China recap

Wow, China was amazing - so incredibly different than any other place I've been.
The people were so incredibly nice and seemed to have a happiness about them (VERY different from France where everyone walks around looking like you were personally responsible for everything horrible that happened to them that day - which must always be a lot of things.)

The customer service was almost overwhelming but was so easy to tolerate because they were so nice about it...in France overwhelming customer service means your waitress may actually look at you while she gives you that 1/2 second to take your order.

I went to a Buddist temple, got to watch crowds of people lighting incents, making offerings (raw, whole chickens, fruits, alcohol).


As I'm walking down the crowded streets during the day by myself, it was funny to watch the salesmen push their way through the crowd to get to me to ask me if I wanted to buy custom made suits, cheap watches or knock-off purses. Then they'd try to walk with you for a few feet to see if they could change that no into a yes. Didn't work for me.

Sparky and I got to take the funicular over two sets of mountains to see the Big Budda (giant statue that sits up on top of a hill above a little Buddist monk's village - not sure what the proper term for that is.)

Another day we took the tram up to the mountain on top of Hong Kong island and hiked up to the top of another mountain.

I loved everything I saw and experienced about China, it was so incredibly different to me.

Oh, and if you ever want a sure way to find Americans/Brits in China - make your way to the closest Starbucks...so funny to see all the anglos crowded into the little Starbucks places.