Hongluosi literally translates to Red Shell Temple, 'Red Shell' being the name of a fairy in ancient Chinese folklore. It is approximately 55kms north of the centre of Beijing. It was built around 330 AD, and is home to the largest Buddhist monastery in northern China.
It took about an hour to reach Hongluosi from uni, so everyone slept and I stared out the window (apparently meeting at uni at 8am is too much for everyone else - hell, everyone else is still asleep when my bus gets to uni!). Once we arrived, we were free to do as we pleased, provided we were back on the buses at the designated time. I was befriended by the most annoying girl in our class, Indira (from Kazakhstan, 22, already been married 3 years) which everyone else thought was hilarious as it meant they didn't have to deal with her.
So we wandered around the park for a few hours, struggling to hold a conversation because a) she doesn't speak English, b) our Chinese isn't that fab, c) her three favourite topics are herself, her husband, and her country (all of which I didn't really want to know about). Anyway, here are some pics from Hongluosi:
Some of our class - Jiwu (Japanese), Me, Indira (Kazakh), Phoebe (Philippines), Mega
Aishanxin (Turkish), Andres (Mexican), Andri and Candr
Me looking particularly pasty
Indira's quite a poser (and yes, she always wears t-shirts slightly too short)
After Hongluosi, we were treated to a particularly unappetising lunch, served at a juice factory (I don't know why) on jailhouse-style metal trays. At least the free "juice" was good, even if it was only 10% juice.
Must run, I have just been invited to a BBQ in 15 minutes!
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