This was my third visit to Chengdu. My friend Howie picked me up at the airport, and was a very gracious host throughout my visit.

It was great to see Howie again . He continues his mission to turn me into a total “foodie”! And, with all that great food in Sichuan, I am a goner!!

Howie drove me around Chengdu, giving me a peek at various landmarks.

Wenshufang Neighborhood

Howie took me to the Wenshufang neighborhood and we visited Wenshuyuan (Wenshu Monastery)

After visiting the monastery, we went to a shop owned by one of Howie’s old chums. There we relaxed and enjoyed some pu’er tea.

Wuhou Temple

A famous period of Chinese history is known as the Three Kingdoms period. It was a contentious time, with China divided into three areas, each struggling for overall supremacy. The historical novel about the period, “Romance of the Three Kingdoms” generally takes the side led by Liu Bei. The territory of this faction changed over time, but ultimately its capital became Chengdu.
Liu Bei was buried within the grounds of what is now the Wuhou Temple.

Liu Bei was not an overly forceful or successful ruler. Credit for their successes really belonged to his chancellor Zhege Liang. This man was a brilliant strategist, as well as an inventor.

Zhege Liang is still well admired, and great things of visitors flock to this site.

Bridge over the Jinjiang River

The city of Sanmenxia holds the historical and geographic key to the name of Shaanxi Province!

More about that at a later date!

Rhonda says that for me, Xi’an is a home away from home. She is right!
I feel comfortable in Xi’an.
I know my way around the city.
I have visited a growing number of local landmarks,
I can easily navigate the city by subway.
I know a few bus routes. In the worst case, take a (dreaded) taxi.
I like the food, and even have some wonderful friends here.

This year when I arrived, the city was finishing up preparations to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. There were flags everywhere, and a general buzz of excitement. Well, the fact that China’s National Day also includes a week long vacation (for most people) helps!

The old center of Xi’an is surrounded by a (very picturesque) protective wall. The main gateways through the wall correspond with the cardinal compass points. I headed for the North Gate so that I could reach a (huge) historical site.

Daming Palace National Heritage Park

Don’t be mislead by the presence of “Ming” in the name. This is not a “Ming Dynasty” site. Rather, it is the sprawling imperial palace site from the Tang Dynasty (618 to 907 CE).

Except for the huge Daming Gate that was reconstructed at the location of the original, almost no rebuilding or reconstruction has been done.
It is an archaeological site. Like a number of Roman sites in Europe, only foundations are visible. At Daming park, these foundation-platforms have been tidied up, but they are bare.

Researchers have a good idea of what the most important buildings looked like. Using a variety of sources, including textual descriptions from the era, scale models are on display in glass cases adjacent to the associated foundation platform.

Scattered throughout the site, creative artwork has been placed to help provide an image of the former imperial city.

I found this to be a very creative way to present the obliterated palace.

A comprehensive outdoor model of the entire site helps visitors visualize the complex as it had been in its heyday.

The modern grounds also include several museums.
I visited one, positioned partially underground, that included various artifacts that have been excavated from the site.

Ruined sites from previous eras of a civilization tend to be reused. Over the centuries various building get constructed for a variety of uses. This site was no exception.

By the time the decision was made to create the heritage park, the area has become home to thousands, many of whom lived in ramshackle houses.
All of that had to be removed. (this same treatment occurs everywhere in the world)

In most places the cleared out housing is quickly forgotten. However, in the museum I visited, a section was dedicated to respectful acknowledgement of what was removed.
Those houses too are a part of the area’s heritage!

Xi’an Friends

I had a great time while I was in Xi’an catching up with friends!

This meal was at a restaurant just inside the old walled part of the city. Fantastic food!! Afterwards we “walked off” the food with a stroll along the “moat” outside the old walls.

Qinglongsi

After adelicious meal with Shirley, we took the metro to Qinglongsi. There, She guided me on a tour of this wonderful, tranquil temple area.

Small Wild Goose Pagoda

I saw the “Large Wild Goose Pagoda” on my first visit to Xi’an, in 2015.
So this year I finally visited its smaller brother.
Unlike the Large Wild Goose Pagoda, you cannot ascend this one.

However, for a few yuan, you can sound the bell! 🙂

Xingqinggong Park

On the site of the (no longer present) Tang Dynasty “Xingqing Palace”, this park is a nice place for families, and the general public to relax, or exercise, or enjoy various rides such as a good sized Ferris Wheel.

