September 19: This was a very special place! The sky was brilliant blue, the air was cleaner than clean and the city, which was lush and green, was surrounded by enormous sand dunes.
We arrived at the Dunhuang Guest House and were housed in the VIP building. We were astonished to see our rooms. All through the trip, we had stayed in lovely rooms with immaculate snow white duvets and towels. The carpets could have used some work however we were delighted to see how clean the linens were. When we entered our room we found ourselves in a suite. The bathroom was large enough to have been another bedroom and had a large basin sink, all glass corner shower and the free ablution assists (toothbrush, comb, razor, shampoo, soap, etc) were in rosewood cabinets on the counter. There was a sitting room with a huge flat screen tv and the bedroom also had an enormous flat screen tv on the wall. We felt like royalty.
Our guide took us out to the Sounding Dune and Crescent Lake where we played. A camel ride took us to Crescent Lake and after a walk-about tour of the buildings surrounding the lake, we had a toboggan down a huge sand dune. It was hilarious and similar to snow tobogganing except for the stinging sand in our faces.
Gorgeous backdrop; Crescent Lake Oasis; Sand Tobogganing (not certain if that is Bob or me whizzing down the slope)
Poor sod who has to hump the bamboo sleds back up the hill; Beautiful camels; Memories of Broome, Australia...(our camel shadows)...giddy up!
Xian - September 22
Above: City Wall: Ancient people carrier and closeup of detail on side
In 1974 peasants digging a well uncovered what turned out to be perhaps the most major archaeological discovery of the 20th century; an underground vault of earth and timber that eventually yieldeded thousands of life-size terracotta soldiers and their horses in battle formation. It is 2000 years old and includes 6000 terracotta figures of warriors and horses facing east in a rectangular battle position. Earlier emperors had live soldiers, horses and
concubines buried with them until this emperor (Qin Shi Huang) who ascended the throne at the age of 13. He was evidently bright enough to figure out that "live" burials of his army might leave his descendants in a vulnerable position. He demanded that life-sized animals and soldiers be made out of terracotta to guard his tomb instead.
Above: I found that viewing this site was one of my more emotional experiences.
Below: More photo's from the area
Guilin - Population 1.3 million
Set among limestone upthrust mounds and peaks covered in greenery with the Li River flowing through it, this is truly a beautiful city.
Above: Reed Flute Caves - extraordinary scenery with blazing lights on stalactites, we walked through caves large and small. The most amazing (Crystal Palace of the Dragon King) alone can hold about 1000 people. The caves held many more during WWII when it was used as an air-raid shelter. What you see above is an underground lake and the reflection.
View of the limestone peaks
Below: Images of the Li River night cruise in the city, to view the many illuminated bridges. The last one shown here is crystal
Below: Li River country cruise
Shanghai - September 25 to 30th
Wow! What a city! Can you even imagine a city with 18 million people?
It is the gateway to the Yangzi River was an ideal trading port. In 1842 it was a small town supported by fishing and weaving. The British changed all that. The French arrived in 1847 and the Japanese in 1895 - the city parcelled up into autonomous settlements, immune from Chinese law. By 1853 Shanghai had overtaken all other chinese ports and by the 1930's had 60,000 foreign residents and was the busiest international port in Asia.
Our most stunning experience was the ride on the Maglev train (magnetic levitation) from downtown Shanghai to the airport, 33 kms away. It took 5 minutes at top speed of 431 km/hour and cost $4.00.....and we don't have a fast link to the airport here! Amazing!
Below: Views from the Bund and in the city
Eric and Margaret suggested a cruise on the Bund and out to the mouth of the Yangzi. It was quite the experience, passing huge tankers and the city itself. The last photo is at the mouth of the Yangzi
There are two "water cities" around Shanghai... the "Venice" of China. Below are photo's of our two cruises in Suzhou and Zhujiajiao
Below: Random photo's
Typical Chinese clothes drier;creative ceiling design; adorable child
China was such a special place and we are grateful our friends twisted our arms to go.
We learned so much about the kindness of the people, no matter how large the city. We saw their efforts at energy conservation in their transportation and buildings. I believe (if memory serves me correctly so long after the trip) that every single room key for every hotel we visited was also the key to activate the electricity in the hotel room. When we left the room, we had to take our key with us and therefore the lights and tv were automatically turned off. What a clever idea! We saw gorgeous scenery. We visited autonomous regions with ethnic diversity we didn't know existed. How fortunate we are to be able to travel and learn about the countries and the people who inhabit this planet.
Blessings!
Sharon and Bob
