Memories - 2014 Trip to China



2014 Trip to China



We traveled to China during the summer of 2014. We recorded all our trips across China. Have a good time reading!

- Aaron and Gordon





Our journey on the map of China



The Great Wall

Terracotta Army



walkway in Forbidden City

Wu Gate

in Beijing

in Nanjing

Beijing - Beihai Park 北海公园

7/8/2014 Beijing, Beihai Park (北海)

  

Aaron:

Our final trip in China was to Beihai park. It is in the center of Beijing. It was built over 1000 years ago as an imperial garden from the Liao Dynasty.

lotus statues

The whole park is a huge man-made lake. As we walked, we passed a cool assortment of lotus statues because Beihai is famous for its lotus flowers.

white pagoda

We also climbed a rocky hill and saw the Temple of the White Pagoda on the top.  



man-made lake

After we climbed down, we went on a big boat. While we were on the boat, we learned another name for Beihai is North Sea. It also called North Sea because it is north to the Forbidden City and its lake seems like a sea.



After the boat ride, we saw Beihai park’s Nine Dragon Screen. This Nine Dragon Screen is constructed of tiles of seven colors. On both sides there are nine flying dragons playing with dragon pearls. This screen decorated on both sides, is the premier example of Chinese glazed tile art. It is one of the best preserved Nine Dragon Screens among the four (one in the Forbidden City, another in Datong Shanxi, the final one in the Ming Forbidden City, Nanjing). So, if you ever go to China, visit all these terrific places!

Gordon:



nine dragon screen

Have you ever seen a colorful 9 Dragon Screen more than a thousand years old? Well, I had. On our final trip, we went to Beihai Park. Peihai Park is famous for its colorful 9 Dragon Screen. It was totally different than the one we saw in Ming Forbidden City in Nanjing. Nanjing one has only stone carving. Beihai one is colorful. It is well preserved like a brand new statue. When my mom was little, people can touch it. Now people build a rail to protect it.  But we can still see the awesome 9 Dragon Screen. It is one of China’s beautiful ancient views.



Beijing - Ding Mausoleum 定陵

7/6/2014 Beijing, Ding Mausoleum (定陵), and Grandpa's Grave (姥爷)



Aaron:

In the early morning, we visited my grandpa’s grave. He passed away one month after I was born. His grave is close to the Ding Mausoleum.

When we were done visiting, we went to Ding Mausoleum, the underground mausoleum of the Emperor Wan Li (神宗万历皇帝). It is one of the thirteen imperial tombs of the Ming Dynasty (明十三陵). The tomb was excavated in 1958 and has been open to the public ever since as an underground museum.

The way to the Ming Tombs is a road known as the Sacred Way (神道). Its beginning is marked with a marble archway standing long and tall. This archway was carved in 1540. The road is lined with gigantic stone sculptures: 24 lions, camels, elephants, horses, mythical animals, 12 generals, civil mandarins, and courtiers.

stone carving

walkway

At the beginning, there is a creature that looks like a dragon in a tortoise shell.

back of the throne

emperor's throne

When we entered the underground museum, we saw the emperor’s throne. On the back of the throne, there were traditional Chinese stone carving of dragon. Further on, we saw the emperor and his two wives’ tomb. It was so deep down to the underground. The walls were very wet and cold. Ding Mausoleum has great history.

emperor's hat made out of gold wire

empress hat

Gordon:

emperor's throne with full of money

After we saw our grandpa’s grave, we went to Ding Mausoleum. At the beginning, there was a tortoise with a dragon head. After that we saw the diamond hall, which is the short cut entrance to the underground palace. When we entered the underground palace, the walls were wet.  There was an emperor and his 2 wifes from Ming Dynasty buried here. People gave lots of money to respect the emperor. Ding Mausoleum was fun.



exit of the tomb

entrance of the tomb




inside the tomb

Beijing - The Great Wall of China 长城

7/4/2014 Beijing, The Great Wall (长城)

Aaron:

people mountain people sea on the famous Great Wall

We went to the Great Wall in an early morning.

map shows walls built
in different dynasty
joined together

The Great Wall of China is a series of forts made of stone, brick, clay, wood, and other materials, generally built along an east to west line across the northern borders of China in order to protect the Chinese Empire against invasions. Several walls were being built as early as the 700 BC. They were later joined together and made bigger and stronger. The wall that was built between 220-206 B.C. is really  famous because it was built by the first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang (秦始皇). There isn’t a lot left standing. Since then, the Great Wall has been rebuilt and strengthened. The majority of the existing wall is from the Ming Dynasty. The actual walls are 6,259 km (3,889 miles)  long. Convert the length into Chinese measurement is over 10 thousand li. So the full name of the Great Wall in Chinese is 10 thousand long (wan li chang cheng 万里长城). It is like an enormous dragon resting on the mountain top guarding China.
 

