Well, really now. Where to start. The nine months or so I've been in China so far have really given me the entire spectrum of the human experience. From incredible lows to unbelievable highs. Upon arrival I was like most other 21 year olds. Interested in few things that didn't give me effemeral pleasure. My first sights to behold in China were of Shanghai which beats with a thumping pulse and is two beats away from chaos. I knew the place was populated, but I had no idea is was anything of the magnitude I witnessed. Literally a cesspool of humanity, I was numb. The first 6 weeks I was in China, I travelled a bit on the east coast in Zhejiang province, seeing the famed Hangzhou and it's beautiful Xi Hu or, West Lake. I took a train from the mid-southern province to Beijing in the frigid month of Feburary and met the city and woman I would fall in love with. Beijing was much more of the China that I was looking for. While taking a simple bus ride, one is overwhelmed by all of the activity, 15 million people crammed into one urban space creates a literal sensory overload. Food, pirated DVD's, beverage venders, they all take their rightful place in the concrete jungle, fighting for customers on the streets. Being accosted every two minutes to purchase something is something you either get used to quickly or something you begin to furiously hate. Mix with that a colorful history, complete with ancient buildings in traditional Ming dynasty architecture, serene parks and lakes, magical teahouses and the metropolitan feel, and Beijing truly is a place that plunged me into an appreciative mood for being allowed to see it. After a month in Beijing, I knew I'd be back but I had to set out west for 5 months. Sichuan province greeted me with the poverty that I had known I would sometime see during my stay in China. Sichuan borders Tibet, but the line on the map indicating a border doesn't stop the foothills of the Himalayan Mt. range from spilling into the province. The scenery and countryside is pristine. With farmers ploughing their fields with oxen and solitary cigarettes sticking out of their mouths and rolling hills full of Bamboo groves, right beside lean-to shanty towns, I was once again in awe. The people of Sichuan were a hardy bunch on the outside. But get to know them and you'd be the first to be invited to their den for shot of rice wine or "baijiu" and a bowl of rice with some stir-fried vegetables. My time in Sichuan was lonely, but was the immersion I had been seeking from China. I had very little contact with other foreigners, and didn't speak much of the local language. I was free to absorb the city, full of signs displaying goods written in Chinese and to see what life was like away from the moderately developed east coast. I left Sichuan after numerous experiences that left me scratching my head and, feeling as if I would never be able to do them again. One time while taking a different route home from work, I was greeted by an old man with a smile that displayed few teeth. He was evediently happy to see a foriegner. He beckoned me to come over and join him outside his front door for a bowl of rice and hot water. I was tired and didn't really want to, but I'm glad I did. I sat there for an hour or so, struggling through some of my basic Chinese much to the enjoyment of the old man. It was finally decided that I should come back often for free rice and a talk. After giving me a cigarette, I was off. Another time, after I had gotten off work I decided to take the bus the few blocks to my apartment. Upon crossing the street I was witness to a most peculiar sight. A middle aged peasant farmer was dragging a cow behind him tied to a rope through his nose. Now, you must understand that this man and his cow were weaving in and out of traffic, the multitude of bicyclists and everything. He wasn't bothered in the slightest that cars nearly grazed him and his animal. I decided not to take the bus and instead follow this man and his cow from the safety of the sidewalk, I was once again in awe that I was in China, such a different country than my home, and was witnessing this most bizarre scene. Since my time in Sichuan, I've once again been to Zhejiang province, and Beijing respectively and back to Beijing again. I'm now in Shandong province, a province that is fond of boasting of it's sacred Mt. Tai, and the birthplace of Confucius: Qufu. Upon arrival in Tengzhou, which is a southern city of Shandong province, I was greeted by the administration of the school. I knew right away that the head principle was a character who would give me many entertaining moments, and he started off in grand fashion. At the train station that early morning, it was raining, or should I say torrentialy pouring and Mr. Jiang was tired of waiting in the rain and promptly pushed people aside saying,"Get out of the way! We have a foreigner here who doesn't like to get wet!". The tactic worked and we were no longer subject to the long exit line. That night at dinner we had a good conversation through the aid of a translator and I found out that he was a man of rather well known repute in the area. A Communist party member who was fond of quoting Mao Zi, another Chinese sage similar to Confucius, and the great sage himself Confucius, Mr. Jiang was a never ending spring of quotes and anecdotes. I found myself taking a liking to him, even though communication was rather difficult. After being in Tengzhou for a week, I was told that we would visit Qufu in a month's time. In the mean time I was to familiarzie myself with the city, which wasn't hard to do, as it's quite small. City sizes are decieving in China however, this city has 1,000,000 million people in it. The streets are constantly flooded with people going here and there on their bicycles and motorcycles, cars and donkey pulled carts. The first time I saw the donkeys in the middle of a city, I was floored. What a contrasting scene. In the middle of a city, there were donkeys pulling carts full of coal and cut lumber and all kinds of other things. I spent the next month exploring the immediate area of where I lived, looking for small fan dian, or restaurants that serve up fresh vegetables cooked in a wok, stir-fry style. They really are my favorite place to eat in China, I enjoy the scene: The cook of the restaurant outside of the entrance to the place standing over his table with a cutting board chopping up vegetables and meat. Then throwing them into the stir-fry..and the sizzling sound it makes as it's tossed back and forth until it's done and ready to eat. Simple, yet rich. Qufu was quite an interesting place although the city was nothing special. The center of the city is made up of a temple where people give offerings of incense and money to Confucius, and the Confucius mansion. The Confucius mansion is where Confucius lived and some 70 of generations of his descendants. The mansion has been added on onto of course throughout the years and is one sprawling little town all in itself. The last Confucius descendent left Qufu in the 1940's once Communism was taking hold and hightailed it to Taiwan. After visiting the mansion and temple it was time for lunch. We pulled up to a little restaurant. Outside of the door in a cage were two roosters. Five minutes later one of them was in a bowl of broth on our table. It was good, and everything was eaten, including the head and feet. Crunchy, and tasted like chicken. Go figure.