11/29/06 ~ Leshan

On the Rio: Mickey Hart ~ Wheel of Time

The Chinese have a saying: "Buddha is a mountain, mountain is Buddha." Presiding over the confluence of 2 rivers, the Dadu and the Min, that sweep past the foot of Lingyun Hill at Leshan, is a large statue of Buddha.

Carved from the rock face, it is a staggering 233 feet (71 meters) high and is even more impressive for having been created over 1200 years ago during the Tang dynasty.

From Leshan ferry peir, boats go south to the Buddha.

The outsize diety (dafo) is more a marvel to behold for its scale rather than for any exquisite carvings. Haitong, a devout monk from neary Lingyun Temple, made this his labor of love, starting in 713, but he died before its completion 90 years later. He embarked on the project so that Buddha's presence would calm the turbulent waters of the rivers which had claimed so many lives -- and the story goes that it worked.

The Buddha's head alone is an awesome 50 feet (15 meters) high; his ears come in at a lengthy 20 feet (7.5 meters) and his sizable feet can hold an audience of 100 tourists while he looks down his his 10 foot wide (3 meter) eyes.

Amazingly, the big Buddha has survived a combined assault of civil war, exposure to the elements, and periods of anti-Buddhism hooliganism (including the Cultural Revolution). The statue was at one time covered by a protective wooden building (and one may be rebuilt again in the near future). An elaborate drainage system has been built inside to prevent the worst effects of weathering.

Climbing up to the Buddha's head I passed the impressive halls of the Tang dyansty Wuyou Temple, where I got to rub the belly of the laughing Buddha.

And in case you need to throw anything away, strange looking recepticles are available for your garbage.

Monks are building a new dormitory and study hall building at the site. I gave a small donation and got to paint my name on a roof tile, so I will always be a part of Leshan.

11/26/06 ~ Shu Jin & Remnin Park

On the Rio: Aretha Franklin ~ Without the One You Love

I went to the Shu Brocade Institute. Silk originated in China. In ancient times, Sichuan was called "Shu" which according to some documents, pictographically describes the silkworms in the mulberry trees.

Around 300 AD, Shu Kingdom, with Chengdu as its capital, had already established its name for silk weaving and its products were regarded as Shu Brocade for the delicate design and bright colors.

This is the traditional weaving machine.


I decided to purchase a hand-made silk item from here. This is a rendition of the Chinese painting "Six Horses" by Xu Bei Hong, one of the most famous painters in China, skilled in drawing horses.

After the silk museum we went to Remin (People's Park). There was a chrysanthemum flower exhibit. I do not know the woman in the picture.

This is a monument built to citizens who lost their lives building the railway.

Many families come to the park to take boat rides.

There is also a large tea house where families and friends come to drink tea, play cards, and socialize in general. My guide and I stopped for afternoon tea at the lakeside. I drank chrysanthemum tea. And my guide, the one in the chair, got his ears cleaned in the traditional way. (I opted out of this experience.) The "cleaner" has several metal utensils and cleans the wax from your ear. This happens all over the city, even at a play we went to the next night (but more on that later...)

11/23/2006 ~ Du Fu Cottage

On the Rio: Bob Dylan ~ Silvio

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

One of my co-workers came in to say happy holiday to me, and asked if I was doing anything special, like cooking my favorite foods. I said no, a turkey was too big for me to cook for myself, and I don't have all the cooking utensils to make a pie. She suggested I just buy a bottle of Wild Turkey whiskey and pretend. My team-mates are getting to know me a little to well I'd say.

After the pandas we drove to Du Fu Cottage.

Du Fu was a Confusicanist poet of the Tang dynasty and is widely considered to be China's greatest poet. My guide said his poems are memorized in school and he even recited a short one for me. Du Fu lived from 712 - 770.

He is revered for his lyrical rendering of a lifetime of great suffering. He tried to put into words the political situation of the time, showing empathy for the poor, downtrodden and exploited. He wrote over 200 poems at this location. Here is a statue of him along side a carving of a poem.

He was not rich man himself, and built the thatched roof cottage. This is a replica of course.

There is also an archeological site dig here, exhibiting numerous potteries and other artifacts from the era.

The Chinese design such wonderfully tranquil parks.

But it's also important to look at the smaller details else they pass you by.

11/21/06 ~ Chengdu Pandas

On the Rio: The Beatles ~ Within You Without You

I had the most wonderful weekend in Chengdu, I almost don't know where to start. But I must admit, I do realize how lucky I am to have gotten a job that provides me the opportunity to have these experiences.

Chengdu is the capital of the Sichuan province. It was settled originally as the Kindom of Shu during the Three Kingdom era (A.D. 220 - 265) and was a jamjor commerical center during the Tang dynasty. It later introduced paper money in the 10th century.

I arrived late on Friday night and went directly to the hotel. My guide, Kevin, arrived at 8:30 for our first stop - the Giant Panda Breeding Research Base. This was timed so we arrived during feeding time when the pandas are most active. It is located only 7 miles (11 km) north of the city and is dedicated to preserving the lineage of the giant panda and red panda. The animals are free to wander through a sizable domain of bamboo groves and forests.

