Trip to China in April 2004
From 9 April to 23 April I went to China with my girlfriend Lixin.
We landed in Beijing and spend an afternoon in the beautiful summer palace,
before leaving in the evening for Xian. Taking the train is a great way to
see China, and the overnight Beijing-Xian "sleeper" was a memorable experience.
Xian is the ancient capital of China and home of the famous
Terracotta Soldiers. These are life-size ancient sculptures of soldiers
and horses, distinct and realistic, built to protect the emperor of
china in the afterlife. They were a wonder to behold. We also
visited several other sights in Xian such as the great pagoda,
the chinese-style mosque, the muslim quarter, the daoist temple.
Pictures are shown below:
Lixin in the summer palace.
Lixin in front the marble boat in the summer palace.
Note that the laws of physics are being violated
me in front the great pagoda in Xian.
Lixin in front the great pagoda in Xian.
Lixin in front the great pagoda in Xian.
Together in front the daoist temple near Xian.
me in the Mosque in the Muslim quarter of in Xian.
From there we left for Luoyang, which was an uncomfortable six-hour train
trip in the "hard seat" section. Luoyang is home of the Longman Shiku, ancient
Buddhist shrines, where gigantic and miniscule statues of the Buddha were
constructed in caves along the riverbank.
Lixin in front of the caves on the main bank.
me in front of the caves of the main bank.
me in front of a cave. Buddha statues are in the cave.
Lixin in main cave, in front of the giant statues
of the buddha and his disciples.
Lixin near the top.
Protectors of the buddha. Basically, his goons.
Lixin in front of the river. The minor bank with
caves is in the background.
me on the minor side of the river, with the main
caves in the background.
Cave complex on the minor side.
Lixin on the minor side, with the main cave
in the background. The statues are on the other side of a wide river
From Luoyang we took the overnight train back to Beijing. We weren't
able to book a sleeper car and had to endure 13 hours sitting on very hard
seats in a car full of standing people, many of them smoking. It was perhaps
the worst journey of my life. So travellers beware - it is easy to book
a sleeper from Beijing to anywhere, but not so easy to do so
when returning to Beijing.
In any case we returned and went for a tour of Beijing, with visits to the
Forbidden City, the Temple of Heavens, the Great Wall, the Hutongs. Truly,
Beijing is one of the great cities of the world.
me in the forbidden city.
me in the forbidden city. It was hot!
another picture of me in the forbidden
city.
Lixin in the forbidden city.
Flowers blossom in april in Beijing.
me in the temple of heaven. Worshipping the heaven
is an ancient form of religion in china, practiced only by emperors
and prominent people. It was a very hot day!
Daisy in the grass in the Temple of Heaven park.
me on the great wall.
Lixin on the great wall.
Lixin on a high section on the great wall.
me on the great wall. The wall can be
seen snaking on the mountain ridges in the background. It is, truly, a
mindboggling structure.
Long Qing Xia Canyon near Beijing.
Chinese-Style Gazebo in Long Qing Xia Canyon.
Bungee-Jumping Platform in Long Qing Xia Canyon.
Hutongs are traditional chinese houses, which are
quickly dissaperaing in China's modernization initiative. Lixin is
standing in front of Hutongs inhabited by chinese of modest means.
me standing in front of Hutongs.
Hutongs of the rich.
Lixin in front of the lake houhai on our Houtong
walk.
Lao She Tea House is a traditional theatre teahouse
where patrons can watch performances of comedy, acrobat and chinese opera,
while being served delicious snacks and tea. On stage is a "face-change"
artist, who can change "face" faster than the eyes can detect.