The Big Trip.

Okay, so, here it is.

From Today (Janurary 10th) until the first or second week in February, I will be traveling around China, and seeing as much of this kick-ass country as humanly possible. Or at least until I run out of money.

I'll be leaving on a train to Beijing tomorrow morning at 9:30am, and getting into the city a solid 12 hours later. I'll be meeting my good, jolly, loyal, sardonic, hilarious, understanding friend - THE Steven Monahan, there in Beijing. We're planning on staying there in town for the rest of the week, and then the rest of our trip lays in my hands. I'll drop my plans into this blog right now, just to see how far I go off track from my original plan by the end of the trip. Sounds fun, yeah?

So here it is. I want to go from Beijing to Shanghai after a week. This'll put me in Shanghai exactly when four of my friends from Hong Kong (that I met in Harbin) will be town. That way we can meet up and have some Chinese friends for our stay in Shanghai. The more the merrier! After Shanghai, I want to explore Suzhou (once called 'heaven on earth'), and Nanjing, a large, old city to the east of Shanghai. From there, I can see Hangzhou (south of Shanghai), or drive west to Wuhan, which is essentially at the center of China. It also is host to the three river gorges of the Yangtze river, which I need to see while I'm in this country. After Wuhan, I want to shoot directly south towards Hong Kong, and perhaps get to see Guangzhou the big time city just north of Hong Kong. Then into Hong Kong itself, but not for long. It's EXPENSIVE. From HK, I'll go east to Hainan... and that's where my plan essentially ends. I'll have to see how much money I have left at that point, and see what day I am at in my travels. With a little luck, I'll have time and money left to get back north towards Xi'an, but stop by Zhengzhou (where Steve lives) to get to see his home.

This is my plan. Who knows what'll actually happen. Either way, I'm pumped.

Wish me some luck. I'll be checking my e-mail at every hostel I stop at, so please send me ideas of places to visit, love, help, or just a quick hello!

I'll be signing off from the blog for the next month. Get ready for some serious posting when I return. Until then... Love you everyone from home! Jai-o Zhong guo!

Signing off for a month,

Mr. Richard Anthony LaBontee, Jr.