Last Day in China

I think this will be posted out of order but I can:t figure out all the Japanese language on this computer. Michelle, maybe you can switch it around, thanks!
I am writing this in the CaminoRo in Osaka, Japan. I got e-mails from Pat and Joyce that they have made it home - Joyce with my extra suitcase filled with things I didn:t need and things I bought in China (I still have things NOT opened from China 7 years ago! But I will organize everything, give it away, etc. when I get home over the winter) Joyce said my angel was still watching out for me and she didn:t even have to pay extra for the extra checked bag, since she`d bought her ticket before July 5th. It still would have been worth the $70 NOT to carry 2 bags now!
We had another wonderful breakfast at the Dongling Resort (check out their website in Yangshuo and you can see how lovely it really was! Haven`t figured out posting pictures yet). The day previously our van had stopped at an ATM in town so we all could get money. Then off we went for our float down the Li.
The next morning as we were packing up all our things, Pat couldn`t find her credit card (used to get the mone). After multiple searches, she took the receipts from the ATM to the office to have Jan call the bank to see if a card had been left in the machine (Joyce had done this in Xi`an and a guy had come running after her with the card! That guardian angel again!)
Anyway, Jan said her husband would take Pat down to the bank, with her passport to check. Qin, our guide would meet them there to help. To Pat`s surprise (would have LOVED to see her face! but I wasn`t present) the husband showed up on a motorscooter. Remember that LOOONG downhill driveway? Pat said she wrapped her arms around the husband`s chest, pressed her head against his back and closed her eyes for most of the trip. She said the driveway was much less bumpy on a scooter, she remembers. She never opened her eyes to look at the weaving in and out of traffic. Arriving in one piece, she showed her identity and it turns out the bank attendant found the card in the back of the machine. When the screen came up to say, Take Card, Pat had just walked away and NOT pressed it so it stayed in the machine. Relief!!
Later our guide Qin picked us up, with all our luggage in this very comfortable van with a driver. Off we went, first to stop at Silver Caves, discovered in the area in 1996 and made into a tourist site. It was a 2 KM walk up and down steps through caverns with huge stalagtites and stalagmites, pools of water with colored lights to display all the imagined creatures somebody came up with in the limestone formations.
Then Qin found a wonderful restaurant near the river before we finally left this beautiful area with the unusual karst formations for the airport. We were the only ones in the restaurant (it was early). We walked through the nearby strawberry fields where workers were laying black plastic over the beds and cutting holes to bring up the lush plants through the holes. This was while our fish was being killed for our lunch! I tried, as a good Buddhist, not to think about this! The fish was wonderfully tasty, with big bones that stayed on the plate! This had been an issue on my last trip and I generally just said I didn`t eat fish! Couldn`t deal with all the bones as the Chinese do- it seemed easier that way. Another delicious meal and off we went.
We had a smooth drive to the airport, Qin came in and helped us through the ticketing, to the security gate where we said goodbye. She was delightful and a great find. We will all go on Trip Adviser to recommend her as she and her husband are trying to do their own little startup side tour business. She was going to stay the night in Guilin with her husband. It`s so convenient with whole family living where she can just go off and leave her son with Auntie and Grandma and not worry!
Our flight back to Shanghai was uneventful and then we struggled a big dragging our bags to find the DaZhong hotel between the two terminals at Pudong airport. Here we ran into the rudest Chinese we had come across. The non-English speakers at the desk were pretty unhelpful but we settled into our double rooms. _They reminded me of those hotels I`ve heard about that are almost a drawer with just a bed. But we squeezed in, the beds were comfortable (albeit hard as the usual Chinese bed, and it turns out Japanese as well! I like them) The shower, however, was terrific with a square rain shower head and a handle as well. EXCEPT the side wall of the shower was opaque and visible to the bed area! Pat wanted no more mooning so we pulled the shade down! :)
In the morning Joyce warned us before we paid that the Chinese breakfast was not worth the 30Y so the other 3 of us went over to the airport (very convenient, all inside to the terminals) to a food court and found breakfast sandwiches. We picked up Joyce and they all we`re going to find a business office to print out their boarding passes, said goodbye to me and I went off to my earlier flight to Osaka..
Everything was smooth and I was soon waiting at the gate for a couple of hours early for my flight. It was China Eastern again and I had only a carryon (that conveniently zips apart into two pieces so it will fit in the overhead). It was about 1 hr and 40 minutes until we landed at Kansai Airport in Osaka. I changed money at the ATM which gave me 3 10,0000 yen bills!! When I asked at a travel counter where I could get change for the bus (Betty had sent me directions on how to get to our hotel) they said do you have a bus ticket? NO! and they sold me one and gave me change! Probleｍ solved! Off I went for an hour busride into downtown Osaka, followed the directions, with help from a lovely man who helped me buy a train ticket from the machine, then took me to a service office where they guided me to the right train, with everyone bowing at me! It:s hard to switch to arrigato from xie xie!!! Again Betty had provided me with a map to the hotel as I got out of the station (unfortunately she had misplace that map when she arrived the day before and she wandered around for awhile before she found the lovely covered street with shops on both sides leading to our upstairs hotel). But I came along straight there and she came down the steep stairs behind M. our proprietess who runs this with her husband and  15 month old daughter. It`s squeaky clean, shoes left at bottom of the stairs, lovely kitchen to cook in, computer free here in the common area, and a 4 bed dorm room for us.
I already did an entry for yesterday. Today is raining so we don`t have a plan yet. I think we will leave for towards Hiroshima tomorrow stopping at this canal town overnight to see some recommended sites. That`s all for now. Sayonara!

