Within the city of Xi’an there is a strong Muslim community.  Right in the heart of the city lies the Muslim Quarter- busy streets filled with Halal food surrounding the Grand Mosque.  At night, everything comes alive and you can taste some famous Xi’an snack food. Lots of stores had dried fruit and nuts.  You…

Welcome to Shaanxi Shifan Daxue!  My university is one of the oldest in Xi’an so it has a buzzing campus.  In my opinion, the whole campus is quite whimsical.  There are interesting trees and plants everywhere. I can’t wait to see what it looks like in spring! This campus also has a pond but it…

Finally!  Orientation has started and I get to talk with lots of people again.  Those 3 weeks by myself in Beijing and Guangzhou were a wonderful adventure but I’m ready to get the semester started!  We have a total of 12 very different people in the Xi’an program which makes it quite exciting.  Some have…

I have always loved going to art museums.  Meandering around the galleries is quite relaxing to me.  I wanted to share with you one of the exhibits I really liked.  The shadows made the pieces much more dynamic and interesting in my opinion.  

This is the very famous 9 level pagoda in Guangzhou.  During Chinese New Year, many people come to this Buddhist temple to pray for good things to come their way during the new year.  Valerie and I both really enjoyed walking around and seeing all the incense and lanterns. We next walked to the Temple…

Right up the street from the hostel is a dumpling shop.  Now although you can get dumplings anywhere in China, these dumplings are different.  They are unbelievably fresh!  As you wait, you can watch the three woman making your dumplings as a man stirs them in a big metal pot for them to steam in. …

Everyday at 7pm Guangzhou city lights up Canton Tower.  The colors change and morph for 30 minutes until 7:30 where it stays one color for the rest of the night.  Enjoy the pictures! I couldn’t stop smiling as I took them! I know it’s probably not good for the light pollution, but I think every…

Bai Yun Mountain, or White Cloud Mountain, is the most accessible hiking area in the city of Guangzhou.  I read that when you summit, the view will always be different because of the changing weather.  I had an absolute blast walking around and on top of the mountain for hours! It says 白云山欢迎你 (Bai Yun…

Since living in China, I’ve come across some very unique but modern architecture in the cities.  Most of the buildings are business related or the headquarter of a major company.  I really wanted to share some of these fascinating buildings with you! This is their Opera House.  I like this one the best!  

First, I believe I neglected to mention that my hostels’ name is Lazy Gaga. hahahha 🙂 For my first full day in Guangzhou I decided to wonder around the local Ximenkou area (where my hostel is).  I found a small temple and was looking at all the people hurrying in when a Chinese man introduced…