We had a great off day yesterday and a good start to our day today as well.

We had a 5 hour bus ride yesterday that was not too bad.  We had a chance to stop and take pictures at some amazing places.  We arrived in what was referred to as a small  country town, which has 2000 in population called Shizhou.  It is an older quiet town, but as usual we have been so well received.  The hotel  is an older Chinese hotel, without elevator, so it is a slight change from the other ones, yet real nice.  We got a opportunity to walk around and found an old favorite of ours, Diko’s.  This is an American style fast food place that is a chain in China.  They have fried chicken, chicken sandwiches, fries, ice cream, and home made donuts.  It was a nice snack for some.

We went to eat what is known as “Hot Pot.”  It is a place where you cook your own food in boiling something, i.e. water, oil, spices.  Then you drop everything into the spicy side or moderate side.  The spicy is HOT!   We ate cow intestines, eel, beef, potatoes, squid, crab, noodles, and some things I was not sure about.  The guys did great in trying some new items.  Though some were different they were pretty good.  We went to Diko’s afterwards for ice cream.  I needed that to just get the taste back in my mouth from the heat.

This morning, we were going to a temple, but the roads up in the mountains were muddy from the rain so we just walked down by the park on the river.  We got to see some monuments and headed back to the hotel.  We are getting ready to go to a shoot around.

I would like to say how great we are being treated here in China. The host people are great.  The hotels and food have been the best we have had to date on all of our trips.  The Chinese people are, well what can I say, they are the most hospitable and friendly people you can imagine.  We have made a lot of new friends and are real excited about what is to come.

Robby