They are divided by age. Giant Pandas can live to almost 18 or 20, and if conditions are good, can have up to 12 babies in a lifetime. They are solitary animals, living in small patches of land, and only get together to mate. The babies cannot see, eat, or go to the bathroom themselves until about 6 months old, so they are continously cared for by nurses. A first-time mother does not know what to do with the baby. I still don't understand how they can survive at all in the wilderness.

The biggest killer of Giant Pandas currently in nature is ingested worms from the bamboo they eat, so in the Research Bases they are served cut bamboo that has been washed. They will take a long stem of bamboo, tear of several leaves into their mouth and then roll up the leaves and take a bite and chew rather methodically, first on the left side of the mouth and then on the right side. They really only move once there is no longer any cut bamboo within their reach.

This year, 9 babies were born at the Base. I had the opportunity to meet and touch one of the pandas. The fur was so soft. They are very gentle creatures, mostly just interested in eating. I'm still smiling!

I hope you enjoy the pictures!

11/16/06 ~ Great Wall Trip continued

On the Rio: Keb Mo' ~ Victims of Comfort

After descending the Great Wall, we were met by our driver to take us back to Simatai. Here's the phone number for anyone who wants to make a reservation.

I was exhausted and ready for a nap before dinner. My room was the one in the middle (my guide was to my left and my driver to was my right).

Don't let the sunshine deceive you. The temperature was about 40 degrees Fahrenheit and got down into the 30s at night. The heating system left a little to be desired. As did the bathroom (especially compared to the high-tech Tokyo bathroom I had the weekend before!)

But not to worry. After a delicious dinner of spicy pork and green beans, sweet & sour pork, and sauteed egglplant with rice, I returned to my room where a large thermos (knee-high) of hot water was delivered so I could take a soothing sponge bath. Then I crawled under the blankets and watched a little tv (the NBA Cavs-Celtics game was on) and got ready for the next day's hike.

The hike for Day 2 was at Gubeikou, about a 40 minute drive away. The main part of today's Gubeikou Wall was constructed under the supervision of Xu Da, a noted general in the Ming Dynasty. It runs for more than 20 kilometers and has 143 beacon towers, each positioned at an average interval of 156 meters. The nearest two are only 30 meters apart. The inside of these towers varies in design. While some have a flat ceiling, others either have an arched ceiling, a domed ceiling, or an octagonal, painted ceiling. Each tower has two floors, six archways, and ten arched doors, allowing garrisoned soldiers to advance and retreat freely. The towers are also different in size. The largest one can accommodate a garrison of 100 soldiers, and the smallest one a garrison of 10 soldiers. The towers often have one to six portholes.

My goal: to reach the peak.

The first point of interest was the Brick Kiln.

During the Ming Dynasty, tile firing and brick manufacturing increased. So the ledge walls were mostly built with bricks. But between the bricks stones from the mountain were used as filler (unfortunately, so were the corpses of those who did not survive the building of the Great Wall - I half expected to find bones along the pathway.)

Mao said that everyone should come to the Great Wall at least once, and after doing so will be a hero. My guide, Crystal, and I joked that with as much time we were spending on the wall we were either crazy or superheros. This is about 1/2 way.

All of sudden we came across a train track that had been built into the mountain under the Great Wall. Most "modern" cities and highways have been built only in areas where the Great Wall was completely collapsed.

And then, lost in thought, we were suddenly at the top!

The entire roundtrip journey took just under 4 hours.

On the way back down, we sat on the Wall for almost 40 minutes, listening to the wind, thinking of nothing but being in the Now (how Zen-like) and imaging what it would have been like hearing the Mongol warriors advancing.

Maybe it was the altitude, or just the freshness of the air, or physical exhaustion, but for those few moments, Life stood still and I felt fluid with nature.

11/15/06 ~ Great Wall Day 1

On the Rio: Johnny Lang ~ A Quitter Never Wins

Here was my first view of the Great Wall.

How long is the Great Wall? Many dynasties in Chinese history built, rebuilt or extended the Great Wall. The latest construction took place in Ming Dynasty and the length built was over 6,000 kilometres. This is the one often referred to when we talk about the Great Wall. However, if including all the walls built in different dynasties around China, the total length will exceed 50,000 kilometres.The Great Wall is not just a wall. Other defensive works such as forts, passes and beacon towers were built along the Wall to house auxiliary soldiers, store grain and weapons, and transmit military information.

My journey was to hike from Simatai to Jinshanling. The Simatai Great Wall is 5.4 km long (3.6 miles) with all together 35 watchtowers. It would take me a total of 3 1/2 hours to complete the hike.

Built hundreds of years ago, the Simatai Great Wall still retains all its original appearance. It not only incorporates a variety of styles of other parts of the wall, but also displays some unique characteristics. This section of the Great Wall is often described with the following five words: perilous, dense, diverse, ingenuous, and peculiar.

