Before leaving for China Nancy and I discussed what to look for as a momento. We decided that we had a stretch of wall in the hallway going down to the bottom floor that could use some art. We weren't sure what exactly - painting, wood carving, scroll, something. When we found this painting of camellias and met the artist we knew we had found it. It is now framed and hanging on the wall.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2614224409781.98720.1680191390&type=3&l=daac0e58e8
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Shangri-la
Probably the last China post. Shangri-la is located at over 10,000 feet and, as you can see in the photos, it was not exactly tourist season when we were there. Oxygen was available in bottles at stores and there was even an Oxygen Bar in our hotel. It was an interesting visit despite the fact that a lot of the attractions geared to tourists were closed for the winter. As the area is too high for rice the grain staple is barley. You can see how it is stored in the open up off the ground on wooden racks in a couple of the photos. Enjoy.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2563697746646.97427.1680191390&type=1&l=e3b84acc72
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2563697746646.97427.1680191390&type=1&l=e3b84acc72
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Leaping Tiger Gorge
Our next to last day in China we traveled up, up, up into the mountains to Shangri-la at over ten thousand feet. On the way up we stopped for a brief tour and some lunch at Leaping Tiger Gorge, believed to be the deepest gorge in the world.
If you look carefully at the photos both before and after the “Is careful falls the stone” sign you are looking at Leaping Tiger Gorge. In the photo that follows the sign photo you can see the statue of a tiger, which has been erected there.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2536120737238.96763.1680191390&type=3&l=334c26134b
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/yunnan/lijiang/tiger.htm
If you look carefully at the photos both before and after the “Is careful falls the stone” sign you are looking at Leaping Tiger Gorge. In the photo that follows the sign photo you can see the statue of a tiger, which has been erected there.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2536120737238.96763.1680191390&type=3&l=334c26134b
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/yunnan/lijiang/tiger.htm
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Into Tibet
February 10 was largely a travel day as we left Dali and moved further up and into the mountains. The bus trip was broken up nicely by a stop at a Buddhist monastery for a tour and lunch then another stop at Lijiang Old Town in the afternoon.
The photos are split with the monastery photos before the shot of Nancy in front of the ancient camellia bush (what else?) and the Old Town photos after.
“Lijiang Old Town, a world cultural heritage, has more than 800 years history with its establishment in the late Southern Song Dynasty. It’s honored as “the Oriental Venice” and “the Plateau Riverside Town” because of its architectural style where “streamlets flow across every family’s doorway and willows droop in every family’s back yard.”
Photos:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2528010174479.96543.1680191390&type=1&l=bb7e95f151
Related links for the curious.
http://www.google.com/search?q=lijiang&hl=en&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=VftUT56NFsfhiAK4kN20Bg&sqi=2&ved=0CDYQsAQ&biw=1118&bih=952
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/cityguides/lijiang.htm
http://blog.chinatravel.net/destinations-attractions/lijiang-dali-yunnan-travel.html
lijiang - Google Search
www.google.com
The photos are split with the monastery photos before the shot of Nancy in front of the ancient camellia bush (what else?) and the Old Town photos after.
“Lijiang Old Town, a world cultural heritage, has more than 800 years history with its establishment in the late Southern Song Dynasty. It’s honored as “the Oriental Venice” and “the Plateau Riverside Town” because of its architectural style where “streamlets flow across every family’s doorway and willows droop in every family’s back yard.”
Photos:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2528010174479.96543.1680191390&type=1&l=bb7e95f151
Related links for the curious.
http://www.google.com/search?q=lijiang&hl=en&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=VftUT56NFsfhiAK4kN20Bg&sqi=2&ved=0CDYQsAQ&biw=1118&bih=952
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/cityguides/lijiang.htm
http://blog.chinatravel.net/destinations-attractions/lijiang-dali-yunnan-travel.html
lijiang - Google Search
www.google.com
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Dali
Following the close of the ICS conference there were two post-conference tours to choose from. Both went to Dali the first day but one went to Lijian and then Shangri-la while the other split off and went to Baoshan and Tengchong. Nancy and I took the Shangri-la option. Everyone went to Dali where this group of photos was taken. We toured an ancient (and, surprisingly to me anyway, privately owned) mansion. The place was incredible with paintings, statues, scrolls, gardens, on and on. Again we took way too many photos and I have imposed a limit on myself. Hopefully these will give you some small taste. We then toured a shopping mall by electric bus (but no shopping allowed). Nightclub hopping was offered after dinner but I passed on that. The photos here start with the ancient mansion, move to the shopping area after the electric car photo and end with some of Nancy’s photos of the nightlife.
