China 2013
I could relate to this young lad after looking at temples much of the day.
An iconic Buddhist symbol for connecting the micro with the macro. This is a sculpture in the hotel where we stayed and I put in a different background.
We were fortunate to see an evening water/light show in Xian.
Here's the Famen Temple at night.
And seen as the water show begins.
It was a challenge taking these pictures. I had my tripod to get steady shots. People would jostle the camera and step in front of it to get their view.
Beautifully lit tree.
As you can see, it was a beautiful evening.
One of the world's great wonders is the discovery of the Terracotta Warriors and here we stand looking at this awesome display of restored warriors.
These terracotta sculptures depict the army of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China.
The figures were buried with the emperor in 210-209 BC because the emperor believed that they would portect him in his afterlife.
The figures were discovered in 1974 by local farmers.
The figures include warriors, chariots, and horses.
They continue to recover and restore the figures today. Here you see a woman meticulously removing the dirt around a figure.
They continue to find new pits of warriors and now estimate over 8000 figures exist.
The terracotta figures are life-size with each figure unique.
Here is another pit in which they've recovered terracotta warriors.
Here are two road warriors hoping for protection in their after-life.
A statue outside the Terracotta Warriors museum.
As we returned to Xian from seeing the Terracotta Warriors we were greeted with this staggering pollution.
We ended our day with a dinner theatre in Xian watching these beautiful scenes along with traditional Chinese music.
The Chinese can certainly entertain with gorgeous costumes and exquisite choreography.
The next morning we were climbing stairs again as we approached Huashan Mountain outside Xian.
Here is the Memorial Archway as we approach Huashan Mountain.
We took the easy way up the mountain -- by cable car. You can walk up, but it's a long climb and somewhat dangerous because there are sections where there are boards fastened to the side of the mountain and you hold on to a chain as you walk. Julie said "no way."
This was the longest cable car ride I've experienced. It took about 25 minutes to reach the top.
The cable car approaching the top.
The view from the top, muted by smog.
Another view.
Meet Enyi Cai, the person who invited us to China, traveled with us, and made all the arrangements for us to be treated like royalty. Enyi worked at Human Kinetics for about 10 years before she established KinesWorld, the HK distributor in China.
A beautiful archway as we leave Huashan Mountain.
Unfortunately we returned to Xian to this pollution.
We ended our day with another traditional Chinese dinner with this couple playing Chinese music.
The next morning we flew to Beijing.
Our host in Beijing was Professor Yan who took us to this restaurant where they cut the noodles as you see here. I found it humorous to see Mike Ditka's Chicago Bear jersey hanging in the background.
After lunch and a meeting with local softball officials we went to the famous Forbidden City. As you can see, it is NOT forbidden any more.
The Forbidden City, located in the heart of Beijing, was the Chinese imperial place from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty, a period of about 500 years.
The Forbidden City is another popular attraction for Chinese citizens as well as international visitors. Here's a group of Chinese visitors receiving information about the history of the City.
The elaborate buildings with this extensive ornamentation were spectacular to see.
We are wearing a device for having audio descriptions of the various parts of the vast grounds of the Forbidden City. We simply walked to a space and the audio would start with an explanation of what we were seeing.
The Forbidden City was built from 1406 to 1420, includes over 900 buildings, and occupies 7.8 million square feet.
