China Trip Diary -- Check it out for a taste of Oriental Chicken!
CHINA JOURNAL 2004
Peter Kuhn
DAY 1
We finally arrived at the Hotel; The Beautiful Yu Yang hotel in Beijing. We met Lee, and Mr. Lui, our tour guide and bus driver. They are nice people. Later that night, around 11:00 - 11:30, we went out to see the Chinese nightlife! We went to a small restaurant across the street where I had noodles with Jim, Aihan, and Nerys. They were quite tasty.
DAY 2
In the morning, Jim and I woke up before the rest of the group. So, we had decided to take a walk around the park. There was a small pond, where we saw people doing Tai Chi and other forms of martial arts. It was cool stuff. Jim had wanted to do some, but I would have felt awkward because I suck at tai chi. We saw Tianenmen square and the Forbidden City. All the way in there were people trying to sell us all kinds of different things, but it is illegal to sell AND buy so Lee warned us not to buy anything. Very interesting. Jim bought a Tao Calligraphy from the Last Emperor's Nephew & I got my picture taken with him. Then we went to the Emperor's Garden; there was a statue of a very large Buddha. Lots of very beautiful people, they were dressed very finely. We had a lovely lunch. They took good care of Jim and Anne (food wise) . Now we're off to The Temple of Heaven. The whole park is 4 times larger than the Forbidden City!! People go to the park to exercise in the morning, but we went to see the temple. The Temple of Heaven (Tian Ten) was beautiful. Blue tiles on the roofs of the buildings. There were many different buildings. Each was a different temple for different purposes. There was a central pathway for the gods to enter, and the emperor entered on the pathway to the right. As we left the Temple area, we walked through the surrounding parks. Hundreds of people would gather together to sing and play instruments. Everyone was friendly and having fun together, in that particular place. To kill some time, we spent some time in the "pearl farm factory” We saw the special "Sweetwater" oysters they use to harvest the pearls, and even got free samples! The demonstrator had asked how many pearls there are in each oyster. I chose the correct amount (30). And she gave me an extra pearl. The pearl was the only PURPLE one in the bunch, meaning that I would attract women to me? I cant remember… It went something like that. After dinner, which was pretty OK, we went to the Acrobatic Show. Jim got the first half of the show on video, but maybe the 2nd half was more exciting? There were bicycle stunts, tumbling through hoops, pole climbing, and Chinese yo-yo juggling. The umbrella juggling was stunning, but my favorite part was the yo-yo juggling. IT WAS SWEEET!!
DAY 3
We faced the Great Wall of China. It was amazing. We started the climb, however half of us couldn’t really do it. But of course I could, because I’m Peter Kuhn! Anyways, there were little buildings up the steep course. And the steps were very different. One step could be 6 inches, the next go be 2.5 Feet. Ming tomb was impressive. Part of the compound is the largest wooden building in China. It was once a sacrificial hall in which the emperor's children brought offerings to honor their ancestors, but now it serves as the museum. The tomb itself is still under the mound covered by trees and brush. The Chinese government does not want to excavate the mound yet, as the "know how" is not to be found in China today. We had the best dinner ever. Beijing Duck of course! I think I was the only one who had stuffed themselves that night.
DAY 4
Summer palace was beautiful. We walked on a long "hallway" with beautiful scenery covering the ceiling. The covered walkway featured 4 pavilions for each of the seasons. At the end of the walkway was a dock where colorful dragon boats were docked, including a giant dragon boat made of granite, a super scale model of the dragon boats. We rode the boat across the lake. I sneezed and my gum flew into the water. I don’t know how I remember that. Also, Ke Ke, Lee’s apprentice taught me some good curse words. We visited old town Beijing. A wonderful experience! We visited a Kindergarten, and a local artist's home. The streets were narrow and winding. There were bars along a few of the streets that looked really cool. Everything was really dirty, and poor. But Aihan told me that the government wanted to keep it for the history and culture. After that, we went back to the hotel, packed our bags, and headed to the train. The train was mad dope! It had nice air conditioning, and a TV! It was awesome. I had absolutely no problem living on the train for a night.
