Did a little Hiking

Fenghuangshan Geopark 

Did a little hiking in Wuchang, Heilonjiang, China at Fenghuangshan National Geopark. It was an amazing experience a truly great way to break in my 4 months of living in China!

This hike so was a work excursion with the school I work with here in Harbin. Great co-workers and leaders I honestly couldn't asked for a better environment to work in, especially since its my first time not only teaching in China, but living here too. The journey began from district in Harbin to Wuchang, which was a 5hr bus ride filled with games, trivia, laughter, food, a karaoke and of course some amazing country side views along the way.

When we finally arrived to our hotel, which was surprisingly a lot nicer on the inside than I would of expected after seeing some of the nearby hotels and motels along the way. As we entered the hotel we were greeted kindly, cleaned up and served lunch before our first hike which was 2500m that took about 2hrs to complete at a good steady pace. There was one view in particular I wish I could of gotten a better look at was, at one the viewing points on the peak of the mountain when the clouds parted a gave you a strong sense of just how high up you were from the bottom of the mountain.

After this we headed back to hotel cleaned up ourselves ate dinner together like a big family, gave toasts, went outside for some more karaoke, team building exercises and a little bonfire to end off the night. 

The second mountain was a 6000m hike with a lot steep steps, plus rain which made it a little challenging to hike through and navigate through safely, but luckily we all came prepared for the unexpected weather patterns. Throughout most the hike when weather was good believe it or not I practically ran up the mountain to each rest area just in case it decided to rain cats and dogs along the way up. I have since been called "Superman" by my coworkers and they wonder if I can fly haha! The entire 6000m hike took me around 4hrs at a relatively steady pace with my team. 

The views along the way and even at the peak of each mountain were breath taking "literally" lol

All in all it was a very rewarding experience of accomplishment, team building and like I said before a great way to ring in my 4 months living in China. 

 

 

This experience was even better, because it was with not just co-workers and leaders, but individuals who are very family oriented have now become family to me and make me feel more welcomed to this country.

So I attended a Wedding!

So I attended a Wedding!

 

So I was invited to a wedding by a friend I met here Lisa, whom I mentioned in a previous post. The wedding was an amazing experience, I met a lot of people and as you could image being the only western face there I was the center of attention next to the Bride and Groom of course. 

I was then asked to be the best man at wedding, because it would be considered a great honour to the family, so I gladly accepted after only knowing the family for roughly one hour haha.  The Groom was the brother of Lisa who is very nice guy and owns a successful shop in Harbin. After the ceremony I was invited by Lisa's father to have a beer in celebration although I had enough, in Chinese it is a disrespect to decline a kind gesture on special day like a wedding. Long story short I am now really cool with the family and some of their friends once they all could see how much I can eat and drink, all with minimal bathroom breaks after a few hours of drinking.

I also discovered that it is a big honour to have western friends and especially on special occasions like a wedding.

All in all after each progress update I do on my life here, it just keeps getting better and better! After only 3 months here I've done more and experienced more then some locals or other foreigners who have been in Harbin or China longer than I have. Slowly becoming famous here, haha!