Yellow Mountain

Several of my classmates and I took the opportunity this past weekend to go hiking on Mt. Huang Shan (黄山), which translated means “yellow mountain.” Mt. Huang Shan is considered one of the most beautiful mountain ranges in China, and it is only five hours from Nanjing so we felt like we should take the opportunity to go. It was completely worth it! It was an adventure just getting there, but it is easily one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever visited.

We didn’t actually get to Mt. Huang Shan until Friday, but our adventures began on Thursday. We went to a local travel agency in Nanjing to book the bus tickets and hotel (let it be known that I am using the term “hotel” very loosely). We were able to pull the travel agency worker away from playing solitaire on his computer just long enough to find out that we could purchase our bus ticket to travel to Huang Shan, but we would have to wait until we arrived in Huang Shan to purchase our return ticket. We asked what the bus schedule was for buses coming back to Nanjing from Huang Shan. We are so westernized! The way he looked at us made it very clear to me that the thought of access to such information was as foreign to him as Chinese is to me. :) However, we were sure that there would be a lot of buses running from Huang Shan to Nanjing on Saturday, so we didn’t worry about it too much. Next, we were able to go ahead and book our “hotel,” but the travel agency told us that they didn’t know the name of the hotel. What?! They gave us a phone number of a travel agent in Huang Shan, and they told us that he would give us our hotel information when we got there. A couple of things were running through my head.

1) “You’re joking, right?! There is absolutely no order in China!”

2) “Are we really going to pay money to take a bus six hours away only to sleep in a hotel that apparently lacks a name?”

3) “Is he wearing the same pink shirt he wore yesterday?”

We all concluded that 1) yes, there were a lot of question marks concerning this trip, but 2) such is life in China!

We got on the bus at 8 a.m. Friday morning, and the bus trip was actually pretty painless. Yes, the roads were so bumpy as to make you feel like you are riding on a banana behind a boat (I love those things!), and yes, the bus drivers drove in such a way as to treat the median as merely a suggestion and oncoming cars as harmless objects, and yes, I did wake up with a Chinese student sleeping on my shoulder. But really, all things considering—the trip could have been much worse.

The bus dropped us off at some random place in Huang Shan, and we were able to both buy return bus tickets for the next day and get the required information for our hotel. We ate lunch, took taxis up the mountain, and took the cable car from the foot of the mountain to the side of the mountain with our hotel.

Now before anyone judges me for choosing the picturesque 20-minute cable car as opposed to the grueling eight-hour hike up the mountain, let me make this disclaimer. The beauty of Mt. Huang Shan is not the hike from the base of the mountain, but the beautiful trails and hikes near the top of the mountain. We chose to spend our time hiking the beautiful scenery on top of the mountain rather than spending eight hours walking up thousands of granite steps. Alright, I feel like I can continue now. :)

We spent the afternoon and early evening hiking to our hotel. The scenery was gorgeous! Not only were the mountains spectacular, but the leaves had just begun to turn so the valley was full of autumn reds, greens, and oranges.





The Chinese hikers were also in rare form. As we were at one place taking pictures, one man blatantly pointed at my plaid shorts and began laughing. I know they were only $15, but that’s kind of rude, isn’t it? I ended up taking a picture with his family. :)


When we were getting closer to our hotel, I heard a large group of people speaking Cantonese behind me. My roommate, Nate, and I stopped and started talking to them. We spent the next little while chatting with the big group, and we enjoyed every second of speaking Cantonese! It is such a fun language!

We made it to our hotel just before dark. We ate an expensive dinner that consisted of very average food, and then we checked in to our sleeping quarters. Honestly, they weren’t that bad. Compared to sleeping on those train beds, it almost felt like the Four Seasons. Ok, not really. The lights were off at 9 p.m., and we fell asleep to the sound of rhythmic snoring, compliments of the old Chinese man in the other “room” (other side of the curtain).

The lights came on at 4 a.m., and we looked around and saw that all the Chinese people were gone! We didn’t want to get beat to the best spots to see the sunrise, so we quickly got up and headed to the spot we picked out the night before. A couple of comments.

1) I don’t think I’ve ever felt so rested getting up at 4 in the morning! Maybe there is something to that “early to bed, early to rise” thing. :)

2) It was freezing! While my shorts and sweatshirt might work for an afternoon in Nanjing (one of the four hottest cities in China), they didn’t quite do the trick at 4 a.m. on the top of a mountain.

