WHY HOHHOT??

(China posts are almost done....just trying to record a few more thoughts, experiences, details before they are all forgotten in this decaying mind! Thanks for bearing with me!)

Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, China is not exactly a place you would probably choose to visit if you were traveling to China (It is kind of like bringing someone to Omaha to see all the sights here and then taking them out to Hershey.) but my cousin had spent several years there teaching and has a real soft spot in her heart for the place. After hearing so much about it over the years, when she asked if I would be interesting in going there I, of course said yes!!

It was a quick, two-day trip. Kristina got to show me all her favorite haunts and she was especially excited to see donkeys in the streets (you don't see that in Beijing).

We visited a classroom where English was being taught and got to interact

with some of the students (no great pictures of that).

We shopped at The Green Door where DVD's are....well let's just say....cheap!!

We had an Easter potluck on Good Friday with the teachers that are living in Hohhot.

We toured a Tibetan Buddhist temple. (Such a sad place full of lifeless, graven images and people praying to them, feeding them and even paying them to secure their fortune.)

We visited some shops and street vendors and even found a Christian church tucked up in behind the street.

We even saw this amazing artist who painted this picture. He wanted me to buy it so bad but I didn't think Sam would appreciate a 5 foot painting of a

Chinese/Mongolian man in our living room.

We enjoyed a lunch in the Muslim area of town with some new friends. (You must note their new NE souvenirs!!).

All in all, we packed a lot of action and interesting experiences into less than two days!! Hohhot was completely different than what I had expected but I'm so thankful I had the chance to experience it!!