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Photoblog: Best of California

We have crossed into California—the sunshine, the rolling hills and the easy-going pickup truck say it all. (Ben Chen, Lumix GF3)

Photoblog: Best of California

We have crossed into California—the sunshine, the rolling hills and the easy-going pickup truck say it all. (Ben Chen, Lumix GF3)

Meanwhile, inside the bus for 37 hours, boredom “drives” people to the other side of cabin fever... (Lily Wang, Nikon D5100)

A land before time... Taken on Interstate 5 in the Shasta Mountains. (Ben Chen, Lumix GF3)

We loved performing at the Escondido Center for the Arts and cooling off in its sun-filled lobby after dance class. Sunshine make us happy. (F Chun)

View from the balcony of the Escondido Center for the Arts—the scenery is almost Tuscan. (Ben Chen, Lumix GF3)

Inside a dressing room, Principal Dancer Taiwei Wang gets ready for the show. (Brazeline Chau, Nikon D5100)

On a San Diego afternoon, we set out to find the U.S.S. Midway. En route, we crossed paths with a big parade. We tried crossing the street, but the sidewalk was so crowed we ended up walking in the middle. When spectators saw this group of Chinese guys uniformly dressed in dark suits, they started clapping. Walking in the lead is dancer Andy Shia, who plays Pigsy in every Shen Yun Journey to the West story... So this picture is called Journey to the West Coast? (F Chun)

The Golden Gate Bridge, as seen from Vista Point looking south. (David Chou, Nikon D7000)

This spontaneous picture just became my favorite shot of all time. “Being cool isn't easy, but someone's gotta do it”—Mark Kao. (Ben Chen)

In Costa Mesa we took dance class in the studios of Anaheim Ballet, for free. Well, we had connections. The place is owned by principal dancer Seongho (Jimmy) Cha's best buddy back from the days Jimmy danced—Evan, and his dad Lawrence Rosenberg. This was also Jimmy's second home for 12 years. （Taken on Seongho Cha’s iPhone)

Segerstrom Center for the Arts. I remember this theater so well, because of its zigzag audience-seating layout. And because I’ve performed here three years in a row, including a five-show weekend this season. (F Chun, Canon 60D)

I’ve never been here before. In fact, no one in Shen Yun has played in Thousand Oaks before, although bassoonist Steven Louie is from here. (F Chun, Canon 60D)

What did we do during our free time in Costa Mesa? Bowling. Big group party bowling. (F Chun, Canon 60D)

Just look at dancer Eric Lam spin the ball like a pro. This one’s most likely a strike… like almost all his shots that day. (Songtao Feng, Fujifilm XE1)

We also found a gymnasium to practice some of our tumbling techniques. Little did we know that we had just stumbled on the very gym where Olympic gold-medalist Kyla Ross trains. When we started warming up, she was just finishing her session. After that, Jimmy took the floor. (F Chun, Canon 60D)

In Los Angeles (well, technically Long Beach) we stayed at the famous ship-turned-hotel Queen Mary. (Songtao Feng, Fujifilm XE1)

Famously haunted… (Songtao Feng, Fujifilm XE1)

Yes, it was actually a cruise ship for over 30 years and has carried important passengers like the great orator Winston Churchill during WWII, and eventually retired and converted into a hotel. (Songtao Feng, Fujifilm XE1)

The neat thing about this hotel is that everything makes you feel like you're actually living on a ship—which you are. The even cooler thing is that many rooms are haunted. This was even the subject of an Unsolved Mysteries episode. (Songtao Feng, Fujifilm XE1)

Stay tuned for more next time. Coming up soon: Photoblog Down Under. (Mark Kao, Canon T3i)

It's been a couple months since we left the United States, and now we're deep into our Asia Tour. But with our fellow tour group—Shen Yun International Company—now performing in San Francisco, we figured it's high time we published a photoblog to share our good times in California. There were many.

Ben Chen

Dancer

March 20, 2013

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