Greetings from Yangshuo!
Wow, what a whirlwind the past few days have been. We took an overnight train into Shanghai and hit the ground running right from the start. The first afternoon in Shanghai we spent walking along the absolutely beautiful Bund and looked at the fantastic European architecture, saw the space age TV tower across the Huangpu river and walked through W. Nanjing road with all it's snazzy shops and neon. Later that day the whole group found our way over to the Shanghai museum and were awed by their collection of ancient jade and minority costumes. Then Rob lead Adam, Nick and I on a wild goose chase through the streets looking for the French Quarter, we're still not sure if we ever made it there! That night we had one of the most memorable meals of the trip at the Seagull restaurant which sits looking over the river and directly at the TV tower and all the glowing lights of the shanghai skyscrapers. Amazing! After dinner Juanita took a look at my back and declared it an absolute mess. She did a bit of acupuncture but stated I really needed more treatment (plus my lower back really started aching after the train and all the walking).

Our next fast paced day in Shanghai included us walking along the Bund again (you really never get tired of the amazing skyline and architecture in shanghai, it's like the Asian New York!) and then shopping in the old street area. At one point we decided to give in to our curiosity and walked into one of the shopping centers (Chinese stalls selling knockoffs and Chinese fashions) and boy was it a trip! We were immediately followed by about ten people all wanting us to buy a watch, a bag, or really anything and all claiming to be our friend and they would get us a good price for the good. George seemed to be their favorite while with me being too tall for the asian fashions I seemed to be not such a target for selling good to. At one point Adam and I separated from the group trying to divert our "friend" yet we were still tailed. Then we tried speaking spanish thinking he might not understand us but then he started calling us amigo and speaking spanish right back at us! We couldn't help laughing how funny the whole scene was! In the evening we all headed up to the Sky Bar that is on the 87th floor of the Hyatt Hotel. It's a super swanky spot and Nick had a bit of a problem getting in at first. Little did we know but they had a no sandals rule for men (saying it was unhygienic) so thankfully EJ caught me still in my room and begged for us to get him a pair of shoes. So being resourceful (and also knowing security is a bit lax in hotels) I went down to the front desk and stated that my roommate had the key and I couldn't get in. They gave me a key card for Nick's room and soon we were speeding away in a taxi with his shoes in hand! Since we all could now get in we soaked up the sparkling skyline and had a few tasty drinks! The next morning was spent shopping again in the silk markets and having fun with our "friends" that wanted to desperately sell us a watch or bag. Oh, and have I forgotten to talk about the food? Oh! Fantastic food! Really, I am truly in love with all the street vendors and their food. I ate my way through a fantastic pork wrap, luscious noodles with bok choy and sesame balls with sweet bean paste in them. Oh! I love it all so! That after noon we headed to the sleek and amazing (really nice and clean too) train station for our 24 hour journey to Guilin then Yangshuo where I'm presently at.

The trains we've been riding on while not the fanciest are really a great way to travel from destination to destination. But after this journey my back again was screaming. So Today I checked in with Dr. Lily the amazing and brilliant Chinese medicine guru of Yangshuo. She concluded again that my back is really messed up from the fall (and of course I refuse to complain or stop, I'm on vacation! Suck it up and go is my motto!) and that I will probably have aches and pains from it for the rest of my life (because I live in a cold climate). So she worked her magic on my by sticking me with acupuncture needles and moxar (?, I have no idea how to spell this but it's a heat treatment over the needles to get the chi flowing), getting a therapeutic massage (the poor girl had to crunch away at my muscles that are all tight) and then cupping. Cupping is where they take these bamboo cups light them on fire, stick them on your back by suction (extinguishing the flame of course) and then the suction pulls toxins out of your muscles. So now after all the treatment I feel a bit better (I have to come back for more treatments while I'm here plus it's cheap only about $28 for all that!) but a little sad that I damaged my back in such a long term way. Oh well it's so not going to stop me! Again, I miss you all, please enjoy the pics!