Farewell Xi’an! I will be back!

The remarkable Hukou Falls is six hours northeast of Xi’an by bus!

The second largest waterfall in China, it is also said to be the largest yellow waterfall in the world. The translation of its name is “Tea kettle falls”, an apt name for the swirling, frothing silt laden tempest.

In this area, the broad Huanghe (Yellow River) is flowing toward the south and acts as the border between China’s Shaanxi and Shanxi provinces. The river has a light brown, “muddy” appearance from the silt that travels with the water. This color is what is the “yellow” in the name of the river.

At Hukou Falls, the river’s path is suddenly constricted as it is forced through a narrow opening between mountains on on both east and west sides. The abrupt narrowing, combined with a drop in elevation is what created Hukou Falls.

It is a sight to behold!

As I approached the falls, an ever increasing spray filled the air. I put on a rain coat, and covered all but the protruding lens end of my camera with plastic. The ground became increasingly slick and muddy. The mist an increasing hazard. I put my camera away, and continued, using the more water resistant camera of my phone.

Afterwards, another six hour bus ride to return to Xi’an.

Luoyang had been China’s capital during many dynasties. At times it acted as a dual capital with Xi’an as the western capital and Luoyang the eastern. Sadly, over many, many centuries, most of the grand, historic buildings of the capital were destroyed.

I had chosen my hotel because of its favorable location, and it’s view. It was a short walk from a historic older part of town. From a small rooftop terrace is a view of two reconstructed Tang Dynasty structures: Ming Tang Palace, and Tian Tang Pagoda.

In the evening it took little time to reach a bustling night market area with lots of food vendors, as well as stalks selling knickknacks. There were even tables where vendors would sit creating packs of cigarettes using compact rolling machines.

I had previously been to Luoyang in 2016, without knowing anything about the city. Blindly accompanying three other teachers from a program in Xi’an, we skipped the Luoyang itself, and visited the Shaolin temple and Longmen grottoes.
Having already seen them, I had no desire to re-visit either of those spots. But I did want to go up Songshan (Song Mountain) and visit White Horse Temple. I was mislead into thinking a package tour offered through my hotel would include both of those- on a tour that also involved seeing Shaolin Temple (again!)

Well, it turned out that Songshan was NOT on this excursion’s itinerary. This meant lots of wasted travel time and visit time for the Shaolin Temple. Actually, the tour company was pretty worthless in most respects. To effect the itinerary they shuffled subsets of confused tourists from one bus to another, rather than keeping them on a single bus.

Although the tour company was weak at best, my fellow tourists we’re generally friendly: whether they spoke English or not!
(hey! old men bond easily no matter what language challenges exist!)

I have already posted photos of the Shaolin Temple in “Pere’s Ramblings” for 2016, so I’ll skip that here, and move on to the White Horse Temple.

This temple is close to 2,000 years old and is said to be the oldest Buddhist temple in China.

The following day (on my own), I visited “Guanlinsi” (Guanlin Temple), famous for being the burial site of Guan Yu, a heroic figure during the “Three Kingdoms” period of Chinese history. (He is mentioned in my page on Sanmenxia)

I said that Guan Yu was buried here, but actually it was only his head which was attached to a wooden body. The details of these circumstances are a bit complex. Read the book! 🙂

I previously mentioned the Ming Tang Palace and Tian Tang Pagoda- shown below.

Although these are quite attractive, and said to be built over the foundations of the original structures, these are quite modern buildings. Theses have structural steel cores and I believe they were constructed within the last ten years.

My next stop was Tunxi. Technically, this refers to the Tunxi District of the city of Huangshan. But perhaps more to the point is it’s old name: “Huizhou”.

Anyone who has carefully followed my “Learning Chinese Provinces” video series on YouTube might recognize the name Huizhou.
Combined parts of two cities’ names, Anqing and Huizhou provide the name of their province: Anhui.

The prime tourism / shopping destination is a pedestrian thoroughfare named “Old Street”. My hotel was located there.

Taxis and other cars cannot get too close to the location of the hotel. After rolling my bags close to where I knew it was located, and began to query shopkeepers. Most drew a blank. But then a guy I asked pointed and gestured. Although one side of the hotel overlooks “Old Street”, its entrance is located on a tiny alley, barely four feet wide.

The hotel is a gem. (Thanks for the recommendation Marlene!)
The manager reported that the building had belonged to her family for several generations. My room was equipped with two traditional Chinese “kang” beds: a sort of raised platform with a canopy.

