Possibly one of the biggest statues I've ever seen in my life...
of Mao Zedong.
Shenyang has the dirtiest air my lungs have ever breathed in. I thought LA was bad. Then I thought Seoul was bad. Looks like we have a new winner.
Here's Dinko with his first of many cokes and Chinese pork sandwich. Ghetto and good.
Cool looking McDonald's.
Underground shopping center where you can buy clothes,
cut your hair in front of everyone to see,
eat food,
and, of course, get your tattoos.
Many of the entrances/exits had these screen covers that really annoyed me.
KFC is the biggest fast food chain in China.
For our first real meal, we had Taiwanese food. You can't really tell from the picture, but this restaurant had the biggest menus in the world.
The drinks with the "Hoping" sticker are the ones the restaurant does not have at the moment. That is why you must keep "hoping" for them.
I chose milk tea, and it tasted nothing like the stuff from Tapioca Express. Ginormous, no?
Of course, none of this would have been possible without our good friend, Nick. He is one of Dinko's students who recently decided to become a Christian. Before Dinko left for China, I made a 1 year commitment to pray for him every single day. Meeting Nick was a great reminder that God listens to, answers, and uses our prayers.
Almost every place had these red decorations because the Spring Festival (or Chinese New Year) is coming up.
I forget what these are called, but Dinko insisted that I had to eat these Chinese candy apple things. Very delectable.
This sheki actually lives like a king in China. His place seriously feels like a hotel room.
While he lives in this,
many people have to live in these.
Dinko's favorite Chinese food is Peking Duck.
Although it's really expensive for Chinese people, this whole meal probably only costed less than $20.
After lunch, we had the opportunity to go to a Chinese Sunday service filled with hundreds of Chinese Christians. It was so encouraging to see so many of a minority come together to worship our Lord on the Sabbath. It was also great to take Nick to his first church service.
Here is a freakin' good restaurant that one of Dinko's bosses, Mrs. Lee, took us out to. That night was the coldest weather I had ever experienced in my life. With the wind chill factor, it was probably around -20 degrees Celsius, which would be around -4 degrees Farenheit.
At the nicer restaurants, you actually order by looking at the food displays and showing the waiter what you want.
Check out your options.
Mrs. Lee is very good in Korean, Chinese, and English. Although she is Korean, she has this awesome Chinese woman laugh. She was great.
World's best shrimp.
I actually LOVE dumplings (mandoo), but we ate them so much so frequently that I am officially sick of them now. I even had to eat it again for airplane food.
One of the highlights of my China trip was being able to visit a city called Dandong. It's the city that's located right next to the border of North Korea.
Here is a picture of the Broken Bridge that was damaged during the Korean War. The bridge behind it had trucks that were delivering stuff into North Korea.
Dinko and I thought it was funny how there was a random carousel in that dreary area of North Korea.
Paul is another one of Dinko's previous students who was actually from Dandong. He was an excellent tour guide and took very good care of us. He, too, is a Christian.
As you can see, we were able to get awful close to North Korea. It was amazing.
We actually walked on the Broken Bridge too.
After the North Korea stuff, Paul's family made us an awesome lunch with all kinds of great seafood. I swear, I thought of how much Terrance would have loved all the wonderful things we got to eat.
Before, I came to China, I asked Dinko if we'd be able to check out the Great Wall of China. I was pretty disappointed when he told me that it just wouldn't be possible with the transportation and large population during the Chinese New Year.
But to our surprise, Dandong happened to have a different part of the Great Wall!
It was quite a long walk to get to the top of Tiger Mountain.
While Beijing's part of the Great Wall would be packed, we had our part all to ourselves.
Killer steps.
More killer steps.
You wouldn't believe how steep these steps were. You had to walk like a giant in order to get down to the next step.
Paul's family actually became Christians after his mom asked her Christian sister to appear in a dream from heaven before the sister died. Paul said that after his mother saw her sister appearing like an angel in a dream, she turned to Christ. It was awesome seeing Paul's mom praying before eating her meal.
The Epic Picture.
As Dinko said, the Great Wall was good for us physically, emotionally, and even spiritually.
There were fireworks going off everyday at random times of the day and night. I'm kinda sad that I can't see how crazy they go on the actual New Year day.
China's greatest invention is not the compass, paper, gunpowder, or printing. It's MAN TOE!
Chinese Hot Pot. The soup on the right is FUNKY. The peppers make your tongue go numb. Very interesting stuff.
Our only real form of transportation. You thought LA had crazy drivers. Then you thought Seoul had crazy drivers. Actually, Shenyang wins again. You actually have to see it for yourself.
Dinko trying to catch us a taxi.
This is the school that he works at called Chinese International University.
After checking out his school, we actually went to go get a real Chinese massage. All I gotta say is Dinko likes to break toilets, and I don't believe in underwear. Quite an unforgettable experience. Unfortunately, I did not have any opportunities to take pictures there.
After our massage, Dinko's BOSS boss wanted to take us out to dinner. Check out this meat cake!
One thing I've come to learn about Chinese people is that they're stinkin' hospitable. They also love to overfeed you.
Dinko: I'm so full!
Boss: Should I order some more meat?
I gained a couple of pounds in a matter of days.
I always knew Dinko liked to drink coke, but I never knew how bad it was until recently. That fool's gonna die early.
Finally, during our down time, we became very intimate with Freaks and Geeks. This is an awesome TV show that only lasted for one season back in 2000. We finished all 18 forty-five minute episodes during my time there. Hey, Dinko, did you know that Linda Cardellini (Lindsay) was 24 years old in that show?!
During my stay in China, one of my LG students emailed me:
When you come to Korea, plz call me.
We hope you to join lunch/dinner or beer time in February.(ASAP)
Isn't that hilarious?
China was "HOU!" Shie Shie, Dinko.
새해 복 많이 많이 받으세요.
Thought of the Day: Great Lovefest.
Song of the Day: Pure Harmony-If (Kamikaze Mix)