3) I have never seen a more bright and vibrant sky in my entire life. All the constellations that I would’ve learned, if, of course, my astronomy class was not in a dark planetarium with leather recliners during my senior year, were visible. There were also shooting stars all over the sky. While I certainly don’t consider myself to be one who would choose star-gazing over the opening weekend of March Madness, I must admit that it was nothing short of spectacular.

We reached our appointed cliff around 5:30 a.m.. We were all sitting there, enjoying the peace and serenity of the morning, when we heard a mass of footsteps behind us. Before we knew it, the quiet tranquility of the morning was replaced by the shouts and (unfortunately) spitting of masses of Chinese people. No matter where you go, Chinese people are everywhere!


They were so friendly and fun to talk to as we waited for the sunrise, and they all screamed when they thought the sun had come up. It hadn’t yet. Ten minutes later, the sun really came up. They screamed again. :)



After going back to our hotel and eating breakfast, we spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon hiking.






Around 1 p.m., we took the cable car back down the mountain, ate lunch, and by 2:30 we were on a bus heading back to Nanjing. We got home around 8:30 on Saturday night. I am so glad we took the weekend and went hiking on Mt. Huang Shan! If I get the opportunity to come back to China, I would love to spend a couple of days hiking Mt. Huang Shan.

The Man Date

When our group arrived in Nanjing, I quickly realized that we had little interaction with the natives here. We lived in separate apartments, and our classes were only with other BYU students. We were all having fun together, but I felt like I wasn’t getting the full cultural experience of studying in China.

Naturally, I first turned to sports in search of a solution. I went to play ping pong every afternoon with a group of retired Nanjing residents. They quickly took “Little Myers” (小莫) under their wing and began teaching me how to play.

“You are too tall! Bend down!”

“Don’t be lazy! Move your feet!”

“Stop using your arms! Use your wrist!”

“Kill the ball! Kill it! KILL IT!!!” (compliments of an 80 year-old woman who still
scares me)

I felt like I was at high school basketball practice, just without as much sweat. I had a great time playing ping pong with this group, and I still go play a couple of times every week. Aside from ping pong, I also tried playing basketball and running as a way to interact with natives, but I still felt like there were more opportunities to be had.

After discussing the situation with my roommate Jimmy, we decided to try something “new.” We decided to go finding for Chinese friends. Ok, actually this was not a “new” idea at all. We had spent two years of our lives “finding” Chinese people, and while I do understand we are supposed to move on from our mission experiences (the word “menace” comes to mind), we are still supposed to apply what we learned, right?!

And so our adventures began on a Monday after class. I decided to go “finding” on campus near the athletic fields. I was walking near the track, and I saw a student who looked like he needed a friend studying by himself. Unfortunately, he didn’t need a friend. After a couple of minutes, his girlfriend came over, and we ended up enjoying some Chinese fruit over pleasant conversation. I departed after thanking them for the fruit, and I showed my gratitude by giving them both English names.

My next target was a student sitting in the bleachers next to the basketball court. We ended up talking for almost an hour on topics ranging from why Steve Nash is better than Kobe Bryant (he didn’t buy it) to the Backstreet Boys (his favorite band). When I got up to leave, we made plans to do something that week. He told me that he had just moved to Nanjing and that he was feeling really lonely so he was happy to make new friends. We went out to dinner later than night and we spent the whole time laughing as he told us about his favorite American media. The Backstreet Boys and Titanic topped the list. I told him he had much to learn. :)

Reeves -


That was the beginning of what our apartment has affectionately coined the “man date.” It is pretty much the classic American date, just exchanging American girls for Chinese men. (If that sentence made you feel uncomfortable, I was uncomfortable writing it.) This is normally how it goes. We meet, chat, laugh, and exchange phone numbers. A simple text message including a dinner invitation is then sent or received later that day. We meet at the specified area and the necessary introductions are made. A delicious dinner ensues. After dinner, (if things are going well) ice cream follows. After the consuming of food has concluded for the evening, a peaceful walk amidst the screaming of car horns is enjoyed. Lastly, the evening ends with the exchange of the classic “dead fish” Chinese handshake or the ever popular awkward Chinese hug. We have continued to go “finding” on campus every day and many “man dates” have followed. Don’t judge :)

Our Chinese-speaking Korean friends -


Jia Qi, Leo, and friends -


Our Cantonese friend 谭显胜 -


陈浩 and Michael Ghost -


Even a double date with our friends Jack and Rose. Their favorite movie is Titanic…we couldn’t resist! :) -


We have found this method to be a great solution to interact more with the natives. It is so fun to meet new people every day, and it has also been a great way to improve our language abilities.

