind of funny to make fun of other people all day seeing as we didn't have anything better to do. But all in all I'm glad we had an experience like that because now I can know that I won't be going back to Kunming again unless to see Quqi of course.

Speaking of Quqi 瞿麒, it was finally time to meet up with her! We planned on meeting her in Grand View Park near Yunnan University and I couldn't wait to finally see her again. That day was so much better than the previous days in Kunming. The weather was beautiful and that in itself made it a much more pleasant environment to be in. When we met Quqi, I was so excited and we gave each other a hug and then I introduced her to Craig and Jason and she introduced her husband. He didn't speak English, so we didn't talk much but he seemed like a nice guy I guess. Well, he bought us dinner for that night so he was indeed nice! And the food was unique because it was from the Dai minority 傣族. Kind of spicy, but it was much more tasteful to me than Sichuancai.

After dinner they invited us to stay in Yuxi 玉溪 which is their hometown near the Stone Forest. After already being sick of Kunming, we all thought it would be a good idea to go elsewhere for the night. I was excited especially because I wanted to see what Quqi's home was like and the guys were content I'm sure because they were taking care of our every need. They got us a nice hotel and a coach back to the airport the next day. The only thing that I will forever regret about Yuxi is that meal we had. My Lord it was atrocious. Rotten tofu that was unbelievably gross, pig's palate that was unbelievably strange, duck's tongue that was strangely textured, tape worm veggies that were ungodly spicy, chicken joint bones that were the most edible dish, and hot soy milk that made my already intensely spiced mouth beg for something cold. So, I had to drink beer just to make my flaming mouth feel somewhat cooled. Horrible, just horrible.

We did end our trip on a good note however. Our hotel was so nice and completely western and the shower was top of the line. I slept like a baby one last time and it was funny to look back and reflect on our trip...especially the randomness of the last 3 or 4 days in Kunming and Yuxi - extremely random lol.

All in all I consider this trip a complete success. Sure there's always something wrong on the itinerary, but I signed up for an adventure - not a tour guide. We definitely had an adventurous time in Yunnan, and I will never forget TLG - especially because good ole' Craig has it all on youtube and facebook!

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