Hey all,

I realize that it's been a while since my last update. This isn't because I've forgotten how to type (heaven forbid) or because I don't want to keep y'all abreast of what's going on. I've just been busy. And without much internet access. Of course, I've got more than some of the people in my group who didn't contact their parents until about a week after leaving, which is good.

Now to the catching up.

On Tuesday, we left in the morning to visit Changsha. Once we got there, Lainey (our liaision), took us to the museum. Scott Galer, a professor I had at BYU-I, told us about the 'crown jewel' of the exhibit. Apparently archeaologists found a body inside of several layers of coffins in the 80's. The lady inside, the wife of some marquis or something, was still moist. All of her organs were intact, which is odd, as she was buried thousands of years ago. Anyway, we went to the exhibit that showed some of the artifacts they found in her tomb and the tomb of her husband and son. This is a picture of the models of servants they found in the tomb. Servants were blessed to spend an eternity serving their masters. Some of the emperors actually had their servants killed and placed in the tomb with them rather than a figurine. Then the piece d'resistance--the mummy herself. You might want to scroll down quickly if you don't like seeing dead people, as I'm attaching a picture.

After visiting the museum (if you'd like to see more pictures, email me), we went to downtown Changsha. And a Walmart. Which was great. I got some cute shoes for about $11, which are pictured below. We also got toilet paper (you need to travel with it in China as most places don't believe in toilet paper) and a few other essentials. Here's a picture of the shoes:

We got to sleep for a while before waking up insanely early the next morning for a crash course in Chinese from Scott Galer. Jeff and I packed for our trip to Yangshuo so we wouldn't have to return to our apartment. We ended up walking back anyway. It's about a 35 minute walk between the campuses. Which isn't too bad, really. We didn't spend long at home, though. We were just getting our extra broom to give it to Jordan. She graciously let us stow our stuff in her apartment. Everyone had free time to unpack. I still need to unpack.

In the evening, we boarded a very bouncy bus that Jacob Harlan (the founder of China Horizons) chartered to take us to Yangshuo. We were expected to sleep on said bus...but I must admit I hardly slept at all. Jeff and I didn't have enough foresight to bring pillows and the chairs didn't recline. My knees were pressed against the chair in front of me for the entire 11 hour ride. The ride to Yangshuo was excruciatingly long thanks to an accident somewhere between Xiangtan and Yangshuo. I'm actually surprised I haven't seen more accidents. The drivers here are crazy. We took a taxi home one night and I thought the driver had a death wish or something.

Yangshuo is gorgeous! Jeff and I walked around a lot. The sun actually shines in Yangshuo, so we both got sunburned as well. (The sun doesn't really shine in Xiangtan because of the pollution.) We got some sandals and then wore them while walking the second day...which was probably a mistake. My feet are killing me. C'est la vie, though. The first night, we had our first experience haggling with street vendors. They show you an outlandish price on a calculator and then ask you what you're willing to pay. When you show them, they usually act like you've insulted them before showing you a lower price. Jeff and I weren't particularly good at it our first time...but I don't think anyone really is. It turns into a fun game once you learn how to do it and not get gouged price-wise. The picture on the left is a pagoda Jeff and I saw on our voyage

The next day, Jeff and I went on a bamboo river trip. I took some pictures, which are below. If you'd like to see more, yet again, please email me. The mountains are gorgeous in Yangshuo. They're like that all over the place in the south of China. Yangshuo is a very large tourist destination, in fact. Most of the vendors on the side of the road speak at least a little English. Guides try and solicit customers by showing testimonials in little books they carry around. They are all very nice, but pushy. You need to be careful, as you do anywhere with tourism, not to get scammed. You can rent bicycles to do touring. We didn't. Mostly because I'd probably die on a bike right now... I hope to be in a lot better shape when I get home from all of this walking. It's the easiest way to get around, after all.

This is a picture of a bamboo boat we saw while on the way down the river. Neato, eh? I don't actually think that it's made completely of bamboo, but some of them were.