Costs

3,337 for airplane tickets

Marco Polo Hotel -125$

Yellow Crane Tower: 8$

Wuhan Zoo- 4$

My Choice Restaurant- 14$

guiyuan temple- 2$

East Lake- free

Pizza Hut- 20$

Hubei Provincial Museum- free

city centre hotel- 64$

Yuelushan hill park- 5$


Reed flute cave- 8$

big banyan tree- 3$

daxu ancient town- free

Midiexiang-  1$
Babel- 12$

Shangri-La hotel- 154$

Mt. Qingxiu- 3$

Guangxi Ethnic Relic Center- 2$

Nanhu Lake Park- free

Nanning Marriott Hotel- 146$

Guizhou Long Seafood- 20$

Tianhe Pool- 2$

Guiyang Qianling Park- 4$

Hongfu Temple- 1$

Ramada Plaza- 65$

Three Gorges- 17$

Dazu Grottoes- 19$

Fengdu Ghost City- 16$

Jiang Bei- 6$

Total::  4,058.00

Map of Trip

The green line is my trip from when i got to Wuhan.

Day 7 in China

A part of Fengdu Ghost City

Today was my last day and I spent it in Chongqing. The first place I went to there was Three Gorges. It is a pretty scenic area. It runs along the Yangtze River and is about 200 kilometers in length. It is an important region in China. It includes the Qutang Gorge, the Wu Gorge, and the Xilang Gorge. After that, I went to Dazu Grottoes. There are 78 carved statues there. There are 60,000 carvings there all together. My favorite place I went to that day was Fengdu Ghost City. It has been around for about 2,000 years. A lot of people say that it is the best place to learn about Chinese ghost culture. It is mostly just a stop for people on the Yangtze River cruise now. I ate my last dinner in China at Jiang Bei. It was really good. The food was really hot but I still enjoyed it. After I ate, I headed back to Wuhan to fly back.

Day 6 in China

Some scenery at Qianling Park

Next thing I knew, I was in Guiyang at the Tianhe Pool. It was pretty cool. It is basically water surrounded by cliffs. The water looks kinda green but it isn’t because the water is dirty, it is because of the calcified rocks. The Tianhe Pool covers 15 kilometers. Afterwards, I went to Qianling Park. It is a beautiful park I didn’t have the best experience with the monkeys though. They will attack guests in order to get food. I didn’t get attacked but the man walking next to me did. I laughed but felt a little bad after I did. Then, I went to Hongfu Temple. This temple was originally built in 1667.The bell in the bell tower weighs about 3,300 pounds! The place was crowded but still very interesting. I ate at Guizhou Long Seafood. I love seafood so my money was well spent there. I stayed at the Ramada Plaza Hotel. 

Day 5 in China

Nanhu Lake Park

I traveled to Nanning the next morning. I couldn’t resist not going to Mt. Qingxiu. The people here call it the green lung of the city. This range is made up of 18 peaks. It was originally named Qingshan. It is known for its beauty and clear waters. I ate lunch at Babel. They have great burgers and the fries are home made. It was really good. After lunch, I went to the Guangxi Ethnic Relics Center. It is a combination of knowledge and entertainment. Everything there is outside so of course the weather was nice. I had a good time there learning about the Zhuang people and the types of homes that they lived in. The whole thing took up 24,000 square meters. After I was finished there, I went to the Nanhu Lake Park. The admission was free, which was pretty exciting. There are various different plants there and a great view of the city. I stayed at the Nanning Marriott Hotel.

Day 4 in China

Deluxe Room at Shangri-La Hotel

After breakfast the next morning, I went to Guilin. The first thing I visited there was the Reed Flute Cave. It got its name from the reeds growing outside of it. People make flutes out of these reeds. The color lighting looks really cool on the stalactites, stone pillars, and rock formations. After about three hours of visiting the Reed Flute Cave, I went to the Daxu Ancient Town. This town was built over 2,000 years ago. The local farmers and people who live there were very friendly and welcoming. After the town, I went to see the Big Banyan Tree. It is huge! The tour guide said that it measured 17 metres high and 7.05 metres in diameter. The tree wasn’t famous until a movie was shot there. After that long day, I had some banana pancakes at Midiexiang. They were just as good as they sound. After I ate, I was tired so I headed to the hotel. I stayed at Shangri-La Hotel. 

Day 3 in China

Island of the Oranges

Today I woke up early and got packed. I checked out of that hotel and headed to Changsha. When I got there I checked into City Centre Hotel in Changsha and unpacked my things. The first place I went to was the Island of the Oranges. It was named for the large amount of orange trees growing there. The view was absolutely beautiful. Next, I went to Han Graves. The three Han Graves came to light during excavations carried out between1972-1974.After that, I decided to get some dinner. I was really hungry since I didn’t eat anything but a cereal bar. I had some Changsha Maren Crispy Duck. I got it from the famous chef in Changsha, Shi Yinxiang. After I ate, I went to Yuelushan Hill Park. This is one of Changsha’s most historic places. The hill rises to about 300 meters above sea level. Not only is it known for its historic spots but also its academic establishments. 

