| CHINA: Shanghai to Beijing by way of Tibet |
| RECENT OUTINGS: ASIA |
| Allie hanging out with Mao in front of the forbidden City. Allie is standing in Tiennamen Square, just across the street. |
| Shanghai |
Shanghai is a city swirling with rapid cultural change. Since market restrictions were lifted, Shanghai has embraced the forces of business and
design and rewritten its rule book shaping a fresh, new city that is sophisticated, innovative and living a life it has never lived before. What struck
me most was the contrasts. It is a City of astonishing museums, beautiful plazas and agonizing poverty; and monuments to both Mao Tse Tung
and English Colonial Barons.
design and rewritten its rule book shaping a fresh, new city that is sophisticated, innovative and living a life it has never lived before. What struck
me most was the contrasts. It is a City of astonishing museums, beautiful plazas and agonizing poverty; and monuments to both Mao Tse Tung
and English Colonial Barons.
Tenement slums with no windows or doors crouch below ultra modern skyscrapers.
| THUMBNAILS Click on the pictures below to enlarge. |
| Right Top: looking up and down the street out our hotel window. Notice the big shopping plaza on top...it is The Big Shopping Spot in Shanghai. and goes on for miles. ancient building technique still in use...five storey Bamboo scaffolding tied together with rope and no ladders......workers w/o safety harnesses, hardhats, etc. Right Bottom: Shanghai antiques market..lots of "Little Red Books" (Mao's treatise), Mao watches, statues, t-shirts, and also some actual antuques...if you look hard enough. |
| Luoyang/Shaolin Monestery: Ancestral Home of Kung Fu |
We stayed in the
dormitory of the
ShaolinKing Fu School.
A boarding school for
martial arts. Boys from
age 3 to18 live and learn
here...to become
bodyguards to the
European rich and
famous.
dormitory of the
ShaolinKing Fu School.
A boarding school for
martial arts. Boys from
age 3 to18 live and learn
here...to become
bodyguards to the
European rich and
famous.
Click on map to enlarge
| Longmen (Dragon Gate) Grotto |
The site boasts 2,100 grottoes or caves with
carvings. It has 3,600 inscribed stone tablets
and more than 100,000 Buddhist images and
statues.
Click to enlarge photos below.
carvings. It has 3,600 inscribed stone tablets
and more than 100,000 Buddhist images and
statues.
Click to enlarge photos below.
| Washing day at Shaolin King Fu school |
| Temple architecture at Shaolin Monestery |
The rickety and
somewhat scary
gondola climbing
the mountains
above Shaolin
Monestery
somewhat scary
gondola climbing
the mountains
above Shaolin
Monestery
| Xiahe: the main Tibetan monestery town outside of Lhasa Link to Labrang Monestery |
It's an overnight train then a six-hour bus ride through the Chinese grasslands to Xiahe on the edge of the Tibetan
plateau. These are pics from outside the bus windows or at stops along the way. Click on the pictures to enlarge.
plateau. These are pics from outside the bus windows or at stops along the way. Click on the pictures to enlarge.
Mosque complex serving rural
China's minority population of
Chinese Muslims called "Quays"
China's minority population of
Chinese Muslims called "Quays"
Terraced farming along the road
Women separating the wheat form
the chaff the old-fashioned way
the chaff the old-fashioned way
Chinese checkers??? These two men
kept trying to get me to play..but I
couldn't figure out the game..
kept trying to get me to play..but I
couldn't figure out the game..
| Out the window........................... |
The marketplace....tibetans
come down from the
surrounding hills with their
Yaks packed with items. The
tibetan monks are headed
back to the monestery, just
to the left.
come down from the
surrounding hills with their
Yaks packed with items. The
tibetan monks are headed
back to the monestery, just
to the left.
The circumference of the
monestery is about 5
miles...and it is all lined with
walls of prayer wheels..each
marked to signify the type of
prayer made by spinning the
wheel.
monestery is about 5
miles...and it is all lined with
walls of prayer wheels..each
marked to signify the type of
prayer made by spinning the
wheel.
Above: a Tibetan woman wearing
a Chupa, (a long yak-wool
garment with even longer sleeves
used as both a coat and a sleeping
cloth). (click on photos to enlarge)
A view of a portion of the 5
miles of prayer-wheel lined walls
around the monestery.
miles of prayer-wheel lined walls
around the monestery.
