Year of the Rats: Visual China

So we've been home a few days since our China on speed whirlwind tour of China with Shawn's family. It was a great time, we saw the must sees, we held pandas, found a man selling crickets in cages, ate amazing food (and some not amazing food), took in the scenery and even braved an airport riot; so now I'm going to try and do the impossible...and make up for not putting any pictures up for ages by posting a complete selection of pictures to give ya'll a general picture of what we saw!! I apologize in advance for talking up so much room on the page, enjoy!

The Twin Towers
Guilin, China

Sunrise view from hotel room
Guilin, China

Reed Flute Caves
Guilin, China

Reed Flute Caves
Guilin, China

After seeing the sights of Guilin we boarded a boat for a day long cruise up the Li River. The Li River is famous for its limestone peaks and boasts some of the most famous scenery in China. These mountains can even be seen on a 20yuan bill. It surely lived up to the hype.

Motor powered bamboo boat on the Li River
Guilin, China

Li River
Guilin, China

Famous 'Snake Bile Wine' Liquor
Guilin, China

Fisherman and his cormorants on the Li River
Guilin, China

From Guilin we headed out to Chengdu where we spent the night before heading up to the Wolong Nature Preserve. Wolong is home to about 600 native pandas who wander in and out of the perimeter of the park. Inside the park there is also a well known breeding center that is home to 60 captive pandas...one of which we were able to hold :)

Shawn and Serena
Wolong Nature Preserve, China

Pandas
Wolong Panda Preserve, China

Eating panda biscuit
Wolong, China

Wolong, China

Next up was Xian, home of the Terracotta Warriors and a nice city in and of itself.

The Bell Tower
Xian, China

The Drum Tower
Xian, China

Crickets being sold at the Muslim Night Market
Xian, China

Terracotta Warrior replicas
Xian, China

The real deal
Xian, China

With Xian and the Terracotta Warriors done, done and done we headed south again to catch a three day cruise down the Yangtze River. The cruise started in Chongqing, a modern city whose population has grown exponentially over the past 10 years and is considered the largest city in the world (depending on who you ask), and ended in Yichang. The boat trip went through an area of the river that will flood after the completion of The Three Gorges Dam. The trip included two excursions along the way.

View of Chonqing from the Yangtze River
Chongqing, China

Cleaning the Yangtze
Yangtze River, China

The Abode of Ghosts
Fengdu, China

Torture statues in the Abode of Ghosts
Fengdu, China

The following pictures were taking on the Shennong Stream, a tributary of the Yangtze River. The boatmen are referred to as boat trackers. Originally used when fishing, the boat trackers would pull the boats upstream through shallow parts of the river.

Shawn
Shennong Stream, China

Bamboo boats
Shennong Stream, China

Rowing upstream
Shennong Stream, China

Shoes made of bamboo and grass used specially by the boat trackers
Shennong Stream, China

Boat tracker
Shennong Stream, China

Bamboo rope used to pull the boats upstream
Shennong Stream, China

Pulling
Shennong Stream, China

Heading downstream
Shennong Stream, China

Shawn
Shennong Stream, China

Boat tracking boat heading upstream
Shennong Stream, China

Bamboo and grass footwear
Shennong Stream, China

Our lead boat tracker guiding the boat upstream
Shennong Stream, China

Rowing
Shennong Stream, China

Out of the mist
Shennong Stream, China

Directing the boat
Shennong Stream, China

Pulling with bamboo rope
Shennong Stream, China

That evening our ship queued up to go through the lock system at the Three Gorges Dam. When completed the Three Gorges Dam will be the largest dam in the world. Its construction has caused many villages upstream from it to be relocated (we monetary reparations going to the people whose villages will be underwater)