The Big 2-5!

My hubby is a quarter of a century today. Chase, you're wonderful and I love you so much. I love the promise that we can spend eternity together. You're all I've ever dreamed of. I love you Babe!

Happy Birthday!

Peepin' on my peeps...

It may surprise some of you to know that this is Chase writing. This will be my first official blogging experience. Despite pressure from the mujer and ample time with which to blog, I have to date avoided the blogosphere and in some respects even loathed it. But today, I embrace. And if the tortoise brings you good fortune, perhaps this will be part one of an inspiring and educational series where we will look for geographical patterns and phenomena through a less-than-proffesional-barely-a-bachelor's-degree trained eye.

Today we will introduce the possible series with some simple visual observations of various Homo sapiens. These are candide images of Chinese people living their regular lives and being observed by an outsider, me. There is a variety of people here living a variety of lifestyles. And the variations in culture, dress, appearance, language, and numerous other factors varies much more greatly within China than the diversity we experience in the US. This was surprising to me at first. But after considering a population nearly five times that of the US and the fact that their progress through the demographic transtion is happening at a much faster rate than the US or any of Europe, it is no wonder that there are such different peoples within one nation that are just now being exposed to one another. If only I could communicate with each of these people and know their story...

An old man fishing in a park downtown...probably catching a fish for dinner or to take and sell at the market.

Old-school farmers near Fenghuang.

Various people of Fenghuang. The Miao people are an ethnic group who have lived in the region for centuries. They are known for their elaborate garb, the tall hats you see in the photos, and their beautiful skin. Chinese men find women from this region particularly attractive. In this collage you also see some old folks doing Tai Chi, some locals washing their clothes in the river one morning, and a photo-snapper having his photo snapped by me (they point, shoot, then ask for money).

This Miao lady was selling jewelry or something.

Children are funny and often curious. They actually stare less than adults, but when they do, at least they are eager to say, "hello, nice to meet you!" The boys near the top were "mountain children" according to some students. They live outside of Fenghuang, do not get to go to school, and contribute to the family by collecting empty Coke cans from tourists. They are curious and happy. They had fun trying to dodge our photos...and one had an extra dangling thumb. I also like the hair duder...many Chinese youth like to do up their hair rather attractively.

Local boys in Yangshuo fishing and swimming from their bamboo raft in the river in nothing but their unders. Life seems much simpler in many parts of China. Then there is a more modern raft of PVC pipe and a motor.

There are many ways to tote a tot...

Hengshan

We took a day trip to a city called Hengshan. It was about 2 hours away by bus. It is an ancient city where there are many Buddhist temples. Mt. Hengshan, where we went, is one of the five sacred Buddhist mountains in China. The day was VERY foggy, which made it so we couldn't see down into the valleys from the peaks, but it also added an element of mystery and beauty to the mountain temples. First we walked through a courtyard of different temples which paid tribute to different buddhas. Then we walked up the highest mountain peak (4258 feet) to the temple at the top. That is the picture at the bottom. The fog was the heaviest up there, so pictures were difficult. It was beautiful and inspiring. It's so amazing to think that these buildings are over 1,000 years old.....our country never even existed (as we know it) when these wonderful Chinese people were building their sacred mountain temples. What a great experience!

Chase rubbing a portal of riches. We rubbed them a lot....and still waiting for our check.

A dragon ying-yang

An ancient temple. Apparently the Forbidden City was patterned after this temple. That's right, this one came first.

Buddha

Warrior king.

Another temple complex.

A phoenix ying-yang.

Hiking up to the peak....having too much fun.The "Wishing for Harmony" peak and temple. Look closely through the fog and you can see the temple. It was beautiful.