After what seems like an eternity of travel both in the last two weeks and especially today I’m home again. I can once again sit on the computer for hours on end and stress over lesson plans for classes in will be teaching in less than 48 hours.

As a quick cap, the trip was amazing. Tibet was truly a once in a life time experience and well Dali and Lijiang are just the top cities in China in my opinion. So if I all of a sudden vanish from Weifang, DON’T come looking for my in Dail I’ll never leave it again.

My hopes are to have the trip posted by cities and in the next few days. I have over 1000 photos to sort through so give me some latitude on this one.

We took a day trip to see the Le Shan Buddha. The drive to Le Shan was beautiful. The countryside in the Southwest is so different from Shandong. It is lush and green with various crops.

Tea Fields covered the hills

The river often floods

The Leshan Giant Buddhawas built during the Tang Dynasty (618–907). It is carved out of a cliff face that lies at the confluence of the Minjiang, Dadu and Qingyi rivers in the southern part of Sichuan province in China, near the city of Leshan. The stone sculpture faces Mount Emei, with the rivers flowing below his feet. It is the largest carved stone Buddha in the world and at the time of its construction was the tallest statue in the world.

The largest Buddha in the world

The Leshan Buddha has been greatly affected by the pollution caused by the unchecked industry in the area.

Stairs asecnding the mountain

The Gang

 On the trip we met two couples who have been teaching English for the past year in China. Sue and her husband taught in Xi’an.

The gang and Sue Wood

After leaving Xi’an we met up with the tour group in Chengdu Saturday morning.

 That after noon we went to the Giant Panda Base. Really quick a few things I’ve learned about Pandas: 1. they are very picky eaters, there are 5 varieties of bamboo of which the Panda will only eat one. 2. they are temperamental when it comes to weather and when the weather gets warm they must stay in the AC. 3. If they give birth to twins they will only raise one and leave the second to die. 4. They refuse to adapt to their surroundings which leaves some scientist wondering why we aren’t taking a hint from mother nature and letting them go extinct.

I’ve come to decide they are just the supermodels of the animal kingdom which leaves every other animal wondering why they get so much attention when they refuse to follow the rest of the group. I’m not sorry if I see, cynical I’ve never been a real animal lover and quite frankly they are just not as cute and cuddly as I thought they were.

The Great Panda, or should I say the Great Picky Panda

No if only I could afford to spend my days like that all would be right with the world

Not the enclosures I would have imagined. But then again I grew up with the Chaffee Zoo in Fresno

The Red Panda is definitely more entertaining to look at.

Yes, I'm going to go with a member of the raccoon family on this one.

The Reserve was beautiful

 After the Panda reserve we had a wonderful dinner and then went to see a Sichuan Variety show. The different acts highlighted the various arts popular in the province as well as the China as a whole. The fist act was that of Beijing Opera. Before I’d felt inclined to go to a Beijing Opera performance as it was a traditional art of China, now I think I’ll leave that ticket available for some who, how shall I say it, appreciates that kind of ear splitting, headache inducing performance.

What's a traditional showcase with out Beijing Opera

 The Shadow puppets were quite impressive and I felt like a little kid taking pictures of each and every one. Does anyone else see Scooby Doo or is that just me?

Now that's an impressive shadow dog.

My favorite shadow puppet

 I was grateful our tour guide explained this act prior to the show as I appreciated much more understanding the context. It is a common belief that in the Sichuan province the women wear the pants. In this act the man arrived home late, after losing his shirt in yet another gambling game his wife makes him go through a series of repent acts. Each act must be complete with a full oil lamp balanced atop his head.

And who says men can't be trained...

 The first is a reenactment of a famous dialogue between a husband and wife, he must play both parts with acceptable gestures, voice inflection and so on. Another feat is that of crawling under the two benches and back again without touching the lamp with his hands.

Quite a feat, I was enthralled.

 A musical number was preformed on the Er Hu.

The Er Hu, it is beautiful to listen to.

 Face Changing is a unique performance in China. I once watched a TV special on the reigning master of face changing. He can do over 100 face changes in a single performance. The performer changes the mask so quickly it seems as if it is done by magic.

Traditional Face Changing Show

 The next morning we went to LaShan. When we returned we browsed through the Old Town in enjoying the low altitude for one final night.

My new obsession - hair sticks

Old Town Chengdu, pricey but a wonderful atmosphere.

ummm...not much I can say

 That evening we were on our own for dinner. We stumbles across a BBQ restaurant and we decided to give it a try. We didn’t exactly understand what we had gotten ourselves into but enjoyed it all the same. We soon realized it was an all you could eat buffet and Thomas and I decided to make the most of the meat selection.

All you can eat smorgasbord, and only 29kaui

Okay so not exactly following any health codes but....

 

 Katie, as a culinary student unfortunately knows all the health code rules and was horrified to see the conditions from which we selected the food. But in the end we all knew we’d eaten worse here so as long as we have Imodium who really cares.

I must admit it was a delcious meal. The seasonings were delicious and all you can eat meat, I was in heaven.

My two week escape around Southwest China started in the ancient city of Xi’an.    

We left Weifang Wednesday morning and took the train to Qingdao. Katie wanted to hit up Jimo one final time and with to objections we all tagged along.  I ended up purchasing 3 more pearl necklaces. We caught a taxi to the airport and had a rather pleasant even more surprising, rather long conversation with the taxi driver. Between the three of us, Katie, Thomas and I we understood about 85% of what was said.    

Our plane to Xi’an landed early evening and we caught the shuttle into town. We soon found our hostel which was conveniently located at the south gate, great location for taxi drop off, Nan Men 南门 is easy to say and remember. We tried to find the large antique market but must have missed it as we ended up wandering narrow alleys with less than pleasant aromas.    

