Back to China

I'm in Incheon right now, on the west coast of South Korea. I'll be taking a boat tonight back to Qingdao in China. Qingdao was a city built by the Germans in the early years of the last century. As a result, the architecture is very different from other Chinese cities. It was a really fun city to walk around, but I got lost quite a bit because of the hills and curvy roads.

Walking around outdoor food markets in China is a blast. I'm excited to head back to China and see the outdoor markets in all of the different cities that I will visit.

Seoraksan

Here's one of the frozen waterfalls I saw today in Seoraksan.
I spent the day hiking in Seoraksan, which is a national park on the northeast coast of South Korea. It was a cold and windy day but the views made everything worthwhile.


I climbed to the top of this rock formation. The wind was fierce.


You can see the rock formation that I climbed in the background.




I couldn't stop taking photos. Every turn I took in the trail led to another beautiful view.

Korea

I arrived in South Korea on Tuesday. Since then I've been staying at a small hostel in the university district in downtown Seoul. My first impression of Seoul was that it looks a lot like Tokyo. It was a big difference coming from China, where everything is anything but neat and orderly. The streets, gardens and landscapes of Korea are all very well kept as they are in Japan.

I saw quite a few sights in Seoul, including some of the old royal palaces and tombs. I saw a "drawing show" last night. It combined theater with live painting. It was very original and entertaining and further sparked my interest in art. It made me realize that artists are not always people working by themselves to produce an interesting picture for others to observe at a later time. The creation of drawings or paintings themselves can be a performance.

Tomorrow I will go hiking in Seoraksan National Park on the northeast coast. I expect the views to be beautiful, but there is currently a fierce wind blowing off of the ocean. I hope I have enough clothing to stay warm.

Arrived in Beijing without my bag. Spent time at the hostel in Beijing trying to track it down as well as exploring the city.

Also discovered that I am unable to access my blog as it is blocked in China so will need to send the information to my parents and have them post on the site. They will also send any responses to my blog through my e-mail.

After taking a class in Chinese brush painting, I went to Inner Mongolia. I am pictured here with Genhgis Khan.

Upon arriving back in Beiiing I discovered that my bag had been found at the L.A. airport and shipped to Beijing. It was delivered the next day to the hostel. While I packed light, all that I did bring was important.