Mooning over the Li River!

We will be really nostalgic to leave this wonderful place! We can't wait to get on Trip Adviser and highly recommend this hotel here in Yangshuo. I paid up my bill this a.m. and it was about 600RMB for 3 wonderful nights, 3 great breakfast and two loads of laundry (plus free Internet mostly available! we think they shut the router down at night!) which is under $100 American dollars!! So yesterday Qin (Gao's wife - he was working in Guilin yesterday) picked us up with a very comfortable van to drive us to our bamboo rafting trip. No putt-putting for us! We bought flower wreaths from old ladies as we got there to wear as we floated down a branch of the Li River. Pat and I were on one raft with a woman poler (punter, whatever) and Marilynn and Joyce on the other. Reclining rattan seats with an umbrella and off we went! Very peaceful, lots of "Ni hao!"s from passing boats - didn't see any other foreigners on the water. Qin had told us we would stop for pictures but we didn't quite know what that meant. Turns out there was a wall dam where we exited the raft and waited while they rolled it up onto the wall. We then sat back down and slid off onto the upstream side for maybe 15 more minutes of floating. Very peaceful, gorgeous scenery! We turned around and got back to the dam. Same procedure only this time as we slid down, both Pat and I got soaked! at least the bottoms of us! There were stands where photographers were taking our picture many times and then soaking wet we were led onto the stand to purchase pictures. We each bought 3 and they were laminated (they got Joyce and Marilynn for maybe 6 or 7 each!) and off we went. Pat had on knit pants that weren't going to dry so she stood on the raft with her bum facing the sun, backwards (to the hilarity of our punters!). My cargo pants are nylon so I did the same position for a bit (of course, we had to take pictures of this ridiculous position that will be posted when the other 3 ladies get home, I hope!) as we rode along. Qin was there to greet us with the van driver after our 1.5 hr. float. We headed off for a neighboring village to see "Moon Rock", a karst with a big hole moon-shaped and more markets to buy things! and pose for pictures.  Then we headed to her village, where we shopped for dinner in the local market. We had Qin there now to tell us what some of the bizarre things were! We were all a little freaked out by the "butcher shop" area with big pieces of animal hanging. Pat had a close encounter with a heart of some animal! The chickens were all in cages and villagers going home with one dangling from their hand, wings flapping! And of course, all kinds of fish still swimming around in tubs! We took the scenic short cut through the rice paddies and fields on narrow walkways from the village to Qin's family home. We met her auntie, mom and dad and later her 5 year old son whom the auntie picked up at school at 5 - he's in kindergarten. She showed us his sheet of homework of math and how he would learn to do it on an abacus. I didn't get it!! Not smarter than a Chinese 5 year old, I'm NOT! We went out to pick beans (looked like BIG lima beans! I'm not a fan!) and some oranges from a nearby grove. We sampled one right by the tree and then she had us bury the peels! We assumed this was someone else's grove but she explained if people see the peelings, they'll know the oranges are ripe and would take some. This was her family's plot. The government divided up the land and gave each family plots in different areas, so they would have a wet one for certain crops and dryer one for others. We saw lotus plants waiting for the roots to be dug up, various kinds of "lettuce" which is what they seem to call ALL greens that we've been eating, rice that had