10,000 peaks and nowhere to go.

Today my site mate and I were lead by our Waiban (Foreign Affairs Officer in the university) to a local located but nationally renowned geological treasure: the 10,000 peak forest. The Chinese characters translate literally to "10,000 peak forest", which make sense, because the attraction is literally tens of thousands of peaks formed by eroded calcium deposits left by (I think) sea water in the (I think) Triassic period. Regardless, the area is beautiful. Imagine a VERY steep, near vertical hill, roughly 500 to 1500 feet tall. Now imagine 10,000 to 20,000 of them. You get the idea.

Don't worry, photos will appear, once I find the cord to connect my camera to the laptop. Promise.

So, anyways, the adventure was great. We got the chance to have lunch in this fantastic local restaurant, known best for its hosting the president, or maybe the party leader, of China back in 2004. After that my site mate, my Waiban, and I walked a scenic road that offered great views of the area. A rain storm hit, but we were picked up by a little tour bus just in time. It was great, but...

But I had to ask I people were allowed to hike or climb in the mountains. I was given a questionable answer, "Why would anyone want to?" To which I asked, "Well, why the hell not?" These types of questions tend to chase each other like a dog and his tail, or a yin and an yang, so I will spare you the play by play. Long story short, I want to hike those hills, and I don't care if no one has done it before me.

Post a comment if you can see/explain/understand the cultural divide here. Gimmee some relativism.