Tai Shan

Despite the fact that I only have class 20 hours a week, I remain remarkably busy. I went to a networking event on Tuesday night with some classmates. The networking was not so great as they were recruiting mainly teachers and systems engineers, but the Thai food we had beforehand was fantastic! Near the Thai restaurant is the only Hooters in Beijing. I snuck in to check it out. Based on my research, I feel that the Hooters Girls in China are way more conservative than those in the States! I also said goodbye to my friend Chloe, who finished her semester and is now comfortably back at home in Kansas.

I had originally planned for Mom and I to take an overnight train once when she visits in February so that she could have that experience in China. There's no way in the world I would expose Mom to anything close to that after experiencing it for myself! Thursday, Mei Xian, Masami (Mei Xian's best friend from Japan) and I boarded an overnight train headed south for Tai Shan (Mt. Tai), about 6 hours south of Beijing. First, the train compartments reek of smoke, and it is too cold here to open the windows. I HATE CIGARETTES and almost everyone in China smokes! There are 6 beds, three on each side in a space just slightly larger than a handicapped bathroom stall. Masami and I were on the middle and top bunk (picture), and Mei Xian was across from Masami. There were three Chinese men in the other three beds in our section. They all snored. Loudly. The 'soft sleeper' that we paid for was a bit of a joke, as it was not soft at all. Plus, the bed was just slightly wider than I am. Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep that night! On top of that, the restroom on the train was absolutely foul. I will do my best to avoid taking an overnight train again in China.

Not getting any sleep was not the best way to begin our hike up Mt. Tai, the highest mountain in east China. We started climbing at 7 AM. Six hours, 7 km or 6,660 stone steps later, we reached the peak of the mountain at 1,545 m or 5,068 feet above sea level. It was a gruelling climb nearly straight up at times. The weather was terrible, very foggy and very cold, with limited visibility. We got to the top completely exhausted. After lunch, there was a white out. Snow and ice covered the top of the mountain. I went straight to bed.

Luckily, the bad weather on Friday cleared overnight and we watched the sun rise with perfectly clear, albeit cold, weather. Mt. Tai is known in China as the place where Heaven meets Earth. After watching the sunrise over the clouds, I don't think the Chinese are too far off. It was breathtaking. Past Emperors of China would annually hike to the top of Mt. Tai to make offerings on behalf of their people. I did my first offering of incense in a temple on the top of the mountain for peace. At Dai Temple, I did a Chinese ritual and offering that is supposed to ensure that I have a happy and prosperous life for 100 years! Here's hoping those offerings work! It was great to get out of the hustle and bustle of Beijing and to actually see trees and smell fresh air again! If you ever visit China, I'd highly recommend visiting Tai Shan, but you may want to consider the cable car option!

We took a high speed train home, where I spent the day nurturing my sore knees and calves! I also wrote an essay for a competition that our school is sponsoring. My topic: Chinese men versus American men. Let's hope they understand my sarcasm!