mostly been harvest (with bundles of stalks drying for animal fodder in winter), strawberry fields (she said they are ready from February at New Year to April). The father and uncle were busy constructing and repairing a side house for the upcoming wedding of Qin's brother - big event with feeding over 100 people, 3 times a day over a 2 day celebration. But the couple will live in Guilin. I thought it was unusual for Qin to be living with her mother and father, with her son (3 women all share one bedroom, and it looked like one bed!), father across the living room in another room. Gao, the husband lives and works in Guilin. It seems he works for a tour company but does these other tours on the side. He and Qin, it sounds like, are trying to create their own business, having home stays on the farm, the home dinner, etc. So she quit her job at a hotel here when her son was a year or so and she has been working with Gao on this for awhile. Her English was excellent and she was so helpful! Gao had built this separate building that was a dining hall with big round table, and two bathrooms (Eastern, of course) off it. I think this is in anticipation of more tourists coming. We helped in the kitchen peeling the peas and beans, Mama cooked in this gigantic wok, rice cooker was going, several greens dishes and we had a lovely spread. Oh, we each helped stuffing the fried tofu balls with a pork, onion mixture that was later deep fried! We ate, had oranges and pomelo for dessert and walked through the fields out to the main road to meet our driver again. Off we went to the magnificent sound and light show! It was put together by John someone who did the opening ceremony at the Beijing Olympics. There must have been 500+ there in the outside theater (and a second showing at 9:15 p.m. - in the summer they do 3 performances a night!). Over 600 mostly minority Chinese participate in the show, floating in boats and platforms over the water, with the gorgeously lit karsts in the background! It was breathtaking! Fortunately there was a guard going up and down the aisles making the men put out their stinky cigarettes!! Very helpful! The show was about an hour with the finale of about 200 people, in silvery lit up costumes seeming to "float" - we think there was a submerged platform raised up) over the water towards us. It was worth every penny, we all agreed! After a great night's sleep, warm shower and terrific breakfast, we paid up and that's when disaster struck! Pat, so organized and efficient with her little black tie-on purse in the front where she keeps everything, couldn't find her credit card. We backtracked in our minds and had stopped the day before starting out at a bank. We looked at the slips from the bank and concluded she must have left it there. Maybe a good Samaritan had turned it in! Jan called Gao who gave her Qin's phone #. She got the info on which bank and decided Pat should go with her husband down to the bank. Qin would meet them there. Off she went! When she returned, she showed me the mode of transport - a MOTORCYLE! Pat, a bit China-traffic-phobic! - said she got on, grabbed him around and closed her eyes most of the time, through the tunnel, over the bridge where they met Qin. There is a question at the end of getting money that says "Take Card" and apparently she had just walked away. The guards checked her passport, another bank officer opened the back of the machine, and there was the card!! Our angel is watching out for us!! Soon Qin will take us to Silver Caves here and then to the airport for our last night at the airport in Shanghai. Zai jian!

Died and gone to Heaven (called Yangshuo!)

I was so frustrated last night! I wrote for an hour and the Internet cut off and nothing was sent. So I'm trying again!

