Datong Weekend

So CET organized a trip to Datong this weekend. We went to see the Hanging Temple (built into the side of a cliff, with elements of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism present), the Wooden Pagoda (a big... well, a big wooden pagoda), some grottoes with a lot of Buddhas in them, and a random town with some random other Buddhist temple. Pictures are up on my photobucket site, and damn! Some of these sights are just incredible. I got a new camera before we left for the weekend. Jamie helped me barter it down to 800 kuai (about $114) for the camera and a big memory card. A good buy, because, other than how fast it east up AA batteries, is is a great camera. Excellent quality pictures, good video, and even sound recording, which I will definitely use for interviewing for my ICRP and for other research projects. I also bartered on my own for the first time (successfully). I bought some jacket that I think will come in handy when the weather gets colder. Aside form all the touristy stuff we did, it was a five hour bus ride from Beijing, as well as a few hours each day to get between cities/temples, so I brought along my Gandhi book and my MP3 player. I am pleased to say that I have finished my Gandhi book, and I have gotten a start on my audio book of Henry David Thoreau's 'Walden'. I am also planning on reading Romance of the Three Kingdoms, once of the four great novels of Chinese history, but it is huge, so I think I may not get around to that immediately. While walking through the town, I took a bunch of pictures of the poorer, older China, that isn't shown off to foreigners like the Bird's Nest and the shiny parts of Beijing are. I'm hoping to get them printed up. I think they would make a nice series of photographs to hang above the fireplace someday.


I went back to the bamboo park this morning, the first is a while, and I bought a new diabolo. It is a lot nicer than the one I got in the states. The lady that sells them is also really good at diabolo. She taught me three or four new tricks in 20 minutes. I think I will definitely try to return there on the weekend mornings to learn more diabolo. I could become pretty good by the time I get back to the states. Still looking for a martial arts place, but getting closer. A friend found a place that does Aikido, BJJ, Jeet Kune Do, and some other stuff relatively close. I am excited to check it out, because Aikido and JKD are the things that I would most like to study. The Wushu teacher from Sports University still hasn't gotten a hold of us, which is too bad, 'cause I'd love to learn some crazy Shaolin Staff. I am still thinking about visiting Shaolin Temple during winter break. I finally got the wireless internet working on my laptop too. All I had to do was press 'function F3.' Wow. That was simple. But it enables me to go the the nicer internet cafe, the other being more of a gaming environment where I have to pay to use a computer, and this place being a cafe where I can get their wireless signal on my computer as long as I buy something off their menu. One fruit dish later, I was happily typing and uploading away. Speaking of which, my photos are all uploaded now, and I am getting a bit bored. 再见!