The Leaning Tower of Tian Ma Shan

Chinese word of the day: shan means mountain. I went with my frisbee friend Kevin. He is my badminton teacher, adventure side kick, and hot pot partner. He and I taxi'd 30 km southwest of home to the "mountain" of Tian Ma to see the leaning tower. Our taxi chauffeur decided to cruise around town a bit and wait for us while we scaled cliffs up to the tower. Actually, we hiked 30 something concrete steps up the hillside, crossed the threshold, and into the sunshine we strolled.

Hello, people, it is November and I am wearing flip flops. Love this place. Anway, the Huzhu pagoda was built in 1097 but only started leaning 200 years ago. It officially beats Pisa's tower by 1.5 degrees. It's 20 meters high and situated in a great park overlooking a whole bunch of smoggy fields and villages. Kevin and I ate bananas, melon, and sour patch kids - in that order- (thanks, mom for the package!) in the Leaning Tower park.
What's the deal with the horse? The mountain has two humps to it and from far away takes the form of a horse's back with the pagoda the ear, maybe!? I don't know. I just liked the horse with the realish fur coat. Ok, and I enjoy any chance I get to flex my muscles and wave at the camera.
Truth be told I tried to find this park during my October break and couldnt get ANY taxi driver to understand what the tower was, where Tian Ma was, or what the hell I was looking for. Kevin is my Chinese culture tutor and official translator guide. He is from Beijing and didn't even know about this place. So, my quest missions and his language skills makes us a compatible adventure team. Hung hao! (very good!)