Interesting Sites in China

Not a lot happened today, so I thought that I would post some of the more interesting other photos that we have taken through out China.

This is a McDonalds Delivery Moped. Yes, McDonalds delivers.
This gentleman couldn't pedal his bike up the slight incline. He jumped back on at the top of the small hill and took off. We see a lot of over loaded bikes like this around town.
This sign was out side of the Wal-Mart in Xi'an. no 'pats' and you aren't allowed to 'eat foot' in the store.
This man was hauling a fridge across town. They will haul anything they can strap to a bike.
There was a traffic light at this major intersection, but police were still needed to direct the traffic. Traffic rules are more like suggestions in China.
Another seriously loaded bike.
This is a three wheeled truck loaded with firewood. It only has one wheel in the front. We see a quite a few of these old type trucks around.
I was surprised to find this poor translation in one of the fancy restrooms by the Bird's Nest and Watercube in Beijing. It is trying to tell you to put your hand under the faucet and it will turn on automatically.
Here is a common panel in their elevators. Notice all of the skipped floors. 13 is unlucky to westerners and 4 in any form is unlucky to Chinese.

Panda Reserve and Bamboo Park

Today we visited the Panda Reserve. This was very interesting. There are about 1000 pandas in the world and just under 100 of them are at this reserve. We visited on a cooler misty day in the morning. It was perfect for very active pandas. I took lots of photos and movies. This is picture of some younger pandas. About 1 year old. They were the most active.


Is we wanted, we could get a picture holding a baby panda for only $150 per person. Some of the families did this, however we didn't feel it was worth the money. However, later on we found that we could get a picture holding the more common (and cuter) red panda for only $15 per person. This seemed reasonable so Patrick and Emily got to hold a read panda. They look like a cross between a raccoon and a panda.


In the afternoon we visited the bamboo park. This was a very nice park like setting with over 100 kinds of bamboo. There are large areas where the local people come to do tai Chi and dance or play music, etc. Also there is a large tea house. The local people go there and purchase a cup of tea leaves, which they steep several times over the course of a morning or after noon. They sit and relax and play mah-jong. For money of course.

At the tea house there are also people giving massages and ear massage/cleanings. For some reason this was a hit amongst the teen agers. I don't think there is any reason that a stranger needs to be sticking things in my ears. Anyway, they would massage around the ear and then gently work their way inside. Afterwards they got a big kick out of showing you the ear wax they removed. Here is Patrick getting his ears done.

Also in this park there were some kid rides. Bumper cars, a small roller coaster, etc. The kids rode the roller coaster and the bumper cars. Only in China can you find a roller coaster where it can't get to the top to start. It would get part way up and then got back down. So the attendant would back it up and get a run at it and help to push it up and over the top.

This is a picture of Kaitlyn with one of her new friends. A 12 year old that is very patient with the smaller kids.

Chengdu Brocade Embroidery and Hot Pot Dinner

Today we travelled from Xi'an to Chengdu. We left in the morning and arrived in Chengdu around Noon. It was raining today. Actually more like an Oregon Mist. Which isn't too bad, because it keeps the heat down.

The first thing we did was lunch. Chengdu is in the Sichuan Province and is well known for it's spicy food. They took it easy on us foreigners and only served a couple of spicy dishes. Since I like spicy food, I found it all to be very good.

After lunch we visited a Chengdu Brocade Embroidery Museum. It was the same drill, a lot of interesting facts about this type of cloth is produced, which is very amazing. Followed by a tour through their museum and then ample opportunity to buy your Brocade and Embroidery.

Finally we arrived at the hotel. We like this one much better than the one in Xi'an. it is right downtown. After checking in, we walked around town some. Kirsten and Patrick got drinks at a Starbucks and the girls got ice cream at a McDonalds. All the comforts of home. :-)

We also visited a Chinese grocery to pick up some snacks and a Chinese department store to get a couple of umbrellas for tomorrow. These types of stores are very interesting. There is at least one employee at each end of every aisle to help you with your purchases. I have never seen so many employees in a grocery store.

In the evening, we went to Hot Pot Dinner. This was optional and our family was the only one to participate. The meal was very good. We all enjoyed it immensely.




Here is Patrick before he tried a piece of on of the peppers:


Here he is trying to eat enough rice to cool his mouth. Notice the color in his face?

Interesting Sites in China

Not a lot happened today, so I thought that I would post some of the more interesting other photos that we have taken through out China.

This is a McDonalds Delivery Moped. Yes, McDonalds delivers.
This gentleman couldn't pedal his bike up the slight incline. He jumped back on at the top of the small hill and took off. We see a lot of over loaded bikes like this around town.
This sign was out side of the Wal-Mart in Xi'an. no 'pats' and you aren't allowed to 'eat foot' in the store.
This man was hauling a fridge across town. They will haul anything they can strap to a bike.
There was a traffic light at this major intersection, but police were still needed to direct the traffic. Traffic rules are more like suggestions in China.
Another seriously loaded bike.
This is a three wheeled truck loaded with firewood. It only has one wheel in the front. We see a quite a few of these old type trucks around.
I was surprised to find this poor translation in one of the fancy restrooms by the Bird's Nest and Watercube in Beijing. It is trying to tell you to put your hand under the faucet and it will turn on automatically.
Here is a common panel in their elevators. Notice all of the skipped floors. 13 is unlucky to westerners and 4 in any form is unlucky to Chinese.

Various Sites around Xi'an

Today we saw a variety of sites. It started with a trip to an art and caligraphy museum. This is very similar to the various factories that we visited while in Beijing. Basically they teach you a little bit about something, in this case Chinese Farmer Art and Caligraphy, and then give you ample opportunity to buy some of it.

