China Tour

China was a blast and a blur. Matt and I enjoyed a relaxing and fun filled 5 weeks, but are happy to enjoy the non-blocked internet elsewhere. We will not spend 40 pages telling you every detail, but we wanted to post a fun list of things we acknowledge and learned from the wonderful country.

*This list is not to offend or piss off anyone from China, related to someone from or in China or anyone who loves Kung-fu movies.*

1. After 5 Cocktail dresses are appropriate anytime anywhere...

2. Along with #1, heals are expected to be worn by all women, with any outfit, day or night. *Exception only being Chucks*

3. Smoking is allowed everywhere.

4. Spitting is allowed everywhere. On a bus, in a memorial museum, visiting a temple? Spit away!

5. "If you ain't first, you're last" The entire population of China is in a hurry to be first for everything. Trains, planes and operas with assigned seats are no exception. People will run and push over small children to be first. If you don't join in, then you will be last. I will take this time to apologize to lil Zhou for the subway incident, but I wanted to be first… and another tooth will grow in its place.

6. No one is fighting, they are just on their cell. People in China enjoy cell phones like any other country up to date with technology. Unlike other countries, the language of Mandarin and Cantonese sound like people are fighting, even if speaking at a normal tone. Add the insecurity of the other person possibly missing a word of what you said, and you have people screaming "angry" sounding words everywhere - restaurants and buses included.

7. Look both ways - and then look again. As many of you know I have learned this lesson already in the streets of San Diego. What you may not know is that bicycles and Vespas are just as dangerous, if not more, than cabs in China. No matter what color a light is, look 12 times then run!

8. Shopping Rocks! Everything is cheap and made to look like it's not. Enough said :)

9. You are the main attraction. Be it Lama Temple or the biggest amusement park in China, nothing is more interesting than the white person near by. Hope your hair looks good, because they want a picture with you - holding a peace sign.

10. "Hello" - you will hear this one word more times then you can count. People see whitey and think about it while you walk by, then shout it back to you when it comes to them, "HELLO!" Feel free to say it back, or say "Hello" back in Mandarin to really mess with them.

Pictures from this incredible journey are now up on Facebook… Enjoy!