Meng Gu Bao Holiday Resort Chengde

... only upon arriving, was a waterfall from a small creek passing into the river we had been following. The amazing part of the waterfall was the way it came out of the cliff-side far above and fell over a series of ledges before settling.

I took the stone-steps to swaying metal-steps to rickety-half-missing wood-steps, path to the top alone. Halfway up, I stopped and a small pagoda and took pictures of the wonderful views of the rural valley in ...

... 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.

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 ...

... useful route for transporting troops across such mountainous terrain. Whatever its historical successes or failures, today it is an awe-inspiring sight, perched on high and rising up and down slopesfor miles, off into the distant horizon.



Whole sections of it have crumbled in the centuries since it was re-fortified during the 1600s Ming Dynasty, but the Chinese authorities are keen to promote it for tourism ...

... town of which I took some great photos.

The following day, and day after we took the bus to Chengde city for some sightseeing and adventure. At our return in the night in between, I had my first taste of Mahjong and had to read up on how to play. I love board games, and this and Go seem to be all that's played here, so I better learn and get a board, just need to avoid playing for money.

... aucun restaurant avec menus traduits, ce qui nous a salement complique la vie pour en choisir un. On est tombes sur un resto avec une serveuse bien sympa qui nous a montre un paquet de trucs et a su filtrer entre les langues de porcs et les intestins de veau les trucs qui pouvaient plaire a de dedaigneux etragers tels que nous. On se refugie dans les dumplings comme toujours, ca c'est toujours tres bon. On a aussi pu manger du canard laque bien ...

... the rear of this stupa, we found a novel take on the way to present an offering - here they are represented by keyhole-less padlocks! Piles and piles of them had been fastened to every available anchor point, clustered over the chain railings lining the path up to a little temple and continuing inside to adorn every possible bar, bannister or power cable.

Someone asked me about the food out here. Well, as much as I love a good Chinese dinner on ...

... at 22m high surronded by her two worn out disciples and thousands of small effigies of Buddha.

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..

The Dongpo restaurant opposite train station providea a nice tasty meals. Try the ...

... i was struck with total disbelief that i was really in the city. It has been over a year since i was last there and i was in my hotel looking at the same apartment that i had seen from my homestay's apartment a year ago. and you know what else? I GOT THERE ALL BY MYSELF!!!! Well after i had calmed down enough to really believe i was there, i started to feel really hungry. So off i went to lunch! Well lunch and as it turned out dinner was at KFC (yeah i know bad american.) Well I got ...

... brought the actuall camera...for some reason I had left it in the bus, so when I get to uploading pictures many of the pictures you see will have been either taken by some one else or by me with someone else camera. We arrived in Chengde around 7 and went out for hot pot.

After living in China for three months I finally escaped Beijing. In honor of National Day, school granted us a week without class. We have to make up for lost time by attending school this coming Saturday and Sunday. I feel like this system is a bit stupid, but it is just the way things are done. I took advantage of the free days to take a train to Chengde, north of Beijing and located in the mountains. My travelling companion for this great ...