China 2013
Our first stop was at Shanghai University of Sport. This is the administration building.
The University jump roping team put on a performance for us.
The students were skillful and were having a blast performing for us.
And a sword demonstration.
China 2013Shanghai University of SportSword Fighting DemonstrationChina
Graceful movement.
China 2013Shanghai University of SportSword Fighting DemonstrationChina
The student performers along with faculty members and us.
China 2013Jump Rope TeamShanghai University of SportSword Fighting DemonstrationChina
We cruised the Yantze River on a dinner riverboat and saw these beautiful lights of the city.
Another river boat serving dinner.
And another.
We were enraptured with the lights and movement of the vibrant downtown.
A park along the Yantze River. I don't recall the name of the tower.
A well lit bridge across the Yantze.
The next day, after my lecture at the university, we took the train to Nanjing.
Nanjing was the smallest city we visited with a mere 3.6 million people.
This is Buddhist Temple, one of several we visited.
Buddha.
We enjoyed walking the streets and snapping pictures of people (known as street photography). In this series of photos, you'll see a variety of bike-like vehicles.
Wearing masks was common because of the pollution.
I think I'm getting to the age where Julie should be biking me around the streets of Ormond Beach!
We visited the Ancient Wall of Nanjing. It's 32 kilometers long encircling the inner City.
Throughout our visit we saw the contrast between the "old" and the "new".
The yellow sky is from smog.
A beautiful pagoda.
The lighted dragons illuminated the wall along the river on which small house boats cruised.
We climbed 392 stairs to see Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Mausoleum. Considered the father of the Chinese nation, he helped overthrow the Qing dynasty and in 1912 became the first president of the modern era of China.
A view from the top of the stairs of Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Mausoleum. You can see that we weren't the only people to visit that day. Our guide told us an average of 80,000 people come a day.
Walking through the Zhongshan Mountain scenic area which includes the Mausoleum.
Walking to the Xiaoling Tomb of the Ming Dynasty
We encountered another buddhist temple.
I'm not sure who or what this is, but he's a fearsome fellow.
The shrine inside the buddhist temple. We were told that Buddhism is the dominant religion but 80% of the population are non-believers.
Signs of fall as we climbed the mountain.
The view from the top of Qixia Mountain was disappointing as you can barely see the city because of the smog.
We ended our visit to Nanjing Sport Institute with a tour of their sports facilities, and they were impressive. Here the women's fencing team from Korea was having a match with the Chinese.
Here is one of several gyms for gymnastics. We saw swimming, diving, basketball, table tennis, and badminton facilities as well.
The next day we flew to Xian, a city of 8.5 million people.
We visited the Ancient City wall in Xian and saw the changing of the guards.
We walked on top of the wall surrounding the Ancient City along with bikers and many other people.
As we were leaving the Ancient City wall, we saw this couple who were in their wedding clothes as they prepared to be married.
And we went to another Buddhist Temple
This is the Famen Temple of Xian
And Buddha.
Scenes around the Temple
This is Guanyin Pusa, a goddess-like figure in Buddhism.
