Russell Island Australia

Back home to Russell island and the magnificent sunsets over the Bay

These were taken on the 9th May 2013….

ZhongShan Park Beijing was full of beautiful flowers

There was a holiday today and we coukd not go into the buildings at The Forbidden City, but the 10 yuan entrance fee for Zhangshan park was well worth the ticket price.

There were many flowers there ..Blossom and tulips, and pansies, geraniums and marigolds. The colors were beautiful.

This is only a small selection of photos..there are far too many beautiful flowers for me to add more…..

Transport Thief touts Hotel Singles.18311344553…his phone number.. Only use legal Taxis

The transport I got into was behind a red motor bike and it was a one seat and in bad condition…I thought the guy needed money so went with him. He also spoke English.. It was small like this one….just fit one and not good over bumps.

I have been told not to use the small transports that accost you at tourist places or outside the hotels.

Yesterday I did not listen and because the guy spoke English…they all do as I found when accosted again at The Forbidden City…I came close to losing my money and belongings. If the two men had not come by, I dread to think what may have happened. if he had touched me, he would have found my waist bag with all my valuables and my camera on my belt.

The driver took me through the huton, telling me he was going this way to avoid the traffic. The huton is a total maze inside and he stopped in what was almost a deadend saying that was as far as the bike would go…then when I got out, demanded money, when I said I did not have much, pulled out a card saying the fare was 300 yuan.

Here is my story which I have sent to China daily…

Transport Thief Beijing

My free day in Beijing was terribly marred by a standover thief who demanded 300 yuan for a  1 km ride from the Red Wall Hotel to somewhere inside the nearby huton

It was a rusty red wagon behind a motor cycle that stopped me as I walked out of the Red Wall Hotel. I was planning to walk to the Forbidden City behind the Hotel to take leisurely photos as I found the tour I went on was far too fast for photos.

I said no, then when he used 3 fingers I assumed it was 3 yuan as the distance was so close. Thinking he needed the money and 3 yuan was not that much, I carefully hopped onto the seat telling him I had a bad leg and would he drive carefully.

Yes, he spoke good English…so I asked him for his phone number so I could call him when I finished for him to bring me back to the hotel or collect me from the hotel…  18311344553…he said his name was something that sounded like xafai. He is about six foot, quite clean cut looking and speaks English well.

He took me to a corner in the huton and said this was as far as the bike went and I would have to walk the rest.

Then when I took out 3 yuan he got agitated and wanted more. I changed to 10 yuan notes and he still said no and wanted more…I showed him my wallet which had  100 yuan, which I told him was for my taxi to the airport the next day, and a heap of smaller notes…..He insisted on more and produced a card where had prices in English for various places and pointed to South gate for 300 yuan.

I was now getting angry as I was cornered somewhere in an isolated place inside the Huton. A girl came by and she stood with me..she had no English but she realised something was wrong and stayed there. Then two English speaking men came by who were Hospitality students and they stood with me until he took 30 yuan and fled when I pulled out my phone and said I was going to call my Boss.

The young men then walked me outside to where I was in the street that led to the Forbidden city, and was incidentally the same street I walked back to my Hotel after exploring the tourist Places.

They told me I was lucky they had come along as that he was not like all the Chinese in the area. I will never take one of those small vehicles again. I was so scared I spent all afternoon looking over my shoulder for him to materialize and every time a tout confronted me I almost ran from him.

Now I do have his phone number…the police here do not speak English but maybe you could call him, and get a story.

Because I have lived here many years teaching English and traveling to the Uni by that small vehicle, which I used to pay 2 yuan for, I took it thinking the price was OK. I did tell the thief that my taxi from the train Station was 56 yuan…and that my China tour was 160, so 300 yuan for a 5 minute ride was unreasonable as well as being downright robbery.

Because I was walking alone and I was aware of thieves, I took the precaution of emptying my bag so all I had was a wallet with one large note and a few small notes and no cards or ID. My phone is very cheap. I bought it for here after my original was stolen for 150 yuan, and my camera was on my belt and not visible. I also did tell him I have lived here for 3 years and that he was a thief…that was when the men were there

I wonder how many other unwary travellers he has conned and stolen from. His vehicle only fitted one person as it was small,  and the place he took me to was a dead end lane and very quiet. I was lucky those men came by.

