China - Part 4 - Zhangjiajie - "Avatar Site"

On April 23, Day 9, we took a cable car up to the Tianzi Mountain Nature Reserve for a bird's eye view of all the mountains and valleys of the Wulingyuan scenic area. 

Here are some photos from this part of our sightseeing:

Tianzi Mountain Nature Reserve

 A view from our cable car of the narrow, winding road 
on which we had just experienced traveling at a
speed that seemed too fast for the narrow road.

We took this picture from the cable car in which we were riding.
I read this is the longest mountain cableway in the world
 (24,458.8 feet).

There were two other couples in this cable car.

(Sam and Narene)


 One of the spectacular views.

Bronze statue of Marshall Helong that was
designed by Pan He.
It is the largest figure of its kind in China, being
a little over 21 feet tall and weighs over 9 tons.
 

 Proof that we were there.
(Sam and Narene)

Yuanjiajie

 Next, we took a shuttle bus to Yuanjiajie where we walked up and down
many flights of stairs to view the impressive scenery,
which has become famous as the "Avatar site." 

 Standing in line to get on a bus to take us
to this site.

The mountain pillars in this area
 served as the prototype for “Avatar’s” fiction diorama 
of hanging, mist-shrouded peaks 
where Pandora’s fearsome “ikran” dragon birds had their nesting grounds.

 The stairs and paths were crowded with
sightseers, most of whom were Chinese tourists.
You had to wait in line for a spot to take your desired photo,
and then get back in the crowd
without having the luxury of remaining to
appreciate the view any longer.

There were numerous monkeys hoping for a handout;
but we had been advised they would leave
us alone if we didn't feed them and might
become aggressive if we did.

 A pool with real and fake turtles.



After leaving the crowded "Avatar site,"
we appreciated walking more leisurely along
a river and waterfall.

We stayed in the Sunshine Hotel and Resort 
in Zhangijiajie for two nights.

Day 10, Monday 4/24/17

Tianmen Mountain Scenic Area

This is the highest mountain in Zhangijiajie 
and has been called "one of the most beautiful mountains in the world."

This adventure included a walk high above the valley on a glass skywalk.
 

Part of our tour group with the
Tianmen Cave
seen in the background
(which is the hole in the mountain).

The cliff path that encircles the mountain.
(Narene talking to Paul Huber, who was on the tour with us.)

A portion of the path is a glass walkway.
(Narene and Sam)



A view of the valley and city of
Zhangijiajie below.

View of the Tianmen Cave,"
which is a 328-feet tall natural hole,
98.5 feet wide.

It is a natural mountain water-eroded hole between two peaks, 
like a huge doorway in the cliff face.
It is referred to as the Gate to Heaven, 
which was made famous by Russian stunt pilots 
who flew thorough the natural archway.

Some tourists were walking up the 999 steps to reach the cave.
('9' is the biggest number in Chinense culture and 999 means an eternal/forever life.)
We, however, rode the escalators.

We went up to the Tianmen Cave "Gateway to Heaven" tunnel
by way of a series of escalators through the mountain.

The escalators can carry 3,600 tourists per hour for a one-way trip
running directly from Tianmen Hole to the top of Tianmen Mountain.
It is equipped with 16 sets of 98.5-feet heavy-duty escalators 
and three sets of 65.7-feet ones. 

Another view of the city of Zhangjiajie below.

Our local Fun For Less tour guide,
who happened to be married to the tour guide
on the other Fun For Less bus.

  We took the Bailong elevator down from the top of the mountain.
This is a glass elevator built onto the side of a huge cliff
and is 1,070 ft. high.  It is claimed to be the
highest and heaviest outdoor elevator in the world.
Construction of the elevator began in October 1999,
and it was opened to the public by 2002.


We then got on a cable car to continue down the mountain,
which meant we did not have to go by bus down that winding road again.
  (Narene and Sam; Albert and Patsy Harmer are in the cable car behind us.)



We went by a Tianmen Mountain Temple.


 
Mary and James Halvorsen were in the cable car ahead of us.

A view of the city of Zhangijiajie

Directions given in Chinese and English

A pretty rose.

Our guide showing us a map of
where we had just been
on Tianmen Mountain.



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Tianmen Fox Fairy Show

Evening of April 24th
Zhangjiajie 

 Musical drama with Tianmen Mountain and valleys 
as the stage background. 

The performance areas were divided into five parts: 
the central stage, mankind's world on the left, fox's world on the right, 
the singing platform in the front, 
and the live-action of terrace and Timber Bridge at the back.

 The whole performance of Tianmen Fox Fairy is also divided into five parts, 
including the King of Fox’s choosing the imperial concubine, 
meeting on the mountain, lovesickness at night, 
betraying the King, and waiting. 