60th Anniversary of the Establishment of the People's Republic of China

To celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, the normally three-day Chinese National Day holiday was extended to an eight-day vacation (October 1-8). Hey, if it means five more days without class, I am happy to celebrate communism! Not really, but kind of. :)

It was such a fun break! I enjoyed touring the historical spots of Nanjing, playing basketball, studying, and eating with sometimes random Chinese people. Here are the highlights.

On Chinese National Day Eve (I just made that up. Work with me.), my roommate Jimmy and I went out to dinner with a student I met on campus (陈浩) and his girlfriend. It is safe to say that the conversation was much more enjoyable than the food. We ate duck head, and I thought it was one of the most disgusting things that I had ever eaten…that is until I made it to the duck’s brain. Squishy. It became official—it is the MOST disgusting thing I have even eaten! In spite of the “cuisine,” we laughed the whole time and we had a great night.


I slept in on Thursday morning, and then I went and played basketball with some of our friends at the university. I tried to take it easy on them, but how could I resist utilizing the pull-up jumper over the 5’3” Chinese guy guarding me? I couldn’t. We won. :)


Thursday night, Jimmy and I went out to dinner with a nice Chinese man he had met on campus (谭显胜). He is so humble that it is refreshing just to be around him. He also speaks both Mandarin and Cantonese, so I particularly enjoyed eating with him. Oh yeah, the curry was a big improvement from our dinner the night before.
Friday night, my other roommate Nate and I went to the Confucius temple with our friend from the night before 谭显胜. The Confucius temple is basically a touristy night market, and it was packed! Nate and I had our pictures taken so many times! The highlight coming when Nate caught a high school girl trying to sneak a picture of us, causing her to scream and run away. I told Nate it was not his fault he is so handsome. :)


Saturday morning, we went with our program director to tour an ancient city built within the current Nanjing borders during the Warring States Period. My favorite part was the appropriately named “Ghost-faced City.”


For Saturday night, please refer to my previous blog. It was such a fun Mid-Autumn Festival!


Our branch did not show General Conference on Sunday, but the normal fast Sunday meetings were great, and I spent the rest of the day in the apartment enjoying the Sabbath. Monday morning, we went and toured a Buddhist temple built during the Ming Dynasty called the Jiming Temple. I never knew Buddhist temples were such good places to practice my free throws!



On Monday afternoon, I went to go play ping pong but all the tables were taken. I decided to go talk to the owners of my favorite popcorn stand (some things never change). They were watching a movie inside their shop, and I started watching it with them. Dinner time arrived, and I got up to leave. The husband was cooking peppers, tomatoes, and chicken just outside of their little shop, and I couldn’t help but entertain the thought of possibly getting lucky enough to merit an invitation to join them for dinner. I never made it out the door. They insisted that I stay for dinner, and I spent the next hour laughing and eating delicious chicken and spicy peppers. I counted it as Family Home Evening.


Wednesday morning, we went and toured the Confucius temple, and then we played basketball with a group of Chinese students in the afternoon. Once again, I tried to take it easy on them. :) Wednesday night, Jimmy, Nate, and I all had dinner with our friend Leo. He was hilarious, and the curry was so good!
And then came Thursday, the last day of the break. You would think that all of us would have set aside time to do a little bit of homework each day, rather than saving the whole week’s worth for Thursday. You would think. Let’s just say I spent the entire day in our apartment learning a lot of Chinese. :)
Ok, Ok. I very much do not support communism, but is it really so bad to celebrate it once a year?!

