It was incredibly hard to leave Beijing that July afternoon. Imagine the scene at the airport and the hours leading up the imminent goodbye. Heartwrenching it was.

The air had had turned into a heavy sweltering mass the pressed closely upon ones face and body. The summer had come and I was quite miserable. I flew into Shanghai and it was raining and dark. The night was unforgiving. I felt myself slipping into a depression and I looked upon the next two months of hotel living and hard teaching schedules with disdain.The only thing that really cheered me up was the fact I'd be doing a little travel in Zhejiang province. A busload of American teachers made the journey from Shanghai to Shaoxing for the first three week English camp. Keqiao, a little city in the Shaoxing county was a unique little place. Unique because there were an equal amount of Middle Eastern and Chinese people. Pakistani's, Iraqi's, folks from Afghanistan, and India resided in the city due to it's prolific textile market. Stores selling bolts of cloth were absolutely everywhere, it was reminscent of an bazzar with donkeys and humans pulling large loads of goods from one place to another. The thing I remember most about Keqiao was the heat. It was over 100 degrees farenheit everyday I was there, mix with that about 180% humidity, and you have the perfect recipe for misery. I missed my girlfriend. I was hanging out with loud mouthed Americans who had little understanding of what China was. I became close with the group however because we were sharing an experience with each other that not many people do. I left Keqiao with a few fond memories and a couple friends. It was on a bus after three weeks there though to another place. Moving on once again, I packed my bags and said goodbye to Keqiao.

I arrived at Jiang Shen with about 4 other Americans and was immediately a little more at ease. Jiang Shen is a sleepy little city that exists in striking contrast to Keqiao. Grand jagged mountains encircle Jiang Shen and it's citizens were of the "gotta take it easy" mentality. The teaching schedule was brutal however, it was oppresively hot, and I was usually always exhausted. During my time there the highlight was going to "The Thousand Year Old Village". A village two hours away by bus that hasn't been touched the hand of modernization. Electricity was scarce, and the people lived off of farming. It was a village in the fairy tale sense with chickens picking about on the paths, old woman sitting in deep chairs. Old men fanning themselves, children bathing in the stream. I took some great pictures and burned images into my mind that will stick for the rest of my life. The three weeks in Jiang Shen came to an end and the summer was winding down finally. I was worn out and happy that I'd be able to travel back to Beijing for another 10 days.

I took a bus to Hangzhou so I could take the train back north. Hangzhou was alive this time, it was summer and the Chinese tourists were out in full force. I spent a day there, my train left at 8.00pm. The next day I was in Beijing again and in the arms of my girlfriend. The ten days I spent in the capitol were very relaxed, partially due to the fact that I was tired from the summer and also because I was desperately low on cash. We hung out, spent alot of time in front of the TV, ate out, talked, and enjoyed each others company. All too soon however, It was time for me to leave again. This time for another 5 month stint in southern Shandong. After missing my original train to Shandong after a harrowing taxi ride that got us to the train station just minutes too late, I was headed south into the historic Shandong province. Home of Confucius, Mencius and according to some historians, the birthplace of Chinese culture....