Maggi Carstairs

Maggi_carstairs@yahoo.com

http://sunrisetoday.wordpress.com

JuYong Pass ..Great Wall China at JeYongshan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juyongguan
Juyongguan or Juyong Pass (simplified Chinese: 居庸关; traditional Chinese: 居庸關; pinyin: Jūyōng Guān) is a mountain pass located in the Changping District of Beijing Municipality, over 50 kilometers (31 mi) from central Beijing. The Great Wall of China passes through, and the Cloud Platform gate was built here in 1342 CE.

The pass had many different names during former Chinese dynasties. However, the name “Juyongguan” was used by more than three dynasties. It was first used in the Qin Dynasty when Emperor Qinshihuang ordered the building of the Great Wall. Juyongguan pass was connected to the Great Wall in the Southern and Northern Dynasties era.

The present pass route was built in the Ming Dynasty and received much renovation later. It was a very important strategic place connecting the inner land and the area near the northern border of China. It was also used to defend the ancient city of Beijing.

In the middle of the Juyongguan (pass) and Guangou Valley, there is the Cloud Platform gate, also known as the “Crossing Street Tower”. It was built in 1342 during the Yuan Dynasty, and made of white marble with a height of 9.5 metres (31 ft). There were originally three white pagodas atop the platform, giving it the name of “Crossing Street Tower”. They were each destroyed in the transitional period between the late Yuan and early Ming Dynasties. In the early Ming Dynasty, a Buddhist Tai’an Temple hall was built on the platform. It was destroyed in 1702 during the Qing Dynasty.

Tourist Area at the JeYong Pass with many stalls selling tourist items

Walking the Wall was not long here…the end was 30 minutes from the start

Pagoda at the Main section of JeYong Pass

Gateway below at JeYong Pass

Below was a Lake and Reservoir at JeYong

Ming Tombs Beijing China

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ming_Dynasty_Tombs

The Ming Dynasty Tombs (Chinese: 明十三陵; pinyin: Míng shísān líng; literally “Thirteen Tombs of the Ming Dynasty”) are located some 42 kilometers north-northwest of central Beijing, within the suburban Changping District of Beijing municipality. The site, located on the southern slope of Tianshou Mountain (originally Mount Huangtu), was chosen on the feng shui principles by the third Ming Dynasty emperor Yongle (1402–1424), who moved the capital of China from Nanjing to its the present location in Beijing. He is credited with envisioning the layout of the Ming-era Beijing as well as a number of landmarks and monuments located therein. After the construction of the Imperial Palace (the Forbidden City) in 1420, the Yongle Emperor selected his burial site and created his own mausoleum.

The site of the Ming Dynasty Imperial Tombs was carefully chosen according to Feng Shui (geomancy) principles. According to these, bad spirits and evil winds descending from the North must be deflected; therefore, an arc-shaped area at the foot of the Jundu Mountains north of Beijing was selected. This 40 square kilometer area — enclosed by the mountains in a pristine, quiet valley full of dark earth, tranquil water and other necessities as per Feng Shui — would become the necropolis of the Ming Dynasty.

The timber is solid sandalwood from one tree……in the Main Building of Ming Tombs

A seven kilometer road named the “Spirit Way” (Shéndào) leads into the complex, lined with statues of guardian animals and officials, with a front gate consisting of a three-arches, painted red, and called the “Great Red Gate”. The Spirit Way, or Sacred Way, starts with a huge stone memorial archway lying at the front of the area. Constructed in 1540, during the Ming Dynasty, this archway is one of the biggest stone archways in China today.

Farther in, the Shengong Shengde Stele Pavilion can be seen. Inside it, there is a 50-ton tortoise shaped dragon-beast carrying a stone tablet. This was added during Qing times and was not part of the original Ming layout. Four white marble Huabiao (pillars of glory) are positioned at each corner of the stele pavilion. At the top of each pillar is a mythical beast. Then come two Pillars on each side of the road, whose surfaces are carved with the cloud design, and tops are shaped like a rounded cylinder. They are of a traditional design and were originally beacons to guide the soul of the deceased, The road leads to 18 pairs of stone statues of mythical animals, which are all sculpted from whole stones and larger than life size, leading to a three-arched gate known as the Dragon and Phoenix Gate.