Mid-Autumn Festival

Yesterday was the Mid-Autumn Festival, which is one of my favorite Chinese holidays. I learned about the Chinese legend behind the Mid-Autumn Festival when I was in Hong Kong. During the 14th century, China was ruled by the Mongols. The Chinese leaders wanted to organize a rebellion, but the Mongol rulers prohibited organized meetings among the Chinese. In solution, the Chinese leaders received permission to distribute moon cakes to all Chinese citizens to “bless the longevity” of the Mongol emperor. Inside each of the moon cakes, however, was a message that read, “Kill the Mongols on the 15th day of the 8th month.” On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Chinese rebels successfully overthrew the Mongol empire and the Ming Dynasty was established. Cool story, right?

Anyway, yesterday afternoon I went to a track near our apartment to go running. After I finished running, I stopped to buy some popcorn (some things never change). I was standing there talking to the owner when I heard someone yell in my direction, “My English not very good!” It was hard to disagree. :) I looked over and saw a group of people laughing. Two comments.

1. It is not uncommon for people to say random things in English to foreigners as we walk down the street. The normals are a “Hallo!” or a “Cheers!” or on special occasions (my personal favorite) “You are handsome boy!”
2. Chinese people love to hear their friends speak bad English! They laugh in a way that reminds me of the way our family laughed when Dad said “Hey Jon, good one.” :)

Moving on. I waved toward the person who had spoken in my direction and said, “No, your English is very good.” He didn’t understand. I didn’t think anything of it, and I rode my bike past them up the hill to play go ping pong. I started playing ping pong with this guy probably in his 20s and after about ten minutes that same group of people showed up. I found out they were all co-workers, and the guy I was playing with was their boss. I played for about 45 minutes with all of them watching and asking me questions. After we finished playing, they asked me to come with them to a restaurant downtown to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival. I thought quickly. I could tell I didn’t feel threatened in any way to go with them, but I also realized I would much rather bring a friend with me. I told them I would go home and shower first and then meet up with them at the restaurant. They wrote down the address, and we exchanged phone numbers.

I came home, showered, grabbed my roommate, and we called a taxi. When we got to the restaurant downtown, they were waiting outside for us. We followed them upstairs to this nice hotpot restaurant. The only word I can think to describe the next two hours is “hilarious!” We sat down and they quickly offered a toast to their “foreign friends.” It was just the first of many toasts for the night. :) I learned that there is often no rhyme or reason to a Chinese toast, but as long as I clinked cups and drank my Sprite with a smile, I was alright.


The rest of the evening we talked about everything from why we lived in China but didn’t have Chinese girlfriends (go figure, right?), the romance in Paris, why American cars are so much more affordable than Chinese cars, and how much they all loved Titanic. I had even given one of them the English name Jack earlier in the day. He was pleased. :) After we finished eating, they all took turns sitting in-between Nate and me and took pictures. After each picture, I would make the same joke saying, “Who is that really handsome person in the middle of the picture?” They died every time! It reminded me of the way we all died laughing when Dad was in rare form and said, “I think I have something in my eye. Oh, it is my finger.” :) After chatting some more, we left the restaurant, Nate and I thanked them for the fun evening, and we took a taxi home.


The evening was so fun! They were so friendly, and they were all so patient with our language abilities. Now, according to western standards, you might think what happened last night was kind of weird.
I walk down a busy street in China. A group of people yell some random English at me. We chat. I leave. I play ping pong. I see the same group again. We chat. They invite me to eat dinner that night. I agree. I go home. I grab my roommate. We take a taxi downtown. They wait for us. We eat dinner. We toast (probably around 8 times). We take pictures. We exchange phone numbers. We go home.


Okay, okay…maybe it is weird. But it is fun, and it is the Chinese way! They love meeting foreigners! They love asking questions about America, and they love to help us experience the Chinese culture. It was certainly an unexpected way to celebrate the Chinese holiday, but I am learning that the unexpected should be expected in China. 中秋节快乐！Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!

