New Videos and Thank You!

Followers and subscribers are slowly trickling into the site and my YouTube, so I want to say "Thank You!" to everyone! I have people coming here from the US, Iraq, Fiji, South Africa, Australia, China, Ecuador, Indonesia, Thailand, Canada, Hong Kong, Switzerland, Italy.......the list goes on. 

I'm so humbled that so many people have come by -- It's amazing, and I absolutely love getting comments and emails from you guys. I've even been recognized in Lanzhou a couple of times by other foreigners --- that's insanity!

My numbers may be low to some, but I'm catering to a small market -- people interested in China, Lanzhou in particular. So, low numbers are okay! I'm just happy when people leave comments. It makes it all worth it!

So, I just want to say THANK YOU!

Well, the next order of business is my new videos! I have been on a vlogging streak lately, and I've made a lot of videos lately -- it's been great!

This first video is about me going to a local park on the north side of the Yellow River. It's called the "Idiom Park" by some because it has different sculptures which come from cultural stories throughout the little park. These cultural stories have lessons and morals, and have evolved into idioms that are used by the Chinese to this day! Check it out! If YouTube is blocked in your country, click here to watch the first video! 

So, let's talk about it!

I've forgotten how much I like to walk and vlog --- it's really great! That way, I can say whatever comes to my mind, and then edit out the stupid stuff or whatever doesn't fit within the "storyline" of the video. It's also a good way for you guys to get a sense of what's around me (or at least behind me).

I love living here for many reasons, but one reason is the depth of culture and tradition that this country has. And one result of that is this little cultural park with statues dedicated to idioms. People going around with their children can (and do, actually) stop and tell their children these stories while they're walking in the park. I actually got to listen to a bit of one, so that was great! It's just something that America doesn't have....or at least not in that same depth.

I said in the video that one of the most important things you have to do in a new culture is just to GET OUTSIDE and LOOK AROUND! It doesn't really matter if you completely understand it or not -- you just have to get out there.

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Now, the second video is about my encounter with prostitution in Xi'an.......some of you guys might know that story --- it's my most-commented post, and also one of the most popular. You can find it here.

Now, this second video might be hard to watch on Youku because of the censoring that happens in China. It's already been taken down once, so I don't know if it'll stay up. If it doesn't work, leave a comment, and I'll put it up again! Anyway, click here if YouTube is blocked in your country. 



 So, yeah --- if that was your first time to hear/read that story, then great! Now you've learned a valuable lesson in preparing for China! If you want to come here, then it's best to be aware of this. Technically, it's illegal, but it's tolerated. Kind of like weed in Jamaica.

I don't really want to say much more on that subject haha I think the video and the former blog post are more than enough!

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In other news, I've made some changes to my YouTube Channel - namely in the form of a couple of playlists, and they'll be updated every now and then.

As time goes on, I keep finding little ways to tweak and update my pages, and it's great! They're subtle changes, but I think they'll make a difference.

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As always, feel free to leave comments and subscribe to the blog or to my YouTube! I'm always interested in what you guys have to say!

Until next time,

Austin Guidry

Bai Ta Shan and Guo Xue Guan Videos!

(Before I start this post, I just want to apologize...I've been the perfect combination of busy and lazy these past couple of weeks, so I haven't done anything. My bad. I'll try to catch up on my posts and updates.)

October 1st was the Chinese National Day - the day China celebrates its being a country. As I'm writing this post right now, I'm surprised that there really hasn't been much celebration.....this is supposed to be a really important holiday, right? How come there's no fireworks, no celebration, and all that? In America, we go nuts during that holiday. I don't want to speculate about China's population's feelings towards their government, but it might have something to do with it.

As you (might) know, a couple of weeks ago, I went to Lanzhou's Bai Ta Shan (White Tower Pagoda) for an afternoon. Here is the video for that afternoon. I'll also add it to my post, which you can read here.



A couple of days ago, I went to another place in Lanzhou called 九州台山 (Jiu Zhou Tai Mountain), which is located in the northern part of the city. On the mountain, there's a Confucian-style temple called the 国学馆 (Guo Xue Guan). Here's the video for that one:

Well, this was a very interesting place - distinctly Chinese, which is what I like. There are lots of different places on the top of this mountain, but the place I was headed to was the "Guo Xue Guan," a Confucian-style temple dedicated to thinkers and writers of Chinese history.

