Today held an interesting turn of events. My climbing partner, Charlie, has had a mild cold for a few days. But last night and this morning it turned into more of a debilitating stomach issue. Resulting in his inability to belay me let alone climb with me, and he's decided to head back to the states in a week. So as of this morning I no longer had a climbing partner in china. However as I was getting back to the hostel from breakfast a group of three climbers were getting ready to head out to the crag. A three man climbing team is an odd number, and a fourth is always appreciated to speed up the amount of climbs done. Eagerly myself and my rope were invited to egg mountain (yes it's shaped like an egg).
   The day started out normal enough. We climbed four moderately difficult routes on the northeast face of the egg. Grades ranging from 5.10a to 5.11b.
     We then continued on to the less travelled west face. Taking the first lead (Side note for non climbers, leading meaning to tie into the end of the rope, clipping into intermediate points of protection as you climb. If on was to fall on lead he would fall the equal distance he is above the protection, below it.) I started up the hardest route on the face, a climb called "put on your warface" graded 5.11d. The name reflects an unnervingly long space between bolts of 13feet, where the hardest section of the climb is also conveniently located. At one point on this climb you pass a small cave where a dried up hornet's nest large enough to fit a small child inside of is located, wouldn't want to climb it while it was active!! After reaching the top in good fashion, with no falls or mishaps I passed the rope to my partner, John.
    Twenty feet off the ground John grabbed a hold just above a bulge in the rock, when I saw an explosion of dust and the dreaded cry by all climbers alike "ROCK!!!" This situation could not have been handled better by both of us and miraculously end with no injuries on either side of the rope. Thinking quickly John caught about a basket ball size amount of fractured rock in his arms, while another basket ball amount came tumbling towards me. To save both my head and reduce John's fall to a minimum a dove hard to the right, avoiding every pebble.
    After this incident he came down to solid ground to recuperate. After 10 minutes or so he went up to finish the climb and clean up the rest of the broken rock for future climbers. We then continued the day to finish the remaining five 5.10 routes on the wall. To Mom and Dad, settle down this is not a common occurrence, I've never seen that much rock break off of a climb.
    After a day of chilly, wet climbing I was ready for a good dinner. Reluctant to eat the typical rice noodles and beef, we went to mimosas cafe and got some delicious Mediterranean  fare. And for dessert, on the way back to the hostel I bought a six inch long fish on a skewer. Cooked whole, head, skin and all. The bones are soft enough to eat and the sesame seed/chili sauce they roll it in is so tasty.
    Because my traveling/climbing partner is sick with who knows what I've opted out to get my own room tonight. First time I've had a bedroom to myself in about two weeks. its amazing what i took for granted in the states. Privacy, peace, and quiet are precious commodities in a country with a growing population of 1.4 billion. So at that thought, goodnight.
Lovin' the traveling life,
-Jordan