China Part 3 - sorry it took forever!!!!

2/24/08 - hi there folks....well, i just got back from my february break in greece and figured i really should finish up china from the summer...still need to finish up tibet as well...but at least this is the last about china....and here we started with a cruise on a yangtze river...it was my first riverboat cruise...and i was wowed by many aspects of the boat and food and size of things...i think cynthia was laughing at me the whole time....country mouse makes it to the city and is livin life....hahahahaha....what a cool trip this was though....enjoy!!!

the shot above is the river boat we were on...we actually made it to the boat in the evening so the first time we saw it, it looked like this....we actually were above the yangtze dam at this point because there was flooding in china and they were worried the boat wouldn't make it through the locks the next day....it was crazy how much water was coming through the dam...as you will see in future pictures....

a daylight shot of the boat...ours was the bigger one...it was all class...even to having a cruise director who was from the states and performed my way for us...he was nice guy, but very cheezy!!! swanky and dani...two great things that go together....hahahahahaha....

this was the first view we had of the dam...at night as we were headed to the boat...it was mind blowing....it is HUGE and there was so much water running it was incredible...our guide andy had never seen the dam at night and even he was blown away....it was pretty wild!

the next two shots are the dam in the daytime...the one above is showing the front of the dam and the amazing of water that is running through it...where you see all the white water...that's coming out of the dam...wow!!!!

this is a back view of the dam...just incredible in size....and of course they say now it will only supply 1/3rd of the necessary power for china ONLY....it was been an enormous project and they have had to relocate many people...

the shot above is a great explanation of why they have had to move so many people...in building this dam, the river will rise 175 meters (multiply that by 3 to get feet!!!)....this is showing you that height was still not reached when we went through the gorges....the white sign marks the 175 meter mark...and as you can see, this house will be on the river side...literally....they have wiped out farmland, entire villages and a lot of history....i am sure when they finally finish, if you were on the yangtze before the dam, you would never recognize the river as it will be....

these are some of the many modes of transport we saw on the river...the two smaller boats are actually where people live...many floating boats are house and home for the folks on the boat...there are ferries for people and bikes, there are big hualers of 18 wheeled trucks, there are river boat cruisers....it was cool to see all the different modes of transport on one river...

here's one of the many waterfalls we saw along the way...it was a bit rainy, which made more waterfalls for us to see...on the third day though we had some beautiful clear weather....there are three main gorges we went through and a set of lesser gorges we took a smaller boat excursion through....this is from the first gorge....

now you are in the second gorge, which is said to be the most lovely....when we were there there was tons of mist and the sides of the gorge were sooooooo green...it was a stunning site...

the next few shots are from the lesser gorges trip we took, the water here was more green and it was a bit cooler in this section....we also had this really cool mist show up about halfway through the trip which you can see above....in the mist are two boats, can you find them????

also in the lesser gorges we saw the famous hanging coffins...the chinese in this area used to scale the walls of the gorges and place their loved ones in coffins in these ledges...its hard to see here, but in the bit cave like hole there is a wooden coffin there...as you can tell there is no way to get there easily....so the loved ones were protected from everything....there are quite a few of these coffins along the way, but they are high up and hard to spot in most of my pictures....

i took this shot because everything you see here is below the 175 meter mark, which means that all of this currently is under water....the chinese government has relocated 100,000s of people along this river, but as you can see, they still had more people to move...some decided not to give up their land or homes if they were above the 175 meter mark....but most have moved to cities to be more prosperous....at least that's what they think...

this shot was taken because it will be some of the amazing history lost when the dam is at full capacity....this is a set of steps that used to be used for the pulling of boats through this gorge by people....the travel mode here previously was to have your boat pulled by people through the gorge and they would use these stone steps to do that...most of them are under water and these were some of the few that were still visible....

above is another of the hnaging coffins...but this one has really been demolished...its actually vertical in the fissure in the rock and is sort of poking out....this was one of the lowest ones we saw...and yes, it will be under water when the 175 meter mark is reached...which is a bit depressing....in my opinion anyway....

we visited a relocation village were some of the folks along the river have been moved...it was incredible and such a different way of life...they of course stared at us and we at them...i took so many pictures here, but the one above is one of my favorites...this is a the old fashioned way of carrying kids...not really seen except in remote villages these days...so cool...

i took this picture because i was freaked out by this....this is a corner dentist...can you see the rows of teeth in the case...they are on the top shelf...and how about that chair...looks comfy don't you think...and the dentist has air conditioning for you....i am sure its very sterile :)

some of the folks with us on the trip...they had never done jagermeister shots...of course cynthia and i took it upon ourselves to introduce lisa, andy and regina to these fun things :) yummy....
when you go on these boats there is a captains dinner...and you have to look nice...that's me...looking nice...had to take this shot for my mom to show her i cleaned up once in awhile on this trip...the champagne was tasty too :)

when we came off the boat we headed back to chengdu...which is famous for the pandas...tibet was in the middle of this, but i am saving that for its own entry....so onwards to chengdu...and the pandas....sooooo cute...these are two year olds having a snack...these guys were really hot...so they were chillin and eating their bamboo...

