Ni hao! (one year later)

I was kind of hoping that if I kept putting off writing this blog, eventually Megan would do it for me. Alas, I am currently on spring break, which means it is exactly one year ago that I took 10 days to visit my friend in China. This post is my recollection of the trip that occurred from March 5th - 15th, 2010 (yes, one year later).

First, it was great to see Greg. It was amazing to see how much of the language he had learned and how he is in a community that is supportive and edifying. Second, it was great to meet the people of China. I can see why Greg has fallen in love with the people of the country and has a heart to reach them with the Good News.

It was exciting to go to church with Greg on Sunday.  I didn't understand a single word, but it was great to fellowship with another part of God's family.  Greg attends the Three Self Church, which is completely legal for Chinese citizens and Greg to attend.

I loved grabbing lunch with some of Greg's friends.  There was great food and opportunity for me to show off my chopstick skills :)

At this market, a very creative artist sketched all three boys' names on a scroll.  It was pretty cool to see!

We spent the first few days at Greg's place, going to language classes, going grocery shopping,etc.; just allowing me to get a feel for Greg's everyday life.  I also had a private language class and learned that Chinese is a very difficult language and I don't have a very good grasp of tones.  I learned the numbers, but I am still not confident I could teach anyone any math :)
Midweek we headed to Beijing on the fast train.  For those of you that don't want to perform the conversion, we were travelling at over 200 miles per hour.

We saw many sites in Beijing.  Tiananmen square was off-access due to a communist party meeting.  Greg and I got quite a kick out of the guy fixing the uniforms of the soldiers.  This photo cannot adequately depict how uncomfortable the soldiers were with this man poking around at them.

We also spent some time at the Forbidden City.

We made a quick trek to the Temple of Heaven,

then went to a tourist area for dinner.

We didn't eat some of the foods.

I wasn't the only one taking a ton of pictures (tourists :).

We also got to hear live Chinese Opera from one of the balconies in this area.

The next day we went to the Great Wall.  Below is proof that I was actually in China; I have very few pictures of me, which is fine.

Below is one of my favorite pictures I took on my trip.  The great wall was spectacular.

I took a few pictures of funny translations, but below is by far my favorite.  I cannot figure out what in the world this sign is talking about.

We then took an overnight train to Xian.  Greg wanted me to get a feel for China, so for the leg to Xian, we were in the 'hard sleeper' car.  True to its name, it was really hard for me to sleep that night.  The picture below may give you an idea of how many people were in one car.  The beds are stacked three high on each side of each little area.

Our primary reason for going to Xian was to see the Terracotta Warriors.

It was amazing to see the sheer magnitude of these carved warriors.

Xian was a very crowded city.  In fact, this allowed us to take our first electric rickshaw, so we could make it to our overnight train on time.

The overnight train back to Beijing was a luxurious and comfortable four person sleeper.

After a much better night's sleep for me, we arrived back in Beijing to snow.

I flew back home the next day.

All in all, it was a wonderful trip.  There are many stories that didn't make this post, but I am more than willing to share.  It was great to see the 'work' that Greg is doing.  I am extremely impressed with how he is being used in so many different ways.  I am excited to see how things progress and I continue on my knees for his work.

Zai jian!