So Many Mountains! (Video)

So, I think this once a week(ish) blog post thing is going well -- what do you think? Should I post more? What should I talk about? It gets hard to think of video and blog post ideas after a while....I want to keep this fresh, and I want more and more people to come and check out the site.

Anyway, I have another video for you guys that I want to show. It's of me going to some mountains behind the school (Lanzhou Jiaotong University) and just hanging out. I went back again today, but there was a lot of people, and I was too sore from playing Ultimate Frisbee to finish climbing.

I hope you enjoy! The YouTube version is kind of crappy, but the Youku one is HD -- I include both because some websites are banned in some countries. I want everyone to have the chance to watch them.


Like I said in the video, there's just something about climbing mountains......it just makes you feel more alive. This is true everywhere, of course, and not just in China. But for me, there's an added level of intrigue and mystery to these mountains --- for a number of reasons, and not just because there seem to be a number of people buried on them. I asked a friend if people really were buried there or if they were just commemorative markers, and he said that 99% of the time in China, they're actually buried there. What a beautiful place to be buried!

I seriously need to get out and do more stuff. I've been so lazy lately....I'm always telling people to get out and get around, but I haven't left the Jiao Da area in the past two or three weeks. A little sad, really.....but I'll try to do that more. Now I'm a little busy with classes and learning Chinese from a friend. Luckily, he's doing it for free --- great!!!

(Lanzhou University of Technology's 2011 Music Competition)

I'm going to be performing a Chinese song with a friend on November 11th at a Welcome to the University Party for the freshmen.....my friend says there'll be around 2,000 people there.

Damn, that's a lot of people. I have to teach him how to play guitar AND play this song within two weeks. I don't know if that'll be possible, but we'll see.

Well.......that about wraps up this little blog post. I think that's all I have to say at the moment, but I'd really like to get away from the more personal stuff and back to the bigger picture. It seems like this blog is becoming more and more personal/narcissistic/whatever word you want to call it, and I really want to ask you what you think. Comments, please!

Is there something about China or Chinese culture that you'd like me to talk about? Do you like my normal posts, or should I do something special? I feel like doing something special soon!

Sichuan, Air Pollution, and More!

Hey everyone! I'm in the middle of a promoting wave, so I'm trying to figure out how to best utilize my resources and make the blog better for you and everyone else! If you're got any suggestions, let me know!

I'm gonna be doing a combination of video and picture blogs almost every week day from now on. The internet changes and updates every day, so I should too!



About Sichuan - I haven't actually been there, but I've got quite a few friends from there - it's home to red-hot cuisine, and, apparently red-hot women. The weather is really hot (it's the Texas of China), but the countryside is beautiful: these two pictures are from Jiuzhaigou, a very famous national park/reserve

Sichuan is also home to Le Shan, the giant Buddha mountain - the largest stone Buddha in the world, I believe:

About China's pollution problem - it's a stark contrast to the natural beauty of Sichuan Province. Most Chinese cities are covered by a layer of smog and pollution all hours of the day:

It looks like simple morning mist, but it hangs around all day. In the afternoon, it lightens up a little bit, but not a lot. Some cities are worse than other - Beijing is pretty bad, Jinchang is terrible, because of its factories located within the cities, Lanzhou can have its really bad days, but every city has different officials and treats the environmental problem in a different way.

Every place I went in China, there was at least a little bit of the smog and industrial haze. It was sad, really, and I think that the Chinese government is realizing that as well as being good for new businesses, green technology is good for its citizens.

Pollution = Tired

So, as my of you know (or may not know), Lanzhou is a very polluted city - voted the world's worst in 1998, I believe. Today it's not on the world's top 10, but it's in the top 30 or something like that. Most days it is hardly noticeable as far as daily life is concerned. It's always visible, obscuring parts of the city in the distance and always putting a veil between the city and the surrounding mountains.  On some days, though, it is pretty bad. It will make you feel exhausted after only walking for 20 or 30 minutes and probably a little bit contributes to that 'brain drain' sensation I get after classes. It can irritate your eyes and make them feel like you've been up for days - just really dry and heavy. It also probably contributes to the weather here, which can literally change like that *snaps fingers*.  One day it can be really nice - in the 60s or so, and the next day it will snow and be below freezing - what the F?? It's strange. The overall environment here definitely took a week or so to get used to. I hadn't thought to really write about it because it was such a basic thing, but I suppose it is important. It's so freaking dry here - I love it! It is not the slightest bit humid whatsoever….talk about different from Texas! The only tiny tiny downside is you have to drink a lot more water than normal….or at least that has been the case with me. It's been slowly warming up and the weather the past couple of days has been downright nice! Yesterday was the first time I went to classes without a jacket….wonderful!