The Next Adventure

Ok everyone GUESS WHAT'S HAPPENING?  My roommate and I have decided on where we are going to travel in China for our six weeks off!  We were spending a long time procrastinating on the big decision partly because China is such a huge country and it is hard to decide where one wants to go when there are so many options and each one seems just as viable as the next.  That being said, we knew we wanted to see Shanghai and Beijing right from the get-go.  Beijing practically worked itself out because we went with a group of teachers who are also from BC who teach at the Canadian international high school here in Weifang.  Even though we mostly did our own thing, just being able to kind of follow in their footsteps and knowing they were around was a big help.  Naturally, it felt overwhelming to plan out where to go and what to see all by ourselves.
Luckily, a Canadian co-op student who flew with us from Vancouver at the very beginning invited us to stay with her family in Shanghai (she has a Chinese background) for the Chinese new year.  This is a really incredible opportunity for us to see the new year celebrations from the perspective of a family in the city so we are really excited about that.  The new year is officially February 12th, 2013, so we are probably going to meet her in Shanghai on the 9th.  Since our six weeks off begins right in the middle of January, we'd like to leave Weifang sometime around then and head down south to Nanjing, a city not far from Shanghai.  This is a city with a lot of history, one of China's former capitals (the name of the city means "Capital of the south"). This a rather ginormous city so we are also strongly considering doing a separate trip to see this city at the beginning of January since we will only be working weekends from mid-December to the start of break and also because of the heavy crowds travelling around the country during the holidays.  There's a lot to do and see here, such as climbing the city wall of Nanjing, riding a cable car up Purple Mountain, and visiting many of the city's parks, bridges, temples, and ruins.
After that, we'll head to a city called Suzhou, another city of historical importance. This place has many of my coworkers sentimental over their previous experiences there.  One of them urged me to go there, explaining that it was the kind of place she had imagined a Chinese city to look like before coming to this country and not knowing what to expect.  She also said it was her favourite place (and she has been to many places around the mainland).  This is a city known for its natural and architectural beauty, well preserved since its ancient roots.  There are beautiful gardens and temples to see here and it even features the largest inner-city lake in all of China.  The lake can be seen pictured on 1 yuen bills.
After spending time with Catherine in Shanghai, we will meet another friend named Collin in a city called Guilin.  We decided to go here because Collin invited us to come travel with him during his holiday and he is a very well-seasoned traveler.  We would probably not end up taking on a trip to a place like this by ourselves but it is another excellent opportunity to see a different part of China knowing we will be with someone like him.  Guilin is a beautiful, rather small city located in the autonomous region of Guangxi toward the southernmost part of China (near Hong Kong).  It will likely require taking an overnight train to get there or we may even book a flight.  The area has very interesting geography, with ancient mountains that have been shaped into tall, slim looking bumps on the horizon by rivers and water movements over millions of years.  These processes have also formed some very extensive karst landscapes as well.  We are very excited to tour some of the areas surrounding Guilin and to see the landscapes up close and personal.  A view of the Li river with a Jung boats and mountains in the surrounding area can be seen pictured on the 20 yuen bill.
After spending up to a week there, we will probably be exhausted and will want to get home as soon as possible.  If time permits at the beginning of January, we are hoping to take a short trip to Qingdao (we still haven't gone yet!) because it's so cheap (apparently only 29 for the train and 40 a night at some hostels).
Getting super excited!