China
Yanta

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    • Day 8

      Pagoda della Grande Oca Selvatica, Xi’an

      April 3 in China ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

      Pagoda buddista risalente al VII sec. fondata da un monaco che di ritorno dall’India portò con sé un gran numero di Sutra. È uno dei primi edifici buddisti realizzati al di fuori del sub-continente indiano.Read more

    • Day 51

      Little & Big Wild Goose Pagodas

      May 22 in China ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C

      With everybody recovering from illnesses, we took it a bit easy today. Our first stop was the Little Wild Goose Pagoda. After we got our tickets we entered into a very pretty Japonica tree lined courtyard. Many of the trees were well over 1000 years old, but the original trunks had rotted away and new trunks sprouted from the old stumps. It made for a nice cool area to wander.

      We got a neat little view of the Little Wild Goose Pagoda through the canopy. The pagoda originated in 700AD but was restored in the 1800s. It was part of the imperial gardens from when Xi'An (then known as Chang'An) used to be China's capital.

      After the pagoda we came across a very cool bell, which caused fountains to spring into life when rung. Not sure exactly how the mechanism worked, but something to do with the vibrations caused the water to flow (or there is some very clever trickery and a pump somewhere...)

      Next we headed into the on site museum and enjoyed looking at many of the old relics dug up around Xi'An. Particularly interesting were the Jade figurines and belt buckles, as well as a fantastic Jade cup around 2000 years old. There was also a scale model of the old walled Chang'An. A bit mind blowing that this city had a population of around 1 million around 1500 years ago. We then chilled outside near a pond before taking a taxi back to the hotel for an afternoon siesta.

      Once the outside temperature had cooled enough, we headed for the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. This pagoda is a little better maintained, and also has wind chimes under its eaves. We couldn't get close to this one however as the tourist area was closed for the day.

      We had a light dinner before joining the bustling crowds at the street market. The streets are lined with stalls, the trees lit with neon lights, and red Chinese lanterns hanging from the trees - all making for a great atmosphere. We stopped to watch a small performance, enjoyed the artwork and fountains, and had a sneaky little ice cream on the side.

      To top the evening off, we were treated to a fountain & laser light show which was spectacular!
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    • Day 8

      Chengdu

      April 25 in China ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

      Up early, breakfast and off to massive train station in Xi’an. Wrestled with a grandma to the front of the cue and got onto the train to Chengdu.

      Met by our guide Jesper and off to the Irrigation system outside of town. The irrigation system was built about 300BC and has been used ever since. Some
      Shopping then off to another lovely dinner. 1.5 hour drive back to Chengdu and find our hotel. Big day tomorrow with a flight at the end of the day.
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    • Day 5

      Außerhalb der Stadtmauern - Südosten

      October 1, 2017 in China ⋅ 🌫 19 °C

      Bevor ich zu meinen Erlebnissen von heute komme, mein Filmtipp des Tages. Ich bin auf dem Nachtflug von Xi’an nach Singapur unterwegs und habe mir gerade „Hectors Reise oder die Suche nach dem Glück“ angesehen. Die Frage „was ist Glück“ ist mehr als schwierig und der Film inspiriert beim Finden von Ideen (nicht Antworten).

      Meinen letzte Tag in Xi’an habe ich mit einem Ausflug in den Südosten der Stadt verbracht. Da Anny das gleiche Ziel hatte, haben wir uns am Belltower getroffen und fast schon routiniert habe ich alleine den richtigen Bus gefunden😎.
      Den Vormittag haben wir im Tang Paradise verbracht, was leider eher ein Naherholungsgebiet ist, zwar mit Museum aber die Gebäude sind fast alle neu und der Regen hat auch nicht gerade zum Spaß beigetragen. Insbesondere wohl auch wegen des Nationalfeiertags war es vor allem laut und voll. Der Nachmittag hat dann jedoch komplett entschädigt. Die big goose pagoda steht in einem buddhistischen Tempel, der von den Mönchen auch noch genutzt wird. Die Anlage ist ein kompletter Palast, wieder inkl. Bell und drum tower.

      Mein Fazit zu Xi’an:
      Der Abstecher hat sich auf jeden Fall gelohnt. Insbesondere die Terrakotta-Armee kann ich jedem ans Herz legen, am besten dann in Farbe. Trotz Großstadt und viel Gehupe sind die Menschen entspannter als in München, insbesondere auch hilfsbereiter trotz Sprachbarriere. Das ist aber in der Tat ein Manko. Das ist der erste Urlaubsort der Welt, in dem ich mich so gar nicht verständigen konnte, auch die Schriftsprache ist nur bei Ziffern hilfreich. Einen längeren Chinaurlaub könnte ich mir daher nur mit Guide vorstellen oder intensivem Sprachkurs.
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    • Day 11

      Dumpling Dinner and Cultural Show

      April 4, 2018 in China ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C

      Lovely dinner of 18 dumpling varieties. Some had interesting flavours but most were eaten and enjoyed. On to Louyang early tomorrow morning by high speed train.

      The Chinese are celebrating tomb sweeping festival during the next 3 days which is a traditional Chinese festival on the first day of the fifth solar term of the traditional Chinese lunisolar calendar. This makes it the 15th day after the Spring Equinox, either 4 or 5 April in a given year. People will burn pretend money on street intersections in a circle to show respect for family members who have died. We saw a number of these fires while traveling around today and now know what it represents. Traffic is expected to be quite congested over the next couple of days as a result.Read more

    • Day 7

      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

    • Day 7

      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

    • Day 7

      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

    • Day 7

      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

    • Day 7

      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

    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Yanta, 雁塔

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