Great Mosque of Xi’an
Some of you may remember the one little photo I had of the mosque in Xiahe from my August trip to Ningxia and Gansu, and my report of the beautiful mosques that blend Chinese and Islamic architectural traditions. Sadly, I got very few photos of those mosques since my camera batteries were low and the few I took came out poorly. So I made up for it with a few extra shots of this mosque, which is apparently one of the largest in China. Naturally I could not enter the main prayer hall (it’s one of he shots you’ll see after this, with a woman in a pink coat standing in the shot), but the grounds are nice even in the winter: I suspect in the summer the gardens must be lovely.
Little Goose Pagoda
Less fully restored, and less touristed than the complex that holds Big Goose Pagoda, is Little Goose Pagoda, which feels almost dainty when conpared to the massiveness of Big Goose Pagoda. Like Big Goose, it was also built in 709 to house Buddhist manuscripts brought from India by another monk. It’s quite lovely, and can also be climbed all the way up to the roof, though apparently the original top was knocked off in an earthquake in the 16th century. In the next set you’ll see a few shots taken either from inside or the top of Little Goose, as well as some other atmosphere shots of the grounds of the complex.
Han Tombs Atmosphere
After visiting the famous and crowded (even on a cold early December day far from tourist high season!) Qin Tombs with the terracotta warriors, I thought it would be nice to see a pair of Han Dynasty tombs that sit outside Xian on the other side of the city. The Han was the first long-lasting and really
glorious dynasty: the terracotta warriors come from the Qin dynasty (pronounced Chin, hence the name we all know China as), which only lasted one emperor more or less — about 25 years or something like that. (Its claim to fame is it was the first to unify – conquer – the whole Chinese
heartland under one ruler.) The Han, by contrast, lasted from about 224 BC to 220-something AD, and was an enormous high point in Chinese culture.
These tombs are for one of the earliest Han emperors and his wife, from a period known for a major flourishing of culture and art. They also have amazing armies of terracotta warriors, but they are all much smaller and feel less grandiose, perhaps more artistic. I couldn’t get any pictures of them, because at that museum you can’t take pictures. But they’re beautiful, and one guidebook describes these tombs as much more Daoist and humble than the grandiose Qin tombs. I agree — and the atmosphere is utterly different, since there are no big tour groups and hordes of tourists of all nations walking around: in fact, it was almost hard to find the entrance and the museum, even though this big mound sits right by the main highway between the airport and downtown Xian!
Xian Sunset
Since Davey and I missed the last bus from the Han tombs, we walked about 30 minutes to a little village where another bus line ran back to downtown Xian. This view caught my eye as the sun went down. Davey’s dad works for an electric power company, and he assures me this is NOT a nuclear plant,
however much it may look so to some of us; and I can’t say for sure whether the wooden steles (is that the word?) are memorials or tombstones or not,
but they sure look it. I thought this was a nice photo to end my stories of Xian with. 🙂
Welcome to Wulingyuan National Park
OK — since this’ll be the first shot, sequentially, that anyone will see from the time Steve and I were together (even though it’s the last of very many shots that I’ve been posting gradually for more than a week now), I’ll do a bit of introducing. My wonderful older brother Steve came and spent nearly three weeks visiting me here in China. For two of them, I had to work so he stayed in Beijing and did the usual tourist things during the day: Forbidden City, Great Wall, Temple of Heaven, Temple of Earth, etc. He found Beijing endlessly fascinating and was, I think, really quite blown away by the Forbidden City. (Ming Emperor Yongle, whose idea I believe it was, would probably be quite pleased to know it can still impress, 600 years later.)
During his middle week, I was able to get free from work, so we did some traveling in China. The many shots that follow are the highlights of our travels: first Wulingyuan National Park in Northwest Hunan, where we ended our trip; after that shots of our wonderful cruise through the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River, which took up the middle of our trip; and after that shots of Chongqing city and of the ancient Buddhist cave art at Dazu, a day trip outside Chongqing (formerly known as Chunking).
Wulingyuan blew my mind, and I think Steve’s — once you find trails that are away from the hordes of tourists (it’s very popular with Chinese tourists, and also attracts lots and lots of Korean group tours), you can walk for hours through absolutely blessed landscapes of mountains, rocks, trees and magnificent vistas. Our first day was on the main trails, so though we saw the beauty we were distracted by the crowds. Our second day, as you’ll see, we found remarkable beauty and the peace and quiet to really enjoy some nice long chats and enjoy each other’s company. Thanks for visiting, Steve!
Second Day Trail
These two shots show the beginning and the end of the trail we spent our second morning on. The large gate is the entrance to a long, winding trail that ascends gradually through thickly-wooded hillsides. There are no spectacular views for the first few miles on this trail, so it seems to attract fewer people: the payoff comes later. The other shot, with small wooden houses at the top of a hill by a stream, represents the end of an extremely steep descent on the other side of the rise. We saw no one on this whole train, and we both felt it was as beautiful and peaceful as we imagine the descent into Rivendell should be. 🙂 Resting by the pool at the bottom of that trail, I felt I was in one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been.
(so much world, so little time....) 