Qiyun Shan means ‘mountain as high as the clouds’. The red sandstone rock was favored by the Taoists and is a mountain home to temples. Many are built into the mountain and the sandstone rock leaves the landscape to unique shapes
A view from the cable car. This is the shape of a gourd
There were many young people dressed in traditional dress for photographic display and answer questions.
Shou rock was created with a smooth character (meaning LONGEVITY) with the correct dimensions for yin and yang. It is said that if you walk around the mountain it will give you longevity of 99 years and touching the rock will give you a total of 100. Of course I touched the rock. I only had to jump a little…
These tablets line the Yintian gate. They have been left behind by sages that made pilgrimages to the mountain. This is a sacred and quiet place for reflection and reverence.
Cave of 8 immortals. In the center are the gods fur Heaven, Earth, and Humankind with the 8 immortals along the sides.
Zhenxian cave
Yujun cave is to offer sacrifice to the dragon king.
We walked through the little village neae the peak of the mountain. I am a lover of street food and found these glutinous rice cakes with filling. One is a sweet red bean mixture that is delicious and the other has bamboo, tofu, and pickled greens inside. They were both good but I loved the bamboo one the best.
Photos are not allowed at the Taisu temple but I did take a picture of the element I was born under. The Chinese characters in the 1964 is fire. That means I am a fire dragon!
We continued back to the top of the mountain and then siren to the other side. Along the way are 13 pavilions. It is said that climbing the mountain through the 13 pavilions and going to the temple is an sxt and test of faith.
Established in 1131 in the Ming and Song dynasties, the village is charming and well preserved. What makes Hongcun Village so unique is that the village was designed by a Feng Shui master to resemble a cow. The two old trees at the entrance to the village represent the horns, the four stone bridges the legs, the ponds the stomach, etc. This is the entrance we took to the village and the two trees are on each side of the photograph.
After checking into this cute hotel, I went off to find a place to run. I went along the river to head up out of the town. I passed through a couple of farming villages.
The countryside during the run was beautiful and uneventful except for a couple of dogs. The villagers admonished them when they wouldn’t leave me run through.
This house looks like it could be from the US. Not what I expected to find in the rural area.
After the run I went out exploring with a few of the others on the tour. We found the two trees that made the horns of the cow (ox). One of the trees was used when there was a marriage. The bride is carried around the base of the tree.
The other tree, a very large gingko, is used similarly but when someone passes away.
While walking we noticed this post office sells drinks and cocktails. We went in for a look. They sold some unique stamps and novelties as well as drawings from the many students who come here to practice drawing the village and the mountains.
While we were there a couple chose a post card and sat down to compose it before mailing.
This is one of the bridges that is the legs of the cow and the lake that is central to the village.
Hongcun is unique among all Chinese villages for its very sophisticated water system. Its two large ponds are connected to a series of flowing streams which pass by every house, providing water for washing, cooking, and bathing.
Sights from around the village.
I love the signs I see here in China.
Hongcun at night was beautiful.
There was a charming old gentleman selling small goods. He was in any area not many people were at. I bought a bowl and cup made from bamboo.
I woke up early to get in another run and view more areas while there were less people.
A pile of bamboo I bought a fried dough with a sesame seed filling inside. It was quite tasty.
Outside the village I ran in a different direction than the day before.
This road is a heritage road between multiple UNESCO heritage sites.
We were optimistic that the servings day would be better weather and it was! The temperature started out at the high point of the day before and it was sunny. It started out cold at 10 C but did get to 18 C by mid day. We took the cable car up and hiked around the top going in a different direction than the day before.
The views were breathtaking. The Huangshan pine has a distinctive shape and it and the landscape has brought artists here for centuries. This is the birthplace of tourism in China.
We actually entered the park on the other side the day before and had reached that peak. So many an artist sketching the mountain. Under one of the Stone steps were wildflowers.
This next formation is called golden brush with a flower on top. It was covered in clouds yesterday.
Usually I can’t see the reason why certain formations are given their name but I could see this one : monkey Gazing over a sea of clouds.
Views on the way back down the mountain.
The original cable car we used to ascend.
The only way to bring material up and down is through workers carrying loads. Each man was carrying a minimum of 50 kg on their back. Each little store that sold food and drink would have supplies arrive that way. We saw vegetables, drinks in bottles, 25 kg bags of rice…. They even bring up building materials like trusses and bags of cement. And yes, there are people to carry you up or down stairs going around the ridges.
