November 26 - December 4 Mainland China Trip

It's hard to believe but our two weeks of temple closure are just about to an end. Three couples, The Hathaways, The Victors and us headed out Monday morning, November 26, for mainland China.  An incredible country with such diverse landscape.  Who would have ever thought we would be there.

Our flight was about 3 hours long and we were met at the airport by our guide, Mary.  She spoke very good English and was excellent.  We really enjoyed her and she went out of her way to take us to  places we shouldn't miss.  We were in a very nice 10 passenger van with a driver so getting around was easy.

Our first stop was in Beijing   a city of 17 million people.  China has over 1.7 billion people.  The airport is in the shape of a turtle.  The city is in a circle.  Heaven/yourself/earth.  They have built 7 or 8 ring roads which start in the center and go out.  There are 16 Districts in China.  School is mandatory for 9 years and then you go on to high school and the university.  The third emperor moved the capital to Beijing in 1749, Cheng dynasty  300 years old

Victors, Hathaways, Lewises

 Our first stop after checking into our hotel was the Summer Palace.

This corridor goes on and on and has paintings on the walls all the way down and we ended up at the  marble boat.

Pagoda in the distance

Marble boat where the Dragon Lady would hosts dignitaries

Paul found his car

Sue and Mike Victor, no badges or speaking of the Church while here.  That was hard for Sue,; she is such a great missionary and speaks to everyone.

The three levels you see in white represent the heaven/yourself/earth.

The Ming Tombs were our next stop.  Built between 1300--1600.  There are 13 tombs here and they are about 600 years old.

Our group

Notice the tree growing out of the wall.

THE GREAT WALL--I climbed this for you Gage.

At the bottom of this part of the wall.

 We climbed up to the third tower.  The Victors went on up to the 4th tower.

1st Tower in the distance

looking across the valley to more of the Wall

Thank goodness for the handrails.

Sue & Mike Victor

The lookout tower on the third level

I made it to the third tower.

Heading down.

All of us made it down safely.

A pagoda at the bottom.

You can see we had a great day at the Great Wall of China.  That evening on our way back to the hotel we passed by The Bird's Nest.  

  

The entry into the Olympic park

 This evening we attended a wonderful acrobatic show.  These performers begin at the age of 9 and by the time they are 22 they  are finished.  Many come from the villages and are trained young and then are able to go on to school when they finish. +

He is standing on 10 chairs.  Can't even imagine how strong he must be.

 It was a fantastic show  and we really enjoyed it.. At 5:30 am the next morning we were picked up and taken to the airport to go to Xian for two nights.

Views from outside our hotel window in Xian.  A city of 7 million.

We visited a silk factory and helped stretch one silk cocoon into the size of a queen bed.

Silk embroidery

Warrior factory

Actual Terracotta Pits 

The Emperor's tomb has not even been opened yet.

Overview of Pit 3, the largest and most extensive pit with a full regiment of soldiers.

There are three pits and this is the most extensive one.

The group in front of pit 3

Chariot recreated

The dinner buffet at our hotel.

Lewises, Victors, Hathaways

  I'M THINKING I SHOULD HAVE DONE THIS ONE DAY AT A TIME AS IT HAPPENED.


Big Wild Goose Pagoda 

Desserts from the restaurant we had lunch at.  They are dumplings in the shape of animals. 

 Shaanxi Provincial Museum where we had a tour and history of Chinese art

Flight to Guilin

 Some pictures of the trucks in Guilin.  I had to take them for Kevin & Don to enjoy.

 Fu Bo Hill.  General Fu Bo took his sword and cut between the stone and the ground.  He shot his arrow so many times he put the hole in Elephant Trunk Hill.

A walk through cave with Budda carved into the walls.

We visited one of the many caves in the area, Reed Flute Cave.  Very beautiful with many incredible formations.

Hot peppers being chopped along one of the city streets.  We found a KFC for our dinner.

All of us at the Reed Flute Cave.

One of  our first views of the mountains

A gold and silver pagoda on the water.

Starting our trip down the Le River through the beautiful

Famous West Street in Yangshuo, the end of the River Le cruise.

Our last day in mainland China we saw Moon Hill, the Banyan tree which is 1400 years old, and a village.

We attended a night time water show directed by the man who did the China Olympics.  It was quite spectacular.  The backdrop are the Guilin Mts.

Sister Victor peeling an apple for us.

Water buffalo and farmer preparing ground for rice.

1400 Banyan tree.  It is one tree.  The saying is "1 banyan tree makes a forest".

Water buffalo

This is the village we walked through.   What a cute mother and son.

Women doing their wash.

This is Moon Hill.  As you drive through the village the shape of the moon changes.

Our last lunch taken at the Guilin Airport

GOING HOME

View from my window

Waiting for luggage

I KNOW THIS IS WAY TOO LONG BUT IT IS MY JOURNAL SO BEAR WITH ME.

It was a trip of a lifetime.  As with any trip, it is great to be back home and we are all anxious to get back to work at the temple.