CHINA

My visit to China was an experience I never dreamed I would have. On Saturday, October 12, Bob and I and our group flew out of SLC, Utah for a one and a half hour flight. Then after a three hour layover (which gave us enough time to eat lunch and then rush to our next connection), we flew out of San Francisco, California for a twelve hour flight.  The airplane was hot and cramped. No movies to give me something to do. I couldn't do my cross stitch for lack of space. It was hard to focus on reading, so I tried to rest. We did get two meals. Finally we arrived in Beijing.  We went through customs then after a short wait flew on to Xiamen (pronounced Sh-ah-men).  We had been up for  over 30 hours by now.  The trip back was similar, but the long flight had movies this time on the seat back. I watched four movies to keep from going crazy. It was also cooler, so it wasn't so miserable.

China is still a developing country.  Which kind of surprised me. I thought they would be more modern.  I am told the government keeps them suppressed. The hotels and the fancier restaurants we were taken to were nice and up to date, but most of the rest of China is lacking. The people are clean, dress well, hair kept nice and men's hair kept short. I don't know what they were saying, so they seemed nice enough to me.  Their talking always sounded like they were yelling at each other.  The sewer system is at least a system, but so behind America.  There were open sewer drains everywhere.  In the bathroom at Tiananmen Square there were pails set out in the middle of the floor to use.  No porta-potties there :(  I thought Xiamen was a big city of almost 5 million, but no. Beijing is over 21 million!  Xiamen is on the south eastern coast. A different climate then Beijing.   It is right on the Taiwan Strait so it is more tropical. Beijing is colder, closer to our climate.The air is cleaner in Xiamen and a few less million people sure makes a difference on the road! It was good to see the cultural difference.  I enjoyed the trip, but I was sure glad to get home!

We arrived at the Hoiyue Hotel around 1:00am Monday morning; their time; October 14.  We got a few hours of sleep and then started our day.  The men all went to the stone factory in Xiamen to do their work.  Us ladies were picked up by a tour guide. Her name is Lucy. She is pretty and young. 

One of the many street vendors we saw.  Selling anything from fruit to trinkets.

Gulangyu Island or Hero Island. It is beautiful because of all the natural green trees, flowers and quiet.  No gasoline cars are allowed on the island. Travel is by electric, very small vehicles. It is the home of 13 country consulates including Great Britain, France and Japan.  There are churches, hospitals and museums on the island.

Walking on the island we passed this building and I saw some Monks, so I took the picture.

Eating some fruit that Lucy our Tour guide bought for us from the street vendor below. It was really good.  You suck the juice and seeds out with the straw.

It's hard to see, but this is showing pearls in the clams.

This is your typical toilet in China.  Most don't even have the tank above, just the squatter base.

Take a good look at this "yummy" lunch we had. Fish, clams, squid, shrimp, tofu, cabbage, fish soup, rice and more. No forks.  We had to use chopsticks and the little soup spoon. What a way to break us in!

This is the fish they sell outside the restaurant.  Pretty much what we ate. 

I liked the tree and waterfall.

Alice (helping the tour guide. She is with Mr. Bing the stone cutter), Dianne, Sandra, Christine, Jeni, Marsha and Darcy

This is the Shuzhuang Garden that was built for a man's children to have a place to run around and explore.  The rock wall is really a maze of paths. In the stone are the twelve Chinese Zodiac Animals.  I have just put in a few to show them.  I had fun climbing through the maze to find the animals.  I was sweating when I was done, because as you can see it is a steep climb.

Taken at the top of the maze mountain.  There are Gazebos in the Garden below on the bridge path where the adults could sit and visit while the children played.

Pig.

Tiger

Snake

   

The Rat which is what I am. (lovely)

These next two pictures are another part of the garden. Bridges connect trails
and make the garden appear larger.

                                                                                                                                                                                              

This is the Piano Museum.  It has over 200 pianos in it.  A man collected pianos and donated them for use in a museum.  There are several Steinway's, Broadwood's, Babcock's, Baumann's, and so much more. Such beautiful pianos.  Both upright and grand in all sizes.

