China so far...

Incredible scenery, mountain passes, cobbled highways, paved highways, deep valleys, landslide scarred terrain, pine plantations, extensive rice terraces, denudation, rubber plantations, dusty skies, wide boulevards empty of traffic, ghost-towns of concrete and glass, minorities in wildly colorful costumes, tea terraces, tea harvesting, tea rolling, tea pots, tea flasks, eating all day, steamed dumplings, boiled dumplings, jelly soup, fried dough twists, steamed corn, noodle stalls, more noodle stalls, still more noodle stalls, dumpling stalls, more dumpling stalls, chilis, chili oil, green chilis, red chilis, crushed chilis, flower chilis that numb the gums, hot hot chilis, spicy noodles, spicy soup, spicy cookies, spicy beer, spicy everything, piles of shit, my own shit, pigshit, chickenshit, dogshit, maggots in shit, frozen shit, streams of shit, babies shitting on sidewalks, hawking and spitting, highway and street-cleaners in flourescent orange suits, garbage trucks whistling It's a small world after all and Jingle Bells!, landscaped roadways, towns which feel like they have been built last week, villages which have been around for centuries, sleeper buses, pink buses, broken buses, shiny new buses, internet cafes with over 100 computers, regions with no power, roads lit like Vegas, endless smoking, bus drivers bribed with cigs, cigs sparked on leaving the parking lot, cigs sparked on arrival, cigs sparked in friendship, cigs sparked in anger, rocks, crushed rocks, piled rocks, rocks rocks rocks, Mao suits, whispy beards, cokebottle glasses, high stylin' shoes, barefeet, Armani, Escada, Ferragamo, shaggy hair, orange hair, Avon, Tupperware, Chinese TV, 30 year-old imported circus and magic shows, Chinese Price is Right, Chinese Survivor, games, cards slapping, majong clinking, heated chess discussions, happy faces, surprised faces, so many hellos....