First stop today was a visit the Royal tombs of the XiXia empire.

Wow! I have really gotten behind in my posting!
Time to play catchup! I’ve got to just do brief notes… a few pics, otherwise I’ll have to rename this site “SlowNotes”!

I have not been able to keep up with these posts! Sorry! Some material will arrive out of order.

March 31- Kaifeng. This city is famous for having become the capital of the Song dynasty as its border was pushed south.

There is a famous painting titled “Along the river duing the Qingming (festival)” in the form or an exceptionally long horizontal scroll.This is said to portray Kaifeng during the Song Dynasty. It is a wonderful work that encompasses rural scenes as well as life in the city itself.

Heading north from Hangzhou by high speed rail, we got to Jim’s hometown. A nice meal at the home where he lives with his parents,

The next morning, a good friend of Jim’s drove to the car-ferry that communicates to Laozhouxiang – a large island in the middle of the Yangtze. The plan? A picnic in a park area at the southern tip of the island!

As you get to the edge of the park you can look across the Yangtze to a heavy industrial site on the other bank of the river

Meanwhile an endless stream of large barges used the river as their superhighway

After eating, I broke out a deck of Spanish playing cards. Jim and his friend had fun learning to play ‘Escoba’.

Then, time to cross the river again. We had a bit of extra time, so we explored their municipal park a bit