It's in a classic place for a temple - on top of a mountain!

Like I've said in the videos, I like going to mountains for a number of reasons. My hometown doesn't have any mountains, so it's still a new experience to live in a place full of them.

I also love getting above the noise and craziness of the city and see just how big the city is. I'm not Chinese, so I think this is a big city....they keep insisting this city of 4 million people is a small town. Crazy Chinese people.

Going to temples is a serious thing for me - it's a place to pay respect to those who have gone before me and to learn about what they did during their lifetime and how they contributed to this place that I'm living in.

These places are always very interesting for me - it just highlights the differences between America and China. America just doesn't have this kind of history and culture. It's not America's fault or anything - it just hasn't been around for long enough.

I don't really get into the offering of incense and ritual worship and stuff like that, but I definitely understand the respect that's behind it. The temple centers around Confucius, who you see right here. In front of him, you can see where they light the incense and make donations to the temple.

While I understand the respect being paid to Confucius, I have to say, I am always pretty confused about the offering of incense to him. He always said that he was just a teacher and just a man. When did he become somebody to be worshiped?  I get confused about that with Buddha too.....but anyway, the place is still very interesting!

(This is the Dao de Jing by Lao Zi written out in its entirety. The whole other side of the stone is filled up as well.)

As you can see, getting to this place is no easy task. The stairs are really steep, and this is a real mountain....not just a hill.

Me and my friends Nick and Xia Fei took a cab to the top of the mountain to see everything on top of the mountains, but we climbed down on our way back home.

It's insanity - all we did was climb down, and we still all had shaking and sore legs by the time we got the street at the bottom. Man, it was crazy.

But again, the location adds to the mystique and mystery of the place - mountaintops are classic places to put temples in China. It seems like almost every mountain here in China has a temple dedicated to someone.

All in all, it was a good day with some friends - I got to learn about some traditional Chinese culture and history, see the city, and hang out with some people I hadn't seen in a long time.

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A few days after that, I went with some other friends to climb a couple of mountains. I have lots of pictures and a few videos from that day, so I'm gonna be posting that when I can. This week is a bit crazy because it's the first week back from vacation, so I can't promise anything, but I will really try to do another post in the next 7 days.

Until next time,

Austin Guidry

Back in the States

Wow, what a ride!  Hey everyone, I'm back in the States! I'm still suffering from jetlag and I still have yet to catch up on my YouTube subscription and put all the pictures on Facebook, but I'm pretty happy.

Life in L.U.T goes on - a lot of my friends graduated and are moving onto the next step of their lives.

The campus was pretty busy when me and Robert  arrived - since the seniors were graduating, they were trying to sell all their books/clothes/whatever  to the younger students who might need them later.

The campus was in a mild state of chaos with all the noise from the student-turned-vendors, but it was interesting. We don't do that kind of thing in the States.

We went around all the places that I wanted to go - including Zhongshan Bridge.



This bridge is one of the key landmarks of Lanzhou - it was the first bridge built across the Yellow River in a provincial-level city. Built by the Germans as well.



It bridges the gap between the northern and southern part of the city and lies just beneath Bai Ta Mountain, which stands atop the mountain on the north side of the Yellow River.

The Yellow River itself is something worth noting. 

It's the mother of Chinese civilization, which is why it is still called the "Mother River," even today.

The Yellow River provides a measure of tranquility in this crazy little city - people take their pets down to the water, sit in little cafes, drink tea, do Tai Chi, and more. You'll find lots of couples, families, and elderly people along the river.

It was great to be walking along the river again - drinking in the cool breeze in the lovely afternoon. 80 degrees with no humidity and a slight breeze - wonderful!

Of course, what you look forward to the most is your friends. I couldn't wait to see all of my friends again. 

All of us together, sharing meals, taking walks, talking about anything from girls to guns to Chicago to the TV show "The Big Bang Theory" (which seems to be waaaay more popular in China than America). 

"Rock-Paper-Scissor-Lizard-Spock!"

Life goes on in Lanzhou and at L.U.T.. Some time has passed, and while there are new faces, not a lot has changed around campus and in the Qilihe District of Lanzhou. The same hole-in-the-wall restaurants with the same waitresses still serve the same great food, the teachers still bring their children to the playground and soccer field to play at night, the students still do (or don't do) their homework, and time marches on without regard for anyone else.

