Wu Xi and big fat statues

So I got a new camera! Its awesome, and the following pictures were taken with it. It's snazzy and jazzy, and it looks like thisThis weekend I took the new camera with me to Wu Xi (pr. 'woo - she') for a nice little trip. Wu Xi is about 2 hours away on Tai Hu Lake. It's a small city with A LOT of people. I went with Jim and Claudia (from Austria). The first thing we did when we got there was GET SOME FOOD! I was starving, and hadn't eaten all morning. We caught the bus at 7, so I was up around 5:30 getting ready.... getting ready did not include breakfast on that particular morning. So we met up with Claudia because she was already there, and then we got some food at a crappy little Italian place. We chose Italian because in Changxing, all you get is Chinese food... not to complain!! I mean I love the food here, but I've eaten more noodles and veggies, and dumplings, and mystery meat in the past 3 weeks than I have my entire life maybe....again, not complaining! We just wanted some variation for the trip.

After we ate we found boat rides to nearby the Fairey Islands. There are some Taoist temples there and other tourist traps. However, the landscape was beautiful, and there was a nice little walking path that went around the whole island. The temple is still in use, and you could pay money to pray to a huge deity (maybe Lao-Tse, the founder), and around 15Yuan to ring a huge bell. I didn't do either... but I still think I got the most for my money. OK, so the pictures...

On the road to Wu Xi in the bus. Nothing too exciting... just a lot of hills in these parts.

On the bus.

Map of the Fairey Islands....I'm actually blocking the spot where we spent most of our time. You'll Notice that I'm lookin a bit sleepy in these pictures....I apologize but I was on about 4 hours of sleep for the day. I CRASHED at my hotel room..... to say the least...

A very large temple on a very large hill. You see a lot of these around; kind of randomly placed atop some big hills.

This is the three of us on the boat ride to the islands. It was kinda windy and hazy out that morning. It kinda cleared up... but it wasn't the most beautiful and sunny day .

People on the boat.

This guy was hammin' it up for the cameras.

A cool looking boat that was docked at the island.

Cool view of a lighthouse and some hills. The views were great.

These people were very excited to be standing next to some foreigners. Super nice people... and a pretty adorable little lady I must say.

More scenes of the hills as we approached the Island.

A bridge that we crossed from the boats... pretty nice looking.On the bridge.

A traditional looking building as we were walking to the temple.

Some folks lighting candles. This is a very common ritual that you'll see at most temples.Insense burning for the same reason.Some statues inside the temple. The lower one is the size of the tall temple itself... about 5 stories high. Pretty cool.

Nice view of the temple.

And then we walked down to this park area.

Most of this stuff is not actual stone, but sculpted concrete instead. None-the-less it was still pretty to look at... and very big.

I know this picture is sideways.... but this was a huge statue in the park area. Lao Tse, I think after doing some research on Taoism. He is an old man here.... oh and big too.


Some postcard shots! I should be makin' some money for this!
This was about the 5th group of people this day that wanted their picture taken with the foreigners. I'm a good sport!! Plus I got them to give the popular Sheridan Thumbs Way Up shot... can't beat that!

Cool little shot of the water mill... not an original mill, but still nice looking.

I just walked this whole hill..... on 4 hours of sleep.... I was beat. So...
Time to get back on the boat to hit the old dusty trail....

Or just the hazy trail... Goodbye Fairey Islands!

View of Wu Xi from my hotel room. Most of what you see in the distance is appartments...

Walking around the markets the next day.

A back alley where they were selling knock off art.... this was the older part of town tho. I liked it here.

They were selling a lof of plants and veggies in this part of town. If I were closer to home I'd probably buy some stuff...
Headin' back to Changxing!

So the blog is back in business now that I have a new camera. I will update soon. I want to do some hiking in the hills soon. The weather is begining to warm up, and the winds are no longer freezing cold....so I plan to do some more outside stuff. Not that I haven't already... but you know what I mean.

Until next time... everyone be good. Miss you guys back home!