Blogs from Shanxi, China, Asia - page 22

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Asia » China » Shanxi » Taiyuan July 19th 2007

Taiyuan, pop. 3 million, is the capital city of Shanxi Province. Shanxi means "west of the mountains" and the mountains is where we have been for the last 3 days enjoying cool air, beautiful wild flowers and enough BUddhist temples to last me into the next life. The holy mt. , Wutai Shan, has been a pilgrimage site for over a thousand years for people from India, Japan and Korea, as well as China, and is known for over 200 temples and a very famous stupa (Buddhist holy place). Wu = 5, tai=peaks, shan=mountains - Your assignment is to get onto Google Earth and search Wutai Shan and go on your own pilgrimage. I understand that you can actually see the different temples and the beautiful landscapes. The scenery was spectacular and it was interesting ... read more
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Asia » China » Shanxi » Datong July 15th 2007

www.diariodeunviaje.com (todo en nuestra pagina web) La ultima parada del transmongoliano es Beijing a las 14:00h (despues de un dia y medio desde que salimos de Ulan Bator), pero nosotros nos bajamos a las 8:00h en DATONG (Tren Ulan Bator-Beijing 54 euros/pers). Queremos visitar las Cuevas Yungang y el Templo Colgante. En la misma estacion de tren de Datong hay una oficina CITS (China International Travel Service) (www.cits.com.cn) donde te gestionan el tour y el billete de tren de Datong-Beijing. Los precios en estas agencias son mas caros porque te cobran unas comisiones altas, pero son una buena opcion cuando no se dispone de tiempo para organizar tu mismo las visitas. En 30min teniamos todo solucionado. Hay dos tarifas para ver el Templo Colgante y las Cuevas, una de 100Y/pers (incluye solo bus) y otra de ... read more
Hay 45 cuevas
Templo Colgante

Asia » China » Shanxi » Pingyao July 13th 2007

Hallo allemaal, Het was alweer onze tweede en laatste dag in Pingyao. Omdat we Pingyao zelf eigenlijk al wel gezien hadden, hebben we weer een fiets gehuurd en zijn we 7 kilometer naar het zuiden gefietst, naar de Shuanglin tempel. Voor deze tempel bleek hetzelfde te gelden als voor heel Pingyao: Haal er een stofdoek overheen en het ziet er tien keer mooier uit. We liepen echt met jeukende handen door de tempel en rondliggende gebouwtjes. Geef ons maar een sopje, we gaan graag aan de slag! Alles moet er echt geweldig uitgezien hebben maar op dit moment zie je alleen de vormen van de beelden met een enorme laag kleurloze stoffige troep erover heen. Omdat we wat problemen hadden met het internet in het hotel, daar konden we namelijk onze reisverslagwebsite niet bereiken, zijn ... read more
Mooi bloempje
Stoffige krijgers in Pingyao
Hoop stof hier in Pingyao

Asia » China » Shanxi » Pingyao July 12th 2007

Hallo allemaal, Vanochtend vroeg was er even sprake van commotie, toen bleek dat we niet vanmiddag om 5 uur pas in Pingyao aan zouden komen, maar al om 7 uur 's ochtends! Hadden wij het even mooi verkeerd begrepen! Gelukkig was de conductricemevrouw zo vriendelijk om aan mijn teen te trekken en heel hard "Pingyao, Pingyao, Pingyao!" te roepen, waardoor we nog vijf minuten hadden om wakker te worden, ons aan te kleden en onze tassen te pakken. Op het treinstation werden we weer opgewacht door iemand die ons snel naar het hotel bracht. Dit keer geen groot zestien-verdiepingen-tellend hotel, maar een leuk authentiek pension met een binnentuin en aangrenzende kamers. Nadat we eerst nog even wat hebben geslapen zijn we het dorpje ingegaan, en wel te fiets! Voor 1 euro huur je hier voor een ... read more
Sylvia en haar nieuwe jurk 2
Sylvia en haar nieuwe jurk 3
Sylvia en haar nieuwe jurk 4

Asia » China » Shanxi » Pingyao July 11th 2007

We arrived early in Pingyao and were greeted by a hostel pick up rickshaw at the train station. The "Harmony" hostel was inside the city walls, and although it was surrounded by quite picturesque streets it also was full of souvenirs, bars, restaurants, guesthouses and therefore tourists. We were greeted by a blue sky so decided to take a stroll around the walls. Soon it became too hot - the only disadvantage of having a blue sky and we escaped to our air-conditioned gueshouse. Pingyao is a place that you can pretty much see in a day. To do so you can buy a 120 yuan ticket that will allow you entry into most of the "attractions" but to be honest that seemed a little steep to us. We were on a different itinery. The front ... read more
Traditional Chinese Courtyard
The Train Coach
The Train Gang