Day 2 in China

Guiyuan Buddhist Temple

After I woke up, I headed to Guiyuan Temple. Guiyuan Temple was built in 1658. It was the first Chan temple to be built in Hubei. After going there, I went to East Lake. I was happy to see that the admission was free. It is the biggest recreation and amusement park in Wuhan City. East Lake was so interesting that I skipped lunch to stay a bit longer. I was so hungry when it was time for dinner. I was thankful to find a Pizza Hut. The food from the night before made me feel a little sick. The Pizza Hut was pretty nice but definitely different. It was nice to find some familiar food for a night. After I ate my pizza, I headed to the Hubei Provincial Museum that was also free. It has a lot of musical instruments and bronze wares. After that, I went back to my hotel and went straight to bed. 

Day 1 in China

My Choice Restaurant

Today was the beginning of a very exciting trip. I got off of my exhausting plane ride from Morgantown, West Virginia to Wuhan, China. It was a nine hour trip with only two stops. I left at 10:37 a.m. and arrived at 7:15 p.m. in Morgantown but 7:15 a.m. here in Wuhan.  I am staying in Wuhan for two nights in the Marco Polo Hotel. Today, I visited the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge and the Yellow Crane Tower then had lunch at My Choice.  After lunch I went to the Wuhan Zoo.  I do not recommend this zoo. It was probably the worst experience I’ve had. The management was horrible and there was trash everywhere. Some exhibits looked closed but if you moved the trash you could see that they weren’t. My first day was pretty interesting. It was good for the most part but I do hope this trip gets better. 

Chow Mein

Don't have fresh egg noodles on hand for this chow mein recipe? Try substituting an Italian pasta. For an added touch, try garnishing the chow mein with a few sprigs of fresh coriander leaves before serving.
Serves 3 to 4

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound fresh egg noodles
• 1 can bamboo shoots
• 1 can water chestnuts
• 1/2 red bell pepper
• 1 cup fresh snow peas
• 2 celery stalks
• 2 slices ginger
• 2 TB dark soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 TB Chinese rice vinegar
• 1 cup mung bean sprouts
• 2 tablespoons oil for stir-frying, or as needed

Preparation:

Blanch the noodles in boiling water for 3 - 5 minutes, or cook according to the package directions.
Prepare the vegetables: Rinse all the vegetables and drain thoroughly. (Rinse the bamboo shoots and canned water chestnuts under warm running water for several minutes to remove any tinny taste). Cut the red bell pepper in half, remove the seeds, and cut into thin strips. String the snow peas and cut the celery into thin strips on the diagonal Mince the ginger.
Heat the wok and add 2 tablespoons oil. When the oil is hot, add the minced ginger and stir-fry briefly until aromatic.
Add the water chestnuts. Stir-fry briefly, and add the other vegetables except for the mung bean sprouts. Stir-fry briefly and add the noodles.
Stir in the dark soy sauce, sugar, and rice vinegar. Stir in the bean sprouts. Cook for a few more seconds and serve hot.
Each serving contains (based on 3 servings): Calories 469*, 76 g Carbohydrates, 16 g Protein, 13 g Fat (2 g Saturated Fat), 72 mg Cholesterol, 8 g Fibre, 907 mg Potassium. An excellent source of potassium. A good source of calcium, iron and dietary fiber.
*The calorie count goes down to 352 when based on 4 servings.

Internet was down most of last night so i had to post this now.

Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13, in the year of 1743 at Shadwell, Virginia. He is the third president of the United States, the author of the Declaration of Independence, and the founder of the University of Virginia. He served his country for over five decades as a public official, historian, philosopher, and a plantation owner. During his presidential years he was accused of having an affair with Sally Hemings. He retired after his second term of being president in 1809. Exactly 50 years after the Declaration was approved, Jefferson died at 83 years old on July 4, 1826.

The Louisiana Purchase

Louisiana Purchase Treaty

Louisiana Purchase Map

To complete this purchase, I had to put aside my principles. The reasoning for this was because the allowance of this was not listed in the constitution. I didn’t want to wait for a constitutional amendment because if I did, the deal might have been called off. I knew my decision was right because a secret treaty had been signed between Spain and France which gave Louisiana to France. France then threatened America. I feared that if I did not make this purchase, it would lead to war. I had sent men to France to try to secure my purchase but got an agreement to buy all of Louisiana. I did have reservations about my authority to purchase Louisiana and became silent on my action before laying it before Congress.This is 800,000 square miles of land.  We did not have the money to buy it at the time so we borrowed it from Great Britain at a 6% interest. It made the land area double. I felt as if I had made a good choice. Luckily, so did the majority of American citizens. The southern and western boundaries were not defined in this purchase. We will soon have to work with Spain to figure out these boundaries.