written by Caroline Todd

Happy Friday! I hope everyone’s daily flossing is going well!

Today, we were given a much needed gift: 45 minutes of extra sleep before the wake up call. Breakfast followed with the popular option of bread, strawberry jam, and Aryan’s crunchy peanut butter. Another popular option was the steamed red bean filled buns, in which plenty were consumed by each student.

After breakfast, we took a three and a half hour bus ride from Taiyuan to Datong. The bus ride was slow at first, ranging from intermittent naps to a lecture about traditional Chinese weddings, then sped up to a debate about Griffin’s Paper Theory and a Chinese children’s movie about a monkey and a dog traveling the world.

Arriving in Datong around 2 pm, we went straight to lunch specializing in noodles and vinegar, specific to China’s Shanxi Province. At lunch, our tour guide explained to us how the city of Datong is shaped like a Phoenix, similar to how Pingyao is shaped like a turtle.

Around 3 pm, we arrived at the Yungang Grottoes. For about two hours, we were amazing by the hundreds of Buddha, big and small, carved into the sides of the caves. For me, one of the most interesting things was walking from a hot humid day into the cool breezy caves. The temperature difference was roughly ten degrees. Some, including myself, also noticed how the lighting into the caves provided the “perfect selfie lighting,” and proceeded to make good use of the 20¥ they spent on selfie sticks. After touring, we all bought an ice cream. I tried my first corn ice cream pop. Surprisingly, it was really good. It had a mostly vanilla taste with a slight hint of corn. Exiting the tourist area, we were allowed some time for shopping. Ellie and I both bought this homemade nut bar that they made to sample on spot. It was very fresh and tasty, especially because China doesn’t have a ton of simple nut flavored creations.

Around 5:30 pm, we left the Yungang Grottoes and took a short bus ride to the Nine Dragons Wall of Datong. The wall was a quick stop because we had already spent so much time at the caverns. A couple pictures were taken, and then we were off to dinner. On the 40ish minute drive to dinner, the entire bus had a jam out to Beyonce’s latest album, including Flawless and Partition.

At dinner, none of us were super hungry, but the dumplings were stellar. After dinner, we checked into the hotel. Since we had time before curfew, we decided to head out as a group and walk around. We ended up going straight into the closest KTV and sang karaoke for about an hour. That concluded our day pretty well because we were all able to let loose and be free.

Overall, today was a really fun day, including both touring and leisurely activities. I think everyone enjoyed their time and look forward to a good nights rest.

Much love and keep flossing!

Caroline

hi mom 🙂

 

P.S. And it’s Mr. Manakhov again with a fresh batch of pictures he took on his own camera. Day 12 (June 4th) and Day 13 (June 5th) . The Internet connectivity isn’t the best. Please allow several hours for pictures to fully sync from both my PC and phone. It could take couple of days for the videos to sync. Meanwhile, check the previous days links below, and you might find new video clips in some of them.

Previous days Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 11