Day trip to Huanggang

I hadn't even been back in China for a whole week before I was off traveling again. Just a few days after arriving, my boss Diana called and asked if Camille and I wanted to visit with her later that day. Of course we said yes and just a few hours later, Diana was picking us up from our apartment, along with her husband and daughter. I thought we were just going to have dinner somewhere in the city and the next thing I knew we were getting onto the highway to leave Huangshi. Little did we know that a short dinner would turn into an 8-hour day trip to Huangang, China, a city just an hour outside of Huangshi!

Camille and I had to laugh…because of the language barrier there are often miscommunications. And I do mean OFTEN! Most likely I misunderstood something while speaking on the phone, which is always more difficult than in person. I have a tendency to just say YES and figure out “down the road” what crazy situation I’ve gotten myself into. And poor Camille, since often times my thoughtless “yeses” include her being dragged along as well. Fortunately for us, this ended up being one of the better surprises.

I saw Mr. Wu and Yue Yue (Diana's husband and daughter) for the first time since returning to China and we got to give Yue Yue her birthday gift. Diana and Yue Yue went on a vacation together to Europe this summer. Because of this, Diana had her daughter choose and English name to go by and she chose the name Flora. Sometimes, I refer to her as Flora, so just know that Flora is Yue Yue and Yue Yue is Flora!

  

Flora wearing part of her birthday gift!

We met up with some of their incredibly kind and welcoming friends, who live in Huangang, who took us to see the home of a famous Chinese General, Lin Biao and Dongpo Red Cliff. I did not know about either of these, but they are both very famous in China.  

In front of the General's home with Diana's family.

Their friends.

Once again, many random people asked to take photos with us. Can't you just feel the excitement on my face?!?!

Another view of Lin Biao's family home.

Oh Yue Yue! She is always ready to strike a pose for the camera!

Here we are about to enter Dongpo Red Cliff. I know Camille and I look a wee bit silly in our shorts and rainboots. Let me explain...it had been raining earlier that day in Huangshi and we had to walk to our friend's apartment for Ch.urch. Had we known we were leaving the city, we most certainly would have changed! Everyone probably assumed it was some new foreign trend!

It was an incredibly beautiful place to visit.

I told you she always knows when the camera is on her!

Next to the red cliff. 

These are all perfectly hand written Chinese characters from a very long time ago. It must have taken an incredibly long time.

These characters have all been carved in stone. The large character means "long life".

View from the top of the cliff. 

At the park, there was a section of games and rides for children and Flora really wanted to try out this jumping one. She was very excited at first, but then got scared if she jumped too high! 

After leaving the park, we stopped for a famous Huangang snack, on the way to dinner. haha

The snack was either black tofu or potatoes covered in a red sauce. The sauce was actually pretty good. I wound up like the food in this city much more than in Huangshi. Go figure! Thats me about to take my first taste of black tofu. It really wasn't bad. 

The top is tofu and the bottom is potatoes.

Camille about to be brave and take a bite. You can really see how black the tofu is in this picture. 

One more pose before the post ends! Hilarious! She is so cute and funy!