It was a wonderful trip - I got to do everything I wanted to do and more. Keep an eye out for more posts, there's some cool stuff coming up!

Feel free to comment or to subscribe to my blog - it's totally free and no sign-up and I would love to hear from you!

My Favorite Pictures: Part 2

Today is Part 2 of my favorite pictures from my time in China. Just like last time, you can click to enlarge them, and feel free to comment and subscribe!

This is Mr.....we'll call him "Wang". - he is the father of one of my best friends. He comes from a really small and remote village in Gansu Province. He used to work in the fields and also did some construction work on the side. When my friend was in middle school, his dad heard about an opening at the county-level school (the county is 环县) for a village student. He wanted to take a bus to the county, but it had rained earlier that day, so the dirt roads have become unnavigable. Mr. Wang walked all day and all night to that school, and the next morning he met with the school officials and my friend got  the spot! He worked his way up to the number one student in the class all the way up until he graduated high school. He went to Lanzhou University of Technology and is now the number 1 English student at the University AND has spent 1 year studying in America at my university, ETBU. All that is possible because of this man. Although he is still poor and living in a 1-room house that measures about 15' x 10' with his wife, he has moved up into Huan county (环县) and is now an engineer. Imagine that.

These are some of my best friends. L -> R is Ethan, Janson, Freddy, William, Danny, Jim Green, (i forgot this guy's name), and Zhu. This particular occasion, we wanted to find a classroom to hang out in, but they all had students in them. We found one with about 10 or 15 students in it and we pretended that I was a foreign teacher that was going to have class now, so we kicked them out and just chilled! Sometimes being the foreigner is great.....

These two pictures came from the Terracotta Warriors exhibit in Xi'an. The Terracotta Warriors are a true treasure of China and of world history. They have survived since 210-209 BC. They are more than 2000 years old. It's unimagineable. Unbelievable. 

This is an interesting one - a nearly full-sized chariot and charioteer from the Terracotta Warriors exhibit! This is actually made of bronze, I believe.

This is fruit beer! I had it when I was in Xi'an. I don't know how in the world they make beer from fruit, but it's really really really good. It doesn't really taste like beer - it's pretty much just a soda. Kids drink it. I think the alcohol content of 果啤 is pretty much non-existent. When you drink it, you can taste one or two distinctive fruits - for me, the best one I can remember had a great mix of pineapple/apple flavor to it. It's really great stuff. I had it all the time. America needs this. 

This is me in front of Maiji Mountain, a really famous mountain just outside of Tianshi, in Gansu Province. It has 7,200 Buddhist sculptures that date from the 4th century all the way up until the 19th century Qing dynasty. It has 1,000 square meters of murals and the sculptures are scattered throughout 194 caves on the cliff face. 

When you are standing on the mountain looking out, it becomes obvious why the people who did the carving did it here. The landscape is second to none. It truly is majestic and is one of the most beautiful and truly awe-inspiring places I have ever been. 

This photo was taken in Tianshui itself. It's just a kid playing in some water, but the amazing part about the picture is just the innocence and happiness that was happening within that moment. The kid was having so much fun playing in the water, and the father was having just as much fun watching the kid play in the water - even the guy way over in the background of the picture is watching them. In the picture, it looks a little creepy, but it was not. He was smiling and watching them play in an innocent way.

It's truly reflective of the lifestyle in Tianshui - it is probably the happiest city I visited in China. Everyone was out and about and just enjoying themselves. People were doing Tai Chi everywhere, people were singing songs, playing instruments, reading - it was kind of like a dream, really. It was a great place, and to me, this picture just embodies the life there. I hope to go back one day.

This is me having dinner with Mr. Xi and his family - to me, it was an honor. After I heard his story, I could barely look him in the eye, but he was honestly one of the happiest men I ever met. He had the biggest laugh lines and Crow's Feet that I have ever seen. Although he was a poor man, he offered me so many gifts and treated me as royalty - he had never been around a foreigner before and I was his honored guest. But, for me, the honor was being accepted as a part of his family. His son and I are brothers, and I believe his father treated me as a son. 