Near the bottom we went diem a small slope to the little river and ate our lunch there.
At the bottom where the alpine forest is now bamboo and deciduous forest.
Fantastical mountainscapes and well preserved villages make Anhui the perfect contrast to China’s larger cities. The main attraction in Anhui is the Huangshan (Yellow) Mountains. The mountains are immense granite cliffs with fast-traveling clouds formed from the water vapor coming from the leaves of the forest trees. This mountain was the inspiration of an entire school of ink painting during the 17th and 18th centuries.
This is an image taken on the mountain of a pine tree against the fog. Most likely you have seen the same type of Chinese artwork.
The Yellow Mountains are not called this because the mountains are yellow, but because the area was renamed after the legendary Yellow Emperor (Huang Di) in 747 AD. After that Huangshan saw many Buddhist temples built there and recentl, it has become a major tourist attraction and UNESCO site.
The day started out colder than it was to be and lots of low clouds which made visibility much less. We took a scenic ride up the Yuping Cable Car then took a path away from the crowds heading towards the West Sea Grand Canyon area. It is a mountain so many stairs up and down.
The fairy Bridge.
We brought our own meals in self heating containers. I hated all the plastic to throw away but so many crowds makes it difficult to get food.
Julie had an actual hot pot self heating meal.
I did finally spot some cool birds and managed to snap a couple pictures.
At a coffee shop at the top of one of the parks they had cute little desserts.
This is what we should have seen today :
Hopefully tomorrow is better weather. 25% of the time it is perfect weather. The rest of the time it is not!
After a great day on Saturday of watching Godzilla vs. Kong, eating unbelievable fish, and then enjoying a massage, Jack and I planned our next day.
We ate dim sum with friends and I colored hard boiled eggs to give to them.
After dim sum, we went to check out the alpaca Cafe but first found the comic city at the entrance to the metro.
The alpaca Cafe was pretty fun. It was an open air room between buildings with a few smaller covered rooms for the cats, pigs, and bunnies. It was fun to see children excited about the animals.
This Cafe across the alley has Shiba Inu dogs. I’m surprised that there are dog cafes. This other cafe across the alley has an alpaca as well but it seems to just make some extra money.
We traveled to haizhu district to find the DragonBoat training center. We met a few members at a going away party for my friend Maiko who was headed back to Japan. We learned how to paddle correctly which is much like what you do stand up paddle boarding. If you do it wrong then your arm hurts and you Ajay get schooled. We did drills including two at a time paddling the whole boat. It was quite the workout.
The village deals in bolts of fabric and also small scale sewing of clothing.
The old villages have shorter buildings with evidence of older brick and styling. They look forward to development as they receive multiple apartments for an income.
I had tried going there the week before by myself but was not able to follow the directions to get there without being late. Instead of just going home I walked around haizhu lake instead.
This year I’m planning on taking a small spring break trip to Huangshan (Yellow mountains) but the beginning was spent with friends in Guangzhou. We can’t leave China yet.
I met Elaine and my friends from school Anne and Trixie at the sports center. I had told them about the fashion hub mall underneath the sports center so we were going to spend the afternoon enjoying it. You can go to this mall and spend all day and still not see everything. From entertainment, games, shopping, restaurants, a real arctic town, and crafts including pottery.
First up is taking pictures at a photo booth.
Massage chairs came in handy. After running the day before and rowing dragon boats, it was timely.
There were plenty of photo ops depicting days past in China. You can actually rent traditional clothes to take pictures in the mall.
Of course we should buy cotton candy to share.
I’ve always wanted to try one of these karaoke pods. It is really made for two but we made it work. Directions were not in English so took us some time to figure out how to find songs.
We were entertained with kids playing games.
We did some shopping including my favorite Japanese store that has great collectibles. From there we went to another mall connected through an underground passageway.
We passed through that mall to get to the poutine restaurant on the street behind. Coronaritas and French fries with toppings was an great late lunch.
From there we went to the pig Cafe I have been at previously. It was a lot of fun with more people.
At the nearby upscale mall we went to the book store. There are items from around the world including the British Museum. I liked this lucky cat which is a riff on the Chinese lucky cat. This one had its middle finger up.
