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China

A 14-day adventure by Destination Unknown Read more
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    Next Stop, Weihui!

    September 29, 2018 in China ⋅ 81 °F

    Weihui must be a major stop on the train because we’ve been sitting here for a while. Nobody is getting on or off the train and the platform looks deserted. Let’s get going, already!

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    Riding in Comfort

    September 29, 2018 in China

    Our seats are very comfortable. They have a lot of room and feel very soft and padded. Despite my comfort, I keep getting up to walk around. I guess that I’m still so excited to be here in China and want to see and experience everything.Read more

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    Time for a Nap

    September 29, 2018 in China

    Kathy is fast asleep. I wish that I could take a nap also but sleeping on a train or airplane is so difficult for me. I’m not sure why, but I can never relax enough to sleep. I’m really tired right now, too. Let me just close my eyes for a while and rest.Read more

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    We’re in Xi’an!

    September 29, 2018 in China ⋅ 68 °F

    I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I know I’m being woken up and was told that we’re in Xi’an. Strangely, even though I slept, I don’t feel rested. In fact, I feel even more tired than if I hadn’t slept. I guess that I didn’t get into a deep enough sleep to really rest. I’m just glad that I was able to have the time pass faster while I slept. I enjoyed riding on the bullet train though. I wouldn’t mind riding another one sometime.Read more

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    Xi’an Train Station

    September 29, 2018 in China ⋅ 68 °F

    The train station in Xi’an seems so big, modern and clean! I can see already that Xi’an is going to be a very different city than Beijing. Our new tour guide, Lee, met us at the exit gate and then rushed us out to the waiting bus. Rather than going to a hotel to relax and freshen up, our touring was to start immediately!Read more

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    Pagoda Bound

    September 29, 2018 in China ⋅ 48 °F

    Lee was taking us to see the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, a popular tourist site in Xi’an which also happens to be a very holy place for Buddhists. I’m not sure why this is yet but I’ll do a little research and find out.Read more

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    Ready to Go In

    September 29, 2018 in China ⋅ 48 °F

    For my first impressions, this place makes me think of the Forbidden City. It seems to have that same sort of architecture but this place looks much cleaner, preserved and taken care of than what we saw in Beijing. So far, I’m liking Xi’an!Read more

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    Giant Wild Goose Pagoda

    September 29, 2018 in China ⋅ 48 °F

    This is our first look at the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda. It was built in 652 during the Tang dynasty and originally had just five stories. The structure was rebuilt in 704 during the reign of Empress Wu Zetian and its exterior brick facade was renovated during the Ming dynasty.Read more

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    Climbing Ivy

    September 29, 2018 in China ⋅ 81 °F

    I’m already so impressed by the beauty of this place! I can’t wait to see the rest of it! Kathy doesn’t like buildings that have the ivy growing up the walls, like seen here. For whatever reason, she thinks it’s creepy. As for myself, I love that look! I’d love to have that growing on our house but I know that she’ll never allow it.Read more

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    Temple Bell

    September 29, 2018 in China ⋅ 48 °F

    Bells are very important in Chinese Buddhist Temples. The loud and melodious sound of the bells are often used to convene monks. Additionally, each morning and night, beating the bell 108 times symbolizes the relief of the 108 kinds of trouble in the human world.Read more

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    Purification

    September 29, 2018 in China ⋅ 48 °F

    As we were entering the temple grounds, we saw lots of people going through these purification rituals. I remember seeing this sort of thing when I visited some of the Buddhist temples in Japan. It’s important to remember that, for many of the people here, this is much more than a tourist attraction. This is their religion.Read more

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    Rooftops

    September 29, 2018 in China ⋅ 48 °F

    Just like in the Forbidden City, the architecture here is so beautiful and filled with amazing details. The look of the buildings here seem to suggest that they are better cared for though. I wonder if the monks take care of these buildings themselves. It would explain why they look so good. If this is their home, they would certainly take good care of it.Read more

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    What’s In a Name?