DAY 5
We arrived in X’ian which was really big like Beijing. We went on our trip to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. We saw some ancient texts and caught a glimpse of some monks. Lisa got us to an ice cream stand in the beginning, and Jim finally paid off his debt to the group. ( he owed us ice cream J) The pagoda got it's name when a goose sacrificed itself, by dropping out of the sky, to feed the monks. The monks refused to eat meat from then on. At the end of the day, I've visited a Buddhist Temple and a Chinese Islam Mosque.
DAY 6
We just visited the Hot Springs that the Tan Dynasty Emperor gave to his wife. Also, Chang Kai Sheik used the location as his office, and hid out there when he was in trouble from the other Generals. After walking around the compound looking at empty holes in the ground, we went to a performance of traditional Chinese dancing, music, and singing. It was quite interesting and beautiful. The girl in the yellow was pretty. After, we went to see the Terra Cotta Soldiers! Wow, they were pretty cool. First, we went into the main building where we saw the history of the terra cotta soldiers in a Imax type theater. It was pretty cool. It was really too bad, because Lisa, our current tour guide was incapable of explaining the history, ( in English ) so we had to pay for another tour guide to come and explain it. But what was REALLY too bad, was that the new tour guide wasn’t better than Lisa. It doesn’t matter to me, since I didn’t have to pay. The terra cotta soldiers were amazing. There were so many of them, so fragile, so different. Many of them were crushed and broken, however, many of them were repaired and restored.
DAY 7
We drove a public bus to the base of Huashan Mountain and then boarded a modern (Dopplemayer) cable car to get to the upper base. From there we climbed many stairs to the North peak, and then started toward the South peak. It was very hot, and quite difficult work. There were many Chinese tourists, and almost no Americans, though I did see a tall blonde woman as I was descending. I think she was British however.
Only Nerys and Jim made the ascent. The others tired out fairly quickly. Along the way we saw some Taoist monks and their small, simple temples, as well as some smaller dwellings, and even some caves where monks do meditation. In addition to the amazing scenery, I also saw a little caterpillar making its way up the stairs, a funky, white cat, several different flowers, and lots of different birds. As we continued upward, the scenery became more and more beautiful. When we finally reached the top of the West Peak, we were treated to some spectacular views of the peaks and valleys all around us. We began the descent at noon, and met the rest of the group near the gondola. Apparently Lisa, our guide, tried to find us to make sure we didn't get lost. She made it all the way up to the West Peak as well (all 2160 meters), but we didn't see her until we joined the rest of the group. We all then took the gondola and then the bus back to the restaurant, and boarded the bus for the 5-hour journey to Dengfeng, where we will see the Shaolin temples and Monks.
DAY 8
We completed the tour of the Shaolin temple and the pagoda forest. The temple was mainly under construction. There were many Buddha statues because there is a very strong tie between Buddhism and Shaolin. Boddidharma's disciples would become weak from meditation so he invented exercises based on animal movements, which is the beginning of Kung Fu. The pagoda forest was a cemetery for the shaolin masters. His students with a pagoda would honor the masters who made great contributions to the temple. The current temple director, who is the #2 man to the abbot, has the newest. It was built when he turned 80, he is now 86...this is a great honor and it is hoped that he will live into his 100th year or more. We saw a pagoda that was rather quite interesting. On one side, it had a plane, next side it had a Train, the next side had a Boat, the next side had a Computer, the next side had a Telephone, and the next side had A TV, and the next side was a Stereo. I think that this pagoda represents a timeline of how Mankind had evolved into great technology and transportation. Possibly the Master had ideas of these things before he passed on?
DAY 9
The food was very good here in Deng Feng. Though we only ate at this restaurant and at the hotel. After lunch we had a birthday party for Ann completed with a lovely cake. Our guides Lisa, Bill, and Sun enjoyed a piece along with us.
