embarrassing, i know.
04 June, 2005
throwing pen trough
the story goes that visitors had to throw pens into the canyon below so that demons wouldn't make them slip and fall off the path.
in the rock
who says you have to actually climb the mountain, when modernization created these lovely chairlifts?
the ferry across the lake
if this looks picturesque it's because it is. a toaist storybook come to life.
sacred lantern pavilion
the following day we went to Qing Cheng Shan mountain. the ride to the mountain on the bus was interesting as keely got plied with questions in Chinese as she always is. the toaist mountain was amazing. toaist figures tend to be the most playful of all religious figures in china. its like claymation before the animation part.
breakfast
we went early to catch them eating, because when not eating, these guys sleep and sleep and sleep. our videos of the 6 month old pandas are so cute, but we used up all the memory before taking any digital photos.
22 years old
the next day in Chengdu we left early to visit the pandas at the panda reserve. an impressive though small reserve set up kind of like a large zoo for over 100 pandas. this is the primary breeding center in the world for these amazing bears of which there are less than 1500 left in the world.
cup of tea
tea in china is an art form surpassing wine culture in france. when all these tea leaves became saturated, they formed a minature grassland landscape at the bottom of the glass.
translation at sam's guesthouse in Chengdu
after a beeline to the showers, i beeline to the dictionary. i'm trying to figure out how to say, "two shots of tequila in my green tea please."
keely dining
i got devilishly excited to go somewhere besides our own little car and the gong gong ce suo (public bathroom). the dining car was very exotic, with its warm beer and policemen lounging. probably the worst food we've eaten the whole trip. we didn't go back.
view
through guangxi province, with karst mountains that have inspired chinese painters for thousands of years.
bunks
our bunks, side by side. at night we could reach across and hold hands (when the others weren't watching), and wake up to the other one gazing at hazy dawn over terraced rice fields.
40 hours on the train
back in china! oh joy to be on the train, one long unedited film of the countryside, the heart and food production of china.
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