Off to China

[Fanfan]

I am really sorry about your Mom Steve. I learned some family bad news too when i came back.

I want to apologize not to have written much about this trip and before.

The fact is : it has been quite hard to come back to true life, and i was a bit more tired than i confessed...in fact i was not good at all. I have been several times ill during this trip because of intoxications. Now i feel better. It is not the great health but i am okay.

China in a few words ? there are several China in fact, just take a consideration of mandarin, people cannot understand each other in this language in different areas...
China : travel in time : from middle Age to XXI th century.
Pollution : yes, but because of a lot of people... because they do recycle everything everywhere and use eletrical and GPL vehicles in a lot of places. But they still use massively coal.

Different people in different places.
We are not in Asia, China is different, people are hard, not friendly at all. At the same time there are 60 millions rich people, richer than riche people here.
They spit everywhere, all the time, china is very a dirty place. But you can meet so nice people like everywhere and have so great experience in some places.
About the food :for sure you never, really never ate chinese before. I have eaten chinese food in NY and Paris, and Belgium : nothing to compare with chinese food. First of all cooks are coming from Canton that is not representative of the 4 chinese cooking schools
Really not famous in fact. We are far from french food or vietnamese food...


My trip :


What i bring back :


HK : HK is not China, HK looks like nowhere else in fact. They still have their money, they drive not the same way than in China, eat differently... but even if they construct evrywhere and high, there is not so places left for new construction

Canton : i never felt and saw such pollution

Yangshuo : the most beautiful places i ever went. Bicycle, bamboo boat. what a place.

Dazu : incredible buddhist sculpture, and my first time in a chinese supermarket (look at the photos)

Soon more.

Oh, if you cand send me scans of your postcards it would be great, and scan of the name of your country in chinese.

About travel in China : Night train... more need to be told...

[Amy]

Ooo! Look at the pile of treasure you brought back! That has to be one of the most cheerful collections of knick-knacks I think I've ever seen^_^ I've heard China is the place to shop. Looks like there's something to that, huh?

From the photos, I wouldn't have guessed it was such a harsh place. But still, Yangshuo seems wonderful. And Hong Kong is amazing, of course! It sounds like you had a really great time; though I'm so sorry you weren't well for all of it. I'm glad you're feeling some better now, and really hope things will be better for you soon...

[Steve Hubbell]

[Fanfan]

Ooo! Look at the pile of treasure you brought back! That has to be one of the most cheerful collections of knick-knacks I think I've ever seen^_^ I've heard China is the place to shop. Looks like there's something to that, huh?

China is a merchant nation...

From the photos, I wouldn't have guessed it was such a harsh place.

There is no hygiene in China and a lot of cool bacteria...

Thanks Steve :
This photo illustrates cormoran's fishing. The fact is there is no more fish in the river, so this is still existing but just for the turists show...

the other interesting point is : school is private in china, and one year of school is 3 years of medium national pay... You will find dialect, people who speak (and read perhaps) a local mandarin, but they cannot read our occidental writing, it is why you have to write in ideograms the name of the country if you want to get a chance to see it go somewhere...

About dazu : visit the supermarket here :


New photos :
Leshan : the Big Buddha :


The game is : discover new expression of the giant face (Buddha is 71m high...) with the game of light and shadow...

Chengdu : ah Chengdu, when you have some interest in the Tao, this place means something...

I practice taiji with a master at the Laozi temple ( green she-goat temple) and i met people with high serenity and kindliness. Far from the merchants of the temple that are buddhists... ( i think in Occident we confound tibetan and buddhism, what is funny because we now buddhism through zen...)


One could have learned basics of calligraphy instead of martial arts or meditation.

Wenshu temple :
This temple is a source for every scriptwriter...
SG 1 :

Lost :


There is the big research center on giant panda at Chengdu :
red panda :

pandas in the trees

Eating pandas :


Jinli street : this night was the national day of the moon (festival of the lovers) there is a story with the moon, lovers, and the white rabbit in the moon. Every single got bunny ears on the head...



All photos here:
http://photo.usagiyojimbo.fr/index.php? ... 7/start-20

[Fanfan]

I have already put online 1700 photos and more will come, i really have to think about a photo expo on China.

After Chengdu : the big (71m) Buddha od Leshan :


There are a lot of chinese people in the morning there, because they only go to see the Buddha, so you have to walk in the mountain, there are a lot to see and do, and in the afternoon, you are alone with the Buddha and try to search different expression with the sun and shadows.

EmeiShan : buddhist sacred mount near Chengdu :

Monkey party : grrrr, not friendly at all, got a fight with one of them, if you are in a turistic place, guards got bamboo to maintain them, else you will be lend a baton...


Top of the Hill, early in the morning, but already with a lot of fog...


Night train :
Tha way you go from place to another in China : train : 12 -18 hours everytime i took it... 66 wagon, 20-30 boxes per wagon with 6 people sleeping in everybox. People play money, eat, smoke and spit. You can imagine how is the train in the morning...


Xian :
The stone army. Well the fact is : when you have seen so many movies on this place, where you are indise the army, with weapons and so on.. you arrive in a place where you are far from the army, and nothing to see because they retrieve every interesting piece.


Stone forest : the most heavy library in the world.
what a beautiful place, i bought copy of some stones.
You can see how copies are make :


Pingyao : well an old and preserved city. But what is interesting is Quiao house at 1 hour driving from there :

The place where Yang Zimou made "Raised the red lantern"
Beautiful preserved place.

Wutaishan : i met a lot of tibetans there


tibetans people where in the white stupa you can see on this photo.

Wutaishan has been opened to people a few years ago

[Maka]

Hello UY Dojo,

All of FanFan's pictures bring back memories of my honeymoon over 13 years ago. I don't know if I shared this honeymoon video (NOT that KIND of video! ) with you all but here it is again:

http://homepage.mac.com/cmtakahara/iMovieTheater9.html

I took over hour worth of analog video. I borrowed the camera from a student and it was my first time using a video camera. The results were over an hour worth of non-watchable video. So much shaking and random boring footage. All of the barely usuable footage made it into this video.

peace, maka