Before lunch though, we saw a Shaolin Kung Fu demonstration at the second largest school in Deng Feng. It was mad cool. The students who performed had a very high level of skill. We saw eagle, snake, tiger, scorpion, and monkey styles demonstrated as well as some weapons forms, hard qigong, and sparring. All of the students were extremely athletic and flexible. Wow, I wish I could do the things that they did. Zhongyue was very special. We saw people who, as Taoists, live in the temple. The priest there was telling fortunes by way of us drawing sticks from a can. I drew the #1 stick of all. It told that I would become some sort of ruler, but I would get to that position from much help from friends and family. We all had good fortune. After walking the rest of the Taoist temple grounds, we stopped to watch some of the kids training their kung fu. They were so full of energy, watching them was quite exciting. They could all do the splits and flips and tricky stuff. They really did inspire me to start enrolling with Aihan at the Office. But of course things changed when we got back home. Maybe I might take some classes. After we checked out those little tikes, we headed to the train station. Another overnight train to look forward to. This train wasn’t as good as the other. It didn’t have the LCD TV that the other one had. However it was air conditioned, which meets my standards.
DAY 10
After arriving in Changsha, we checked in to the Wonder Hotel. 4 stars all the way! We are across the street from the square. After arriving, we headed out for lunch followed by a nice massage. That was excellent. The masseuses were all blind. Then back to the hotel for a quick change of clothes and then dinner with the family at a very special restaurant. We had a dish or two that was unique to the restaurant. Later that night after dinner, Jim had a crash course with Emily, Nerys, and myself with the 16 Step form. We are going to be on National TV!
DAY 11
We are in the hotel after having morning exercise with a local Tai Chi school. It was really cool, and we were filmed by the local news. After, I went to go see my Family! What a wonderful time! We ate fruit and drank tea at my grandmother's home, and then went for a delicious lunch at a nearby restaurant (literally a hole in the wall) After lunch we went back to the house and had more fruit and tea. I also tried a strange bit of tree that people chew here. It smelled a litte like chocolate, tasted a little like licorice, and had a kind of menthol effect as well. After a time, I went shopping with my cousin! Aihan and Jim hopped a cab back to the hotel.
DAY 12
We went on a tour of Yuelin Academy. It was the old part of the school located at the foot of the Southern sacred mountain. We saw a traditional music demonstration, which included mallets striking bells and pieces of metal. They also played very large pipes. While walking along the old campus, we saw all the old classrooms and dormitories for the teachers and students. The facilities were simple and small; however, now these rooms are used for display. We toured the exhibit of the mummified woman that was found in Hunan. We could take no pictures in the museum. The museum was impressive, and the display of the mummy and the artifacts was quite thorough. There were three tombs. They honored the prime minister of the ancient Changsha kingdom during the Han dynasty. It was incredible how well preserved everything was. They found some lotus root slices in a pot of water; they took a picture and moments later the slices disintegrated. Another overnight train we had to take to Shanghai. This one had to be the worst.
DAY 13
In Shanghai, we went to an awesome restaurant where they served these amazing dumplings. Then Nerys, Ann, and Jim toured the garden with our guide Stacey. The others walked around the bazaar. After the Yu garden tour I shopped a little. I got some awesome gifts for my friends. We went to the Museum of Shanghai after lunch. I was a little hesitant to go, because we had seen so many museums.
DAY 14
Well that's about it. Last night in China. Tomorrow morning we're heading to the airport for home. We had dinner at a "minority" restaurant. There was a dinner show going on. This pretty girl asked if I'd go up on stage, and many of the diners, the performers, and I formed a conga line of sorts and headed outside where there was a bonfire burning. We also celebrated Deborah's birthday tonight. We had cake, and laughed and laughed.
So that's it. Tomorrow we're up at 5, and checking out of the hotel at 6 with our breakfast in hand.
