Test Post

First let me preface this blog by saying a couple things. First of all, this blog is not just going to be a "hey, look at all this cool stuff I'm doing!" kind of blog. It is my sincere hope that readers of this will find value in learning something about China, the society, history, and culture.

Okay, back to the blog.

China.
So big, so many people, so much culture,a beautiful and complex language, 5,000 years of history, and some of the most incredible nature found on planet Earth. This is the country I will be staying and traveling in for two months from June to August. There are a few questions which we will explore during this journey that I hope to answer. Questions that at this point in my life could be absolutely critical.

Will I pursue mandarin after this trip in college and later in life?
What can I learn about the world from being in China?
In the diversity of Chinese philosophy, what will have the greatest affect as I speak with people and expose myself to a different way of life?

Is learning mandarin possible?

The date of departure is 6/13/2013 and date of return is 8/9/2013.
I will be flying into (according to Wikipedia) the most populated city in the world, Shanghai. There I plan on staying with a friend from Couchsurfing and attending classes at a school near his apartment. Hopefully, on a day to day basis I will spend most of my day studying mandarin, and have the afternoon and evening free to explore the city of Shanghai. I can already feel my wallet weeping silently in my back pocket. There is going to be a huge amount of events, activities, and things to see while I am in Shanghai and I have to exercise caution. I know that the Shanghai Museum of History is free, so perhaps that will occupy some of my time in a way that is both educational and cheap. In the months of preparation I have dedicated a significant portion of time to the study of Chinese history, and an enormous free museum will surely be a wonderful thing to explore.

This is the free Public Museum of History in Shanghai

Moving on! After my two weeks in Shanghai I will move on to the beautiful city of Yangshuo and meet up with my dear friend Kajetan Sandorski. It's technically a city in Guilin, Guangxi Province.The area borders the famous Li River known for its amazing natural landscapes. I plan to spend two weeks here as well, continuing my study of mandarin as well as touring the outlying areas. I hope to do some camping, maybe some rock climbing, and take advantage of being in such a cool place. In fact, when US president Nixon visited in 1971 this is what he said, 

"I have visited more than 80 countries and over a hundred cities. I have found that no city can surpass the beauty of Guilin."

Pretty sweet, huh?

This is the Guangxi province. Yangshuo is located in the northern part

The little city of Yangshuo

After Yangshuo Kaj and I's plans become free for the next month. We are free to explore China! Visiting these two places will be important in two different respects: 1. I will have experienced being in a large Chinese city, and visited a lot of significant places 2. I will have experienced an extremely unique part of planet Earth's land. I am excited to be travelling, and I just wanted to do this first post to kind of feel things out before I actually get into blogging in China. Thanks for taking the time to read this post!