Yangshuo 2010

I, Lindsey, had the privilege of going to Yangshuo, China this past week with 6o other 8th graders. There is an old Chinese saying "The mountains of Guilin are the most beautiful mountains in the world. But the mountains of Yangshuo are even more beautiful." It was gorgeous there! Over the coarse of the week, we did everything from kayaking on the Li River to repelling from a 60 foot cave to the cave floor. We did two activities each day and were there five days total. We began with kayaking. We kayaked amongst water buffalos on the Li River. (In the "mildly acidic" water!) It was tiring yet beautiful! Next we did rock climbing. It was so neat to do actual rock climbing! Even though I only made it half way up the easy coarse, I had so much fun! The next day we went abseiling. Abseiling is just a fancy word for repelling. It was very intimidating at first but once you began repelling, it was so cool! Later, we went orienteering. During orienteering, we went through the country side in groups of four looking for different check points. It was a great way to learn how to use a compass and read a map. The next day, we went to a cooking school. We learned how to make an eggplant dish, pork with vegetables, black pepper chicken, and a veggie dish. It was so delicious! Afterwards, we went on a 17 kilometer bike ride. We stopped at a 400 year old village on the way and saw how they lived. At the end of the ride, we stopped at a bridge crossing over the river and had the chance to jump off into the river. It was very neat! One night, we went to watch the locals fish. The way they fish is very unique! They use birds, called Cormorants, to catch their fish for them. They tie a rope around the birds neck and throw them into the river. They wait until the birds have caught a fish then they pull them out if the water with their pole. Since they have the string tied around their throats, they couldn't swallow the fish. So they use their reflexes to make them spit it back out. It was so neat! Every day, we got at least a half hour of free time to do whatever in the city. Normally, I shopped! I had an awesome time there and I would go back in a heart-beat! I am so happy that I was able to go into God's creation and spend this past week in it! God really helped me to grow this past week! I can't wait to see how the rest of His plans unfold in our lives!