“Dali had once been the capital city of two local regimes: the Nanzhao in the Tang Dynasty, and Dali in the Song Dynasty. The existing old town, built in the 15th year of Hongwu Times of the Ming Dynasty (A.D. 1382), is one of first batch of national famous historical and cultural cities. The gate towers of Dali Old Town are majestic. In the old town “Streams pass along every family’s doorway and camellias blossom in every family’s yard.”
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2524361843273.96429.1680191390&type=3&l=49b847d107
“Dali had once been the capital city of two local regimes: the Nanzhao in the Tang Dynasty, and Dali in the Song Dynasty. The existing old town, built in the 15th year of Hongwu Times of the Ming Dynasty (A.D. 1382), is one of first batch of national famous historical and cultural cities. The gate towers of Dali Old Town are majestic. In the old town “Streams pass along every family’s doorway and camellias blossom in every family’s yard.”
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2524361843273.96429.1680191390&type=3&l=49b847d107
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Last Day in Chuxiong
Nothing much to write about here. We visited camellia nurseries by day and had a farewell party that night.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2506670120991.95998.1680191390&type=1&l=c873166b54
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2506670120991.95998.1680191390&type=1&l=c873166b54
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Busy Day in Chuxiong
The photos attached to this post were all taken February 7. The events depicted in these photos have been described in the blog post entitled “Big in China.” This was one of the most active and varied days on the tour and between us Nancy and I took over 100 photos that day. I have tried to par them down to a manageable amount but it was difficult. If you find this album a bit much I apologize.
(A note to the Camilla enthusiasts: The morning tour was of a famous camellia garden located here in Chuxiong. I have included only a couple of the flower photos but Nancy is working on assembling an all-camellias all the time blog post and photo album so stay tuned.)
So, brief description of the photos. We start with a couple of Nancy’s camellia shots just to whet the appetite of the camellia lovers in the crowd.
Next is the entryway to the park. It was to the right of this entry that we spotted the folk doing t’ai chi. There follows one shot of the first group we spotted, one shot of me following along with them and then a third shot of yet another group practicing a few minutes later a short distance away.
Then we have kids at their folks flower stand, the ornate ceiling of one building at the museum followed by a shot of one of the complete dinosaur skeletons on display at the museum. More detailed descriptions of both the area and the museum can be accessed at the links below.
There follow two aerial views of Chuxiong taken from a building we visited for a reason I can no longer recall. The rest of the photos were taken by me when, accompanied by world’s best student guide Jason, I wandered around Chuxiong all afternoon while Nancy attended the ICS conference.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2502468855962.95910.1680191390&type=1&l=8aeac3bd90
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/cityguides/yunnan/chuxiong/
http://www.chinadiscover.net/china-tour/yunnanguide/yunnan-chuxiong.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuxiong_Yi_Autonomous_Prefecture
(A note to the Camilla enthusiasts: The morning tour was of a famous camellia garden located here in Chuxiong. I have included only a couple of the flower photos but Nancy is working on assembling an all-camellias all the time blog post and photo album so stay tuned.)
So, brief description of the photos. We start with a couple of Nancy’s camellia shots just to whet the appetite of the camellia lovers in the crowd.
Next is the entryway to the park. It was to the right of this entry that we spotted the folk doing t’ai chi. There follows one shot of the first group we spotted, one shot of me following along with them and then a third shot of yet another group practicing a few minutes later a short distance away.
Then we have kids at their folks flower stand, the ornate ceiling of one building at the museum followed by a shot of one of the complete dinosaur skeletons on display at the museum. More detailed descriptions of both the area and the museum can be accessed at the links below.
There follow two aerial views of Chuxiong taken from a building we visited for a reason I can no longer recall. The rest of the photos were taken by me when, accompanied by world’s best student guide Jason, I wandered around Chuxiong all afternoon while Nancy attended the ICS conference.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2502468855962.95910.1680191390&type=1&l=8aeac3bd90
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/cityguides/yunnan/chuxiong/
http://www.chinadiscover.net/china-tour/yunnanguide/yunnan-chuxiong.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuxiong_Yi_Autonomous_Prefecture
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