Ni Hao China!

After luckily winning a pair of return tickets from Kuala Lumpur to Chengdu, China last year, me and my blissfully happy Mother are going to explore the formidable country. We'll start our travel in Chengdu then move ahead to Xi'an to say hello to the terracotta warriors. Hopefully the weather will cooperate warmly with us, the patethically prepared tropical lazybones. After Xi'an, I'm thinking about the possibilty to go either to Guilin or Hong Kong or Yunnan.

This is my first trip to a country whose language I do not understand and alphabets I could not read. I'm nervous, excited, anxious, joyfull... all the necessary emotions that attack you prior to your leave. My tools to survive are Lonely Planet, charming killer smile and a hope that being partly Chinese will makes the Chinese take a pity on us.

By the way, I just realized upon posting this entry that my trip is going to take a heart form shaped. Awww. Maybe I will be able to successfully pass the China trip exam after all. After this, I feel I'll be able to take over the world. Wish me luck, won't you?

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Do These Books Make My Butt Look Big Reading Challenge

Definition of a Chunkster:

• A chunkster is 450 pages or more of ADULT literature (fiction or nonfiction) ... A chunkster should be a challenge.
• If you read large type books your book will need to be 525 pages or more ... The average large type book is 10-15% longer or more so I think that was a fair estimate.

The Rules:

• No Audio books in the chunkster. It just doesn't seem right. Words on paper for this one folks.
• No e-Books allowed - we are reading traditional, fat books for this challenge.
  
• Short Stories and Essay collections will not be counted.
• Books may crossover with other challenges
• Anyone may join. If you don't have a blog, just leave me a comment on this post with your progress (and to let me know you are playing)
• You don't need to list your books ahead of time.
  
• Once you pick a level, that's it...you're committed to that level!
  

You must pick a level of participation (thanks again to Dana for the humor in these categories!):

1. The Chubby Chunkster - this option is for the reader who has a couple of large tomes on their TBR list, but really doesn't want to commit to much more than that. 3 books is all you need to finish this challenge.
2. Do These Books Make my Butt Look Big? - this option is for the slightly heavier reader who wants to commit to 4 Chunksters over the next twelve months.
3. Mor-book-ly Obese - This is for the truly out of control chunkster. For this level of challenge you must commit to 6 or more chunksters OR three tomes of 750 pages or more. You know you want to.....go on and give in to your cravings.

Some Other Questions you Might Have:

• To review or not to review, that is the quesion...Reviews are not mandatory, but they are strongly encouraged. I will be putting up a Mr. Linky at the beginning of the challenge for links to your reviews. I will also be posting a Mr. Linky for wrap up posts at the end of the challenge.
• Will there be prizes? Perhaps. I am still thinking on this...but I may consider some bookish giveaways as the challenge progresses! If I were you, I would subscribe to this blog just in case I announce something important.
• Is there anything else we need to know? Um, not that I can think of right now. But, lately I have been into being flexible. And I may decide to add some fun stuff to this blog, or even have a guest poster or two. Check back in occasionally (or subscribe to the feed) just in case!

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