After our wonderful day in the rice terraces (climbing hundreds of steps!), we ate dinner at our hostel and schlepped our heavy backpacks and one rolling suitcase each out to the bus stop, hopped (yea, right! more like dragged) it all onto a crowded rush hour bus for 2 stops to the bus station (we were told a taxi wouldn't take us that short distance but it was way too far to walk!). It was an adventure crossing double lanes of traffic (that the Chinese make into 6 lanes each!) with this luggage to get to the long distance bus station for our bus ride to Yangshuo. A couple of us are rather skittish in the traffic so it was a real challenge. But we made it without losing anyone, got our tickets and were on the bus. It was a bumpy hour and a half ride to Yangshuo in the dark, trying not to look at the headlights coming at us when our bus would pass others. I couldn't find the reservation slip for our hotel but remembered the name. A kind English speaking Chinese wrote it for me on a card to show the taxi driver. We negotiated 30 Y to take us (most we've EVER paid for a taxi!) and drove down the road, through a tunnel, over a bridge and then turned up a gravel driveway, a LOOOONG driveway! It got rather silent in the back seat as we drove up, up and someone mentioned maybe this was a campground. We finally arrived and a paved entry and then walked up with the driver to find the office (everyone else just stayed in the taxi - they were afraid to let him go!) Jan was sitting outside the office and not expecting us until the next day (the girl at the hostel who called for me confused the arrival time and day!) but all was well, they had rooms ready for us (it was Sunday night and I think they had many people over the weekend but they were all gone).

Our rooms (NOT a hostel) are spacious, with a gorgeous view out the window of the moon over the karsts (see previous entry). The shower still floods the bathroom and toilet (have the Chinese NOT heard of shower curtains?) but is clean and spacious. The difference between anxious, confused, exhausted and adventurous, clear-headed and ready to go is a GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP!

In the morning a wonderful, one of the best, Chinese breakfast was waiting on our veranda outside our room, surrounded by beautiful yellow and red flowers! Jan was ever so helpful to take away our laundry and guide us down to the river and into town. Away we went, back down that hill and across the street and walked along the Li River with many bamboo boats with 6 or so seats putt-putting along the River. We passed newly planted gardens (they have 2 seasons here as it's so tropical - was about 80 degrees F. yesterday walking around). Water buffalo were drinking at the river, we passed a woman with 2 harnessed monkeys. Marilynn paid to hold one and feed it and get a photo. She also had two cormorants with the bands that you could pose and get your photo taken. We passed a young woman taking a photo of her 80 year old parents. She asked if we would pose with them (I wonder what the Chinese do with all these photos of us with them!!) and then Mama wanted a picture of each of us with just her!

There were stalls of tourist ware (the boats must stop along here) and we browsed and bought a few things. We finally made it and climbed up to the Yangshuo bridge (before the tunnel). We were going to flag a bus down but two women there indicated, no, we should wait for the cheaper 1Y tuk-tuk, I call them - that's what they were called in Thailand. Little open air buses with 3 bench seats. We hopped on with them, showed them our West Street (the pedestrian shopping street in Y.) paper Jan had written on for us in Chinese (the WHOLE key to traveling in China is get things written in Chinese, pin yin - if you want to pronounce them- and English to show taxi drivers, etc.) We got off and wandered and shopped, had a great lunch, order chops for grand kids - a seal with their name on the bottom in English and Chinese - for them to stamp with.

Then came the highlight - a one hour full body and 1/2 hour foot massage!! We had to wait 1/2 an hour for 3 guys available but it was well worth it - 138Y. This averages us about one massage a week since we've been here! A highlight for me! and I think Marilynn and Pat are converts! They were painful especially our calf muscles from all that climbing but we felt great after!

The tuk-tuk ride in rush hour at the end of the day wasn't quite as smooth but we made it to the bottom of that driveway with two different vehicles and headed up.

We had dinner in a lovely private room - we were told no chicken soup because the chicken was still running around! None of us like the thought of ending his life for our supper! The pig, on the other hand, was already dead! Vegetables, pumpkin slices, soup with veggies, pork and snow peas, and beer topped our evening.

