Spring Break in Yangshuo

For Spring Break we travelled down to Yangshuo in south China. It is on the famous Li River with limestone mountains popping up all over - it was absolutely beautiful! For starters, it was Joseph's first time on a plane - his eyes got real big on take off and he spent a bit of time crying on landing so for the return flight we taught him to chew gum! We spent our days on outdoor adventures and nights down on West Street (a 15 minute rickshaw ride from our resort with lots of outdoor restaurants and quaint shops). Day one we visited a small local village and spent time in their outdoor market before starting a 2 hour bamboo raft ride down the Li River and amidst all of the mountains - yet another amazing creation from our God! Now it is still China so there were A LOT of rafts on the river - and the rafts couldn't start in the day until the transport boats finished traveling too...but it was fun! Day two we headed to the mountain for some rock climbing and abseiling - Zoe & Abigail had a fabulous time just playing in the woods, gathering flowers & sticks (something they haven't been able to do in Shanghai!), Joseph & I encouraged all the climbers and everyone else did the climbing. After a hot day of climbing everyone headed to the river - for some swimming and bridge jumping (it was quite a sight for the caucasian/asian family - minus me and Joseph - to jump from the bridge as the bamboo rafts stopped to cheer everyone on!). Day three we headed out for a hike on Moon Hill - put Joseph in the back pack and got our hike on! Getting to the top of the mountain was an experience we didn't expect as a college class (in Yangshuo working on their English skills) was there and literally swarmed us - for pictures, autographs, and answering LOTS of questions. Day four (Megan's 15th birthday!!), we did a quick bamboo float on the Yulong River, spent some last time in town shopping, had a birthday lunch at McDonalds and then headed for home. It was such a relaxing time out of Shanghai (back into some nature!) and just having fun as a family...I love vacation!!