My diary of theChina trip 2004; Great time, lots of memories that I will never forget.
Peter Kuhn
DAY 1
We finally arrived at the Hotel; The Beautiful Yu Yang hotel in Beijing. We met Lee, and Mr. Lui, our tour guide and bus driver. They are nice people. Later that night, around 11:00 - 11:30, we went out to see the Chinese nightlife! We went to a small restaurant across the street where I had noodles with Jim, Aihan, and Nerys. They were quite tasty.
DAY 2
In the morning, Jim and I woke up before the rest of the group. So, we had decided to take a walk around the park. There was a small pond, where we saw people doing Tai Chi and other forms of martial arts. It was cool stuff. Jim had wanted to do some, but I would have felt awkward because I suck at tai chi. We saw Tianenmen square and the Forbidden City. All the way in there were people trying to sell us all kinds of different things, but it is illegal to sell AND buy so Lee warned us not to buy anything. Very interesting. Jim bought a Tao Calligraphy from the Last Emperor's Nephew & I got my picture taken with him. Then we went to the Emperor's Garden; there was a statue of a very large Buddha. Lots of very beautiful people, they were dressed very finely. We had a lovely lunch. They took good care of Jim and Anne (food wise) . Now we're off to The Temple of Heaven. The whole park is 4 times larger than the Forbidden City!! People go to the park to exercise in the morning, but we went to see the temple. The Temple of Heaven (Tian Ten) was beautiful. Blue tiles on the roofs of the buildings. There were many different buildings. Each was a different temple for different purposes. There was a central pathway for the gods to enter, and the emperor entered on the pathway to the right. As we left the Temple area, we walked through the surrounding parks. Hundreds of people would gather together to sing and play instruments. Everyone was friendly and having fun together, in that particular place. To kill some time, we spent some time in the "pearl farm factory” We saw the special "Sweetwater" oysters they use to harvest the pearls, and even got free samples! The demonstrator had asked how many pearls there are in each oyster. I chose the correct amount (30). And she gave me an extra pearl. The pearl was the only PURPLE one in the bunch, meaning that I would attract women to me? I cant remember… It went something like that. After dinner, which was pretty OK, we went to the Acrobatic Show. Jim got the first half of the show on video, but maybe the 2nd half was more exciting? There were bicycle stunts, tumbling through hoops, pole climbing, and Chinese yo-yo juggling. The umbrella juggling was stunning, but my favorite part was the yo-yo juggling. IT WAS SWEEET!!
DAY 3
We faced the Great Wall of China. It was amazing. We started the climb, however half of us couldn’t really do it. But of course I could, because I’m Peter Kuhn! Anyways, there were little buildings up the steep course. And the steps were very different. One step could be 6 inches, the next go be 2.5 Feet. Ming tomb was impressive. Part of the compound is the largest wooden building in China. It was once a sacrificial hall in which the emperor's children brought offerings to honor their ancestors, but now it serves as the museum. The tomb itself is still under the mound covered by trees and brush. The Chinese government does not want to excavate the mound yet, as the "know how" is not to be found in China today. We had the best dinner ever. Beijing Duck of course! I think I was the only one who had stuffed themselves that night.
DAY 4
Summer palace was beautiful. We walked on a long "hallway" with beautiful scenery covering the ceiling. The covered walkway featured 4 pavilions for each of the seasons. At the end of the walkway was a dock where colorful dragon boats were docked, including a giant dragon boat made of granite, a super scale model of the dragon boats. We rode the boat across the lake. I sneezed and my gum flew into the water. I don’t know how I remember that. Also, Ke Ke, Lee’s apprentice taught me some good curse words. We visited old town Beijing. A wonderful experience! We visited a Kindergarten, and a local artist's home. The streets were narrow and winding. There were bars along a few of the streets that looked really cool. Everything was really dirty, and poor. But Aihan told me that the government wanted to keep it for the history and culture. After that, we went back to the hotel, packed our bags, and headed to the train. The train was mad dope! It had nice air conditioning, and a TV! It was awesome. I had absolutely no problem living on the train for a night.
