“Adventure is out there!!!”  This phrase has been adopted by nearly everyone in our group while exploring China and all it’s exciting and historical locations or even just walking around our host city of Nanchong, in most cases we find it.

This last weekend we had the privilege of visiting and staying in the ancient city of Langzhong.  Langzhong is one of only 4 well preserved ancient cities that remain in China. One of the first things I noticed when walking into the city were all of the elaborately painted arches, temples, and towers that seemed to be around every corner.  This city seemed to be lost in time.

The narrow stone streets were lined with little one-floored shops filled with brightly colored silk robes, beautiful scarves, handmade tunics, and other traditional Chinese arts.  Throughout the weekend we spent many hours walking through these shops exploring their goods and spending way too much money.

While there, we stayed in a traditional guest house.  These guest houses were beautifully adorned with plants, lanterns, and other ancient relics. The rooms themselves even made you feel like you were in ancient China with their wood walls and bamboo beds (which, by the way, were not nearly as comfortable as they looked).  The only down side to the guest house was how easy it was to get lost in its many courtyards and corridors.

The highlight to the weekend was Saturday night. Myrrl and Deidre bought everyone in the group a floating lantern.  We all decided we would write something on it; some people wrote their wishes, others wrote poems and quotes, and a few even wrote Bible verses on them. We then all went down to the river bank and lit the flame and let them go. It was a beautiful sight to see, 20 big bright lanterns floating to heaven with our dreams and prayers.

It was a sad moment when we boarded the bus to leave the city.  Many of us were begging Myrrl to let us stay a few more days, but all good things have to end for better things. The rest of this week we have language and history classes in Nanchong, followed by a two week excursion out to western China.  We are all looking forward to the many adventures to come within the next few months and we look forward to coming home with many stories.

Until next time remember, “Adventure is out there”.

-Dylan A. Bomgardner