Asia » China » Shanxi » Datong July 10th 2007

Dwa ostatnie dni spędziliśmy w Datongu. Zwiedziliśmy Wiszący Klasztor i Jaskinię Yungang (fotki wkleję w Xi'an przy okazji). W Datongu spotkaliśmy bardzo wielu Europejczyków. W dormitorium mieszkaliśmy z Holendrem, który po 6 miesiącach studiów w Pekinie wyruszył przez miesiąc pozwiedzać Chiny. Aż do Chengdu mamy podobne plany, więc może wybierzemy się na jakiś trakking wspólnie. Razem z jeszcze dwoma innymi Holendrami wytargowaliśmy wspólnie super tanio wycieczkę do Wiszącego Klasztoru. Spotkałem też po raz pierwszy na trasie Polaków - młode małżeństwo mieszkające w Pekinie. Poza tym mamy za sobą pierwszą podróż chińskim pociągiem w klasie Hard Seat (poznaliśmy tam dwoje bardzo miłych Chińczyków :)) Muszę kończyć, spieszymy sie na pociąg do Xi'an, w klasie STAND!! 17h w pociągu bez miejscówki :))). W Xi'an pouzupełniam wejście zdjęciami i może opiszę coś jeszcze ;). Aha, nie wspomni... read more
Yunggang Caves
Yunggang Caves
Sklep

Asia » China » Shanxi June 27th 2007

"Earth heaped high, like a mountain, supplies enormous resources. In human beings, morality cultivated to the highest level is the means to spiritual purity and stillness." (Attributed to the Yellow Emperor - Source Taoist Web Site) Shanxi, (山西) literally means Mountains' West ( 山=Shan,Mountain)(西=Xi, West). It shouldn't be confused with its neighbouring province of Shaanxi. I arrived in Shanxi from Shaanxi (see my previous blog "On the edge of forever"). Shanxi is at the centre of Chinese culture. It was one of the birthplaces of Han Chinese Civilisation. A legend claims that the legendary Yellow Emperor once lived in Shanxi province. The mytho... read more
Cave 6 entrance, Yungang Caves near Datong
Cave 20 Yungang Caves near Datong
Yungang Caves near Datong

Asia » China » Shanxi » Datong June 11th 2007

After Xian and the warriors we took a train into coal country in the city of Datong. Not a pretty place. It was actually one of the ugliest cities I've ever seen, though worth a short trip. Upon arriving we met a few other travelers and checked into the same hotel. We then, including our new found Swiss friends (fondly referred to as the Swiss Franks) went to make our way to the Hanging Monestary about 70km away. We walked over to the bus station where we were told a very high bus price but of course there was a meddleing taxi driver who I didn't trust and thought they were tricking us. After much bargaining and drawing a very large crowd (just by the commotion and white people speaking some Chinese) we got in ... read more
Caves
Huge Figure
Window

Asia » China » Shanxi » Pingyao June 9th 2007

Waking up at 7am on a hard sleeper, after a fitful nights sleep only to jump in a rickshaw to the Hostel we were to pick up our onward Train tickets to Xi'an from was not that nice, especially as Pingyao appeared to be yet another uninspired Asian town, full of smog and road rage. But how wrong I was! How I should have learned by now not to judge too quickly! A huge great grey stone wall came into view, the outer edge of the ancient city of Pingyao, under a deep tunnel and it was breathtaking on the inside, like stepping through the wardrobe into Narnia, or at least Diagon Ally with an Eastern touch. We had foolishly booked an onward night train to Xi'an, the idea being to save on accommodation. We hadn't ... read more
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Pingyao guest house
Pingyao streets

Asia » China » Shanxi » Datong June 7th 2007

So, onward to Datong from Beijing, a six hour train ride on a hard seat. When they say the class is hard seat they mean it, three people on a seat designed for two. But for 2 pounds it's not so bad. There are a few different classes to choose from; Hard seat, soft seat, hard sleeper (6 bunks, 3 each side, about 90 people per train carriage in compartments open to the aisle) which is the most popular with tourists and pretty good value, you can get 10 hours on a hard sleeper for about 7 pounds. Then there's soft sleeper (4 bunks in closed compartments) and deluxe soft sleeper (2 bunks, closed compartment, private toilet!) A soft 4 berth ticket for 16 hours will set you back around 35 pounds. Datong, as promised by ... read more
Datong
Hanging Temple
Hanging Temple2




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