Shanghai Gateway

The other purposes for the Great Wall have been border controls, on duty for goods transported along the Silk Road (丝绸之路), encouragement of trade and the control of immigration.

watch tower

The defenses of the Great Wall were strengthened by the construction of watch towers (烽火台), troop barracks, garrison station, signaling capabilities through smoke or fire. Their way of the fire signal is that there are lots of watch towers that light up flames to warn the enemies are coming. When the soldiers on the closest tower see it,  they light their fire and so on.

stairs

There isn’t much of the wall open to the public now. We went up on a huge set of stairs in different sizes, some are big, some are small. When we got to the top, we saw a  dead end. After taking some pictures, we walked back. It was a super hot day. Dad took us to see three watch towers while mom stay under the shades and had a rest.

model of the Great Wall

underground mini model of terracotta soldiers

Our final destination was the museum. I saw weapons, musical instruments, potteries, and money from the Qin and Ming Dynasty. There were models of 9 gateways on display. The 9 gateways connect China to outsider. They are Shanhai Gateway (山海关), Huangya Gateway (黄崖关), Juyong Gateway (居庸关), Zijing Gateway (紫荆关), Pingxing Gateway (平型关), Niangzi Gateway (娘子关), Yanmen Gateway (雁门关), Jiayu Gateway (嘉峪关), and Yumen Gateway (玉门关). Below the models, there was a map of the Badaling part of the Great Wall. At last, I saw an underground mini model of the Terracotta soldiers that I could walk on.

The Great Wall is an excellent landmark for China. It is an UNESCO World Heritage Site. I felt happy after going there.



an enormous dragon resting
on mountain top
guarding China

Gordon:

On a hot day, we went to the Great Wall. Did you know that the Great Wall is so long? It can cover the entire Northern part of China! There are 8 gateways. Nobody could break in.



ten thousand li long wall



my brother and me
on the Great Wall

my brother and me
on the Great Wall

At the top, there were words. I think it was the soldiers who built the wall. There are also lots of watch towers. When enemies attack, soldiers on the wall set up big fire for everybody to know. It was such a wonderful day.

Beijing - Grandma's Birthday

7/3/2014 Beijing, Grandma’s birthday (姥姥生日)

grandma's birthday cake

Aaron:

Grandma was happy on her birthday.  It was grandma’s 74th one. We first went to Da Ya Li restaurant and ate dinner. Then we returned and had dessert, which was her birthday cake. We lit up the candles and sang the Happy Birthday song. Grandma blew out the flames on the candles before  we took turns wearing the birthday hat. We ate up the delicious cake. Grandma’s birthday was excellent.

Gordon:

On a rainy day, it was our grandma’s birthday. Everybody decided to buy a cake for her. We all agree to have a healthy cake. On the cake was fruits. When we ate it, it was delicious. It even had whipped cream on it.  There were corn bread under the whipped cream. Everybody took a turn to wear the birthday crown. When the light was closed, the candle lit the cake up. It was beautiful. We sang Chinese birthday song. It was such a fun day for a birthday.

SiChuan - Tibetan Village, Qiang Village 藏家 （东藏），羌族

7/1/2014 Sichuan, Tibetan Village (藏家), Qiang Village (羌寨)

our pretty Qiang Village tour guide in traditional Qiang cloth



Aaron:

Tibetan village

While we were coming back to Chengdu, we stopped at East Tibetan  Village. A guide welcomed us. She invited us to visit her house. It was a traditional Tibetan style house. We had hot tea over there.  While we had tea, we learned that the wall paintings were handmade by the guide’s family. We also learned that it is a tradition, before the East Tibetan people get married, the groom needs to hand make a beautiful silver belt for his bride. If the bride decides its not pretty, the groom had to wait another year and redo the belt.