Koxinga is a military man. They believe he is watching over the waters and protecting them from harm. 

Back to our hotel for an hour and then back on the bus again for dinner.  Everytime we went anywhere to eat or travel it was at least an hour to two hour bus drive.  The traffic in China is terrible.    Motorbikes, bicycles, tuk tuk's,  Pedi-cab, Taxis, city buses, tour buses, trucks all fight for space on the roads that are wound together with what seems like no meaning.  There are only traffic signal lights in the downtown area.  The rest of the city you are left on your own to fight your way through traffic.                             

                   

This is what our table looked like at the restaruant for the evening business meal. We had Beijing Duck.  It was very delicious.  They used it all (except feathers) carved the meat, baked the bones with the remaining meat to chew on and served duck soup from the juices.  We also had lobster with the Lobster cut in half and displayed nicely in ice with the raw meat cut out and on the ice.  It was a piece of art.  I don't like raw lobster, though.

This is where they get there fish to prepare dinner.

 Tuesday, October 15, the entire group got to go together today.  The men didn't need to go to the factory.  They were just waiting for a phone call to find out if what they wanted had been done. We started out with sightseeing off shore on a small cruise boat. Then went to South Putuo Temple.

The shore line of Xiamen.

A private room at the front of the boat we took on our 3 hour cruise to see Kinmen Island.

This is the private room we arranged for our cruise.  This is one of the guides on the boat.  She was fun to be around.  Didn't know any English, but we communicated by hand signals. Lucy, our guide, let us know anything we needed to know.

This is the island of Kinman.  Even though it is owned by China we are in Taiwanese waters. So we had to show our passports to go on the cruise. All we got to do though was come a little closer to this sign and take pictures.  I'm not sure what the point of this trip was.  The island has a big military importance to China. 

Our group on the way back to Xiamen.  From left Christine & Michael, Marsha & Cody, Andrew & Jeni,'
Diana & Jim, Sandra & Bob and Darcy & Tim.

View of the Taiwan Strait. There are many fishing boats out on the water. (Sandra)

A view from the boat of other boats.  Ours is like the fancy looking one.

The entrance to South Putuo Temple.

By the entrance to South Putuo Temple is a pond called Free Life Pond.
Two Longevity Towers-one stands on each side. (below)

                                         

The pond is full of turtles.

Heavenly King Hall is the location of the statues of four ferocious Heavenly Kings (see below). In the center of the hall stands a fat Buddha (see further below) with a broad smile, bare chest and exposed paunch.He represents the Buddha of the future, also known as the Laughing Buddha.

The Mavira Hall has three statues---Buddha of the present; Kasyapa, the Buddha of the Past;
and Maitreya, the Buddha of the future.

                                         

The Hall of Great Mercy

The Hall of Great Mercy

A nice Buddhist monument.

This area (above and below) is in one square where the Buddhist Monks live.
There are also libraries and study rooms for the Monks.

This is back out front of South Putuo Temple. A nice play area for children.

On Thursday, October 17, we all visited the Great Wall of China. The weather was nice. Very little sun because of all the pollution. It a great experience to be able to walk on such a historical undertaking.

A view driving up to the Great Wall of China.

One of the entrances to park along the Great Wall of China.

Bob and Sandra on the Great Wall of China.

Sandra

Bob

A long stretch of the Great Wall.

Looking through one of the fortress holes.

Bob and Sandra

We got to witness a marriage proposal on the Great Wall. Fun! 

Here is our group from the left:  Tim & Darcy, Andrew & Jeni, Mike & Christy, Sandra & Bob, Cody & Marsha,
Jim & Dinana.

Another view of the Great Wall.

Standing in line below the wall waiting to get on the tram.

We came all the way to China just to see the pretty fall colors :) The leaves would probably have looked brighter if there wasn't so much smog and pollution in the air.

