Expecting the Unexpected: A 5-Star Cruise and Sub-standard Living

So off the train we go and onto explore our first Buddhist temple. Because China has one of the oldest cultures, it also has one of the most elaborate. The 5-story temple contained very finely carved statues and landscapes, people, and events tediously painted on walls and vaulted ceilings-it was magnificent! There was a bell just outside the temple that you could only ring if you paid $10,000 yuen! It was supposed to be a bell of joy and prosperity...but it seemed like maybe it should have been for wealth and power! After that we went to a museum. Kinda boring. Lots of rocks.

Then we boarded a boat which was set to sail to Chongching on the Yangtze River. Now I thought that this was going to be similar to the train...Not a whole lot to do, a somewhat cramped, and used mostly for transportation. Now sometimes I enjoy expecting the unexpected- especially when it turns out that you get to go on a 5-star cruise ship! We were able to take day trips into smaller gorges and dam towns. Super cool. We had dance parties every night! We got a kick out of the British people on board. We expected them to be all prim and proper, but they were even raunchier than our small group of college students! On the 2nd to last night there was a cabaret show and Crystal and I sang a Chinese love song called "Tien Mi Mi" It was a hit and we recieved some flowers from some old Chinese guys. It was pretty funny and I was quite flattered :) Throughout this whole trip I got a massage and several "non-sinful" drinks for under $50 US dollars. Very fun! We arrived in Chongqing and hopped on a bus for a five hour trip to our final destination to Sichuan University in Chengdu!

Bible Verse of the Day:

Matthew 25:40 The king will reply, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for the least of these brothers, you did for me."

Chinese Word of the Day:

Zao shang hao 早上好 "Good morning!"