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| We took a trip into the mountains with my mom and her friends. It was a looonnnnngggg journey on the bus. Ms. Qing brought a lot of munchies for us!! Seriously, Chinese junk food is MUCH better than American junk food, although not much healthier. We were going to Hai Lou Gou. This place has glaciers next to hot springs. So after taking a lift up to see the mountains and freezing our butts off, we went swimming in the hot spring!! The glacier was really neat, being ice and snow of course. We had to hike down to see them clearly. Some people that work here specifically bring chairs so they can carry you back up the mountain. That must be a hard job, having to watch your footsteps so you don't drop the person in the chair!! |
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| The hot springs are organized so that the hottest water comes out of the top pool, flows into the 2nd pool (being a cooler temperature), then flows into a 3rd pool (even cooler temperature (cooler being about 40 degrees Celsius, which is over 100 degrees Fahrenheit)). I learned a new way to eat eggs: take an egg that's not fully cooked (still juicy, not the most sanitary thing to eat I'll admit), poke a whole through the shell at each end of the egg, and suck through one end. |
Let me talk about the food again (this is still on the mountain trip). Because we are guests and Ms. Qing has a lot of power of influence (her job is to treat important people that come to Sichuan, like if Pres. Bush went there, she would arrange for sightseeing and food and such), the food we get is really amazing!! They bring on plate after plate of food that's cooked very uniquely and well. But I feel kinda bad because we usually can't finish all the food and I think it goes to waste. Especially since each meal we had was like this so we get full and we aren't hungry when the next meal comes.
| After dinner, we went to the roof of our hotel. One of the minority groups of China performed many dances and songs for us. Their dress and customs are very different from the majority of Chinese. Their traditions, culture, and religion are also unique. They say that in their group, anyone who can walk, can dance; anyone who can talk, can sing. And they made us join in the dances!! It seemed almost silly because we didn't know how to dance like them and as we tried to imitate their moves, we looked like we were just flailing our arms and legs around in no particular pattern. Sometimes, they turn around to dance in the other direction and you accidently bump into them, they completely ignore you and continue dancing. | 
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| Then, as some kind of initiation, they gave us each a plate-cup (a cup that's flat like a plate) of wine. Elisha and I, being underage (even though there's no such a drinking law in China), gave ours to a kid who is younger than me. I think even Weiwei and her cousin and the twins gave theirs to him!! He drank many plate-cups of wine that night. |
| Afterwards, the minority groups roasted a whole lamb over the fire (rotisserie style) and cut pieces for us to eat. This is a special tradition of that minority group to treat their honorable guests. The roasted lamb actually tasted pretty good, but after the dinner we had, I really couldn't eat much!! | 
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