There are always interesting things to see at this mall. These bicycles are mostly art.
This is an actual art installation called Flow. It was fun to watch how people use it flowing in and out as well as the flow of lights.
The weekend before I completed a 21 km walk around Guangzhou with a friend and met some new ones. I would rather run that distance than walk it!
I went to a blood drive at a hospital to make a blood donation. I have done this before and have a blood donor card in China. I could not give blood though as they just changed their rules. I would have had to give blood one more time before I turned 56 to still give blood until 60. I was pretty disappointed but at least Jack gave blood for the first time.
This is a jellied dessert in a ginger syrup. What I like about deserts here is that they are not very sweet.
We then traveled to Nansha watershed park. Even though there are very few cases here, we still wear masks and there are checkpoints to check temperature and check health codes through the app. It tracks if you have been in a high risk area. If only other countries followed what could be done to keep infection low.
The lotus flowers were beautiful.
These are the pods from the lotus and the seeds are used here as well in cooking and medicine. The root is also used for cooking.
We walked along the water to look for birds. I found egrets.
Of coarse feeding the koi was fun.
View from the tower
We then walked through the forest.
Nansha port
We walked along the road to find the seafood market.
Fisherman’s wharf
At the seafood market they displayed many catches. They also showed the eggs that are in them as well as that is a delicacy.
Local fishermen sell their catch to grab customers before they enter the seafood market. Look at the size of the oysters.
What I bought was dried squids for a snack. We had already made plans for dinner. It was a great adventure looking at the variety of fish and shellfish being sold.
After a three hour school meeting on Saturday morning (it was a great meeting), I took a long walk around the favourview neighborhood while Jack made plans for sightseeing further south. The plan was to meet my friend Morgana for trivia that night at a restaurant/bar called the GOAT in Panyu. I had been promising her for some time. Since it is an hour away we needed other things to do.
Jack suggested Nansha which is a place I have wanted to go for some time. We headed to the gardens. Walking into the garden is a canal flanked by restaurants. We stopped for a late lunch. Women and children were dressing in traditional costumes for their photos to be taken.
We ate stinky tofu (it has a fermented smell but the taste is no different). We also had sour noodles.
These lovely women were kind to let me have their picture taken with them.
Down by the shore there is a beach but only to play in the sand. There is no swimming.
Near the beach I saw a robot in a vending machine for ice cream and a few simple drinks. Of course we needed to order ice cream just to see how it works.
We walked along to Nanling tower. I am always amazed how the tree roots grow here.
The statue of the goddess is to protect the harbor and the fishermen.
The two temples can be seen and you get there after ascending a fair amount of stairs. The Pagoda is further up to the right.
Outside the entry gate house are two lions standing at the ready. Inside are two gods that can hear and see 1000 km and are protectors from enemies.
They were setting off firecrackers from donations of others to the temple.
We climbed the first set of stairs to the first temple.
We climbed more stairs to the second temple. There we saw statues of great generals who battled at sea.
At the top of the next set of stairs was the pagoda and an arsenal that protected the port.
Entrance to the artillery bunker and cannon.
The big gun. We walked one other trail that led to another bunker and very large cannon.
We should know that a path that is quickly being grown over is not being used. The path was blocked at the bottom and we had to scale down a steep embankment. It was a better alternative to climbing all the steps again.
At the bottom there was a pond with not only fish but turtles. They are a delicacy here in this part of the world but think they are safe here.
A snack of Buffalo milk yogurt with ginger. Also red bean warm dessert.
At the GOAT, we were in first place after the first round on 80’s trivia but skipped after the others especially Pixar movies. A good weekend!
Plans for the weekend were originally just a massage and some runs. Jack had some business to do but at the last minute he changed his plans. I have been working on being more spontaneous so when he suggested to travel to Huizhou to visit a hot spring I said “sure!”
I booked a room at the Intercontinental hotel using hotels.com. Instead of a single room and using the public hot spring, I used my free room credit towards a room with its own hot spring. Then we could use whenever we wanted.
We left early in the morning and when we arrived we were happy to find it upgraded and the reservation changed to a villa. Since the pandemic, travel was slow to resume and especially to bring expats back. A good business move to bring business with a good review. Here is a video of the villa at the Intercontinental.
The villa in pictures. The kitchen is not great but there is room service and a couple of restaurants on the resort and a little town nearby.
