A Visit to China

One item before we visit China. This is a picture we missed from the Sydney Opera House.  It is the interior of the main opera stage.  You can see the acoustic design.  Actually there was an opera rehearsal when we were in the room and no pictures. We had this photo shopped after our visit so we’d have a record of what it looked like.

We began our journey in Hong Kong with a flight to Guilin on March 4th.  Our first impression was that China is cold in March. Here are some pictures between the airport and Guilin.  In Hong Kong all the advertising is mostly English.  On mainland China it is really Chinese.

Toll plaza

On the approach to Guilin we begin to see the hills for which it is so famous.  There are an estimated 15,000 of this hill structures in the area.  They were formed eons ago by upheavals in the earth crust.

We arrived late in the day and took a walk around the nigh market.

These are the fish that eat the dead skin off your feet.  You put your feet in the container and the fish do the rest.

The reason many travel to Guilin is to sail down the River Li and observe the landscape.  This is the kitchen on the back of the river boat, the kitchen in action and our boat.

As we cruise down the river, fishermen pull up along side and sell fish they just caught directly to the kitchen cooks.

Happy Noreen sailing along the river and Ken in a selfie with the China flag.

The farmers use water buffalo to plow the rice fields for planting twice a year.  Other than that they take them to water buffalo day care in the morning and pick them up in the evening.  The herds are managed during the day by care takers.

 

This is a major tourist destination for Chinese also.  These are the short tour boats that are located all along the river.

Scenes along the river.

Arrival at our destination with a welcome committee.  We saw this type of show of authority many times.   They didn’t say or do anything, just watched.

These are the famous fishing birds of the Li River. Rings are placed around their necks so they can only swallow the small fish, and they are trained to bring the big fish back to the fisherman. The rings are removed when they are not fishing.

We walked along a shopping street in route to our bus for the airport.

Natural honey

and, of course the local McDonalds.   Then off to Xian (she-an).

Our hotel in Xian. 

Xian is a walled city.  Many cities in China were walled, including Beijing.  But over time and especially during the Cultural Revolution the walls were torn down.  Xian is the only city with a complete original wall.  On top of the wall, It’s wide enough for a large number of soldiers.

Structures on top of the wall.

View outside the wall shows development.  Inside the walled area no tall buildings and all must follow traditional design.

Neither rain, nor fog, nor cold of China will keep Noreen from her appointed rounds.

Noreen with a local caretaker.  He got a big kick out of getting his picture taken with a “Big Nose” as we are called.

Xian is home to the Terra Cotta Warriors.  You can Google the story, too long to go into here.  There are a lot of them.

Still buried and being evacuated.

Being reconstructed.

Boxes of pieces awaiting reconstruction.

The horses were pulling wooden war chariots but the wood has long ago rotted away.

The site was found by a farmer drilling a new well.  This marks the original well site.

Most of the visitors are Chinese.  Many come from rural areas and have never seen “Big Nose” in person. These ladies asked to have their picture taken with Noreen and I got a shot in too.  The whole time we were in China people were taking our picture.

The farmer who found the warriors wrote a book which you can buy in the gift shop.  For an additional 20 wan he will sign the book, add his chop, and you can take a picture.

Of course we need a little Terra Cotta Warrior to come home with us.

And off to Beijing, a very dynamic and growing city.  We were there for two days.  Day one was very clear but on day two we had a lot of air pollution.  There are some very interesting buildings

Our first destination was the Great Wall.

It was very cold and windy on top of the Wall.  It took three layers to stay a little warm.

Guard tower window.

These are locks that contain message of luck, love and good fortune.  They are locked onto the Great Wall by visitors.

Court yard by the Wall.  Noreen with her year of the Dog and Ken with his year of the Pig.

And a quick visit with the locals.

On to the Forbidden City.  The Forbidden City was the residence of he Emperor of China.  In the heyday of dynasties thousands of people lived within it’s walls. An overview of the city.

The entrance to the city which is the lower center in the above diagram.

The major plaza of the City where the Emperor held court.  This is the area you see in most movies of the City.

Leaving the central area and heading for the living areas.

The number of animals on the roof eve designates the importance of the occupant.  This is the Emperor.

Home of a lesser personage at the Royal Court.

Now on to Tian’anmen Square.  There was a meeting of the leadership of the Communist advisory council and the Communist Parliament, the two senior ruling agencies of China.  Thus TS was pretty well shut down and very secure.  we were able to walk across the street from TS.  The guide gave us 20 minutes to wander around.  We were hanging out in the general area when a policeman came up to our guide.  They had been watching us on surveillance cameras and felt we had been there long enough.  It was time to move on.  So we moved. 

Looking across TS at the political headquarters where the meetings were in progress.  Note the soldier guard.  They were station about every 50 feet.  It is illegal to take their picture unless you accidently capture the image n a photograph.

It doesn’t get more exciting than this.  Can you spot the Big Norse?

Some general shots around town.  Rental bike stand

Going to the Chinese Opera.  He becomes…..

The Opera.  a short video of the opera is at http://youtu.be/Kz7-5uQ1N40

The following morning before leaving Beijing we visited a park to view the activities of of the local people.  Retired folks come to the park to participate in group activities rather than sit in their apartments.  They have dance groups, recitals, music, Thai chi,dance and many other activities.  You can see a video at http://youtu.be/kLwsx_t8oHw

One last picture of cultural overlap.  I took this picture of a local bus next to ours at a stop light..

we hope you enjoyed this journey through China.  “See” you again soon.