Reed Flute Cave

I had to look up why they call this Reed Flute Cave. Turns out the reeds growing around the outside of the cave are used to make flutes. I think our guide told us that, but my brain was over loaded with information. It doesn't seem to hold very much these days.
This cave is huge (240 meters long, for those into numbers). And believe me when I say it is a strange and beautiful sight. There are hundreds of stalagmites and stalactites (don't ask me which grows up and which grows down because that's Mark's job to remember). These pictures don't do it justice. Some areas are enhanced with coloured lights, but all the pillars are made of limestone - which is really milky white to grey. The one picture is actually a reflecting pool in the middle of the cave. The cave is located just outside of Guilin - more on that in my next entry. If you have any questions (not that I'll have the answers but I've learned a well know "tourist guide" trick -if you don't know make something up) just click on the comment bar at the bottom.

The Panda Bear

This is a video of a Panda we saw in the wild. Okay, so it was in a zoo, but it was in China. I'm including this video for two reason. One, I wanted to see if this would work and, two, my sister loves Panda Bears. Brenda went to the zoo in Ohio to see one and I remember her saying that all Pandas do is sleep. Granted, the female panda was sound asleep, but the male in the video put on quite a show.
Well, I've tried to upload the video twice (waited over two hours the second time and received an error message). You'll have to settle for these still shots and believe me when I say he walked, ate and talked (we'll he actually didn't talk but it makes for a better story).

First China Post

Jet Lag is my friend. I slept until noon today and now I'm up at midnight writing. Most of our pictures are on Richard's computer, as Mark kept filling up memory cards and downloading them thanks to Richard. With everyone snapping pictures I'm sure that there are several thousand shots of China worth sharing, but that might be a little time consuming.
The trip exceeded our expectations and words can't express the thrill of walking on the Great Wall or seeing the Terracotta Soldiers. I will include some of these pictures at a later date. For now I wanted to share a photo of the best travel agents money can buy (even though they charged us nothing).
Future entries will include a Flute Cave, Five Gorges, A Panda Bear and much more. Stay tuned.