This past weekend, I was invited to partake in something I thought only really happened in stereotypical Asian films, or in cheesy workout videos, and not in real life.  OK, let me start by giving a little background.  A few weeks ago, my roommates and I joined a qigong class (I think its qi like your chi and gong (kung) from kung fu).  Think intense yoga + awesome Taiwanese man who loves doing headstands.  We joined it after hearing that my friend Joy’s mom goes to this class every Thursday night.  Supposedly, qigong cures a bucketload of health problems AND keeps you the same age as when you started.  AKA: I will be 22 FOREVER!! not bad!  So we go to this class for two hours every Thursday night…and we’re not supposed to eat dinner because after class, our chi should fill us up so we won’t need food.  We haven’t mastered that aspect yet…but we’re working on it.  So last week the teacher (from now on known as Teacher) invited us to go with him to the famous Jade Mountain for the weekend.

Meet Teacher. With Jade Mountain in the background. Not bad at all.

  So at 5:30 am on Saturday morning we began our mountain adventure! The weekend was full of qi gong, rice, hiking, headstands, nature, Buddhists, stargazing and more headstands.  We didn’t get back to our apartment until about 9pm Sunday night, but it was worth it!  We got to watch the sunrise on the top of a mountain while doing qi gong.  We then toasted the day with Taiwanese wine (I don’t know how great that is for the chi…but if Teacher says its ok…).  We also went hiking through one of the most beautiful mountain paths, we saw an amazing skyfull of stars (but unsuccessfully found any constellations. I don’t think we are used to being able to see that many stars at once.)  We had a tea party overlooking the mountain, and we also went to a Buddhist master’s house/garden/temple and had tea and fruit with him.  Talk about a culture-packed weekend!

So here’s a rundown of the weekend:

Saturday:

1.  6 hour drive up to the mountian, stopping several times to look at the beautiful views.

First stop: visitor's center outside of Kaohsiung. Full of turtle-dragon statues. Teacher was just as excited as we were to pose.

Me and Jane by a roadside waterfall

2. The hike.

The modern day Louis and Clark. Seeking our fortune in the Taiwan wilderness. We came up with almond-scented leaves, a few splinters, and a wild kiwi.

Mountain: 1; Americans: 0.

So 4:30 am Sunday morning rolls around, and its up and at ‘em for the sunset!  

Sunrise on the mountain. pre-qi gong. This is also the first time I've been cold since I got to Taiwan. Never thought I'd miss that!

Now, Qi Gong.  I’m not in any of these pictures, since I was the one taking them, but I promise I was right beside them doing various chi-enhancing movements.

Vicky and teacher doing some push-up-type position. This is while the sun is rising. After I snapped this photo, I was told to warm up my chi, so my picture-taking took a hiatus.

We toasted the sun with some Taiwanese wine. Nothing like drinking before breakfast! Here teacher's pouring...

...and while we 'cheers'-ing

Teacher's really warming up his chi!

our 'it's 6am and we're drunk!' picture. (not staged at all.....?)

On the way back for breakfast, and everyone so full of chi, we needed to stop and admire some nature!

drinking from a fresh mountain spring. VERY COLD!

Which obviously turned into a water fight with a convenient mountain hose.

And nothing hugs like a good tree.

Same tree...more love. I hope you are starting to understand how sweet Teacher is.

After lunch we did some more Qi Gong.  Obviously every extra moment should be spent in a headstand or in a split.

Jane doing one of Teacher's favorite poses. You would never guess these two are in their late 50s!

Dan, Vicky, and one of Teacher's students trying the headstand. We've still got a long way to go!

Eating freshly picked guavas that we picked on our drive back down the mountain. If you haven't tried them, I suggest it. A. MAZING.

And then, as if this weekend wasn’t awesome enough, we stopped at one of Teacher’s friends places….his friend happens to be a Buddhist master, and his place happens to be a Buddhist temple.  WOW.

Looking out from the temple.

Dan, Buddhist master, Teacher, Buddhist student (I think), me, Vicky, other person, and Jane.

The perfect Asian experience, right? I think we all feel a little more balanced and content.