DAY 5
We arrived in X’ian which was really big like Beijing. We went on our trip to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda. We saw some ancient texts and caught a glimpse of some monks. Lisa got us to an ice cream stand in the beginning, and Jim finally paid off his debt to the group. ( he owed us ice cream J) The pagoda got it's name when a goose sacrificed itself, by dropping out of the sky, to feed the monks. The monks refused to eat meat from then on. At the end of the day, I've visited a Buddhist Temple and a Chinese Islam Mosque.
DAY 6
We just visited the Hot Springs that the Tan Dynasty Emperor gave to his wife. Also, Chang Kai Sheik used the location as his office, and hid out there when he was in trouble from the other Generals. After walking around the compound looking at empty holes in the ground, we went to a performance of traditional Chinese dancing, music, and singing. It was quite interesting and beautiful. The girl in the yellow was pretty. After, we went to see the Terra Cotta Soldiers! Wow, they were pretty cool. First, we went into the main building where we saw the history of the terra cotta soldiers in a Imax type theater. It was pretty cool. It was really too bad, because Lisa, our current tour guide was incapable of explaining the history, ( in English ) so we had to pay for another tour guide to come and explain it. But what was REALLY too bad, was that the new tour guide wasn’t better than Lisa. It doesn’t matter to me, since I didn’t have to pay. The terra cotta soldiers were amazing. There were so many of them, so fragile, so different. Many of them were crushed and broken, however, many of them were repaired and restored.
DAY 7
We drove a public bus to the base of Huashan Mountain and then boarded a modern (Dopplemayer) cable car to get to the upper base. From there we climbed many stairs to the North peak, and then started toward the South peak. It was very hot, and quite difficult work. There were many Chinese tourists, and almost no Americans, though I did see a tall blonde woman as I was descending. I think she was British however.
Only Nerys and Jim made the ascent. The others tired out fairly quickly. Along the way we saw some Taoist monks and their small, simple temples, as well as some smaller dwellings, and even some caves where monks do meditation. In addition to the amazing scenery, I also saw a little caterpillar making its way up the stairs, a funky, white cat, several different flowers, and lots of different birds. As we continued upward, the scenery became more and more beautiful. When we finally reached the top of the West Peak, we were treated to some spectacular views of the peaks and valleys all around us. We began the descent at noon, and met the rest of the group near the gondola. Apparently Lisa, our guide, tried to find us to make sure we didn't get lost. She made it all the way up to the West Peak as well (all 2160 meters), but we didn't see her until we joined the rest of the group. We all then took the gondola and then the bus back to the restaurant, and boarded the bus for the 5-hour journey to Dengfeng, where we will see the Shaolin temples and Monks.
DAY 8
We completed the tour of the Shaolin temple and the pagoda forest. The temple was mainly under construction. There were many Buddha statues because there is a very strong tie between Buddhism and Shaolin. Boddidharma's disciples would become weak from meditation so he invented exercises based on animal movements, which is the beginning of Kung Fu. The pagoda forest was a cemetery for the shaolin masters. His students with a pagoda would honor the masters who made great contributions to the temple. The current temple director, who is the #2 man to the abbot, has the newest. It was built when he turned 80, he is now 86...this is a great honor and it is hoped that he will live into his 100th year or more. We saw a pagoda that was rather quite interesting. On one side, it had a plane, next side it had a Train, the next side had a Boat, the next side had a Computer, the next side had a Telephone, and the next side had A TV, and the next side was a Stereo. I think that this pagoda represents a timeline of how Mankind had evolved into great technology and transportation. Possibly the Master had ideas of these things before he passed on?
DAY 9
The food was very good here in Deng Feng. Though we only ate at this restaurant and at the hotel. After lunch we had a birthday party for Ann completed with a lovely cake. Our guides Lisa, Bill, and Sun enjoyed a piece along with us.
