Corey did a great job covering everything from our whirlwind trip around China with my family, so hopefully this isn't too repetitive.
DALIAN
My family arrived in Dalian after a few days in Beijing. We only had a night, so we had to boil the city down to its essence, showing off some low budget shopping, our school, and Xinghai Square at night, which is always nice to see.
GUILIN
Corey, my family and I all took off from Dalian to Guilin where we got to see some legitimately spectacular scenery. From the lit stalactites and stalagmites of the Reed Flute Cave, to the limestone formations along the Li River - this was the scenic beauty of China that has been relatively nonexistent in Dalian.
Plus, we got to drink Snake Bile Wine, which I should say is as great tasting as it sounds.
It hits everyone the same. A sort of taste like... actually... should you ever have the opportunity, it's something you should probably experience yourself...
After taking in more scenery and water buffalo than any mere mortal could handle, we left Guilin for Chengdu, and the promise of Pandas.
CHENGDU/WOLONG
Chengdu, a seemingly cool city in its own right was little more than a jumping off point to the Wolong Panda Preserve. We saw a little of the city at night before starting on our five hour journey the next day. First, we saw an ancient irrigation system (yaaaawn), that was also home to an ancient Taoist temple (not yaaawn... that was pretty cool).
Our trip took us up a long, winding road that included a tunnel still being dug that cars only have a three hour window to drive through every day. You miss it, you're stuck. No pandas.
The day ended with a hearty Yak Meat and Bamboo shoot dinner, and a stroll around the middle of nowhere, and its painful tourist trap shops.
The Panda Preserve, in a word... was incredible. If you ever see Pandas in a zoo, there are one or two of them just hanging around being pathetic. Here, there were over twenty Pandas that we got to see in a variety of different settings, doing all those things Pandas do so well (like crapping yellow... makes sense, huh?)
Oh yeah, if you haven't heard already, we got to hold Pandas. Yeah, that's right.
It'd seem as though we're pretty awesome I'd say.
XI'AN
The next stop on the supertrip was Xi'An, home to the Terracotta Warriors. We spent a bit of time in the city itself and saw a little glimpse of the super rare Cultural Diversity in China with things like the Islamic Market and the Great Mosque.
The Chinese of course still had a pretty commanding presence in the city with their imposing Bell and Drum Towers (Bell Tower pictured below), which stand higher than everything else in Xi'An.
The Warriors themselves were impressive enough...
... but at the end of the day, the model factory we were draged to under the pretense of seeing a Terracotta Research Center, yielded just as good of a look at what makes the Warriors unique. Maybe I'm just being an ass though.
Despite my blog-found negativity, my family had a good time...
although not as good as some other families probably.
THE YANGTZE RIVER
The last leg of the tour was a three day cruise down the Yangtze River. The river is historically important to China, and the current dam being built - The Three Gorges Dam is regularly making headlines for the impact it will have on the region.
One of the first places we visited was a relocation village for some of the million plus Chinese that are being displaced because of the dam. The flooding that will be caused will be so severe that entire villages will be washed away, along with the long standing classic Chinese landscape around the Yangtze. In the village, we were taken to a house where we got to "speak" to a woman who had been relocated. Of course, she spoke no English, so all translating was done through a PR person for the village.
After the propog... experience, we returned to the trip to find that the Chinese tourists on the boat were all taken to a temple known as the "Abode of Ghosts", a haunted temple in the mountains. After a minor mutiny, the crew agreed to take us to the temple as well. And it lived up to its name...
The next excursion led us to the boat trackers of the Yangtze. A group of fishermen who are famous for pulling their boats upstream. This was incredible to see, and could have easily have been the highlight of the trip if it wasn't for those pesky Pandas.
We passed through the beautiful Three Gorges and made our way to the Three Gorges Dam which is erm... Dam big. Sorry, I went a bit insane for a good day and a half with the damn dam jokes. There I go again. The most impressive part we were able to see was the lock mechanisms that ships travel through. It took a few hours, but the sheer size of everything made it a nerd type fascinating experience.
After the cruise, we departed to Shanghai, which can be read about two posts down... one of the more insane things to happen during my time in China so far.
I have a lot more to tell everyone about here. Since being back, we've been exposed to the Dalian Zoo, as well as the Dalian International Beer Festival. Both of those will be covered, but not before one more post about this trip. It'll be shorter, and it'll have videos of Pandas doing insane Panda things. See you back here tomorrow.
- Shawn
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