At present, only three tombs are open to the public. There have been no excavations since 1989, but plans for new archeological research and further opening of tombs have circulated. They can be seen on Google earth: Chang Ling, the largest (40°18′5.16″N 116°14′35.45″E); Ding Ling, whose underground palace has been excavated (40°17′42.43″N 116°12′58.53″E); and Zhao Ling.

Carving at the entrance to the first building

Statue of the Emperor

 

The thirteenth Tomb was opened and the treasures removed for display. This crown is made of solid gold with two dragons on either side

Empress Crown of blue

 

Gold was used as currency in varied sized ingots

 

Solid Gold items

Old twisted trees outside the Tomb

Map of the tomb..this tour only took us to the first building

 

Trees with the Main Building behind at Ming Tomb

Beijing China

English Name: Beijing
Chinese Name: 北京
Coordinates: 39°54′50″N 116°23′30″E
Municipality: 16,801.25 km2 (6,487.00 sq mile)
Elevation: 43.5 m (142.7 ft)
Population: 19,612,368 (2010)

http://chinatour.net/beijing/

Beijing (pron.: /beɪˈdʒɪŋ/; Chinese: 北京; pinyin: Běijīng, [peɪ˨˩ t͡ɕiŋ˥]), sometimes romanized as Peking[4] (pron.: /piːˈkɪŋ/, /peɪˈkɪŋ/), is the capital of the People’s Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world. The population as of 2012 was 20,693,000.[2] The metropolis, located in northern China, is governed as a direct-controlled municipality under the national government, with 14 urban and suburban districts and two rural counties.[5]Bejing Municipality is surrounded by Hebei Province with the exception of neighboring Tianjin Municipality to the southeast.[6]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijing

Behttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijingijing is the second largest Chinese city by urban population after Shanghai and is the nation’s political, cultural, and educational center.[7] It is home to the headquarters of most of China’s largest state-owned companies, and is a major hub for the national highway, expressway, railway, and high-speed rail networks. The Beijing Capital International Airport is the second busiest in the world by passenger traffic.

The city’s history dates back three millenia. As the last of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China, Beijing has been the political center of the country for much of the past seven centuries.[8] The city is renowned for its opulent palaces, temples, gardens, tombs, walls and gates,[9] and its art treasures and universities have made it a center of culture and art in China.[9] Few cities in the world have been the political and cultural center of an area as immense for so long

 

Snow in Yangquan China on 19 April 2013

When I woke up on the day I was leaving on the 9.50am train from Wuxin to Beijing, I looked out of the Balcony window to see that it looked wet.

Rain I thought and went to get the camera…I took a photo then realised the rain was moving and was a light start of snow.

Within 30 minutes, the school yard below my balcony was white with snow and it was snowing harder.

The School car collected me at 7,30am for the one hour ride to the station, but the roads were thick with slow crawling traffic, thick slush and people walking with umbrellas getting covered with snow. The snow was heavy and got heavier as we drove through Yangquan. The main roads were blocked and the driver changed route four times.

Eventually he turned back at 9.30 when I said we should go on and try and get there and try for a later train.

The Music teacher who was also in the Car knew a route through a village and after getting lost a few times, we finally made it through quite heavy snow to Wuxin Station.

There were many others who had also missed the earlier train but we were fortunate to get seats on the 11.50am train which reached Beijing at 3.30pm

There was heavy snow about half the way into Beijing. Finally it stopped and when we reached Beijing it was not raining or snowing.

 

Coal Carving Yangquan China

http://traditions.cultural-china.com/en/16T4948T11005.html

 

The history of the coal carving can be traced back 6,000-7,000 years. The jet adornments that were unearthed in the cultural stratum at the Xinle ruins in Shenyang, capital city of Northern China’s Liaoning Province, comprise the embryo of coal carving. The jet-carved circlet and lumps sculpted in coal, which were unearthed in a Western Zhou Dynasty (1100-771BC) grave in Northern China’s Shanxi Province, confirm the long history of coal carving.

Records of coal carving are rare. In the Book of Diverse Crafts, the oldest known work on the arts and crafts, coal carving was regarded as the integration of timeliness, materials and technology. However, nobody knows the concrete origin of coal carving. Historical records say that no delicate coal-carved handiworks have been unearthed.