These two pictures mean a lot to me. The first one features my friend Ethan's arm as we skipped rocks down on the Yellow River. Imagine that - skipping rocks on the Mother River. Our group of five had nothing to do, so we went out to Lanzhou's Xi Zhan aka West Station, and had hotpot. After that, we walked around and went down to the river. It was just a time for us to be kids for a bit - we were 10 years old again and skipping stones on the river.

A beautiful twilight after a beautiful day in Lanzhou. 

Two New Videos! Mountains and Laundry!

Got two new videos for you today! The first is from my visit with Benjamin Xi to Lanzhou's Bai Ta Shan, or White Tower Mountain.



That was a very good day and it was nice just to get off campus with a couple of buddies and do something fun. By that time in my trip (May), I was really itching to get out of the classroom and out of the campus and try new things. This was one of many trips to that area and I always thoroughly enjoyed myself around the Yellow River.

The area around the Yellow River in Lanzhou is very nice. There are a lot of very small places to eat along the sidewalk and lots of places to buy drinks and just chill. The weather in Lanzhou is simply perfect during pretty much the entire summer, so there are always a lot of people just kind of lounging about and hanging with their friends, skipping rocks on the river or playing with their dogs or flying kites - it really is a great time. Being a foreigner, every time I went down there by myself, I always got involved in a long conversation (in Chinese, of course) with the locals. They'd always be fairly lengthy, maybe an hour or so, but by the time I left, my brain was exhausted, yet very gratified by my progress.

This next video is somewhat less exciting, but it was a big part of my life in China.


Yep, I made a video about washing clothes and buying stuff at the market. The whole time I was in China, I washed my clothes by hand. Hot or cold water, adding my detergent, washing, rinsing, all of it in a little tub/basin, I washed my clothes every week. Laundry day really was laundry DAY.  After I got coat-hangers and was able to wash and hang up more clothes, laundry day became a dreaded day. At the beginning it was new and refreshing to have to work for my clean clothes, but after two or three months, the refreshment gave way to that everyday drag. Life goes on.


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Lanzhou, China (Lots of Pics)

Lanzhou, China (兰州，中国) is the capital of Gansu Province, which is pretty much smack in the middle of China. Here's a map - (Click on any of the pictures to see them full size)

Lanzhou has about 3.5 million people, so it's a pretty good size city. It has a big petrochemical industry in the city, so the pollution is pretty bad...really bad, actually. Sometimes parts of the city are obscured due to all the pollution. Lanzhou was put on the map for being a major stop on the Silk Road for foreign traders centuries ago, but it was eclipsed by Xi'an, a city to the southeast of Lanzhou, where the Silk Road ended.

Interestingly enough, Lanzhou built the first bridge across the Yellow River:

It is located in a semiarid part of China and is about on the latitude that Chicago is on, so those of you who have been to Chicago have an idea of the weather (especially the winter). My National Geographic Traveler says that Gansu Province's winters is 'harsh' and 'brutal' and 'punishing at times'.....yeah, that's encouraging. 

A really cool place I'd like to go is here: the Binglingsi Grottos. It's about 70km away from Lanzhou. The caves and grottoes are carved into the side of Xiaojishi Mountain and were built between the 5th and 19th centuries. Most of the caves were built during the Tang dynasty (618-907AD). There are almost 200 caves and niches featuring murals, 694 stone statues and 82 clay figures.

Xi'an, which marked the end of the Silk Road, has enjoyed a much more prosperous run than Lanzhou and tons of people have told me to go to Xi'an, so I guess I'll be going there. There's lots of stuff to do, from the various museums and historical stuff to riding your bike around the old city walls. It's a day trip, about like a trip to Dallas from Tyler or something like that.

Yes, that is a KFC banner.

Lanzhou University of Technology (兰州理工大学), the University I'll be going to, is, like the name indicates, a mainly technologically oriented school, but their English department is growing as the need for learning English grows. Interestingly enough, I will be in the first class of international students to ever go to this school and the first from ETBU to ever go to the school for a semester. So, naturally, this is a big opportunity for me (and it looks good on a résumé). I will be taking Chinese Language classes (Listening, Reading, Writing, Speaking), a class on Chinese Culture, and my Senior Thesis. Everybody who has looked at my Facebook Group, "Austin is Studying Abroad!", you have already seen the pics of the school, but you can always check out Google Images: