TravelStream™ news feed for member christine.stone on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/christine.stone en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Sun, 25 Oct 2009 04:21:59 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/christine.stone/5/1255584912/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/christine.stone/5/1255584912/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/christine.stone/5/1255584912/tpod.html Sun, 25 Oct 2009 04:21:59 -0400 China in all it's Splendour

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Suzhou, Jiangsu, China

We leave Shanghai at 9am for Suzhou on the way we visit Zhouzhuang, a water town established about 700 years ago and check out some of the old homes of the wealthy people back then that are surrounded by water canals.  We then take a boat ride along the canals.Had a lovely traditional dinner including a pig hock cooked and marinated in like a soy sauce, it was very nice.We check into our Suzhou Hotel - Suzhou is about 1 and a half hours from Shanghai and known as a garden city.  The traffic is horrendous and road rules are very limited, there are push bikes, motor bikes and scooters everywhere, helmets not worn and even the babies are taken on the bikes and held by a parent.  Enjoyed a walk along the street dodging the bikes parked on the footpaths and taking our lives in our hands when we crossed the road, even when it's on a crossing with the green light.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/christine.stone/5/1255664146/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/christine.stone/5/1255664146/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/christine.stone/5/1255664146/tpod.html Fri, 16 Oct 2009 23:50:06 -0400 China in all it's Splendour

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Beijing, China

Off to the Muslim mosque and quarters this morning then we visit the Small Goose Pagoda then the Shaanxi Museum.Info on the Great Mosque:-First built during the Tang dynasty, and located in the heart of the Muslim Quarter west of the Bell Tower, Xi'an's Chinese-styled Great Mosque (Da Qingzhen Si) is one of the largest in China.  Originally built in 742, when Islam was still a young religion, the mosque's surviving buildings date to the Qing dynasty and have been recently restored.  A serene oasis of tranquility, the mosque has four courtyards, the first of which contains a 9 metre high decorated wooden arch, built in the 17th century.Info on the Small Goose Pagoda:-43 metres high it was constructed to store sutras (scriptures) brought back to Xi'an from India along the Silk Road.  It's brick tower, completed in AD 709, was meant to protect the sutras from fire, which often destroyed wooden temple buildings.  The pagoda's top was jolted off by one earthquake and another in 1487 sent a large fracture, about a foot wide, along its length.  A tremor in the next century reversed the damage.We have lunch then go the Airport for our 5.15pm departure to Beijing, a 1 hour and 40 minute flight and we're in Beijing and Jason our Local Guide is there to greet us and get us checked into our Hotel.  Very nice Hotel, nice beds and not hard like most Chinese beds a pleasant change.Went around the corner with Michael our National Guide to a local pharmacy for some cold and cough relief  which a lot of people were suffering from, glad we took him to translate could have ended up with anything.  Also around the corner was KFC so we had a little snack there, as we were all really getting sick of Chinese meals by now.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/christine.stone/5/1255657489/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/christine.stone/5/1255657489/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/christine.stone/5/1255657489/tpod.html Fri, 16 Oct 2009 03:26:47 -0400 China in all it's Splendour

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Jiuzhaigou, Sichuan, China

Today we spent the whole day in the Jiuzhaigou (Nine Villages Valley) National Park seeing the many lakes and waterfalls with their beautiful colours, the altitude here was a lot lower and no one was effected by the altitude.   I can see why this place is a World Heritage site it's like no other place that I've seen on my many trips.  You actually catch a bus from the entrance at the bottom to the top, it was about a 20 minute trip to the first lake, once there you can wander around on the board walks etc then you take a bus down to the next section till finally you get back down to the entrance.  We did a lot of walking, spent many hours there and it was definitely worth it, didn't get back to the Hotel till 5pm and it was only 10 minutes drive away.A young couple in our group Steve and Celeste had a experience that they'll never forget - Steve proposed to Celeste at the waterfall and she accepted.  What a romantic scenario.Some facts on the area:-It is located at the foot of the northern slope of Peak Gaerna in the southern section of the Minshan Mountains on southeastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.  The Y-shaped valley is hidden in green mountains in Jiuzhaigou County in the Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province.  It embraces a galaxy of waters, including 114 terraced alpine lakes, 17 waterfall complexes, five calcified shoals, 47 springs and 11 torrential streams.  There really are nine Tibetan Villages within this valley.Some of us in the group attended a Tibetan Show this evening which was very spectacular with the costumes and dancing but it was very loud, outdid any rock concert that I ever attended.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/christine.stone/5/1255668036/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/christine.stone/5/1255668036/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/christine.stone/5/1255668036/tpod.html Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:43:26 -0400 China in all it's Splendour

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Ipswich, Queensland, Australia

Today we depart Beijing at 1.30pm for a three hour flight to Hong Kong where we hang out till 9.15pm for our flight to Sydney.  Arriving in Sydney at about 7am we go to the domestic terminal for our flight to Brisbane arriving at 11.30am.  
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/christine.stone/5/1255667208/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/christine.stone/5/1255667208/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/christine.stone/5/1255667208/tpod.html Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:40:21 -0400 China in all it's Splendour

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Beijing, China

An early start this morning for our 7am departure to the Great Wall, a 1 and a half hour drive and also to get there before the crowds and we did well being the first ones there.  Enjoyed 2 hours there climbing and admiring the wall then we went to a Jade Factory to spent some money.After lunch we were taken to the Summer Palace which served the Qing Dynasty as an imperial retreat from the stifling summer confines of the Forbidden City.  Despite existing as an imperial park in earlier dynasties, it was not until the time of Emperor Qianlong, who reigned from 1736 to 1795, that the Summer Palace assumed its current layout.  The palace is most associated, however, with Cixi* who had it rebuilt twice:  once following its destruction by French and English troops in 1860, and again in 1902 after it was plundered during the Boxer Rebellion.*Cixi (Dragon Lady) is remembered as one of China's most powerful women.  Having borne the Xianfeng emperor's son as an imperial concubine, Cixi later seized power as regent to both the Tongzhi and Guangxu emperors (her son and nephew respectively).  Cixi prevented Guiangxu from implementing state reforms and, in her alliance with the Boxer Rebellion, paved the way for the fall of the Qing Dynasty in 1911.We were then taken to a market shopping area then onto an enjoyable Chinese Acrobatic Show and then dinner.Back at the Hotel we collected our group photos and said our goodbyes as everyone was leaving at different times tomorrow for home.A great trip and highly recommended and a big thank you to Michael our National Guide.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/christine.stone/5/1255664768/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/christine.stone/5/1255664768/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/christine.stone/5/1255664768/tpod.html Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:26:38 -0400 China in all it's Splendour

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Beijing, China

Today's itinerary is Tiananmen Square and the Imperial Forbidden City which was completed in 1420.  We have our group photo taken in the square as well as the locals deciding to photograph us as well.  Everywhere we went we were all asked to have our photos taken with the locals, probably is our red hair but everyone in the group was asked at some stage.  Westerners are still a curiosity to the Chinese.After lunch we go to see the "Bird's Nest" Olympic stadium and the "Ice Cube" the swimming venue before going to see the Temple of Heaven completed during the Ming dynasty, it was here that the emperor would make sacrifices and pray to heaven and his ancestors at the winter solstice.  As the Son of Heaven, the emperor could intercede with the gods, represented by their spirit tablets, on behalf of his people and pray for a good harvest.Tonight half the group enjoyed a Kung Fu Show, it was great.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/christine.stone/5/1255663356/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/christine.stone/5/1255663356/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/christine.stone/5/1255663356/tpod.html Thu, 15 Oct 2009 23:35:31 -0400 China in all it's Splendour

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Xi'an, Shaanxi, China

A full day in Xi'an and first stop was the clay factory where we get shown how the Terracotta Warriors were supposedly made and check out the shop where you could buy the clay models, lacquer ware and ceramics.Onto the actual Terracotta Warrior site to view the 3 pits and bronze chariots that they also unearthed.  Only just over 1000 warriors have been unearthed and there are still heaps more to go, every warrior is life size and every one has a different face.Facts on the Warriors:-It was discovered in 1974 by peasants digging a well.  The awesome ranks of life-size pottery figures, modeled from yellow clay, were made to guard the tomb of Qin Shi Huangdi, a despotic ruler who unified China over 2,200 years ago.  Excavations yielded three pits and over 7,000 soldiers, archers and horses.  Pit 1 contains the infantry; Pit 2 (still be excavated) is filled with cavalry and soldiers; Pit 3 (unexcavated) seems to be the command centre, with 70 high-ranking officers.  Each warrior, originally coloured with pigment and holding a weapon, has an individually crafted expression.  The colours faded when exposed to air and very few retain any colour and all the wooden pieces have disintegrated.I bought a book from the shop here and got it signed by the actual peasant who discovered the Warriors in 1974, he is now in his 80's.Back to the Hotel then dinner and afterwards I and some others indulged in a traditional foot massage, it was great.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/christine.stone/5/1255662534/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/christine.stone/5/1255662534/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/christine.stone/5/1255662534/tpod.html Thu, 15 Oct 2009 23:22:12 -0400 China in all it's Splendour