Fortunately, Zhao Kunsheng, a wood carving handicraftsman, reopened the door to coal carving. When burning coal one cold winter, he discovered a kind of jet black and solid coal fit for sculpting. Zhao then sculpted a pair of balls with a woodcarving tool, and, hence, the first neoteric jet-carved handiwork was born.

In 1970s, an old man from Datong in Shanxi Province sculpted the face of Chairman Mao Zedong in coal as a token of respect. But this was a folk art associated with a particular feeling that did not spread far and wide.

In the 1980s, three workers at the Yungang Grottoes — a collection of early Chinese Buddhist cave art — wanted to make coal carving handiworks imitating the grottoes with coal gangue in Datong to promote tourism in Yungang.

The works were then launched on the market. With the accelerated development of the tour in Yungang, coal-carved handiworks became a hit with both Chinese and foreign tourists. However, the technology at that time was fairly primitive compared to modern technology.

Shi Yuping, who lives in Yungang, believes that making coal-carved handiworks requires delicate care. With his high achievements in sculpting figures, Shi began to make coal carvings using high carving technology. He only used high-quality materials and went to distant places to seek for good coal gangues. Shi even made breakthroughs in tools as well as in expressionism, paying more attention to the contrast between light and dark to make the carvings more vivid.

In the First Yungang Tour Festival, the Datong government promoted coal carving in a grand fashion and introduced it in various exhibitions.

Consequently, coal carving, which has existed for thousands of years but was only known by a few, had made a comeback. When various images emerge from coal, the vitality of this art form shows it true colors, attracting many enthusiasts.

Nowadays, coal carving has been introduced to the international market and is collected by tourists from many different countries.

Peach Blossom Festival Yangquan

This should have been marvelous but alas only a few peach trees were out in full bloom. The blossoming is late this year;

It would have been spectacular had the surrounding mountains been full of blossom.

http://www.bicc.org.cn/EN/taohua.asp

You can see here the walk through the peach trees but the trees do not have any blossoms.

 

 

Hotels in Yangquan and Taiyuan China

There are 5 hotels in Yangquan..this site lists them with links to the hotels for details

http://en.yq.gov.cn/col/col4989/index.html

http://en.yq.gov.cn/art/2010/6/25/art_4989_156462.html

Shanxi Quanmei International Hotel

Shanxi Quanmei international Hotel which is invested by the mostfamous Quanmei Food &Beverage Co. Ltd of Yangquan City is an international business four—star hotel toprovide services food &beverage, rooms, entertainmeeting, combine with great modern architecture and luxurious elegant inner decoration.

The hotel with conveniently traffic, located in the Xiao Yangquan Rood of the main avenue South West in the third city of Shan Xi Province Yangquan,there is only 1km away from the train station and bus station of, Yangquan,60 min away from Taiyuan Wuxu Airport ,70 min away from Taiyuan City, and 80 min away from Shijiazhuang City, is your first choice of both business and leisure.

http://en.yq.gov.cn/art/2010/7/2/art_4989_157103.html

Yangquan Hotel is a modern three-star hotel of integrated service. Its annual occupancy capacity is up to more than 100,000 people. Apart from domestic guests, a lot of state leaders and foreign guests have stayed in the hotel.

Yangquan Hotel consists of a 13- storey main building and a 3- storey back building, equipped with central air conditioning system, cable TY as well as automatic fire control device. Its conference hall can hold 800 people, and it also has a multi- function recreational center with facilities for swimming, dancing, fitness,sauna and playing tennis.

 http://en.yq.gov.cn/art/2010/7/2/art_4989_157125.html

YaoLin Hotel

Located in YaoLin Temple Forest Park in PingDing County of Shanxi, which is surrounded by mountains and beside clear lakes . YaoLin hotel (attached to ShanXi YangQuan Coal Industry (Group) Co., Ltd ) has 6 blocks of villas, 109 suites, Chinese and western food restaurants and 12 Chinese food compartments, 8 conference and multifunctional halls, featured in elegant and fashionable attitude, delicate and delicious food and-intimate and thoughtful service, which make it an ideal conference resort and entertainment center.

 

Map of Hotels in Taiyuan

https://plus.google.com/110960178019733617505/about?gl=au&hl=en