This little guy was the grandson of the
home's owner. He was very interested in the
Japanese animated characters I had hanging
from my pack...I gave him all of them as we
left... just doing my part to spread useful
items of western culture and technology to
these folks (HA!)
home's owner. He was very interested in the
Japanese animated characters I had hanging
from my pack...I gave him all of them as we
left... just doing my part to spread useful
items of western culture and technology to
these folks (HA!)
Just outside the walled City, we visited a Bonn Monastery known by
our guide. They don't normally give tours,but our guide suggested we
bring the Monks a basketball as an incentive. We had a great tour of
the temples and grounds and beat the monks in basket ball (well, one
out of three games anyway).
our guide. They don't normally give tours,but our guide suggested we
bring the Monks a basketball as an incentive. We had a great tour of
the temples and grounds and beat the monks in basket ball (well, one
out of three games anyway).
| BEIJING |
Well, our last stop was Beijing. We hit the Forbidden City,
Tiennanmen Square, did a lot of biking around the City and bargained
hard at the Silk Market. We also tried out the nightlife and did a 10k
hike along one of the lesser-visited portions of the Great Wall.
Tiennanmen Square, did a lot of biking around the City and bargained
hard at the Silk Market. We also tried out the nightlife and did a 10k
hike along one of the lesser-visited portions of the Great Wall.
Some shots of the Great Wall. We
went to a seldom-visited portion of it
to avoid the tourist circus. We
hiked 10k on it..and it was a pretty
strenuous hike.....the wall goes up
and down the whole way...by as
much as 90 steps...
went to a seldom-visited portion of it
to avoid the tourist circus. We
hiked 10k on it..and it was a pretty
strenuous hike.....the wall goes up
and down the whole way...by as
much as 90 steps...
Temple
Architecture
within the
Forbidden
City.
Architecture
within the
Forbidden
City.
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September , 2006 found Allie and her sister Cathy
in China for a little over 3 weeks. They met up in
Shanghai, with Allie flying in from Tokyo and
Cathy from her home in Mumbai, India . From
Shanghai, they traveled by bus, train and airplane
to Luoyang; Shaolin Monestary ( where Kung Fu
was conceived and is still taught; Xi'an (home of the
Terra Cotta Warriors); Xiahe (a Tibetan
Monestary); Lanzhou; and Beijing.
in China for a little over 3 weeks. They met up in
Shanghai, with Allie flying in from Tokyo and
Cathy from her home in Mumbai, India . From
Shanghai, they traveled by bus, train and airplane
to Luoyang; Shaolin Monestary ( where Kung Fu
was conceived and is still taught; Xi'an (home of the
Terra Cotta Warriors); Xiahe (a Tibetan
Monestary); Lanzhou; and Beijing.
The Longmen Grotto, a prestigious World
Cultural Heritage site dating back some
1,500 years, is situated approximately 13
kilometers south of ancient Luoyang City,
Cultural Heritage site dating back some
1,500 years, is situated approximately 13
kilometers south of ancient Luoyang City,
| Xiahe is home to the Labrang Monastery, one of the largest Tibetan working monasteries outside of Lhasa. Founded in 1709, the monastery is a striking white structure with gold-tiled roofs and dominates the rural town. Xiahe itself is set in a beautiful mountain valley, full of colourfully dressed Tibetan pilgrims and herds of yak. The monestary is surrounded by a 5 mile wall lined with Tibetan Prayer wheels. We spent lots of time walking around, spinning the wheels and sending our prayers to the Son of Heaven. |
Our accommodation is in a very basic villager's home, but it gives us the privilege of being
able to see how the locals live as well as an opportunity to enjoy traditional hospitality. The
open cooking fire made it pretty smokey inside. Allie slept outside under a huge pile of
quilts and yak hides.
able to see how the locals live as well as an opportunity to enjoy traditional hospitality. The
open cooking fire made it pretty smokey inside. Allie slept outside under a huge pile of
quilts and yak hides.
| The Chinese Grasslands: home of Nomads, Yaks and basket-ball playing Monks. On the way from Tibet to Beijing, we traveled through the Chinese grasslands, allowing us to experience traditional ways of life in the nomadic communities. We spent the night at a remote, walled village and visited a monestery dedicated to the Bonn sect of Buddhism. |
LATE ADDITION:
This is a fun video from
Shanghai...taken by Allie at a Chinese
acrobat theatre.
This is a fun video from
Shanghai...taken by Allie at a Chinese
acrobat theatre.
This is a fantastic mountain range
backing up the walled village we spent a
night in...You can see the 4000 year old
walls below the mountains.
backing up the walled village we spent a
night in...You can see the 4000 year old
walls below the mountains.