I felt a bit guilty to have such a large room, but from the online booking sites it seemed to be the way to get a balcony looking over Old Street.

I browsed the shops a bit. Their wares were very nice and also very expensive.

Marlene had mentioned a factory that made ornate “ink sticks” of a variety used in traditional calligraphy. So, of course I had to check it out!

In addition to the process of incorporating the material that, when rubbed into a little bit of water, would become ink, these sticks were beautiful. Cast in molds that created artistic images on the surface, those images were then hand-colored at the factory.

Back on Old Street, I window shopped a bit more, resisting the lure of various fine items that I could not afford.

At a store filled with calligraphy tools and supplies, I started an idle conversation with a young fellow who worked there. His command of English was great. The conversation progressively became more involved. We discussed Chinese geography and history. Soon our talk delved into the evolution of the written Chinese language and some subtle nuances of the transition from “traditional” characters to the “simplified” characters used by most Chinese today.

He was extremely knowledgeable and quickly two hours passed. Eventually he needed to help attend customers. But we agreed to meet up and continue the conversation over a bit of food after his shop closed.

Both the food and the conversation were excellent! The man’s “English name” is Jim. But when I talk to m wife, I appreciatively refer to him as “the young scholar”.

Like Honcun, the small town of Xidi is a UNESCO “World Heritage Site”.

It’s Ming and Qing dynasty buildings display the attractive “Hui-style” architecture. In this case, “Hui” refers to the Anhui city Huizhou, not the Hui minority group.

Huangshan (Yellow Mountain) is a world famous series of peaks in southern Anhui province.

Friday, I traveled to the mountain and ascended via a cable car. I spent most of the day exploring various rugged trails, and absorbing the beauty of the rock formations.

My good friend Marlene had visited Huangshan in June. Unfortunately she had the bad fortune to suffer almost constant rain while she was there. (But, she is an excellent photographer and nevertheless got some great photos!)

My experience was different, and Friday was virtually cloudless.

I stayed in a hotel on the mountain Friday night. Along with a hundred others I woke early Saturday morning and stumbled in the dark up a steep series of steps toward the top of Lion Peak. We all waited in the cold for sunrise.

As the sky lightened, a sea of clouds washed up the mountain. It was spectacular!

After what seemed like an hour of beauty, the excitement subsided as the rising clouds settled in over the mountain.
I headed back to the hotel for a quick breakfast, and then checked out.

The thick mist of the enveloping cloud made visibility poor. I had a decision to make: head to the nearest cable car and go down the mountain? Or try to make sense of the mostly useless maps of the mountain trails, and take a much longer route to try to glimpse the famous “Greeting Pine” that provides a visual welcome to visitors.

I selected the latter option- undoubtedly the wrong choice given my advanced age and ruined ankles (in my defense- I did survive… Barely!)

The correct path was often uncertain, and the poor visibility did not help. It was brutal! Extended climbs that had me panting and my heart pounding, descents that had my knees screaming in pain- then, repeat, and repeat, and repeat.

After a couple of hours, a strong, bitter cold wind began to blow. At times it challenged my balance. Other times it tried to send my hat flying. I cinched the chin cord of the hat tighter!

The wind began to create occasional breaks in the clouds, exposing rugged peaks. Eventually the enveloping cloud was gone! But the dramatic and challenging up and down of the mountain path remained.

Maps were bad, and trail signs gave dubious and sometimes contradictory guidance.

Yet somehow I finally made it to the Greeting Pine. There I jockeyed with hundreds of other who also wanted photos.

That done, I fought my way along trails packed with new arrivals to reach the cable car station and head down!

I will be staying overnight in Hongcun before heading up Huangshan (Yellow Mountain) tomorrow!

Besides being a World Heritage site, some very recognizable spots in Honcun were shown in the movie “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.”

In fact, the exterior of my hotel here can be seen about 2/3 the way into the movie.

The town is really cute, although many of it’s alleys are now filled with gift shops, and Hocun is filled (at least during the day) with hordes of tourists (I guess I am one of them!)

Yet it’s beauty is such that when I walked around South Lake, I encountered easily 100 young art students with easels painting scenes of the lake, the arched bridge, and/or aquatic plants with huge leaves that grow near one shore.

An online “Tourist Map” showed a mere handful of streets/alleys.

Well, I have only been here a few hours and have gotten lost a bunch of times!

A more complete map was posted in town.