The show tells a romantic love story about a fox fairy and an ordinary woodsman who makes a living by chopping wood. The fox fairy is quite kind and extremely beautiful. 
She has never hurt a human before. 
She was forced to marry the king of the fox empire, whom she does not love at all. 

The fox fairy gradually falls in love with a kind woodsman who had saved her life,
so she uses her magic power to shape herself into a human and slides into the man’s house to finish all the housework and make a nice dinner for him every day. 
The woodsman finally finds out the truth, and he also falls in love with her. 
They begin to live a happy life together.  

However, when the other villagers realize the woman is actually a fox, 
they cannot accept their love story because of the trouble made by the fox empire 
and because a lot of villagers and children were hunted by fox fairies.
Moreover, the king of the fox empire cannot accept the betraying of the fox fairy.
It does have a happy ending.




Raincoats were provided due to the light rain, but we enjoyed the scenery, 
the big moon and outdoor backdrop, the folk songs performed by 100 local singers,
the colorful costumes, and the dancing.


Our next blog will find us Cruising the Yangtze.

China - Part 3 - Xi'an

We flew to Xi'an on the morning of April 21st and had a city tour with a special visit to Xi'an's ancient city wall and to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. 

Xi'an

We stayed overnight in Xian at the

Shangri-la Golden Flower Hotel,

which had a large marquee that

welcomed "Fun For Less Tours"

alternating from Chinese characters to English.

We enjoyed an early morning walk through a

park a couple of blocks from our hotel

and saw numerous groups of local Chinese

doing morning exercises.

These exercising groups included
a mixture of men and women of various ages
doing tai chi, the ancient Chinese slow-moving exercise.

Each group seems to syncronize their moves
to their selected rhythm.

 This was a younger age group in the park
enjoying their modern music with western-style dancing.

A ping pong match in the park was their exercise choice.

A unique broom in the park.

Bamboo growing.

Color among the greenery.

Skillfully removing the pineapple "eyes."

The Ancient City Wall in Xi'an

Xi'an is one of the oldest cities in China with more than 3,100 years of history giving it equal fame to Athens, Rome, and Cairo as one of the four major capitals of ancient civilization.  It was one of the world's largest and richest medieval cities in the world.

The Xi'an City Wall is the most complete city wall that has survived in China 
and is one of the largest ancient military defensive systems in the world.

The city wall has been refurbished many times since it was built in the 14th century,
most recently in 1983.

 
 Sam at the famous Xi'an City Wall.

The wall stands 40 feet tall, 40-46 feet wide at the top and 
50-60 feet thick at the bottom.
It covers 8.5 miles in length with a deep moat surrounding it.
There are 98 ramparts, which were built to defend against the enemy climbing up.
Each rampart has a sentry building in which the soldiers could protect the entire wall without exposing themselves to the enemy.
 (Narene and Fun For Less fellow travelers)

 This may be the best preserved city wall in the world.

A view of the moat
with the city view in the background.

 Sam took this picture of Scott and me in 2006
when we visited the wall in Xi'an.
At that time, we rented bicycles and rode on the wide path at the top of the fortress.  
The wall encloses an area of about 5.4 square miles.

Xian's ancient City Wall is the most intact ancient Chinese wall in existence. It encircles and protects the ancient part of Xian City. Xian was the capital of thirteen different Chinese dynasties, so the need for a defensive structure such as the city wall was imperative. - See more at: http://www.chinaodysseytours.com/xian/xian-ancient-city-wall.html#sthash.RVi202xP.dpuf

Xian's ancient City Wall is the most intact ancient Chinese wall in existence. It encircles and protects the ancient part of Xian City. Xian was the capital of thirteen different Chinese dynasties, so the need for a defensive structure such as the city wall was imperative. - See more at: http://www.chinaodysseytours.com/xian/xian-ancient-city-wall.html#sthash.RVi202xP.dpuf

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Xian's ancient City Wall is the most intact ancient Chinese wall in existence. It encircles and protects the ancient part of Xian City. Xian was the capital of thirteen different Chinese dynasties, so the need for a defensive structure such as the city wall was imperative. - See more at: http://www.chinaodysseytours.com/xian/xian-ancient-city-wall.html#sthash.RVi202xP.dpuf

The Big Wild Goose Pagoda Area
in Xi'an
This is a Buddhist pagoda located in southern Xi'an.
It was first built in 652 during the Tang dynasty and originally had five stories.
The structure was rebuilt in 704 and later renovated during the Ming dynasty.
One of the pagoda's many functions was to hold sutras and figurines
of the Buddha that were brought to China from India by the Buddhist
translator and traveler Xuanzang.

Listening to our local Fun For Less guide 
at the beginning of our tour
to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda and surrounding area.

