I was so excited about my first holiday in China because I had time to venture out of our DAIS bubble and see the glory of this amazing country. At 5:30 p.m. Jack (our kind, sweet driver) came and collected my wonderful new friend Nancy, me, and our over packed suitcases (when will I ever learn?!) and we headed north through the farm land toward Dandong, China. It had been raining cats and dogs all day, but as we left Campus Village the clouds parted and we could see small glimpses of blue sky...ahhhh! Our hopes had turned to reality...the rain was going to dissipate and we were going to have glorious weather for our trip! Soon the sun set and that famous, almost full guest of honor (the moon) rose over the eastern horizon. It was still quite cloudy, but the glow of the moon lit the clouds with a lovely silver glow. Every once in a while the man in the moon would poked his cute little face through the clouds and smile down upon us. It was a glorious night and we were actually on our first trip to see the beauty this country and the Great Wall of China! Was it really happening? Yes, it was!
We arrived in Dandong about 8:30 p.m. and marveled at the sight of a miniature Las Vegas. Everything was lit in neon and glowed with the colors of the rainbow! It was a beautiful vision to see. Jack maneuvered through the streets of Dandong looking for the Crowne Plaza as Nancy and I oohed and awed around every turn. Our drive took us along the Yalu River and the spectacular sight of what we coined "Rainbow Bridge." A beautiful white bridge glowing with all the neon colors of the rainbow. Just after this glorious sight, our hotel appeared on the right. The Crowne Plaza turned out to be quite luxurious and we were very happy to see all the glorious amenities. We needed a little pampering after long hours of work and adapting to our new lives.
After checking into our rooms, we headed to the restaurant and had a wonderful sashimi dinner with the absolute best, clear your sinuses wasabi I have ever had!
Beer, chop sticks, and a golden spoon...with the "Rainbow Bridge" over the Yalu River in the background. Life doesn't get much better than that!
Not a bad place to spend the night! And yes, that is a bathtub in the bathroom. I hadn't seen one of those since I left home. I soaked for over an hour!
Long arm shot! We simply had to take this picture because directly behind us, across the Yalu River, was...North Korea. Yep, North Korea! Don't worry, we were quite safe!
I woke up the next morning to this glorious view of Dandong, China and the thought in my head, "I'm going to walk across the Great Wall of China today." We couldn't have asked for better weather. And considering this was only the fifth totally clear, sunny day we've seen since we arrived six weeks ago, we were INCREDIBLY lucky!
Thank you for this day, Spirit, thank you for this day!
No comments:
Post a Comment