Silent Hill

There is a post which should have been written between this one and the previous one. I was planning a post last weekend, but have had trouble finding some pictures that I want/need for it. As soon as I get the pictures together, I'll write the post, which should cover the 4th of July and some other things. Until then, just pretend you're watching a Tarantino movie or something where the timeline is all twisted around.

We just got back from a trip to Mt. Tai and Confucius's hometown. The first day, what was supposed to be a 4-5 hour bus ride stretched to just over 7 hours, due to getting lost and ending up in a land of dirt roads and potholes large enough to nearly tip our bus over. Originally, the plan was for us to climb Mt. Tai that afternoon, but when we finally arrived we discovered that it had been closed for the day -- something about safety reasons, I think. Moving on to Plan B, we headed to a nearby temple.

As with all tourist locations here, the parking lot was home to several people in possession of English skills and cheap products, both of low quality. Of the products on sale at this specific parking lot, the most interesting was probably this man's:



Yes, that is a water bottle full of live scorpions. I forget how much he was charging for them. I'm pretty sure it was less than 1 American dollar. Briefly, I considered buying it, taking it back to the hotel with me, and leaving it open on the floor above ours. Kennedy, however, talked some sense into me -- wouldn't it be much smarter to release them on the floor below ours, instead? Kennedy is wise beyond his years.

Unfortunately, the problem with Chinese temples is that generally speaking, if you've seen one you've seen 'em all. I did manage to get some pretty cool pictures, though.




We spent the night in a nearby hotel. Not far from the hotel gate, there was a town square of sorts, which had been transformed for the night into a concert site and mini-beer-festival. The music was good, and from what I hear the beer was pretty good too.

The next morning, we went to the homes of Confucius and Mencius, famous Chinese philosophers.



Sightseeing and tourism has not had a good impact on China's historical landmarks. In an effort to make the locations convenient for tourism purposes, the government has added signs, fences and garbage cans everywhere. I got very few pictures of these places because I refuse to label a picture, "Ancient Chinese artifact, with trash can in background". One thing that doesn't seem to have changed is the wildlife.



These guys were everywhere. And when I say everywhere...



...I mean everywhere.

That afternoon, we finally made our way to Mt. Tai.



In China, there are 5 mountains that are considered to represent the various regions of the country -- North, South, East, West, and central. Mt. Tai is the Eastern one, and is associated in Daoism with sunrise, birth and renewal.

What's that? No, of course I didn't look at Wikipedia.

This emphasis on sunrise and new beginnings is one reason why one of the most common tourist activities at Mt. Tai is viewing the sunrise from the mountain's highest peak. Unfortunately, such viewings are most often undertaken in the autumn, when the air is clear. Given the amount of fog and just generally bad weather, the tourguides and teachers decided we would not be staying the night on the mountain.

But we climbed anyway.



It's just that we didn't make it to the top.



I mean, a mile's a long way to climb to see some fog, you know? I vow to return with a friend some autumn and conquer the mountain. Now accepting applications.

I have a video of the drive back down the mountain, but for some reason I can't get it to work. I'll post it another time if I can figure out what's wrong. All I have to say is: Tower of Terror, eat your heart out.

The next morning, we went to a kite factory.



As the first order of business, we were "taught" how to make clay birds for decoration. A play-by-play of my bird's development:






I think I must agree with the sentiment Miles expressed: If I ever, ever see a bird that looks like this in the wild, I will kill it with fire as quickly as possible to keep it from influencing the gene pool. It's part of being a good steward, you know, like pulling weeds out of your garden.

After creating these foul fowls, we moved on to kite-making.




I painted it myself ("Which explains a lot," I hear you thinking). The characters written around the edge are pronounced "I ren roo jee", the Chinese translation of the Golden Rule. Apparently, the lines and the yin-yang are supposed to have deep symbolic meaning and the colors you choose flow from that meaning. I found this out after I had already painted mine in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles colors. I wonder what that says about me, spiritually.

Before leaving, we checked out the gift shop.




Then we returned to Qingdao, and it was amazing how much it felt like coming home.

Prayer points for those of you who pray:

-I'm sick now, for like the 3rd or 4th time since I got here. Nothing serious, just sinus trouble and such, but it's enough that I'm running a fever. I don't know why I'm getting sick so often this time...I was never really sick last summer. The teacher is convinced that I am a frail creature, which I suppose is preferable to her thinking I'm intentionally skipping class.

-Several students here have had trouble with mold invading their rooms. It's causing coughs and such, but is really more of a nuisance than anything else -- usually. One girl almost lost several hundred dollars' worth of possessions because her air-conditioner broke while we were away last weekend, and the mold took up residence on everything...clothes, shoes, belts, her computer, everything. Fortunately, the cleaners at Jusco were able to take care of all the clothing items. (I'm pretty sure my sickness is not mold-related, because I haven't seen any in our room.)

-The Chinese government is continuing to "clean things up" prior to the Olympics. Generally speaking, this means making sure the trash-collectors are working hard, cleaning the monuments, etc. However, it also apparently means a few other things -- like dealing with the homeless people in the city, and I know of at least one international church which was forced to give up its meeting location. Pray that God's will would be done in the various related situations.

-"If necessary, use words."



(P.S. Anne -- because I know you're reading this -- I have a present for you, and I can't wait to get home and give it to you.)