The tub is amazing
Walking
This is a natural hot spring from the ground and people bring eggs to cook where it comes here to the surface.
After walking around and a dip in the hot spring, we chose to go to the village to eat. Eggplant, green beans, and bitter melon as one dish with eggs and tofu skins for another. Not bad but not exceptional. We did eat western food for lunch in the hotel earlier.
Running the next morning we went around the large golf course at the resort.
Of course we spent more hours after the buffet breakfast in the hot spring. The buffet was better than average and it was cool after a rainy day yesterday. As we were refilling the hot spring we noticed the centipede. He would have no where to go as the water is rising so I scooped him up between two cups and set him loose in the bushes.
Before we left I also toured a 3 bedroom villa. It would be great for a bunch of people to come here. Three separate bedroom areas and lots of room. The kitchen is nicer too. Hmmmm… When touring I rescued a pair of frogs too.
As luck would have it, my Google Pixel stopped functioning correctly during Chinese New Year. I was able to buy a Xiaomi phone that is actually quite wonderful but apps take their time to figure things out when you are in a foreign country. Even though I could upload to WordPress initially, the last week gave me problems. Needless to say this post should have been published well over a week ago.
I have been to some of the places I went to on this tour before but was not aware of the history. Cycle Canton had this tour during Chinese New Year that explored more than I have seen before.
We visited the Huangpu Ancient Port, which was the entry point to Imperial China for all foreign traders. Just five families controlled the movement of goods in and out. The Emperor was never involved directly and the families were much like a cartel. The wharf and village is 1000 years old. They exported tea, porcelain, and silk. Ships had to dock in Macao first then be granted privilege to come to this port. The trade was called the Canton system. While they were docked here they fixed boats and would go from here on the Pearl River further in to Guangzhou on bamboo boats to go to 13factories. The cartel of 5 families held merchandise in a series of buildings on Shamian Island much like a warehouse. They would bring the goods then from there in Xiguan to Huangpu port to load onto the ships.
The three pillars of Guangzhou are the pagodas that are scattered in the area. I have visited two of them and actually ran my marathon around the third. These acted as lighthouses and markers to travelers. Before the big buildings, they were the landmarks you could see.
We then crossed on the ferry to Changzhou island, and visited a few historic sights.
One site was a hidden fortress Bei hu gang. This fortress has positions to shoot cannons. This fortress was used during the Opium Wars. They had canons and places for infantry and storage.
Officer courtyard.
We toured the Huangpu Military Academy, which has great architecture. In 1911, Sun Yat Sen with others overthrew the Qing Dynasty. The newly named PRC though was only formed in the south. In 1921 they built a military school to help overthrow warlords in the North and learn military techniques. Chiang Kai Shek was leader of the school. In 1926 there was no more coordination between the nationalists and communists in China which led to the cultural revolution later when the communists took control.
One of two guard houses on each side of the gate facing the river. This is one of China’s navy ships in the river. Officer desks. Courtyard for muster. Military propaganda for sale outside the military museum. We were surprised that material referencing Taiwan was being sold. Other items were the Kuomintang found by Sun Yat Sen.
We tested our biking skills weaving through urban villages. The buildings are called handshake buildings as you can be at your front door and shake hands with the person across from you. They were built for migrant workers. The farmers were much richer and lived in larger houses.
We also biked along a canal some call the ‘Venice of Guangzhou’. I have never been to Venice but am sure it is more than this.
We stopped for a lunch at a local restaurant that was next to the farms and fields of the very rural part of the island. Unfortunately metro lines are being added here so hard to decide what will be the future. There will be green spaces to bring visitors but this will most certainly change.
This is a photo of someone’s home taken from the second floor of the restaurant.
Ling family ancestral hall
We continued cycling through fields, greenways and more urban villages to visit the first foreign graveyard of China.
Here is the final resting place of many foreign diplomats, traders and sailors, including the first US Minister to China, who has been buried here since the late 1700’s. Many took multiple voyages back and forth, and it was noted that some died on the passages.
We also climbed a very large number of steps up a big hill to get a good view of the river.
This historically pivotal location was instrumental in trade and during war. We ended the tour on the banks of the Pearl River, overlooking a view of central Guangzhou, and drinking a beer at the local village. An epic tour, exploring the rural fringes of the city that is still greatly rural, at least for now.