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Xi'an, Shaanxi, China

Arose today to a fine day and had the morning free, we walked to the town square for a photo of Chairman Mao, a large statue.  Michelle did some shopping on the way back to the Hotel and we checked out at 12.30pm.  Taken to lunch then onto the Airport for our 4.30pm flight to Xi'an.Arriving at Xi'an 1 hour and 10 minutes later we were picked up and taken to dinner then onto a Tang Dynasty show.  Costumes and dancing were very nice, checked into our Hotel sometime after 9pm.  Our Local Guide is our National Escort Michael because this is his home town which he is itching to show us.Some facts on Xi'an:-Capital of modern Shaanxi, Xi'an has served as capital to 11 dynasties over a period of 4000 years, including the Western Zhou, Western Han, Qin, Western Wei, Northern Zhou, Sui and Tang.  The Chinese trace its lineage back even further to the mythical Yellow Emperor, who made Xianyang his capital (2200-1700 BC).  Xi'an peaked during the Tang dynasty, when its position at the eastern end of the Silk Road transformed it into a bustling metropolis, luring foreign merchants and faiths, including Nestorian Christians, Muslims, Zoroastrians, Manicheans and Buddhists.Xi'an is a walled city and still intact, forming a 14 km long rectangle around the city centre.  In 1370, during the reign of Hongwu, the first Ming emperor, these walls were built on the foundations of the Tang imperial palace, using rammed earth, quicklime and glutinous rice extract.  The 12 metre high bastions have bases up to 18 metres thick.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/christine.stone/5/1255661904/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/christine.stone/5/1255661904/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/christine.stone/5/1255661904/tpod.html Thu, 15 Oct 2009 23:08:36 -0400 China in all it's Splendour

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Chengdu, Sichuan, China

Today is Moon Festival and the Hotel left us some Moon Cakes in our room, not bad, very different, Michelle had one with an boiled egg in the middle.  Couldn't work out just what was in some of them but maybe we don't want to know.Although a rainy day we head off to Le Shan to view the Great Buddha and on the way we stop at a tea shop to taste and buy the different teas.  After 2 hours we arrive have lunch then walk along the river walk to take the boat to view the Buddha from the river.  The rain spoilt the view but managed to get some photos.Facts on the Buddha:-It is 71 metres high and is carved into the red sandstone face of Lingyun Hill overlooking the treacherous confluence of the Min, Dadu, and Qingyi rivers below.  In 713 AD a monk, Haitong, decided to safeguard passing boats by creating a protective icon in the cliffs - though he was also practical enough to realise that the resultant rubble would fill in the shoals.  By the time Dafo (Great Buddha) was completed, other temples had been built around it and on the adjacent Wuyou Hill, and today a network of paths links this UNESCO World Heritage site.Back to the Hotel at 5pm then onto dinner at 6.15pm.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/christine.stone/5/1255659763/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/christine.stone/5/1255659763/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/christine.stone/5/1255659763/tpod.html Thu, 15 Oct 2009 22:29:29 -0400 China in all it's Splendour

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Chengdu, Sichuan, China

It started out rainy but cleared to a pleasant warm day and we ventured off to visit the Dujiangyan Irrigation project about a 2 hour drive from Chengdu.  On the way we visit a Brocade shop and shown how brocade is made and of course make some purchases.The irrigation system which dates back 2000 years is very interesting and fascinating how it was made.  It is China's oldest water conservancy plan began during the reign of Emperor Zhao of Qin by a local officer of the Sichuan Province at the time - Li Bing together with his son completed the construction of the now major landmark in the name of water management and technology. Honoured as the "Treasure of Sichuan" the Dujiangyan Irrigation Project continues to play its role in draining the flood waters and irrigating farm lands around the province.We arrive back in Chengdu about 5.30pm and walk around a local market before having dinner and returning back to the Hotel.
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