Before I move into the rest of this post, here are the pictures from my last city, Chengdu.

I am not so great with words, but I know my travels in the past six weeks have left an enormous impression on me. Seeing so many different ways people live their lives, some with excessive material abundance and some with nothing more than what is in their one-room house.

Instead of waxing poetic about my feelings, I've tried to compose a small video that captures some of my inspiring moments during travel, both photographs and video. But be forewarned, this video is over 20 minutes long. It is probably not particularly interesting unless you a) know me  b) love china  or c) love traveling.

The winter travel plan was as follows:

1. Sanya
2. Zhuhai
3. Shenzhen
4. Guangzhou
5. Guilin
6. Yangshuo
7. Kunming
8. Chengdu

The travel map is here:

And here, in full splendor, is the twenty-twenty review of my 6 weeks off. 

Winter Travel from Daniel Nalesnik on Vimeo.

Kunming is the transportation hub to the rest of southwest China - as well as having rail links to Vietnam, Burma and Laos. Between 2005 and 2010 the population doubled in size.

Although the guidebooks say there are many foreigners, I hardly saw any during my 2 day stay.

See my photos of Kunming here.

Took a bamboo raft down the river to reach Yangshuo. It was "safe"...

The hills penetrate every area of the town. I biked along the river, read and studied along the way, and climbed to the top of their famous "moon" hill (picture with a hole in a mountain). I stayed here for 5 nights. You could stay here for weeks and never tire of the scenery.

One interesting thing I saw was a new housing development. There were about six different apartment types available. They each required 30% down, for a 20-year mortgage.. with DAILY mortgage repayments. This place won't see a housing crash or NINJA (No Income, No Job/Assets) loans any time soon.

See my photos from Yangshuo here.

Here I tasted the local Guilin rice noodles (looks like wheat pasta, tastes like rice), and the by-now-all-too-familiar hot pot (boiling soup on the table, every ordered ingredient placed in and eaten directly from the bowl after cooked).

I climbed a mountain to take pictures of the city from above, and went into a cave to see million-year-history in the making. As beautiful as Guilin is, even here you can feel the West creeping in. A McDonalds on the street corner, cars beginning to flood the streets in an almost grotesque "these shouldn't be here" way.

See photos from Guilin here.

While meandering one of the busiest markets I saw a very out-of-place foreigner; a 50+ year old man, his brown wallet sticking two inches out of his back pocket. I quickly said hello and advised him to push his wallet deeper. He thanked me and we exchanged our stories. He was from North Carolina, in China trying to adopt a child. He was completely lost and looking for his hotel. I helped him find his hotel, for which he was very thankful.

Find photos of Guanzhou here.

After a very brief stay, I flew to Guilin (next post).

After Zhuhai, I took a ferry for one hour to reach Shenzhen. This city is a bit of a miracle; the first SEZ created by Deng Xiaoping in 1979, the population went from 4,000,000 in 2000 to 14,000,000 in 2009. Shenzhen is the fastest growing city in China, and has been for the past thirty years.

Shenzhen is the manufacturing capital of the world. Indeed, most iPods and all other "made in China" goods probably originated here.

Even in the dead of the winter, it was hot here. I cannot imagine what it is like in the summer, and everyone I spoke to agreed that the summers are treacherous.

I met a guy in my hostel with a Boston Red Sox T-Shirt on; he was in Shenzhen trying to find an apartment and start a business. He was about 24 years old.

Paul Lopez hopped the border from Hong Kong with his girlfriend Kelly and we went to a famous amusement park. Check out the photos here: Photos from Shenzhen.

The air was beautiful like in Sanya, and the views of the coast were spectacular. I was expecting a much more international feel, but hardly saw any other foreigners. There is a 酒吧路 (liquor bar street) where all the foreigners were. I noticed a "pajama party" where foreigners and rather hip (western'ish) young Chinese women went to sip martinis and socialize in their pajamas.

I often worried that learning Chinese was perhaps not a good use of time - as everyone knows English, right? Not so. Although many Chinese can understand some English, almost no one in this city spoke any.

