After a week of studying with textbooks, the class traveled to Qufu (曲阜)- the birth place of Confucius (孔子) , ZouCheng (邹城)- the hometown of Mencius (孟子), and Mount Tai (泰山) during the first weekend in China.
Qufu was full of tourists because Confucius (551 - 479 B.C.) was the most influential scholar, educator, and philosopher in the Chinese history. His tomb, temple and residence showed us how highly he has been respected by all the emperors from Song (宋) through Qing (清) dynasty.
ZouCheng, in comparison, is not as well visited. We had difficulties finding the site because the signs were not as clearly displayed to direct the tourists. Nonetheless, I am glad we went to Mencius home town. The relationship between Confucius and Mencius is like that of Socrates and Aristotle in the Western civilization. It is also similar as Mendelssohn revived J.S. Bach's music in music history. Without Mencius's effort, the Confucianism won't be as widespread as it is today.
One of my students said that Mount Tai (1,545 m. above sea level) took his breath away and that as he sat above the clouds he came to realize why Tai Shan is world renowned.
There are abundant scripts written into the boulders by famous scholars or emperors.
The incense sticks are especially long for faithful people, including our students. On our way up, I talked to a woman who sat next to me in the bus. She said she couldn't have children after getting married for five years. So, she climbed the 6,600 stairs of Mount Tai to pray to the Goddess 22 years ago. Her daughter is now studying in a college in Kansas, USA. She (the mother), who lives over 600KM away, came back to thank the Goddess. Apparently, lives of Chinese people still associate with superstitions. 
Nan Tian Men (南天门) has been seen as the gate to heaven. It took us about 30 minutes to climb to the top of the mountain from this point.
After a week of Tianjin smog, we really enjoy breathing the fresh air on Mount Tai!!!
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