Aaron Update in China - August 2008

At the beginning of June I took a 2-1/2 hour plane trip directly North from Shanghai to a city called Changchun. Changchun city is in the Jilin province and was the captial of China and the imperial seat for the Japanese when they occupied China during WW II. The South border of Jilin province is shared almost entirely with North Korea.

Regarded as the automotive capital of China, Changchun is much smaller than Shanghai...only 7 million people. I will be working here until at least December on the start-up of the VW Jetta. It is very pleasant here in the Summer, but I've heard the Winter will be snowy and cold. Changchun produces 1/5, 1/2, and 1/10 of all automobiles, passenger trains, and tractors made in China. It is also the film capital of China hosting the Changchun film festival each year.

This it the panoramic view from my 17th floor apartment room. I live in the city center and can easily ride my bicycle to most locations. (7-2008)

With 16 other co-workers we ventured into Mongolia and spent 3 hours climbing the stairs to the summit of La Fa mountain. (8-2008)

Resting half way up the mountain. I liked the "no flinging" sign. This sign really says it all.The view from the top looks alot like a scene from the mountains in the Eastern part of the United States. One thing I found odd was that corn was neatly planted and growing all over the hillsides. Places that would be deemed unfit for planting due to poor tractor access.This location we ate at made everything from scratch. I watched as they drew up fish from the river behind the restaurant, pulled fresh veggies from the garden and butchered 2 chickens. It was delicious and doesn't get any fresher than that. Along the trail, we stopped at this enormous cave. We were also able to do a few hours of rafting down a somewhat slow river. It was refreshing and very scenic.