Biking in Yangshou by Porter Fairbourne

After a two hour boat ride on the Li River we came to a small place call Yangshou. We walked through the narrow streets till we came to a local bike rental shop. Everyone picked out the bike they wanted and then we started on our adventure. At the first part of the bike ride we were riding on very busy streets. We had to maneuver ourselves through lots of cars, motorbikes, scooters, and people. Little Evi almost got nailed by a scooter. While biking through the city you could see lots of shops and restaurants. You could also hear the cars and scooters beeping every other second.  

we departed from the city we found ourselves cycling towards mountains that looked like a little kid drew them. In the mountains there was a lot less traffic so I sped up, leaving my family behind me. The weather was fair to us after we got off the boat but it was a little hot, so the wind on my face felt nice as I passed scooters. I let my family catch up to me and we left the smooth road to go on a different road. This road was gravely and had potholes but I can say the view was absolutely beautiful. 

 

we continued on this new road we saw locus flowers in smooth water pond. We saw fields and fields of rice farms at the foot of these peculiar mountains. Farmers were working in the rice fields with their triangle hats on, only looking up briefly to watch us go by. After my dad stopped to take some photos of us (which probably sucked because I’m really bad at taking photos) we then went on back to our car so that we could take three-hour drive back to our hotel. Then we woke up the next morning ready for another adventure.

Zhangjiajie National Park by Alta Fairbourne

While we were in Wuliyaung, China we visited Zhangjiajie National Park. The National park was astonishing.  It was full of scenic caves, flowing rivers, adorable monkeys and tall pointy mountains. This is where the movie “Avatar” was filmed, and it almost looked unrealistic. While we were in China my dad told us that we would be riding an elevator up to one of these mountaintops; I thought he was kidding. Usually we just hike to the top of the mountain.  I have never heard of taking an elevator to the top of the mountain. I didn’t know he was telling the truth until we got there.

The elevator was so tall it looked like it could reach outer space, and I couldn’t believe I was going to ride it. Inside the elevator was smaller than I imagined but it had a glass wall where we could look outside. Once the elevator got really high we could see the whole park, super cool. It seemed really fast for an elevator we got to the top in less than a minute! At the top there were roads, houses, buses, shops and tons of people. Who knew that a National Park could be so busy? I thought national parks were supposed to remain natural and environmentally friendly. 

The Mcdonald's on top of the National Park

We walked around the mountains and looked at the amazing views of the park. We were happy to find out there was a McDonald’s somewhere on top of the mountain.  We were not so happy when we heard we had to take a 40-minute bus ride to get there. After the painful, bumpy bus ride we took a small walk to McDonald’s where we had an amazing lunch. Living in Kenya makes what we considered disgusting foods back in America, delicious.  Instead of taking the elevator down we took a different route to hike down. We weren’t on a dirt path we were walking down concrete stairs.   I have never walked down so many stairs in my life!

Zhangjiajie National Park was really beautiful and it was very different then any National park I have ever been to. In Zion’s National Park the only building I remember seeing was the tollbooth. In this National Park it had everything short of a mall, for all I know.

Streets of China by Everett Fairbourne

Welcome to China, home of some pretty crazy streets. First off, we shopped the markets on the streets. They got everything, from toys to weapons. Thankfully, I bought from the toys. They didn’t only sell stuff, they also had games to play to try and win prizes.  However, my favorite was the fish foot spa.  It was fish nibble the dead skin off your feet. It was the first time I tried it; I couldn’t stop myself from laughing from the first nibble.  I took the tank with the big fish, while Alta and my mom took the small, and Porter chickened out, so he didn’t do it.

Next was the dancing. After dinner it is Chinese tradition to dance, you would see all ages dancing some times, they would do the Salsa dancing, ballroom dancing, line dancing, and sometimes Chinese traditional dances.  Every time we would see a group dancing my mom and I would join in.  It embarrassed Alta, she hated it.     

Huashan Mountain by Alta Fairbourne

It was foggy, rainy, windy and freezing cold but that didn’t stop us. When we reached the top of the mountain we headed straight for shelter, at the time we couldn’t enjoy the scenic views because we were so darn cold. We completely underestimated the weather; my dad was wearing short shorts with a tank top! If we were going to continue we needed some coats- big ones. We found a lady who was willing to rent us some gigantic army coats that reached down to our feet. It was still too rainy and windy to hike so we walked to nearby restaurant and had lunch.

The weather soon cleared and the mountains were beautiful. They had straight drop edges and the rock was light in color. Then we set off on our journey up and around the rocky mountain. The stone and wood path led to several peaks and lookouts but we were headed to The Plank Walk In The Sky. The Plank In The Sky is a mini hike where you walk on a small wooden path along the mountain hooked in a harness.  Its like a ropes course, but instead of 15 feet off the ground your 2000 feet off the ground.

Once we got there we started to doubt it. What if it might rain again? Will I freak out on and plunge to my death? I was looking forward to this hike and if I backed out now I would regret it. My dad, Porter and I got hooked into some harnesses and then we set off on the risky hike. While you walked you had to attach and detach your carabineers one at a time onto different sections. At the beginning of the hike you had to go down a steel ladder that had tons of people on it. It got really scary when you had to pass people along the way; sometimes I was on the very edge of the plank while people passed me. Some people took both of their carabiners  It was definitely one of the coolest things I have ever done; I also got over my fear of ropes courses. 
The pathways that we walked on that day had railings that were covered with red ribbons and locks. The ribbons symbolized luck and the locks symbolized love and family. We had all three that day and it was more than fun. If you ever go to China I highly recommend going to Huashan Mountain and going on The Plank Walk In The Sky, it was truly awesome!

Waiting out the bad weather

Our awesome coats

Porter on the Plank Walk to the Sky

Our Zen Cave

Mom looks like a hobo

Alta on the Plank walk to the Sky

The Terracotta Warriors by Everett Fairbourne

Our next destination in China was Xian, home of the Terracotta Warriors.  The Terracotta Warriors were built a long, long time ago, when the Emperor wanted protection in the after life, so he had a large group build him the warriors. They buried the warriors with his tomb. Later, some ambushers came and destroyed some of the Terracotta warriors. Many years later a farmer discovered a warrior while digging a well. Now he just hangs out at the museum and gives autographs. There are people at the museum that are archeologists, their job is to put the warriors that were broken back together, piece by piece. I would kill myself if I got that job. Over all the Terracotta Warriors are pretty cool. My favorite warrior was, the officer, he may be no general but he’s tough. So I bought a mini him. 

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