China Challenge Accepted : Harmounious Coexistence

As I was pondering on all the adventures I’ve had since being here in China, it dawned on me that although I thoroughly enjoy the city, and buying fun souvenirs, and trying the delicious food, and stopping in shops to explore the fun Asian fashion, there is nothing that fills my heart with as much joy as being around God’s creations and his children. 5,000 stair steps later, at the top of China’s famous Yellow Mountains in Haungshan, I saw this quote: “

“Relaxed and happy feeling comes from the harmonious coexistence between human and nature”.

What a pure truth! At the top of these mountain I could look out and there was no end to the lush scenery. The forest green mountain caps extended for miles and miles on end. Even standing before it, it was still hard to wrap my mind around the vastness.

Physically, climbing up and back down that mountain was one of the hardest things I’ve done, next to running a marathon. My legs were on fire with no relief for 4 hours to the top. The upward ascent, however, was little pain in comparison to climbing back down the very steep, crumbling, tiny stairs. Only half of my foot fit on each step, so I had to walk sideways. My knees were literally shaking and it took the control of all of the muscles in my body to not tumble face first down the 5,000 steps below me. Me and the two other girls in my group I was with were trembling as we ran down the steps (we didn’t have the control to do it slow), and yet smiled and laughed the whole way down. Despite the physical challenge of our hike, there isn’t anything more healing than friendship, human interaction, and a light, cheerful attitude.

On our journey we met a group of French university students doing a month exchange program abroad. We bonded about our travels and the unique experience of being foreigners. We met a group of Chinese guys that didn’t really speak English but helped us navigate our way when we couldn’t understand our map. We ran into a couple from Indonesia and Armenia who we tried to stay close to because they had fun American music blasting through a speaker in their backpack. When we weren’t making friends, we were telling jokes, and stories of past relationships and laughing and having a blast. It taught me that even when go through difficult things, the experiences we acquire as a whole adds invaluable meaning and worth to our lives. Value that I would not trade for anything.

More highlights of the Haungshan trip:

1. Our first day we went to a small village outside the city. The first thing you see when you get to the village is A GIANT FIELD OF YELLOW FLOWERS. Running through that was one of the best moments in my life.

2. In the fields were also horses and yaks! Can you please just imagine a baby yak chomping on little purple flowers 2 feet away from you? Don’t you feel happier?

3. After frolicking through the flowers we wanted to see the actual village which we found to cost money to enter because of the famous ancient architecture. So instead we went to the outskirts and found a family who owned a restaurant and a ton of bikes. We asked if we could rent their bikes and they let us take them for an hour and a half for $1!

4. First highlight of the bike ride was experiencing the insane China traffic. This weekend also happened to be a major Chinese holiday so it was 5X worse than normal. I took the lead and I think I can officially say that I am like a native. I am amazing at cutting people off and getting around the traffic just like the crazy Chinese bus drivers. It’s not rude here, just the China way. Watch out when you see me on the streets back in the USA.

5. Another bike adventure: we biked up to the BEAUTIFUL country side! I could have biked around there for hours! My favorite view: seeing an old Chinese man hook up a wooden plank to a yak and basically surf through this mud pit. Sooo, I think he was plowing but whatever it was it was a great sight.

6. Last noteworthy bike experience was riding along a path on the river and getting stuck behind a cute couple taking wedding pictures. We were paused on the path to watch for a little while when the photographer approached us. We were fully expecting her to tell us to leave, so we were taken back when she asked if we would be in the photos! It wasn’t long until we attracted a large crowd. An Asian hunk from the crowd came up to just me afterward and asked for a selfie and told me I was beautiful… I’m going to marry an Asian.

7 Haungshan is famous for their tea. Because I only drink herbal tea, I was given a helpful hint from my great aunt and uncle who lived in China who told me to ask for flower tea. In my mind I thought they were synonyms, I didn’t realize that flower tea is legitimately FLOWERS. We found a shop with the sweetest lady who didn’t speak language but was great at communicating so we could understand. She gave us great deals on her flower tea and on the best honey I’ve ever tasted.

I love nature and I love people and I love China. I am so blessed by the Lord and his boundless love. Have a great week! I’ll be back in 3 short months. I’ll make you a pot of flower tea.