We still had time for Pat to break out the mah jongg cards (easier to travel with than tiles!) and we taught Marilynn and Joyce how to play. It worked quite well with each of them winning a game. Then Pat and my type-A personalities came out and it was every man (woman!) for themselves! Pat won that game and we retired for the night.

 I forgot to mention when we arrived the night before an Israeli couple were just returning from a wonderful day on a bamboo raft trip, going with their guide to the market, garden, and then his home to help prepare dinner and eat with his family, and then go to the wonderful sound and light show on the River. We got the guide's name (he was driving them to the airport the next day) and met him the next morning at breakfast. He is booked for our day today, same agenda! It's the kind of experience you can't duplicate on a regular tour. So we're waiting after our most wonderful breakfast on the veranda, where we met Caroline, from Singapore on a holiday with a couple of friends and we compared notes on what we had done here and in Guilin. We passed on Gao's name (our guide) to her for them to use later in the week.

Life is so good! We're coming to the end of a wonderful time together! We've become friends (we only knew each other before in pairs - Pat and I and Joyce and Marilynn - and had only gotten together once before the trip! It's been amazingly smooth and fun!

Up, Up and Up!!

We left on a tour van this a.m. after a great breakfast (eggs,bacon, toast, tomatoes and FRESH SQUEEZED OJ!!) with an Australian guy, and two German girls and a Finnish girl who are studying business in Hong Kong for the Longi Terraced rice fields up in the mountains around here. First we stopped at a village of the Long Haired Women and wandered through (and over two swinging bridges!) their village with 3 storied wooden houses: first story for animals, second for family and top floor for the food stores (and the rats!!) They reminded me of the Naxi houses in Yunnan province. The women have exceedingly long hair worn in 3 styles. Covered up if they are unmarried (only when they marry and their husband is the first to see their hair); twisted in a coil smoothly around their head if married but no babies, and coiled with a knot thing in front if married and had baby. At the end of our visit they did a show with lots of singing and showing their tools and instruments: plow, looms, cooking things. Our guide Harry said men look for 3 things when choosing a wife:  big butt, so they are good child bearers, loud voice so they can call over the fields, and big feet, so they are sturdy in the fields. He also mentioned small hands so they could do the delicate handwork and weaving. They had two Chinese guys and two westerners on the stage to reenact the courting ceremony. Pretty funny! They each sang a love song! To show they care, the women pinch the men's bum!  We were pinched on our way out of the program - a way to show affection! The men are to tap the women's toes! Very ethnic, with colorful costumes!

We then drove high up and then climbed steps for over an hour to the top, for a fantastic view of another Zhong village with the rice fields that were terraced in the Tang dynasty (600 AD) and been planted twice a year since! Amazing! they look like a contour map of mountains in 3 D!

The knees held out on the long way down and then a hair raising ride (no such thing as NOT passing on a curve or anytime they feel like it!!) down the mountain for an hour and a half back to the hostel. We're eating here (more OJ!!!) before dragging our luggage to a bus for an hour and a half trip to Yangshuo, on the beautiful Li river for a relaxing final 3 days here!

Looking forward to it!! Not a hostel, it's called Dongling Resort overlooking the river and mountains! We have hopes!!

Quieter Guilin

Yesterday was an adventure in taxi riding - trying to get all our luggage into a taxi. Pat took some great pictures of us crammed in with our luggage on top of us! I ended up in sort of business class on the plane to Guilin because I had to pay more for my ticket when we were hassling with Ctrip, just to get on the plane! No different service, just more money! Oh, well! We're averaging about $18/night for lodging so whatever!