I took photos and began to upload them, but the connection here is so abysmal that I will have to wait until the next hostel to upload any more.

Unfortunately, he needs to leave China soon per the terms of his visa. He spoke enviously of his friend who works six months per year in England, then vacations six months per year with his wife and child in Thailand. Unfortunately for my friend, he claims to have no "special woman" in his life. Although, he is happy to be able to travel for half of every year...

I walked for two hours yesterday to see Pheonix Island, a new manmade island with six gleaming luxury hotels and condominium buildings. I've seen them in commercials in Beijing, and I can see them proimently displayed on the map I bought at the hostel. Alas, when I arrived I saw they are still under construction! I'll post pictures tomorrow.

On the walk back I passed endless construction sites and took eye-opening photos. It always surprises me to see old women doing manual labor. They are in better shape than 95% of my friends, even at 65. I wouldn't wish that tough life on anyone, yet I wonder how many over stressed workaholics in the financial hubs of the world these woman are happier than.

My first full day in Sanya was productive. I studied for five hours (both at the hostel and at a cafe near the beach), made friends with two American guys currently teaching English in a city near Shanghai, then spent the evening drinking with them on the beach and walking around. 

The area around my hostel is much more "China" than where I lived in Beijing. Well, at least more of what I originally thought China was going to be before ever stepping foot on the mainland. Vendors everywhere, food being prepared on the street in conditions most Americans would call disgusting - or at least it appears that way. For 10 kuai I had a meal of noodles and lamb. It was clean, filling and utterly delicious. For less than $2 USD.

There is a huge Russian propulation here. Of course, most people are tourists. Many people see me and try to speak with me in Russian. 

The next day I woke up at 11:30 AM, had two breakfasts at the hostel and then went for a long run. The first run I've had since August! (The air in Beijing is prohibitively dirty). My goodness did it feel refreshing. I finished my run by jogging straight into the ocean for a short swim, and then fell asleep on the beach for an unknown number of hours. That was a great feeling - waking up not knowing what time it was but also not caring. Most "vacations" adults take are so limited in time that every moment needs to be defined, needs to have purpose. Not very relaxing!

After showeirng I studied for a few hours and then grabbed hotpot dinner. Went to bed before midnight so I could have a full day today.

My American friends Barron and Courtland plan to ride motorcycles into some mountain and camp overnight. What an adventure!

I took a bus from the airport to hostel and unloaded my stuff. Eight beds in the room, guys and girls. A locker in the lobby for laptop/camera/passport. About the same quality as American hostels.

Went to the beach. While I can't understand everything being spoken, the tonality of the conversations tells me that people are enjoying this beach just as people at home do. Talking about families, plans, laughing at the children. Happy to not be working. We really are the same people, separated by geography and language some long time ago. But we all wish for the same things in life.

Walked into the city. Passed many expensive looking restaurants and ended up having pulled noodles at a small traditional Chinese restaurant where the meals were 15 kuai ($2.20) instead of 50 kuai ($7.35). I was the only non-Chinese in the place. A man came up and sat down with me. We spoke about who we were, why we were in Sanya, our lives. He is 29 (I guessed correctly and he was impressed). He is in the People's Liberation Army. That evening he was flying home to see his wife, whom he hadn't seen in about a year. My Chinese was as good as his English, so we used both. 

On the bus ride home, a man motioned for me to take a seat. After saying 谢谢您 (xièxie nín | Thank you), he asked me how I knew Chinese. As the only non-Chinese on the bus, many people became curious. The woman next to my new friend asked, “他会说中文吗？” （Tā huì shuō zhōngwén ma? | He can speak Chinese?)

Having these experiences make me think back to all those times when someone in the U.S. would be attempting English in a broken, stuttering way because it was not their first language. I subconciously and unfairly labeled them as a tiny bit less intelligent. How absurd!

I'm so glad I came to China.

Today I'm sitting outside the hostel. I studied for two hours this morning. Now I plan to take a shower and wander!