    September 29, 2018 in China ⋅ 81 °F

    As to the reason why it’s called the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda, there’s a legend about it. According to the ancient stories of Buddhists, there were two sects, and for one of the groups eating meat was not a taboo. One day, this group couldn't find meat to buy. Upon seeing a group of big wild geese flying by, a monk said to himself: 'Today we have no meat. I hope the merciful Bodhisattva will give us some.' At that very moment, the leading wild goose broke its wings and fell to the ground. All the monks were startled and believed that Bodhisattva showed them his spirit in order to get them to be more pious. They established a pagoda where the wild goose fell and stopped eating meat completely.Read more

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    Forbidden Photos?

    September 29, 2018 in China ⋅ 48 °F

    Surrounding the pagoda were several different buildings of what looked like small temples. Lee told us that we weren’t supposed to be taking any photos of what’s inside but it seemed that Kathy and I were the only one who listened to him. When we saw everyone else taking photos, including the locals, we started doing it too.Read more

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    Buddha

    September 29, 2018 in China ⋅ 🌙 57 °F

    The statues of Buddha look so beautiful and elaborate! The Buddhist religion seems very different from what I’m used to but it’s very intriguing. I couldn’t see myself converting to the Buddhist religion but I find it very interesting.Read more

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    Dragons

    September 29, 2018 in China ⋅ 🌙 54 °F

    Not only is the inside of the temples so beautiful but the outside is just as detailed and ornate. This is a closer look at one of the walls outside of the temple. The details, and the amount of work that went into carving this, is astounding.Read more

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    Chasing Rainbows

    September 29, 2018 in China ⋅ 48 °F

    Although it’s kind of hard to see, there’s a rainbow shining across the frame of this picture. I tried several different angles and perspectives to try to get a better shot of it but this was the best I could do. I still like it though.Read more

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    Guardians

    September 29, 2018 in China ⋅ ⛅ 72 °F

    Chinese or Imperial guardian lions are a traditional Chinese architectural ornament. Typically made of stone, they are also known as stone lions or shishi (石獅、shíshī). They are known in colloquial English as lion dogs or foo dogs/fu dogs.Read more

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    So Colorful!

    September 29, 2018 in China ⋅ 81 °F

    Unlike much of what we saw in Beijing, things in Xi’an are so colorful and festive looking! I wish that we could read Chinese so that we could understand what we’re looking at.

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    Red is Lucky

    September 29, 2018 in China ⋅ 81 °F

    Everything here is so well taken care of and maintained. These window frames don’t show any signs of wear or weathering. I don’t even see any dust on them!

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    Budai

    September 29, 2018 in China ⋅ 81 °F

    Budai is a semi-historical Chinese monk who is venerated as Maitreya Buddha in Chan Buddhism. He was also introduced into the Japanese Buddhist pantheon.[1] He is said to have lived around the 10th century in the Wuyue kingdom.
    He is almost always shown smiling or laughing, hence his nickname in Chinese, the "Laughing Buddha". As he is traditionally depicted as fat, he is also referred to as the "Fat Buddha", especially in the Western world.    Read more

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    Dragons

    September 29, 2018 in China ⋅ 48 °F

    Dragons can be found all over this, and every other temple that we’ve visited. That’s not very surprising though. The dragon is considered very lucky and a strong protector of the Chinese people.

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    Walking the Grounds

    September 29, 2018 in China ⋅ 81 °F

    I was already liking Lee’s touring style more than Lisa’s. Rather than keep all of us together in a tight group, the way Lisa did, Lee allowed us to freely wander around the temple grounds after giving us a time and place to meet. I feel like we’re seeing more this way since we’re able to go at our own pace.Read more

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    Always Look Up

    September 29, 2018 in China ⋅ 81 °F

    One thing that I’ve learned, after years of taking pictures, is to always look up. Most people look straight and down but rarely look up, for whatever reason. I noticed many of the people from our tour group doing that and it made them miss sights like this. I really don’t understand them not taking a moment to glance upwards, especially in a place like this. If everything here is so elaborately decorated, wouldn’t you think that the ceilings would be decorated too? To me, that’s just common sense.Read more

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    Anachronism

    September 29, 2018 in China ⋅ 81 °F

    It’s very strange to see anachronisms like this. The tall pagoda and old fashioned architecture are so beautiful but it just doesn’t look right with that air conditioner stuck on the wall. I would imagine that they need it because the summer season can be warm but it just looks out of place here.Read more