The tram never stops.  It just slows down.  You have to hurry out so the others can hurry in. GET SET, READY....

GO!  Don't be slow or they will pull you out or push you in.

This the restaurant,Wang Fu Jin Market we went to after visiting the Great Wall.  

These are different statues that the Chinese people put in front of their palaces, hotels, restaurants, museums, etc.  They were believed to have powerful mythic protective benefits like wealth, protection from evil,  happiness, luck etc.  

Female lion with a cub.

Male lion holding the universe.

Another beautiful flower arrangement.

These next three pictures are just some of the pictures I took of guards standing posts.  I assume it was because we were in Beijing, where there main government is.  I didn't really see any in Xiamen.

On Friday, October 18, we went to Tiananmen Square which is at the center of Beijing city. It has many important government buildings, monuments and the entrance to the Forbidden City.

Zhengyangmen Gate Tower marking the south end of Tiananmen Square.

Side view of Zhengyangmen Gate Tower.

This is a monument to the war hero's Called the People's Hero's on Tiananmen Square.

Monument to the People's Heroes and the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong (Square building behind monument).

This picture and the next two are flower arrangements to commemorate the founding of People's Republic of China.

Flower arrangement that is displayed for a month to commemorate People's Republic of China.

The Tiananmen Gate, or Gate of Heavenly Peace.  Tiananmen is the entrance to the Imperial City, within which the Forbidden City is located.

Inside the Forbidden City which was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty.  Now it is the Palace Museum.  For almost 500 years, it served as the home of emperors and their households. This is the West Glorious Gate. 

A gilded male lion in front of the Palace of Tranquil Longevity. The male lion is resting his paw on a ball, representing supremacy over the world.

A gilded female lion is restraining a playful cub that is on its back, representing nurture.

The Hall of Supreme Harmony.

The Hall of Supreme Harmony.  A little hard to smile. The polution in the are and people smoking everywhere was really getting to me.  I covered my mouth and nose with a kleenex much of the time.

The throne inside the Hall of Preserving Harmony.

Some ladies dressed in traditional wear.

One of the gardens in the courts of the Forbidden City.

A love tree where newlyweds would get their pictures taken.

Water Vats.

The center staircase was only used by the emperor. Beautiful ornate carvings on stone.

One of the gardens in the courts of the Forbidden City.

The building in the back is part of Jingshan (Prospect Hill) an artificial hill immediately north of the Forbidden City. It was built from the soil excavated to build the moat in front of it.

The northwest corner tower.

The last place we went to was the Summer Palace in Beijing. It served as a summer resort for Empress Dowager Cixi. The Qianlong Emperor of the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911), who commissioned work on the imperial gardens on the hill in 1749, gave Longevity Hill its present-day name in 1752, in celebration of his mother's 60th birthday.

I WOULD LOVE TO GET 720 ACRES that include a lake covering 3/4 of it with beautiful gardens all over for my birthday!

Entrance to the Summer Palace

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This is a full view of Longevity Hill.  There is so much smog from pollution today that you can hardly see it.

This is a boat we road on from the other side of the Island.

Bob liked the bridge.

Lions lined the bridge.

A big rubber duck making a tour around the world.  We were lucky to see it here in Beijing.

The sun is shining through the smog the best it can. It's right above the building.

These next pictures are a small sampling of some interesting shapes of buildings we saw while in Beijing.

The Chinese built this for the 2008 Summer Olympics.  It was to be used so you could go to the top and view all of Beijing.  It never got finished. It is still under construction today.

Just a fun shaped building which is the Train Station.

One of the craziest, entertaining and fun times was when we went to Silk Street Market for shopping.  There are 7 floors with over 200 vendors on each floor.  They each have about a ten foot by ten foot space to sell their stuff.  Anything from silk clothes, watches, t-shirts, coats, statues, dolls, trinkets, you name it they have it! They offer you a price, but we were told you have to dicker with them.  I could get them to go down 50-75% depending on what I bought. That way we were able to get most items at a reasonable price.