July 1st

Hello from the top of Yellow Mountain!

Before we left Shantung Province we had some unexpected fun. At the 1000 Buddha Temple there is an alpine slide and was the best ever! The slide flume is metal, made by a company in Germany and like a good German sportscar - it is very fast. Elder Master David and I rode our sleds 3 times in a row without getting off! (You stay on the sled and a tow rope takes you back to the top.) And, of course the Buddha Cave with the paintings and the stone statues were great too. The is a large Sleeping Buddha surrounded by candles and flowers. There also is a path with life size stone carvings of each of the 18 Lo Han. At the top of the mountain there is a Temple dedicated to Lao Tzu.

Right now we are at the West Sea Hotel on Yellow Mountain. Even though it has been raining and flooding in China we had managed to miss most of it, especially while we were visiting the historic sites. We did have to take a detour in Shantung because the floating bridge that we were to take to cross the Yellow River got washed away. We went on one rural road that was flooded in places and the Shao-Lin bus in front of us started sliding toward a tree but fortunately the driver got control and a crash was avoided. Trees along the roads were uprooted due to the wind and water! Our plane flight into Shantung Province was also fun due to the weather. We were on final approach and the airplanes wheels were just off of the runway when the aircraft pulled up in a steep climb. From there the craft veered left a bit and then right. After about an hour we finally landed. We were the last aircraft to land at the airport before flights we re canceled due to the weather!

Our view from the top of Yellow Mountain will probably not improve. There is a mist and floating fog that covers the mountain. The full size bonsai trees stand like elegant old men in a misty, magical forest. There are streams, waterfalls and pools of water along the winding paths. Tomorrow we will head down the mountain to see the 1000 Foot Waterfall, the ancient city and a museum. In the evening we will fly to Shanghai.

Since we have some time in Shanghai, some students who have not been to the city of Suzhou, which is a couple of hours away, will also go there for a ride along the Grand Canal. Both Hangzhou, which we visited at the beginning of our trip, and Suzhou were visited by Marco Polo. He was so impressed by the beauty of the West Lake in Hangzhou that he called it "Heaven on Earth". Because of the beauty of the city on the Grand Canal, Marco Polo called Suzhou the "Venice of the East." Students will also get to visit the famous and unique gardens of Suzhou.

While in Shanghai there will be more sights to see and much shopping before we head back home. The students have already purchased a lot of scrolls, chops and framed paintings! It will be fun to see what everyone buys now.

Best wishes to all. I look forward to seeing the Denver and Boulder Students bright and early Saturday morning for Chue Chien! The fun will continue back home...

Sincerely,

Elder Master Sharon