We turned in for the night and soon discovered why the room was so cheap. NO AC. We had figured booking the basement would be cooler but we hadn’t taken into account we were next to the laundry and boiler rooms. To keep things pleasant lets just say I’ll be more than happy to pay the extra 25 kuai a night next time.    

As usual I had my activities for the day booked solid and started early.    

First stop: Small Wild Goose Pagoda -    

Small Wild Goose Pagoda Bell Tower

 The Small Wild Goose Pagoda, is one of two significant pagodas in the city of Xi’an. The Small Wild Goose Pagoda was built between 707–709, during the Tang Dynasty under Emperor Zhongzong of Tang (r 705–710). The pagoda stood 45 m (147 ft) until the 1556 Shaanxi earthquake. The earthquake shook the pagoda and damaged it so that it now stands at a height of 43 m (141 ft) with fifteen levels of tiers.  The pagoda has a brick frame built around a hollow interior, and its square base and shape reflect the building style of other pagodas from the era.    

During the Tang Dynasty, the Small Wild Goose Pagoda stood across a street from its mother temple, the Dajianfu Temple. Pilgrims brought sacred Buddhist writings to the temple and pagoda from India, as the temple was one of the main centers in Chang’an for translating Buddhist texts. The temple was older than the pagoda. The temple was originally called the Daxianfusi or Great Monastery of Offered Blessings by Zhongzong, until it was renamed Dajianfusi by Empress Wu Zetian in 690.  (wikipedia.org)    

Small Goose Pagoda

Memorial Steele with in the Temple Compound

After visiting the Small Wild Goose Pagoda we went to the Shaanxi Museum. It was a beautiful collection of artifacts collected throughout the province. Shaanxi Province is known for its neolithic cultures and long history of settlement. We got a preview of the Terra-cotta warriors and many magnificent bronzes.    

Before heading back into town we stopped at a small Temple mentioned in my guide book. It was a peaceful experience. The temple was under going major renovations but we came during lunch as there was no one working at the time. It is always amazing how even though we were in the middle of a busy neighborhood the grounds were peaceful.  

Major renovations were underway at this small temple.

 We headed to the Muslim corner for lunch and an afternoon of sites. First we strolled through the shopping streets as we mede our wat to the Great Mosque.  

The back market streets, aka Tourist traps

The old town shopping area had an upbeat thriving atmostphere that was a pleasure to stroll through.

^{The Great Mosque – Xi’an}

Although it was Muslim there was a strong Chinese influence

After visiting the mosque we continued to wander through the Muslim Quarter looking for a place to eat. The Muslim food is the pride of Xi’an and we were not about to pass that chance up. 

Umm, should someone say something?

We decided on fresh pulled noodles in a spicy broth. Yumm 

Fresh pulled noodles, nothing beats food from Xijiang - Uyghur people

We spent the evening roaming the town and turned in early for a good night’s rest, or atleast as good as one can get when sweating like a pig.   

Friday was the Terra Cotta Warriors. We had gotten directions from the hostel on how to take a bus out to save money. We left in what we thought would be plenty of time but well nothing ever goes as planned. We finally reached the Train Station and ran like crazy to the bus area. We spotted our bus and made a mad dash to the door. What a relief, we made it with two mins to spare, no exaggeration. I was horrified to discover had we missed it we would of had to wait an hour for the next. We settled in for the hour out to the site. It was well worth all the hassle and worry.    

Pit 1 - Infantry & Calvary

The Terracotta Army is the Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses of Qin Shi Huang the First Emperor of China. The terracotta figures, dating from 210 BC, were discovered in 1974 by some local farmers near Xi’an, Shaanxi province, China near the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor. The figures vary in height (183–195 cm – 6 ft–6 ft 5in), according to their roles, with the tallest being the generals. The figures include warriors, chariots, horses, officials, acrobats, strongmen, and musicians. Current estimates are that in the three pits containing the Terracotta Army there were over 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses, the majority of which are still buried in the pits. (wikipedia.org)      

Each are distinct and spectacular in its own right

Excavation and remodeling is still underway and will continue to be so for years to come.

The work done is phenomenal.

 The opportunity to see this piece of Art History was truly spectacular. No slide can ever compare with the opportunity to see it first hand.     

The site of the well

Pit 2

The world famous "Archer"

Pit 3 - Command Headquarters

After a long morning at the Terra Cotta Warriors we decided to take a leisurely bike ride around the city wall. Well for the other three it was leisurely, I was just grateful I made it.   

Xi'an City Wall - Restored obviously

9km once around

For the record I’ve never claimed to be athletic. You rented the bikes for 1½ hours, for 20kuai after that each additional 10min was 5 kuai I was more than happy to pay the extra but as we were all on the same ticket I wouldn’t put it past the Chinese to charge everyone for my lack of athleticism. So the last thirty mins was a made push to avoid paying everyones late fee. I did it, and true to their character not one of them made me feel bad for falling behind.    

Xi’an was a wonderful city. We lucked out with beautiful weather; it had remained in the 80’s each day with cloud cover. We had be worried as Victoria had gone the week before and the weather had not dropped below 95 the entire time. I happily have crossed off yet another item from my bucket list! 

Okay really just off to see Western China but hey to most here that is the extent of the world. I’ll be away from a computer for the next 15 days so no guilt trips for not updating!

June 30: Qingdao → Xi’an

July3: Xi’an → Chengdu

July 4: Leshan

July 5: Chendu → Lahasa

July 6: Lahasa

July 7: Shigaze

July 8: Lahasa

July 9: Lahasa → Lijiang

July 10: Lijiang

July 11: Lijiang → Dali

July 12: Dali

July 13: Dali – Qingdao

So after the 15th you may all start badgering me to update my blog but not a day before!