Right away we could tell getting off the plane we were in a more tropical climate - the palm trees, more humidity, bright sun! We could see some of the rice terraces that contour the hills here as we landed. Today we are schedule for a 3 hour tour up into the hills and rice fields and to visit some minority villages. Can't remember if I said this before: there are 56 ethnic groups here in China - with their own language, dress, traditions, etc. The main one is Han, and that's the group you mostly think of when you think "Chinese."  They make up 95% of Chinese (don't know if it's related to the Han dynasty from about 200 BCE to 200 AD). Anyway, the other 55 groups make up the other 5%. They are allowed to have 2 children, rather than one! (I guess to increase and keep the group from dying out). We saw up in Datong, the Mongolian group, with higher noses, smaller eyes (to protect fromthe cold - This was explained by Michelle, our Mongolian looking local guide there). In Xi'an we saw the Hui group, Muslim Chinese, who wear white caps,or head coverings, there was a mosque there, and different foods in the Muslim quarter. We should see some Miao and Dong people here when we go outside the city. The Han mostly live and lived in eastern more developed China. The minorities are in the countryside and their cultures developed because of lack of transportation before all the train lines were built and mountains surrounding their villages. The most of the groups live in the SW in Yunnan province, where I spent time when traveling those 5 weeks in Feb/March in 2005 with Betty and Virginia. We saw many and varied, colorful minority groups. A Taxi guide took us around for a day in Lijiang and we saw a wide variety. I bought about 40 little dolls dressed in their minority clothing back then that are on my bookshelves at home. I will give them to Sarah when she is a bit older (so they don't get undressed!!)

Today we are going to see a group called "Long Haired Women". Haven't heard about them.

Last night we didn't have a lot of time but we taxied over to Solitary Peak - paid 65Y (they haven't heard of Senior discounts here!) to walk around this park with pavilions - crowded with people but not sure what exactly it was. But in the center was this huge karst (limestone hill that looks like an upside-down NOT sharp-pointed ice cream cone). Pat, Marilynn and I climbed the MANY difficult stairs (with lots of rests!) to the top, fighting the groups coming down! But the views of the entire town with the karsts shooting up all around was worth it.

When we came down, Joyce had befriend 3 70+ ladies and a couple of guys doing tai chi. One spoke a little English and so could translate a bit for us - at least our ages - which they are always so interested in. They showed us their 5 layers of clothing (looking like wool sweaters!) they had on and long woolen underwear under their pants. I remember hearing Nov. 1 Chinese put on their long underwear and keep it on until April 1. We, on the other hand, shed our layers when we arrived and had on short-sleeves and single layer pants! We shared our amazement at each other's dress.

We then walked to try to find the Li River that runs through town and down through the karsts to Yangshuo where we will stay for the next 3 days. On the way we passed another hostel so we stopped there for dinner of pork, vegetables and rice, along with Tsingtao! We opted for a cab back to our hostel.

Zai jian!

Notes from Susan - Xi'an

We spent the morning with our "angel" Angelina from CA. She's 23, hasn't traveled much except with her family to Japan when her sister graduated from high school recently. She studied biology and I think is deciding what to do next. In the meantime she took off and came to stay with a family in Beijing on her own taking Chinese classes. Really gutsy, I thought! She speaks pretty good Mandarin, it seems, and was very helpful to us on the bus (she prevented us from getting on bus 601 going the WRONG way and guiding the taxi driver back to our hostel). She had biked with us on the wall the day before and then asked if she could accompany us to the museum and the pagoda. She has been here since May and this is her only side trip. We encouraged her to contact the China Culture Club when she goes back today on the train to Beijing. She will go home mid-December.  Very lovely young woman!

We are off to Guilin today. As we walked around yesterday afternoon looking for an ATM to get cash and also an Internet cafe or some place to get our pictures and movies burned to a DVD, Joyce had a great find! While I waited at the ATM, she found this little hole in the wall with no English spoken but she saw a writing up on the wall with CD and DVD. When I inquired, they took me upstairs  and a helpful Chinese man downloaded my pictures off the camera stick,including the movies (think I got great shots of the dancing fountains Pat mentioned  below). I then had him burn 4 copies so we each go away from here with all my pictures up to now. Then I came back and rested before the show and Pat and Marilynn went back to the place. BTW, when I went with the man downstairs to pay, I only had 70 Y instead of the 80Y. He said to the girl "She was an English teacher here, make it only 70Y"  They are SOOO nice and helpful here! It's so contradictory to their seeming rudeness and shoving and cutting in front when going somewhere, driving, etc.