Xi'an

The second stop on our Silk Road tour was Xi’an. We flew from Dunhuang to Xi’an, and we arrived at our hotel late Tuesday night. My first impression of the hotel? The rooms were clean! The beds were soft (relatively speaking of course)! There was hot water! The Internet worked! And to top it all off, there was a continental breakfast full of dumplings, eggs, watermelon, and hot Tang! I liked Xi’an already. :)
We started our tour of the city Tuesday morning. We first went to a place called the “Giant Wild Goose Pagoda.” During the Tang Dynasty, a Buddhist monk named Xuanzang traveled to India and brought back a lot of Buddhist manuscripts to Xi’an. The emperor built this seven-story pagoda to house the manuscripts and to also provide a place where Xuanzang could translate them. The city of Xi’an is considered very influential in the spread of Buddhism throughout China. The pagoda is built at the heart of the city, and all the major roads lead back to it. The pagoda was beautiful and everything was written in traditional characters so I could actually understand the meanings of the writings inside. There was just one thing I didn’t understand. What in the world did a wild goose have to do with an ancient Buddhist pagoda?! Well, I guess some things in life are just not meant to be understood. :)


After lunch, we went to a place where the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty had his palace. It was just a movie set built for an old Japanese film. I think we all tried to find it cool and really search for the significance of the place. We tried in vain.


Later in the afternoon, we went to the ancient city wall of Xi’an. It is known as one of the oldest and best preserved Chinese city walls, and it was beautiful and huge! I was also excited to go there because my trainer, Phillip, was studying in Xi’an and we planned on meeting up at the city wall. It was so good to see him! Phillip was one of my best friends on my mission, and we had the unique opportunity to be companions twice. I have never met a missionary who loved the Lord more than Phillip did, and he had such a positive influence on my mission. We rented bikes and rode on top of the city wall for about an hour. It was so fun! I couldn’t believe that I was riding a bicycle on the ancient city wall of Xi’an with my trainer! The weather was beautiful, the scenery was gorgeous, and we just had such a fun time catching up and telling the same stories that we’ve both heard dozens of times. :)



After we finally made it around the whole city wall, Phillip went back to his apartment and the rest of our group went to dinner and a show. The dinner consisted of eating 18 different kinds of dumplings, my favorite being the ginger-flavored chicken dumpling in the form of a rubber ducky. Mmm! The show was well done, and I think it helped all of us better understand the significance of Xi’an in ancient China.



Thursday was a completely open day, so we took the liberty of sleeping in and leisurely getting ready. We spent the day in downtown Xi’an at this huge Muslim street market. I bought Christmas presents for my family (it’s never too early to get into the Christmas spirit, right Ash?) and enjoyed “bargaining” with the street vendors all day. :) That night, I had dinner with Phillip at the Chinese equivalent of McDonalds. I dare say that it was the worst meal I have ever had in my life. DJ and Blue, what do you guys eat in Taiwan?! My chicken had so many bones in it I still don’t know if I got to any of the meat, and Phillip’s hamburger consisted of a bun made of rice and Thousand Island dressing. We still suspect there was probably meat somewhere in there. I chalked it up as yet another cultural experience. :)



We went to go see the Terracotta Army on Friday morning. The figures were built to protect the tomb of the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty, and they were just discovered in 1974 by a local farmer. The farmer was actually there that day, but he refused to take pictures because he was too tired. What a prima donna! I can’t resist. In what movie is the main actor regarded as a “prima donna” weatherman? I’ll give you a hint. “Hey, hey! Now, don't you tell me you don't remember me because I sure as heckfire remember you!” I love it. :) The army was pretty impressive and I thought it was amazing that they are still uncovering more!



After seeing the Terracotta Army, we went to the actual burial site of the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty, ate lunch, and then went to the train station.


20 hours later (this trip has solidified my position that trains are very much not my preferred method of transportation!) we arrived back in Nanjing. Our tour of the Silk Road was so fun! We experienced things I would never have been able to experience in other ways. I am grateful for the opportunity I have to study here in China. A year ago, I never would have imagined that I would be here. It was never one of my dreams to come to the Mainland. My first couple of weeks here, I was wondering to myself, “What in the world are you doing here?!” However, I am beginning to see that I am learning things and growing in ways that although I didn’t know I needed to learn these things or grow in these ways, the Lord knew. I have felt His guidance, strength, and peace since I’ve been here. I feel so blessed.
It was a wonderful trip, but I think all of us were happy to get back to Nanjing and get back to our daily schedule. But, goodness, they are working us hard! After traveling around China for the last week, we went to class Monday-Wednesday, and then we started another week-long break because of a Chinese national holiday on Thursday! I enjoyed sleeping in, playing basketball with friends, going out to eat with some people we met, and then riding bikes downtown yesterday. Wait…I’m studying here, right?. :)