China

timgoos on February 15th, 2012

   This was my fourth trip to visit China bit only my first as a tourist – the others were for work.  Not surprisingly, the changes over the years are huge. And yet, certain things remain. The hospitality shown by the people remains. Although we had only just met him, Winston’s mom invited us to [...]

Continue reading about China – Reflections

timgoos on February 14th, 2012

 Zhujiajiao is a village near Shanghai that has a 5000 year history. There are a few such water towns in what I think is the river delta around Shanghai.  Marco Polo referred to these towns as reminders of Venice in his travels. The old town is largely preserved here and full of little shops, restaurants [...]

Continue reading about A Visit to Zhujiajiao

timgoos on February 13th, 2012

 Large metropolitan cities present many faces to both the visitor and resident. They have multi-dimensional aspects that provide a diversity of experience and opportunities.      The Bund clearly demonstrates how a city can utilize historical buildings as one element of that diversity. The Bund lies along one banks of the Huangpo River – directly [...]

Continue reading about The Bund, Shanghai

timgoos on February 8th, 2012

   A somewhat uninspiring photo of Pudong – quite representative of what China is trying to become.  This district across from old Shanghai was agricultural into the early 1990′s.  Now, it is an international finance and trade centre.  The tall Pearl Tower was one of the first buildings constructed and was a very tall tv [...]

Continue reading about The New China

timgoos on February 7th, 2012

   Not a great shot but suffice to say the main street of Shanghai could be practically any major city on earth.  All the big brands including the most expensive are along this street – along with local firms like The Silk King. The street is a pedestrian mall for maybe a mile and was [...]

Continue reading about Main Street, Shanghai

timgoos on February 7th, 2012

   The green and orange or green and grey taxi …. The most fearsome predator on the streets of Xi’an! As pedestrians, you have the least rights to any hard surfaces in China – you must give way to any bicycle ring, horn toot etc.  Next lowest are bicycles, next motorbikes, thence cars, taxis and [...]

Continue reading about Most Feared in Xi’an

timgoos on February 6th, 2012

   Lynn is standing on the ancient city wall of Xi’an and we are looking north to the Bell tower.  With many ancient buildings as well as a completely refurbished wall and partial moat, the buildings and architecture of this former capital of China are a real attraction.     However, this is not fog [...]

Continue reading about Xi’an

timgoos on February 6th, 2012

  I had visited the famous buried soldiers once on an earlier visit but nothing prepared me for the significant changes since then. There are now three different pits in which one can see the soldiers. Some, as in this picture, are standing and essentially like new. Some of these have likely had some repairs [...]

Continue reading about The Terra-Cotta Soldiers

timgoos on February 4th, 2012

 We went to visit the Small Goose Pagoda in Xi’an and found a cultural festival with music, dancing and many displays. This small statue was outside and the black areas indicate the significant number of people that have touched it.  We never learned which ethnic minority was dancing but, for the women in the dance group, [...]

Continue reading about Festival in Xi’an

timgoos on February 2nd, 2012

 The Muslim Mosque is noted in guidebooks as an interesting mix of traditional Chinese and Muslim themes – a blend of a people’s culture with a religions beliefs. It made for a very interesting place to visit. You were mostly only able to visit the grounds but it was interesting to see and a quiet [...]

Continue reading about Muslim Mosque, Xi’an