2-17 I was greeted at the airport with a bouquet of flowers. Then Sonny, the guy who picked me up and also the 8th grade Department Head, said "You are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen...with the most luggage I have ever seen." Hehehehe. Everyone has been giving me such a hard time about my luggage. So, it was a pretty good start. Sonny then takes me to my cold, dirty apartment and leaves. It is 11:30 pm. Five minutes after he leaves, my power goes out....

1-30 Nicole and I rented bikes, biked to the bamboo rafts and then rafted down the Yulong River. We then biked back to town and climbed a small karst peak, which is what the little mountains are called here. Hiking, rafting, biking--all in one day, and I don't even feel it. I guess I can thank Colorado for making me an outdoor girl. I adore Yangshuo. It is really pretty and completely different from Shanghai. I miss the hostel in Shanghai though. My bunk bed th...

(Day 1) Today we took a ferry over to the other side and walked The Bund. Awe....The Bund. This is probably the best part of Shanghai. No, this IS the best part of Shanghai. Beautiful setting on the water, easy to access, and different view, depending on the time of day. What more could one ask for? We had our first meal: noodles with some veggies and mystery pork. We ate around everything and just had the noodles. I drank some boiled water with dinner, but...