Shuntianhe Guesthouse Chengde

... creek running under the middle of it. Further up I found a couple of Buddhas with offerings in front and a little donation box (religions really are all the same). Out of respect (the kind of respect learned by having one too many Chinese yell at me) I didn't take any pictures of the statues, even up here where the were no other people. I guess they've trained me well.<br><br>After our return to the city, we spent much of the rest of the night doing ...

... me very much of a natural rock pillar close to my hometown (Stein's Pillar). Past the entrance to the park, we paid to take a lift over the hills and up close to the peak. The lift-ride itself was very nice and quite long so I had time to take many pictures of the city. <br><br> At the top we were greeted with the usual mob of vendors trying to make a buck from the 'rich-white boy'. The peak itself ...

... created an atmospheric, almost eerie, feel as the wall ascended sharply in front of me and then faded into the clouds, with just ocasional beacon towers looming out of the haze in the distance. It wasn't hard to imagine sentries in these watchtowers, shivering in the winter fog, arrows at the ready as they scanned the horizon for signs of Chinggis and his marauding Mongols. <br><br><br><br><br> Standing in a tower, surveying ...

... next day was mostly spent on some very long meals and with meeting of people, but in the evening I was able to take a nice hike up the mountain behind the town. Here there are a series of pagoda's and tomes below the tree line that give an increasingly picturesque view of the town. At the top (a summit I was graciously suggested to attempt alone :P), there is a very large pagoda overlooking ...

Greetings again, now from Chengde, the site of the former summer residence of the Qing Emperors, not far from Beijing. <br><br>On a long drive yesterday we left the rather dull and grim industrialised region around Datong - a flat landscape of crop fields interrupted by the chimneys of mines and brickworks, pumping out dark smoke rising to join the smog layer that gathers on the horizon at times - for the pleasure of lush green mountains, a view ...

... walk all the the way to the top up four flights of wooden stairs to see the statue's head (which is a bit hard to see from the bottom). It was surprising how dusty the thing was. I'm assuming that no one is supposed to touch it so it's collected about 300 years worth of dust. At the top there was this interesting place where you could buy a lock and get it engraved, and then clasp it onto a chain. Tons of people did this. I think ...

... at 22m high surronded by her two worn out disciples and thousands of small effigies of Buddha.<br><br>There are few other temples around Puning temple, which unfortunetly could not compete with the grand of the Guanyin. Puyou temple is relatively small and can be done within 20 minutes. I decided not to visit the remaining temple as I am temple MAX out..<br><br>The Dongpo restaurant opposite train station providea a nice tasty meals. Try the ...

... easy to find some solace. It turned out to be a special two-for-the-price-of-three day. Yes, I wrote that correctly. An hour after beginning our tour of the place, Yvonne had a sudden revelation that caused her heart to race and break out in a sweat. She had left her money belt, complete with a couple hundred US dollars and credit cards, under the pillow at the hotel we had just checked out of! I raced back and made it in time to find a ...

... from 8-12 then an hour with our tutors sometime afterwards. when we are outside of our yurt we are required to speak only chinese since we are at a pretty high level comparitively. this can get a little annoying but i guess in the long haul its a good idea. before we left for chengde we saw a beijing acrobat show. it was pretty amazing. there were balancing/juggling/tumbling acts which were out of this world. the resort is in the summer ...

The Great Wall The Great ...