In the valley, the Simatai Great Wall is separated into two parts by the Simatai Reservoir. My hotel, and starting point for the journey, was the far end of the reservoir.

The Simatai Great Wall, with densely-dispersed watchtowers snaking along the mountain ridges, looks spectacular. On the hills with gentle slopes in the west, twenty watchtowers are well preserved.

Over the reservoir is a chain bridge walkway, which I had to make my way down to.

But just when you thought "whew, I made it", you realize that for everyone one step down, there are 2 steps up on the other side (and swear silently under your breath wondering what you got yourself into, knowing there are 3 hours to go!).

The watchtowers on the Simatai Great Wall exhibit a refined design and various structures.

The watchtowers are quite small, but anywhere from 1 to 50 soldiers would live there. Here is a view from one of the watchtowers.

A farmer woman appointed herself as our "local" guide, and we veered off the wall for a while to walk through the neighboring farmlands. This consisted of approximately 3 families, living in broken brick homes, well water must be brought in due to recent highway construction which dried up the local wells. It reminded me most of traveling in the mountains of Romania. So, I ended up buying a Great Wall poster from the "local" guide lady, but she did keep me falling once or twice, so I owed her.

And here I am on the Wall! I can't believe I made it, and it was only Day 1.

Here is some further information on when the Great Wall was built, if you are interested.

Spring and Autumn Period(770-476B.C.)
Wall of Chu State
It is considered as the first part of the Great Wall.

Wall of Qi State
The wall covers a length of 600 kilometers, winding its way through the whole of Shandong Province, from the west in Pingyin County to the east jiao county then reach the Yellow Sea of China.

Warring States (475-221B.C.)
Wall of Qin State
The wall is to built along the north of his frontier at present GansuProvince and Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region

Wall of Zhao State
Locates at present Linzhang County and Cixian County of Hebei Province
Wall of Yan State
Two sections of the Wall were built in this period.
Qin Dynasty(221-207 B.C.)
Wall of Qin Dynasty
The Great Wall first took shape.

Western Han Dynasty(206B.C.-A.D.24)
Wall of Han Dynasty
The longest Wall ever built in China, covering a length of more than 10,000 Li.
Northern and Southern Dynasties
Wall of Northern Wei
Around 1000km of Wall was built during this period
Wall of Eastern Wei
Only around 75km of Wall was built
Wall of Northern Qi
The whole Great Wall was then about 1,500 kilometers (932 miles) long, which was longer than those of former dynasties except Qin and Han.
Wall of Northern Zhou
Renovation of the existing Wall

Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)
Wall of Ming Dynasty
As a result of ever greater efforts of administrator, the Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty, covered some 7,300 kilometres, stretching from the Yalu River on the east to Jiayu Pass on the west becoming an impregnable barrier.

11/13/06 ~ Great Wall Itinerary

On the Rio: Quicksilver Messenger Service ~ The Fool, 6/7/1968, The Fillmore East, NYC

I have survived the 2 day hiking expedition to the Great Wall of China. Much to the surprise of my tour guide who actually had a harder time climbing than I did. I may look out of shape, but I am a founding member of the Extreme Team, no matter which "sport" is the category.

I left Shanghai for Beijing and took the overnight train, leaving at 7pm and arriving the next morning at 7am. It was very comfortable. I had a soft sleeper seat, in a cabin for 4 persons. I actually had a small conversation in "Man-glish" (the combo of Mandarin and English) - with the couple who had the upper bunks - the first succesful one I've had since I've been here.

The cabins are very nice, and we were served a hot dinner (sort of like a beef hot pocket) and then some fruit and muffin for our breakfast. There was a nice dining car, but I didn't go. I had brought a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and 2 small bottles of red wine. We all went to sleep around 10pm.

My guide, Crystal, and driver met me at the train station. It was a 2 1/2 hour drive to Simatai, the entrance point for my journey.

Here is a picture of the overall Great Wall map. On Saturday I was scheduled to walk from Simatai to Jinshanling. On Sunday I was scheduled to walk at Gubeikou.

Badaling, on the west, is the most popular Great Wall tourist spot. But if one goes there, all you will see in your pictures are heads of other people because it is so crowded.

I know the suspense is killing all of you to see the photos, but I am so exhausted, that I must postpone more until tomorrow....

11/10/06 National Park Hakone

On the Rio: Eric Clapton ~ Bell Bottom Blues

After Mt. Fuji we drove to National Park Hakone.

Autumn is in full force and the trees were almost at their peak.

We took this boat for a short ride on the lake.

The view was beatiful.

I met a really nice woman from Canada and she took this picture of me.

Here is a better shot of the boat behind me.

Our destination was to this cable car center.

Here is a view of the lake and cable car from the top of the mountain.

We reached the top of the mountain just in time to see the sun set behind the clouds.

And then turning towards the East, we saw the moon rising.

We returned to Tokyo by the bullet train.