speaking of snacks...how cool is it that the pandas have their own kitchen of nutrition....so awesome...but unfortunately pandas are quite picky...which is one of the problems of them in the wild...they only like certain kinds of bamboo...some of which bloom and grow only every 17 years...not good to be picky...but its what they have chosen....

this panda hung out for about 5 minutes and then headed back into his enclosure where it was cooler...it was freakin hot day and with a fur coat like that, i would assume that all you would want is to be cool....we were quite close to this panda...so cute!

when we left mainland china we went to hong kong....what a city....I LOVED IT here!!!! it was acrazy crowded city, but when you left the city there were green spaces everywhere...its one of the greenest cities on earth....BUT people are packed into certain areas like sardines...so they can have those green spaces...but i still loved it...could definitely see myself living there someday, i'll keep you posted on that...

all over china you see mao...and on antique road in hong kong there is no exception...he's everywhere....

isn't it a terrific looking city...they of course have joined the race for the tallest building in the world and should be finishing theirs in 2009...but of course it will hold the record for a day and another country will take the title....but i think the skyline is fabulous...and look at that blue sky...i was told that most days hong kong has tons of pollution...we got really lucky i guess...

here's another look at the skyline but this time at night...they have a laser light show every night...they just go all over the place...so much water, so many people and so much fun!

and this buddha is on hong kong as well...the largest seated bronze buddha...it was incredible...and look at that blue sky...it was really cool to take the metro and bus and find a place like this...mid blowing for me outside of a city that big :)
to prove it...this is the view from the buddha...look no city....just incredible to think this is all on the same island...simply stunning :)

you made it...the last shot of china....me and hong kong...someday i will live there...what a fabulous trip through china i had...i love reliving this trip...it brings back great memories for me and for hanging with my friend cynthia and for all of the new friends i met along the way...too cool....hope you enjoyed it...next installment will be tibet...which holds a very special place in my heart....see you again soon....i hope :)

China Part 2 - Finally!!!

12/29/07 - hi there all...sorry this has taken me so long to update....blah, blah, blah....i would like to dedicate this update of my blog to my grandmother who passed away today....she was one tough lady....died at 97....and i am not sure she really wanted to go....but i guess when your number has been called....its your turn....she loved getting postcards from wherever i went and she was one strong woman....so here's to her.....happy new years all...and all the best in 2008!!!

this first shot is of cynthia and i....she was my traveling partner for the china and tibet trip....this is the train we took to get from beijing to xian....it was a very swanky train and we brought some beer for the ride...gambey - or cheers, in chinese....i am sure my spelling is wrong....

this is cynthia and i and our wonderful guide andy....we was one smart cookie and got everyone a shot of chinese fire water...so they would fall asleep better on the train ride....this is us toasting and prepping for the overnight ahead of us....this train was so much nicer than the train i took from perm to ulan bataar....it was mind boggling....
this is the hotel we stayed at in xian...it was beautiful....and it had peacocks roaming around on the grounds...it rained a good deal of the time we were here...so their feathers were constantly wet...we didn't have the best view though as we were put into the corner room on the ground floor facing a wall.....i guess no one puts baby in a corner...but as for dani and cynthia...no one gives a damn :)
the building above is the drum tower along the city wall of xian...the city wall goes around the inner part of the city and is nine miles long....it is surrounded by a moat...and if you choose, you can walk the entire length of it....we went and visited it, but it was raining again, so we didn't walk the nine miles....

one of the places we visited was the chinese herbal market in xian....we found many interesting and strange choices for medicine there...the one above, pictured with margaret, is deer penis....it is used for arthritis ands rheumatism....i'll try it after you do :)

in this picture there are lizards, i am not sure what they cure....a huge piece of fungus...and some turtle shells....no, i have no idea if these are endangered species...i didn't ask...i didn't want to get in trouble....but i didn't buy any either :)

what you see above is human placenta....and yes, you eat it or make tea with it for what it cures...at this point i can't remember what that would be...but when they were explaining what this was i was a bit intrigued and had to take the picture.....very interesting....

this is our awesome guide andy and his parents...he actually took us all to meet them and wanted to show is his apartment....it was very nice....and they even gave us snacks...such a lovely time and it was cool to see how the chinese live....ones like andy anyway....

