(Nick)Before I talk about today's adventures I must gush about Lijiang. WOW. Lijiang was so different from anything we'd seen so far on the trip. Not only is it located basically at the foot of the Himalayas, it is home to the Naxi minority which made it all the more fascinating. When most people visit China, they go to huge cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong. Although there is a "new Lijiang" (since it is such an ideal tourist destination), the old Lijiang was so great. I could've walked around for weeks! The many canals and wooden buildings, with Jade Dragon Snow Mountain in the background made Lijiang breathtaking. While I obviously think it is important to see the rest of China, I found it particularly rewarding and refreshing to see a minority group within China. Our guide, Kathy, was so outstanding, and she really made the visit to Lijiang quite an enjoyable one! Lijiang's exotic location made us think about going to Tibet, and Kathy told us that she also really wants to go to Tibet and that she has a friend who could help us plan a trip there. Now that would great!
We are now in Emei City (although we've spent the last two days in Chengdu). Today in Chengdu, before leaving for Emei City, we went to a the Wu Hou temple, a shrine commemorating Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang. Basically, in the third century, China was separated into three Kingdoms (Shu, Wu, and Hui). Liu Bei founded the Shu kingdom in Chengdu and was the Emperor, and Zhuge Liang was the prime minister, known for his wisdom. The shrine was beautiful; the statues of Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang were beautifully done and the actual compound had many gardens and courtyards. Near the shrine there was an old street that actually wasn't more than a century old, but it looked it compared to the bustling, modern city that is currently Chengdu. Other than a small portion of the ancient wall that surrounded Chengdu, it was very hard to get an idea of what Chengdu was like before modern times.
After our trip to the Wu Hou temple, we went to a restaurant for lunch, which brings me to the topic of food. I am loving the food in Chengdu because of its location in Szechuan province, which automatically means everything is very spicy! Although I have not been able to find my hot and sour soup (anyone who has been to a Chinese restaurant with me in the U.S. knows about my passion for hot and sour soup), I have really been enjoying all the spicy dishes! Come to think of it, I don't think we've had a bad meal in China yet. Every meal keeps on getting better! 6 seems to be the magical number for meals because we have been able to eat almost everything we are offered yet still stuff ourselves!
After another delicious meal, we got on the bus and drove to Emei City. It was about a 2 hour drive, so we used this time to rest (traveling to 6 cities in the span of a week and a half will do that to you!). On our way to Emei City, we stopped in Leshan and hopped on a ferry boat that took us to the largest stone Buddha in the world. It was constructed on the side of a cliff during the 3rd century. We'd already seen a big Buddha in Hong Kong on Lantau island, and we thought that was big! This one was enormous.
We are all doing well (although some of us are under the weather). We have had such a great trip so far. Although we are really looking forward to Xi'an and Beijing, we are SO excited about getting to Hangzhou in 10 days. Traveling has been wonderful but it is very tiring, and the idea of living in Hangzhou with host families for 5 weeks is very appealing to us! I haven't done any laundry yet, and I am hoping to tough it out until we get to Hangzhou (we will see how that goes....I'm sure my Mom will kill me when she hears this!).
Thank you to all who are reading this - it really means a lot to all of us!
Zaijian
We are now in Emei City (although we've spent the last two days in Chengdu). Today in Chengdu, before leaving for Emei City, we went to a the Wu Hou temple, a shrine commemorating Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang. Basically, in the third century, China was separated into three Kingdoms (Shu, Wu, and Hui). Liu Bei founded the Shu kingdom in Chengdu and was the Emperor, and Zhuge Liang was the prime minister, known for his wisdom. The shrine was beautiful; the statues of Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang were beautifully done and the actual compound had many gardens and courtyards. Near the shrine there was an old street that actually wasn't more than a century old, but it looked it compared to the bustling, modern city that is currently Chengdu. Other than a small portion of the ancient wall that surrounded Chengdu, it was very hard to get an idea of what Chengdu was like before modern times.
After our trip to the Wu Hou temple, we went to a restaurant for lunch, which brings me to the topic of food. I am loving the food in Chengdu because of its location in Szechuan province, which automatically means everything is very spicy! Although I have not been able to find my hot and sour soup (anyone who has been to a Chinese restaurant with me in the U.S. knows about my passion for hot and sour soup), I have really been enjoying all the spicy dishes! Come to think of it, I don't think we've had a bad meal in China yet. Every meal keeps on getting better! 6 seems to be the magical number for meals because we have been able to eat almost everything we are offered yet still stuff ourselves!
After another delicious meal, we got on the bus and drove to Emei City. It was about a 2 hour drive, so we used this time to rest (traveling to 6 cities in the span of a week and a half will do that to you!). On our way to Emei City, we stopped in Leshan and hopped on a ferry boat that took us to the largest stone Buddha in the world. It was constructed on the side of a cliff during the 3rd century. We'd already seen a big Buddha in Hong Kong on Lantau island, and we thought that was big! This one was enormous.
We are all doing well (although some of us are under the weather). We have had such a great trip so far. Although we are really looking forward to Xi'an and Beijing, we are SO excited about getting to Hangzhou in 10 days. Traveling has been wonderful but it is very tiring, and the idea of living in Hangzhou with host families for 5 weeks is very appealing to us! I haven't done any laundry yet, and I am hoping to tough it out until we get to Hangzhou (we will see how that goes....I'm sure my Mom will kill me when she hears this!).
Thank you to all who are reading this - it really means a lot to all of us!
Zaijian
No comments:
Post a Comment