What is it to travel well!

What is it to travel well? The best trips aren’t those with the best hotels, the most magnificent meals or when we see the greatest number of sites. The best trips are those when we experience that long moment of delicious disorientation, one that strips us of our usual habits and patterns, and we yield with a soft openness to the new experience life is offering. It is a moment that  brings us so close to the place that the tantalizing aromas, colors, tastes and sounds that surrounded us there live on in our memories for years to come.

Steve has now been in China for 5 weeks, long enough to have experienced those moments of disorientation, and long enough to drop some old habits and pick up some new. One of them appears to be that he now smiles for the camera. Have you noticed this? He's smiling in nearly all the pictures!

Why is Steve the only one smiling? What does he know? Will he let the others know?

Steve and Qiang have moved out of their bachelor pad at Tsinghua University and traded it for hotels "on the road". Last week, they went to Shanghai and the beautiful lake town Hongzhou (which is also the hometown of our Chinese tutor, Xin). Hongzhou is also known as China's happiest city. Quite a distinction. (For more on that auspicious sobriquet, click here.)

Surrounded by students (notice the smile)

Shanghai University "Canal"

After returning to Beijing, Steve had a little down time and learned what it might be like to be a tourist in China. Since every tourist needs a little shopping spree, he decided to go to the flea market of all flea markets, the lollapalooza of flea markets. Really, I think this might, in fact, be the world's largest flea market. So many wonderful and beautiful things.

Here are Steve's feet as he gazes at a painting of the Buddha.
Although you can't see his face, you should know that he's smiling. 

Beautiful ink brushes

Lounging on sacred sculpture

Chen-Chen accompanies Steve to the world's largest flea market

Miles of garden sculptures

Steve and Qiang are finishing up their final lectures in the cities of Nanjing and Changchun over the next several days. I leave this Wednesday and will be meeting up with the boys in the Beijing airport on Thursday afternoon. I can't wait! Next blog post I'll be in China!