GREETINGS FROM CHINA

Ai New York City instructor SuZen sends her greetings to all from China. Her commentary and a link to her Gallery appears below. This is the first of what will hopefully be more Blog posts so stay tuned!

Hi all,
Having an amazing time. China is great and sometimes very, very challenging! Unfortunately the internet is not that easy to connect to and although I began writing a blog to share my experiences - somehow there was an error and I have not been able to publish it. Miracles!! I found out yesterday that there is an Apple store in Beijing. There seems to be everything else American here - ie. McDonald's, KFC, Gap, Zara to name a few, so finding an Apple store was a major relief. After spending literally hours here (still here), they finally figured solved the error. So now you can read my blog.

Just to give a quick update. The first 3 nights in Beijing I stayed at a very nice hotel, Jade Garden Hotel, thanks to Corey for the recommendation. It is a great location near the Forbidden City and down the street form the Night Market. More about these when you read my blog. After 3 days in Beijing, sightseeing and meeting lots of friends of friends, being jet lagged and totally exhausted, I decided to go north to Chengde for a few days to chill out and relax a bit. Can't say I did. Too many wonderful places to visit.

What brought me to Chengde was to see the tallest statue of Buddha in the world. Made from 5 different kinds of wood, Buddha Guanyin (Avalokashavara) has 42 arms and in each palm is an eye and in each hand is a skull, lotus, and other Buddhist instruments. The detail of the carving and the draping of the robe is truly breathtaking and sooo elegant. The Buddha standing over 66" is located at the Puning Temple - one of 8 temples in Chengde. More about this is my blog. If you want to see some photos go to:

http://gallery.me.com/suzennyc#100938

Anyhow so much to share. I can't believe I arrived almost a week ago and have seen so much. And so much more to see. Tomorrow I hope to go to the Great Wall and then head south to Xi'an.

Thinking of you and hoping you are well and happy.
love, peace + blessings,
SuZen