The girls had fun doing the hands on caligraphy and we bought a few small pieces. Mom and Dad bought something slightly larger. A picture that is 6 ft by 3 ft.

Next we got to ride bikes along the old Xi'an City Wall. This is the ancient wall that used to protect the city. It is about 8 miles long. We only had time to do about 1 mile of that up and back. With the condition of the bikes we were able to rent, that is about all we wanted to do.



For lunch we were taken to a dumpling restaurant. They served all kinds of dumplings. Spicy Chicken, Pork & Mushroom, Tomato, Walnut, Fried Rice, Pumpkin & Ham, etc. It was all very good, but they gave us way too much. We left with several doggie bags, which we gave to the tour guide.

After lunch we walked through an interesting market area. All kinds of little shops and restaurants, selling clothing, food, knick-knacks, etc.

After walking around for a while we attended a 'shadow puppet show'. It was interesting, but the drums and cymbols that were played through out the performance were exceptionally loud. It was a short performance, thankfully.

After the puppet show we walked back through the shopping to a visit a Muslim Mosque.

Kirsten and our girls were wearing 'appropriate clothing'. However most or the women were wearing tank tops. Bare shoulders are not allowed, so they all had to wrap a shawl around themselves, like my Mom had to do here.

Finally we shopped at the stores for a little while picking up all kinds of cheap souveniors. The stuff isn't of the best quality, but it can be purchased very cheaply, as long as you are decent at haggling.

Terra Cotta Warriors, Wild Goose Pagoda and Chinese Opera

Today was our first day in Xi'an. We visited the Terra Cotta Warriors first thing in the morning. The buildings are not air conditioned there, so we were trying to view everything before it got hot.

As expected the whole thing was pretty amazing. 8,000 different life-size clay statues buried to guard an emperor over 2,000 years ago. Most of them were broken over the years, but they have rebuilt over 1000 from the pieces they have excavated and placed them in their approximate positions. It is pretty impressive.




We bought a book describing the area and were able to get the signature of the farmer who discovered the Terra Cotta Warriors while digging a new well back in 1974. He likes to meet the people and sign the books, but is very adamant about NOT having his picture taken.

After visiting the Terra Cotta Warriors site, we went to a modern day Terra Cotta factory where they make the new Terra Cotta statues for sale. Because our daughters are adopted from China, they got to make their own small statues using the Terra Cotta clay.



Following this, we finally had a late lunch. I only mention this, because it was the only bad meal I have had so far. The place was too hot and the food was buffet style and it was barely luke warm.

In the afternoon we took a quick tour of the Wild Goose Pagoda. This is a very famous functioning Buddhist Temple. We didn't stay too long. It was pretty hot by then and we all wanted to get back to the hotel to rest up for the Chinese Opera and Dinner later in the evening.


The Opera was fantastic and the dinner was very good also. More of a western meal than a Chinese one, so it was a nice change.

Summer Palace and Travel to Xi'an

After the long day yesterday, we got to start late today. We didn't leave the hotel until 10:30 AM. This gave us time to sleep in a little and to to pack, because we were traveling later in the day.

The first stop today was the Summer Palace. This is basically a place to entertain the Emperor during the summer. It inculdes a man-made lake for his pleasure and to grow fresh water pearls. Also there is an 800 meter covered walk way for when it is raining. This walk way is covered with over 8,000 different works of art, so the Emperor could still have something beautiful to look at on those rainy days.

Our tour consisted of walking along the covered path, then a nice lunch inside the Palace Grounds and finally a ride on a Dragon Boat across the lake, back to the starting point.





After our tour of the Summer Palace, we were taken to the airport an hour away. We waited there a couple of hours till our place left (on time), spent two hours in the air and then another hour bus ride to the hotel where we arrive after 10:00 PM. Needless to say, we all slept late.

Great Wall, Jade Factory, Olympic Green, etc.

Today was a long day. Started at 7:15 AM and ended around 8:30 PM. We traveled for a couple of hours up to the Great Wall. On the way we stopped at a Jade Factory. We learned a little about jade. The various types and how it is carved. Then, of course, we were allowed to shop. We picked up a couple of inexpensive bracelets for the girls and a nice pair of ear rings for Kirsten.

The Great Wall is built along the ridge line in the mountains north of Beijing. It is not too high, around 2500 to 3000 feet. Still, it was high enough that with the breeze, the heat didn't seem very bad at all. We walked up as far as the girls were willing to go. It gets preety steep and the heights bothered them some, but we went a lot higher than I expected we would. Patrick, of course, went the whole way.




Afterward, we did a little shopping. Patrick bought couple of hats. We have our haggle gimmick down now. Patrick determines what price he is willing to pay and lets me know. Then after haggling a while he asks me for a larger sum. However, I argue with him and then give him the lesser amount we agreed upon. I tell him that is all he is getting and walk away. So far it has worked. We are probably still getting took. :-)

After we toured the great wall, we ate lunch in a restaurant attached to a Cloisonne Factory. We browsed the goods. Mom was the only one that bought anything. A large vase.

After another 45 minute drive and we arrived at the Olympic Green. We were able to walk around the Water Cube and the Bird's Nest. We were even allowed (for a fee) into the Bird's Nest. Patrick and a couple of friends were even allowed down onto the track. Currently the Water Cube is being converted into a water park. Sadly, except for tourism, the Bird's nest has not been used since the Olympics, except for two concerts. Seems like such a waste to me.





The day ended with an Acrobatics show followed by another dinner. The show was very good. it needed to be, because most of us were having trouble staying awake at this point. A few members fell asleep anyway. Not us or our girls, surprisingly.