Before lunch though, we saw a Shaolin Kung Fu demonstration at the second largest school in Deng Feng. It was mad cool. The students who performed had a very high level of skill. We saw eagle, snake, tiger, scorpion, and monkey styles demonstrated as well as some weapons forms, hard qigong, and sparring. All of the students were extremely athletic and flexible. Wow, I wish I could do the things that they did. Zhongyue was very special. We saw people who, as Taoists, live in the temple. The priest there was telling fortunes by way of us drawing sticks from a can. I drew the #1 stick of all. It told that I would become some sort of ruler, but I would get to that position from much help from friends and family. We all had good fortune. After walking the rest of the Taoist temple grounds, we stopped to watch some of the kids training their kung fu. They were so full of energy, watching them was quite exciting. They could all do the splits and flips and tricky stuff. They really did inspire me to start enrolling with Aihan at the Office. But of course things changed when we got back home. Maybe I might take some classes. After we checked out those little tikes, we headed to the train station. Another overnight train to look forward to. This train wasn’t as good as the other. It didn’t have the LCD TV that the other one had. However it was air conditioned, which meets my standards.
DAY 10
After arriving in Changsha, we checked in to the Wonder Hotel. 4 stars all the way! We are across the street from the square. After arriving, we headed out for lunch followed by a nice massage. That was excellent. The masseuses were all blind. Then back to the hotel for a quick change of clothes and then dinner with the family at a very special restaurant. We had a dish or two that was unique to the restaurant. Later that night after dinner, Jim had a crash course with Emily, Nerys, and myself with the 16 Step form. We are going to be on National TV!
DAY 11
We are in the hotel after having morning exercise with a local Tai Chi school. It was really cool, and we were filmed by the local news. After, I went to go see my Family! What a wonderful time! We ate fruit and drank tea at my grandmother's home, and then went for a delicious lunch at a nearby restaurant (literally a hole in the wall) After lunch we went back to the house and had more fruit and tea. I also tried a strange bit of tree that people chew here. It smelled a litte like chocolate, tasted a little like licorice, and had a kind of menthol effect as well. After a time, I went shopping with my cousin! Aihan and Jim hopped a cab back to the hotel.
DAY 12
We went on a tour of Yuelin Academy. It was the old part of the school located at the foot of the Southern sacred mountain. We saw a traditional music demonstration, which included mallets striking bells and pieces of metal. They also played very large pipes. While walking along the old campus, we saw all the old classrooms and dormitories for the teachers and students. The facilities were simple and small; however, now these rooms are used for display. We toured the exhibit of the mummified woman that was found in Hunan. We could take no pictures in the museum. The museum was impressive, and the display of the mummy and the artifacts was quite thorough. There were three tombs. They honored the prime minister of the ancient Changsha kingdom during the Han dynasty. It was incredible how well preserved everything was. They found some lotus root slices in a pot of water; they took a picture and moments later the slices disintegrated. Another overnight train we had to take to Shanghai. This one had to be the worst.
DAY 13
In Shanghai, we went to an awesome restaurant where they served these amazing dumplings. Then Nerys, Ann, and Jim toured the garden with our guide Stacey. The others walked around the bazaar. After the Yu garden tour I shopped a little. I got some awesome gifts for my friends. We went to the Museum of Shanghai after lunch. I was a little hesitant to go, because we had seen so many museums.
DAY 14
Well that's about it. Last night in China. Tomorrow morning we're heading to the airport for home. We had dinner at a "minority" restaurant. There was a dinner show going on. This pretty girl asked if I'd go up on stage, and many of the diners, the performers, and I formed a conga line of sorts and headed outside where there was a bonfire burning. We also celebrated Deborah's birthday tonight. We had cake, and laughed and laughed.
So that's it. Tomorrow we're up at 5, and checking out of the hotel at 6 with our breakfast in hand.
My diary of theChina trip 2004; Great time, lots of memories that I will never forget.