Qiang way of characters

When we finish touring the  house, we went to the ancient Qiang Village. We climbed lots of stairs to the top of the village. On the rail there were image of written symbols, the Qiang way of characters. A fact is that the Qiang people don’t have any texts so they use drawings instead.

leader of Qiang village in a meeting

The Qiang City Wall was very high. The village was well defended. We saw the leader of Qiang Village (羌寨吐司) in a meeting. After that, we saw a fake person and a real blacksmith.

Qiang flute

Qiang sewing

There were some decorations, a bank, sewing room, bedroom, and a stage. On the stage, a person performed with a Qiang Flute. We even got on a second floor patio. It had a great view of the whole Qiang Village.



maca

Later, we saw a medicinal plant called maca being sold. It is very rare because it needs specific heights and temperature in order to thrive. East Tibet Village and Qiang Village are fun to see.





Gordon:

flower dance at Tibetan village

On the way back to Chengdu, we went to visit East Tibetan village.  The people gave us a beautiful flower dance to welcome us. They carried and swung the flower vases and danced in a circle. Our guide took us around her house. We drank the special Horse Tea (马茶). It tasted good. My brother and I finished 8 cups.



Qiang village
a big castle

After that, another guide took us to visit Qiang village. We climbed up the high stairs to the top and saw a big castle.  Our guide showed us the king of the castle. The king and his soldiers sang a welcome song. We came to a stage where a pretty girl played a double pipe instrument, Qiang Flute. It is a very rare technique. If they didn’t find a right person to play, Qiang Flute technique would become extinct. There were some wine stuff that could make our body warm. But we didn’t dare to drink it. It was great to learn different cultures.

 

SiChuan - JiuZhai National Park 九寨沟

6/30/2014 Sichuan, Jiuzhai National Park (九寨沟)

Tibetan Buddhist temple

Aaron:

 

Tibetan village

turn the wish wheel

Jiuzhaigou National Park (九寨沟) is a nature reserve. It is famous for its many multi-level waterfalls and colorful lakes. Jiuzhai Valley lies at the end of the Minshan mountain range (岷山山脉). The remote region was inhabited by nine various villages of Tibetan (藏族) and Qiang (羌族) peoples for centuries. There are only four villages open to the public so far. People still live there.

Virgin forest

arrow bamboo lake

The tour bus route is shaped like a Y. Our trip started in the right side of the Y’s tip, the  Virgin Forest (原始森林). It is around 2500 meters above sea level. We walked all the way down the Y. The next stop was Arrow Bamboo Lake (箭竹海). The lake's name comes from its bamboo shoots shaped like an arrow. If you are lucky, you might see a wild panda munching on the shoots.

arrow bamboo lake

panda lake

Our 3rd stop was Panda Lake (熊猫海). The lake name comes from a legend. The story is about a silly panda drinking the crystal clear water from that lake. He saw his reflection from the lake. He thought it was another panda stealing his water. He played around with his reflection. He went away when he was exhausted. Later, he went back to check whether the other panda was still there. After he returned, he started drinking again. So he kept on drinking and drinking.

pearl shoal beach

pearl shoal beach waterfall

Then we visited Five Flower Lake (五花海), Five Color Lake (五彩池), Mirror Lake (镜海), Long Lake (长海), Pearl Shoal Beach (珍珠滩) and Pearl Shoal Beach Waterfall (珍珠滩瀑布).

The most enormous waterfall is the Nuorilang Waterfall (诺日朗瀑布), one of the China's widest waterfall. It is 2365 meters above sea level. Waterfall is 270 meters in width and 24.5 meter in height.

nuorilang waterfall, the greatest among all

The park is so big. Our one day tour is not enough. We cannot complete all our journey by walk. We decided to take the tour bus to go all around the Y. I wish we could come back again.



long lake

Gordon:

five flower lake

On an early morning, we went to Jiuzhaigou National Park. It was big and beautiful. There were lots of lakes. The colorful water is surrounded by the mountains.

mirror lake

The water in Mirror Lake is clean and clear. It is so clean that you can see the bottom of the lake. It is also very clear that it can reflect the mountain with trees in details like a mirror.

wear ha da

Tibetan village

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped to visit  Tibetan village.  The people in the village wore red scarfs. The food was yummy. After eating, we swung our scarf while dancing around the campfire.

Jiuzhaigou was the biggest and the most beautiful mountain I have ever seen.

dinner at Tibetan village