The hostel arranged for our driver to take us to the Tang Dynasty variety show - 10 musical performances - dancing and instruments - from the period of high culture here in Xi'an around 600-700 AD.  We had Tsingtao beer (3 of us) and popcorn for dinner!!! I remember this from 2004 when Virginia, Gail and I were here for the weekend and went to this show. There were tables all around with a lot of Westerners (big tour buses outside). The show was a bit over an hour - we dressed up in our "best" outfits and had a great time! Our driver was there to bring us back at the end and Pat had one more close-your-eyes ride through traffic through Xi'an. She did say even though she usually doesn't care for cities she's like all of the ones we've visited. We will be more in the countryside in Guilin and Yangshuo  before returning to Shanghai.

On to another adventure! Zai jian!

Letter from Pat - Xi'an

From: Pat Bartlett

Hi, Everyone,

Sorry my messages have been so irregular. I've lost a few emails, and some days I haven't had time to write on the computer, so I have just written in my journal. Yesterday I wrote for an hour and then lost the email. So this is only part.

Today was another wonderful day. Three of us with Angelina went to the Museum here and had a fantastic history lesson on the various dynasties here, starting with early man. It is mind-boggling how much information goes back 7000 years and how advanced they were even then.  I am so impressed by the fact that even then they were not only interested in functional items, but they also wanted to decorate them and make them attractive, i.e. their creativity was impressive. We learned about the King Zhou and how he conquered some of the tribes. Then, Qin Shi Huong really conquered all the warring tribes and unified China as a result. He is credited with being the first Emperor about 225 BC. Shortly after he took the throne at about age 13, he started preparing his mausoleum. Apparently, he was quite afraid of death and wanted to be certain he would be taken care of in the afterlife. That is the reason he had the 8000+ warriors, charioteers, archers, and generals made. The three vaults at the original site were discovered in 1974-76, but in the mid 1990's another farmer was digging a well and found another site, closer to the actual grave. This site contained a bunch of animals and birds, which are supposed to be protective to the Emperor, plus there are figures of various musicians and acrobats, who, presumably were supposed to amuse the emperor. Those things are in the process of excavation now, so we didn't see them.  Emperor Qin also gave China its official language - Mandarin- and standardized weights and measures through the country and created roads. He was good in those ways, but he was also a ruthless despot, who killed the workers on his burial ground, so that they would keep the secret of it. He died at age 51, so it was fortunate that he had planned ahead, but all the things he did which were supposed to increase longevity, obviously weren't that successful. The Qin Dynasty was followed by the Han and then the Tang, the ultimate in culture and creativity. Supposedly, if you ask Chinese citizens which Dynasty they might like to have lived in, most will say the Tang Dynasty. The museum certainly showed beautiful examples of their work. The museum did an excellent job showing the evolution of culture and abilities throughout the centuries, so that one could form comparisons.

On the way to the Goose Pagoda across and down the square, we went by a huge area of fountains.  I had just said that I had heard the dancing waters here are fantastic.  Just then, the fountains sprang forth to Tchaikovky and other music. It went on for about 20 minutes and was really beautiful. We decided someone was definitely watching out for us.

Then on to the Goose Pagoda, a many layered thing that was founded by a man called Zhoung who was one of Buddha's disciples. We walked through the expansive grounds and went into the many small places of worship. The one that was most impressive to me had a mural entirely made of naturally colored jade, depicting the life of Buddha, from conception by an elephant, birth from his mother's armpit to his asceticism and then enlightenment. The jade was in all shades of green, white, orange, yellow, etc. and the sculpturing was extraordinary, really detailed.

After that, we came back to the Hostel and had lunch. Then I took upon myself the task of organizing my suitcase. Things are getting really tight, so I tried to put the heavy things in my suitcase for checking tomorrow, and the lighter things in my tote bag and backpack. It seems to have worked, although it is a pain to have three things to carry. Tonight we go to a Tang Dynasty show.

Tomorrow, we leave for Guilin by plane.  That is our last stop before heading for Shanghai on the day before we fly home. The pace will be more relaxed after this, which should be nice, although I have loved seeing everything that we have.