Sam and Narene

The Great Wild Goose Pagoda
 It was built with layers of bricks without any cement and is a good example of 
Chinese traditional architecture.
The seams between each layer of bricks and the 
"prisms" on each side of the pagoda are clearly visible.

An impressive statue inside one of the buildings 

adjacent to the Great Wild Goose Pagoda. 
 

An ornate stairway.

Lighted candles for prayers.

Beautiful mural created with the various colors of Jade,
ranging from white to pinks to greens,
that depict the phases of Buddha's life journey.

Narene and Sam and a Buddha

Narene by an interesting tree.

We saw several trees being treated
for some problematic symptom using a bottle
attached to a small hose inserted into the trunk.

The Golden Flower Hotel by Shangri-la in Xi'an
where we stayed Friday night on April 21st
and left after breakfast the next morning to
visit the Terra Cotta Army site.

In front of the hotel, we witnessed
a bride in Oriental attire being lifted by the groom
into the waiting car as they prepared to leave the hotel.


* * * * * * * * * * * *

The evening of the 21st, we enjoyed the
Tang Dynasty Dinner and Cultural Show in Xi'an
and were welcomed with this large sign on the stage.
The next photos were taken at this colorful event.

The show includes eight classical programs:
Melody of Longevity of the Emperor,
White Ramie Cloth Costume Dance,
Da Nuo Dance,
Rainbow Skirt and the Feathered Coat Dance,
Battling Dance of the King of Qin,
Song of Spring Outing,

Oriole Singing in Spring,
Ta Ge Dance

Quote:  "By combining poetry with the skilled playing of musical instruments, singing, dancing and also stunning costumes, the modern presentation is certain to give you an impressive view of ancient China including its splendid history, brilliant arts, distinct traditions, and customs."

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Terra Cotta Warriors

in Xi'an

This was an after-life army for First Emperor Qin

who died in 210 BC.

Every figure differs in facial features and expression.

A view of Vault One. 

These figures had lain underground for more than 2000 years
before farmers digging a well in 1974 uncovered
what is now considered one of the greatest
archaeological sites in the world.

The museum mainly consists of three vaults and an
exhibition hall:  Vault One, Vault Two, Vault Three,
and the Exhibition Hall of the Bronze Chariots.

Around 2,000 of these terra-cotta warriors have been found so far,
but archaeologists working on the project believe there are several other pits
to be found and possibly as many as 8,000 figures in total.

A closer view of Vaults Two and Three.

The faces were representative of the
individual warriors and were varied
supposedly no two alike.

The restoration work is ongoing.

Another look to the past.
The year is 2006 when we visited China with Scott.
At that time when we toured the Terra Cotta Warriors site
where they were restoring the figures,
there were very few tourists.
We took our time seeing this cultural site
and listening to our private guide tell the history of what we were seeing
without being hurried along by a huge crowd that we had in 2017.
(Sam and Narene)

Exhibition Hall of the Bronze Chariots

Warrior Sam


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Making hand-pulled noodles
in Zi'an for beef noodles, which is a
local favorite. 

Somehow as we watched the process
of rolling, twisting, and cutting, the separate noodles appeared.

Traveling in our bus, this mound in the distance
was pointed out by our local guide as
the tomb of the emperor,
but apparently superstition has kept it undisturbed.
This is what I read online:
Emperor Qin Shi Huang planned his tomb to be an underground replica
of the palace and city he lived in during life with all the facilities,
servants, warriors, concubines, luxuries, and treasures he would ever
need to enjoy the afterlife.  It took 38 years to build the complex and his actual tomb was buried under a 75 ft. high mound of earth landscaped and planted with trees to
make it look like a natural feature of the scenery.

But although so much of the mausoleum complex has been explored and excavated,
the actual tomb mound of Qin Shi Huang still lies undisturbed by archaeologists.
 
It may be that the Chinese government believes that it is better to wait before digging the tomb, so that excavation techniques and technology can advance significantly, 
 ensuring the job is done properly.

Or, the tomb of the First Emperor could be a dangerous place to explore.   Ancient records have described how moats filled with mercury flowed through the tomb to represent China's great rivers and the ocean.  Mercury is poisonous, so if the tomb does contain rivers and pools full of it, the scientists would have to develop protocols to work safely as well as effectively in the burial chamber and surrounding rooms. Apparently, soil samples have been taken from different locations around the burial mound and they have shown to contain high levels of mercury, so the archaeologists will need to assess and address all the risks before they can start working.



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On Saturday evening, April 22, after visiting the Terra-Cotta Warriors, we flew to Zhangjiajie, where we spent the next two days exploring the magical place where the movie "AVATAR" was filmed.  Then on Day 11, we began our cruise on the Yangtze River.  

Photos from these days will be in the next blog entry.