Fellow Virtual Travelers,
Xi'an, China. We finished up our tour in Xi'an with a Confucious Temple tour, seeing statues, stone tablets and stone carved calligraphy and poems from ancient times. Ming Dynasty and before! We in America have NO idea what ancient history is and it's mind boggling to realize that something you're looking at is older than the pyramids in Egypt!
Confucian Temple (the Stele Forest):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stele_Forest
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confucius_Temple
http://www.chinahighlights.com/xian/attraction/forest-of-stele-museum.htm
We were in American Heaven for a period of time, finding out that there was both a Dunkin' Donuts and Starbucks within walking distance from our hotel! So sitting in Starbucks, Xi'an, we enjoyed Raspberry and Hazelnut lattes, while munching on a plain cake and chocolate sprinkle donut. The lattes tasted as we've come to expect. The donuts… well… they looked right but something about the dough was a little different…
Then we fell off of the technological map with no internet access. We've so many colorful stories to tell, but for now, check out where we've been the last three days:
Yuxu Palace:
http://www.damo-qigong.net/wudang/yuxu.htm
Wudangshan:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wudang_Mountains
http://www.wudangchina.com/tour.htm
http://www.wudanggongfu.com
http://www.wudanwushuju.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wudang_Mountains
http://blog.chinatravel.net/culture-history/wudang-shan-kung-fu-martial-arts.html
http://www.chinatourmap.com/hubei/wudang-mountain.html
Purple Cloud temple:
http://history.cultural-china.com/en/169History8543.html
http://www.damo-qigong.net/wudang/zhixiao.htm
Golden Summit
http://www.taoistgongfu.com/wudang.htm
http://english.cri.cn/6566/2010/10/08/902s598292.htm
We arrived late on Thursday night in Beijing (10 pm by the time we got to the hotel). Up early this morning (Friday) for our last day in China before taking the long flight back home very early Saturday morning!
Blessings,
Dennis & Anita