Ryan here – just wanted to log on and say hi from China. I cannot believe that I am here. China is a very different place…but I am loving it. It has the mysterious, ancient ora to it.

When we first arrived, I was feeling uneasy because the people just stare at you. This was dramatically different than Japan where staring at someone is considered extremely rude, but I would still catch people looking at us and immediately looking away. In China, we couldn’t stick out more, as a consequence, we get a lot of looks…but mainly of just curiousity…I think. Everyone is awestruck with Koye, where he has been asked a couple times if he plays in the NBA.

I liked Beijing more than I ever thought I would. It is a suprisingly vibrant, booming, modern metropolis with some well-known ancient wonders still perserved within and without the city. Upon my first entrance in the Forbidden City, I was not that impressed because I had not yet grasped the size of the place. Once I realized how amazingly large the Forbidden City was I was completely impressed with what I says (check out my pictures).

The Great Wall is something I have always been fascinated with. I remember reading about in textbooks in grade school and I always thought it would be cool to one day see this place. Once I got on top of the Great Wall, I could not actually believe that I was there. I cannot even write words that could accurately describe the amazing feat of the Great Wall of China. As soon as you see the terrain, you cannot possibly imagine men building a wall like this. It would be extremely difficult even to match this feat with modern day machinery. Please check out the pictures on the photo page. Forgive me for the vast amount of Great Wall pictures…but I just couldn’t stop taking photos.

We are all quickly becoming savvy international travelers. I am starting to hit my stride travelling and it is becoming second nature to live out of my backpack and be on the ‘go’. China is an amazing place. I am sitting in Xi’an right now, writing this post and can already tell that I might love this place more than the last.

More to come, soon and ….often.

Love you all. Miss you terribly.

Ryan

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