xian is known for hot pot cooking and one of the nights we were there we had this....this is a hot pot and you cook your own food in it....its boiling water....you throw in what you want to eat - including the amazing noodles - another thing xikan is known for...let it all cook and then pull it all out with chopsticks...create your own sauce and eat....i loved this style of eating....and there were tons of veggies...plus, i could make it as spicy as i wanted....a big plus for me :)

after dinner we took a walk around the muslim part of the city...and went to the muslim market...if you look at the sign closely, you'll see arabic above the artwork....we had some amazing walnut candy, peanut candy and i had candied carrots....yummy!!!! it was fun even if it was pouring rain that night....it was the land of food on a stick...anything you wanted, you could've gotten kebab style....it was cool....
this is the majority of our group at our hotel with a tai chi master...this man was incredible...his face radiated with peace...it was fun taking a quick class with him and then getting our picture with him....
now you have come to one of the most amazing places i have ever been in my life - the terra cotta warriors...first off, did you know they were created by the same emperor who built the great wall...he had so much labor at his fingertips, it's mind blowing....and each of these warriors that you see was modeled after a real person, and made by a true artisan....in the picture above, this is one of the archers that was found in the third pit - not the main one which you will see below....the most amazing thing in my opinion is that you can still see the color on the bottom part of his chain mail piece....they all had color!!!!!!

this is a section from the first pit that was discovered....about three years after this entire work was finished and sealed in the ground, a nation that was at war with china found it...and they broke in and smashed everything to bits....in this picture this is after the archeologists have out this warrior and the horses back together...in other words, its a HUGE jigsaw puzzle that people are literally piecing back together....incredible if you ask me.....

in this shot you can see how each is different from the others...and there are thousands of them...they were created to protect the emperor in death...even though his tomb is about a mile away and no one has been inside of it, as it has many boobie-traps set up for would be tomb raiders....you can still see the hill of the tomb....but many wonder if there are more warriors guarding him all the way to his grave...they have yet to be found if so....

here i am with the warriors...you can see many of them in the background and that raised section is where they are piecing them all together...the sheer size of this is wild and really is something you should see....the pictures just don't do it justice.....

this picture and the next i have put here so you can appreciate the size of this one pit....they have now uncovered three in total...although one is about a fourth of the size of this one...the third found pit is the SAME size as this one...and is said to hold archers and jugglers and courtisans and others....
this again is for size...and is the first pit, looking across the front row of warriors...you can see some are missing their heads, as they were not found or have not been put back together...plus all of the weapons are gone, as they were stolen by the people who destroyed what was in these pits...and much of the handles and such were made of wood, which has fallen apart over time....i loved this place and could have spent even more time here....but i am hoping that i will return someday and explore it even more.....it just is HUGE and overwhelming...go here!!!!!!!

i decided to include the "chingrish" sign from the exit portion of the terra cotta warriors, because it cracked me up....you see signs like these all over the place...and sometimes you can figure them out....and other times....who knows what they are saying....any guesses here????

the last night at the hotel in xian we had dumplings, which xian and shanghai are known for, and we had a performance that was a show that had been shown to the emperor and empress of the time...so i guess in other words we were treated like royalty.....i loved this shot for her sleeves alone...it was a fun show and the dumplings were tasty!!!!!

from xian we went outside of the town to a painting village - also known as a farming village....although these days most folks work at the computer factory located here...we did a home stay with a family....four of us...the wong's...and mrs. wong and her mother-in-law, taught us how to make noodles...it took a lot of work and its something they do on a daily basis....these noodles were my finished product....not bad for a non-chinese, italian american, if i do say so myself :)

this is our crew having dinner....the only member of the family who ate with us was mrs. wong...although in this picture you see jack - their older son - who loves american basketball....his room was filled with posters....and he is learning english in school and is a wicked good mah-jong player :) the mother-in-law and mrs. wong....we also have maxine, regina and cynthia...the women i was in the home stay with....it was a wonderful night and i am sooooooo glad i brought my mandarin dictionary...it was REALLY helpful here....althought their english on the whole was excellent :)

here i am with mrs. wong and her two sons....some of you may wonder why they have two sons, with the one child rule in china...but if you come from a farmer town or a minority group of china - meaning you are not han chinese - you are allowed to have more than one child - farmers so they can work their farms and have labor from within their families...and the minorities, so they don't disappear among the billion or so people there.....

the painiting village is so named for the painting that happens there.....it is quite amazing....and this woman is the most famous painter there....she did this painting in under five minutes...just incredible....

my last shot in this set is me with a potato like thing that we ate on the bus we took to get to the yangtze river cruise...to me they looked like evil mustaches...and therefore i just had to take a picture like this.....or something like i am saying "elementary my dear watson"....too funny, at least in my mind.....

okay....that's china part 2...i will return again with the third and final part of the china trip from this summer...i am amazed how long this is taking...but it is fun reliving all of this summer's travel...as it was an amazing and incredible trip...hope all of you are well and happy and i wish you all the best in 2008!!!! love ya gram...peace be with you :)