China 2005

[Nannan]

As I promised, here's your glimpse into my vacation in China this summer (caption below each picture), but before you begin exploring, note that $1=about ¥8.5

Maj folders (contains many more pics of the trip):
www.maj.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=94100
www.maj.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=94101


My flight from Dallas Ft. Worth took me to Tokyo and then to Beijing, where I spent the first morning in the forbidden city.


The red flag flies high above Tiananmen Square


The ubiquitous yello "M" looms in the background.


Great food is never a hard find in China. 6 selections for ¥36

[Nannan]

That evening I traveled by overnight train to the beautiful and historic city of Xi'an, my hometown and the 6th largest city in China, with a population of 7 million.


www.maj.com/gallery/a-tree/China2/Belltower/20e.jpg[/img]
The Bell Tower, smack dab in the middle of the city, built in the 1300's and open to visitors for a fee of ¥30.

In the following folder you'll see the four major streets of Xi'an from atop the Bell Tower:
www.maj.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=94102


Blue skies 300/365 days as opposed to 60/365 days in Beijing.


Driving in China is chaotic. One can pass the car in front of him from the right or the left: just cross the double yellow lines or drive on the sidewalk (shown in picture). Also, no-honking signs have been placed at various intersections to stop the trigger-happy honkers. What do they do instead? They rapidly turn on and off their front lights to gently remind the person in front of them to "get out the way!".


My favorite food: spicy beef kabobs. Cooked fresh on the streets. I usualy eat about 30.


The musical fountain display, Asia's greatest.


For ¥2 you can get your own chirping giant cricket permanently sealed in hand-woven cage.

[Nannan]

The Hua Mountains: one of the Great Five mountains of China and the steepest.


I must mention that the ticket and the chairlift costs ¥100 and ¥110 respectively. Without the 7-minute chairlift, it's a 6 km walk up the cold stone steps.


A supernal view from the car of the chairlift. It's as if I'm in heaven.


The locks are symbolic of everlasting love or friendship. It costs less than ¥10 to get one and have a pair of names and a date engraved on it. The custom is to lock the lock around a chain rail.


The west peak. Annual suicides in these mountains: 30.


Who needs life insurance when you have hand rails?

[Nannan]

A trip to the countryside and the zoo that's there.


The beautiful country landscape


My family's house in the country


The playground in front of the zoo is rather interesting. Again you are not compensated for any injuries. Luckily these wheels are locked


The red panda. Besides which and a few other displays the zoo was a rip-off at ¥80 per person.

[Nannan]

A trip to my mother's hometown in the small town of Jiexiu.


China's highway system is just as advanced as that of the U.S., except the communists are still charging about ¥300 for a 500 km trip.


Jiexiu still allows fireworks 365 days a year. My favorite home-made explosive is the time bomb, in which four bangs are stringed to an incense, and you can set the detonation time based on the length of that incense.


2500 year old tree


I spy a 2500 year old tree.


The Yellow River, one of the world's longest rivers.


at sunset


The Yellow River basin, reminds me of the opening of The Lion King.

[Nannan]

Nostalgia. This is the neighborhood in which I lived in before coming to the U.S.


My apartment (still almost-looking the way it did more than 10 years ago when it was built.)


My kindergarten (wall's painted and trees grew taller)


A building of my elementary school (almost changed beyond recognition, for this building used to be a one story brickhouse made with real bricks)


Home base for many hide n' seek games


This track field used to be paved with black dirt.

[Nannan]

A last stop at the Great Wall and homeward bound.


I need to ;D more often in pictures.


A dual blade halberd piercing through the scene of this section of the Great Wall that lay in ruins.


The Great Wall has ample parking space for siege engines.


The cloud sea atop the Pacific Ocean


Above the skies of the American west.


This is a lego forum after all. I was expected to find more LEGO products with Chinese text and was disappointed to have only found two cases. This is a collection of a vahki, a visorak, and a Bionicla t-shirt that's not for sale on S@H.

Comments about my trip would be greatly appreciated.

[dyip_90]

Had a good trip, eh?

It seems to me that you enjoy going "yum cha". Was it scary going up the lift?

[RSP]

Hey, wow, my family's vacations never seem this interesting. Hooah for China! Nice captions.

[Nannan]

dyip90 said:

Had a good trip, eh?

It seems to me that you enjoy going "yum cha". Was it scary going up the lift?

"yum cha"? It was a bit nerve racking to ride in the lift; sometimes the car would swing a bit.

[dyip_90]

drink tea (a.k.a go to restuarants). yum cha is just how chinese people say it, like me.

[Nannan]

dyip90 said:

drink tea (a.k.a go to restuarants). yum cha is just how chinese people say it, like me.

Which part are you from?

[dyip_90]

I'm not from china. I just live in canada speaking chinese.

[Paddy <3 Morphosis]

Jet lag? Going from LAX to Rome (in 2004) was killer on me. Leaving the airport at 8 AM and getting to Italy at 9 AM local or so.

I just got back from Berkeley, CA. Long drive over 2 days. I'm also enrolled at Cal Poly SLO now. Nothing to do but chill.

[Jamit]

That siege engine is cool. What time would that be from? Or is it fake?

I'm going to Ireland/London this month. I hope they have good food. But it does not sound that good. "Tea Time" ;D