Xian 2: QinShiHuang and the Terracota Warriors (Shaanxi, PRC, 西安陕西中国)

Besides this post-mortem army, all indicates that Emperor Qin Shi Huang (秦始皇) was a great man. And influential too, probably only matched by Mao ZeDong in the consequences of his rule in Chinese History. He started as a kind of hostage prince, became king of a state, and finished the period of Warring States by bringing most of China under his control. Proclaiming himself emperor, he banned much of Confucianism, organised the whole empire under a system separating political and military powers (extended from his original kingdom), standardised measures (length, weight, currency), and introduced Legalism and an official script. Massive public works developed the nation, such as the precursor of the Great Wall, river dams, roads... and the mausoleum containing thousands of life-sized clay warriors. The terracota army is speculated to have been meant to guard the emperor's tomb or accompany in his ressurection.

An impressive view.. Qin Shi Huang searched dearly for immortality, but observing these warriors intact (recovered) and broken, isn't it evident, all that is must perish, ashes to ashes, and what is clay - or a man - but ashes?

Note however, how each figure is unique in pose and expression, and the fine details (like the hair) well worked. After 2000 years, the figures lost their color, but back then, they made a fantastic sight, all painted.

Xian 1: The City (Shaanxi, PRC, 西安陕西中国)

Xian is truly a historical city, counting about 3000 years of existence, as it was the capital for several dynasties of rulers. It was also the starting point tothe Silk Road. However, today the city is a big lump of buildings, smog, traffic and people, with some spots worth visiting and an impressive city wall. .

Some artwork from a tao temple, and the drum tower, sitting in the center of a busy roundabout..

The Great Mosque, sitting within beautiful grounds, is ancient too (about 1300yrs old) and looks just like a plain chinese temple from the outside. A newer one, squeezed between buildings, resembles better the typical mosque type.

Street scenes from the muslim quarter, here the (city?) police confiscates a bike-cart from a woman, apparently she did not have a licence to sell on the street. On the right, a shop selling fashionable muslim-arabic goods.

And finally the Small Goose pagoda, from where you can see the city - doesn't look like an old city at all! More like an urban jungle...

Yichang: Small town, great shots (Hubei, PRC, 宜昌湖北中国)

Yichang is not a remarkable city, though in ancient times it was rather important as the last port upstream before the gorges leading to Sichuan province. The city is mostly concrete, but I took interesting photos here.

Two sides of a changing economy, the old coal cart and a newer stockmarket. The coal is still a preferred fuel for stoves throughout China, and carting must be a tough job. Then again, that's how my granpa started, and here I am travelling the world! As for the room full of screens, I could not find what they were trading - probably grains or merchandise at the port.

And here is one of the local street markets: a demolished quarter serves as a selling floor for fresh produce. Tip: always have your food well done.

Surprisingly too, I found an imponent Christian church right in front! (Yichang was at some point a concession port for foreign trade)

Chang Jiang 2: The River and the Gorges

The (in)famous Three Gorges are no more - as the waters rise, the cliffs around the river, though sharp, become nothing like what they used to be. The strong currents and the trackers, men and beasts who pulled boats upstream along the shore, are gone too. According to an article I read (National Geographic I think), about 2 million people had to be replaced or had their lives severely affected by the planned flooding of the river, as the 3 Gorges Dam further down keeps building up. Along the river, the scenery is peaceful, but is also a scenery of a changing land...

The old and the new...

Rising waters... (notice the water height signs)

The wider gorges of today...

On the way to the Three Little Gorges...

Squeezing in :-) Beautiful waters, hidden between the rock...

At the end of the journey, the concrete monster awaits...

And here are my nice roommates from the ship - they spent most of the trip playing cards! (quite typical btw..)

Chang Jiang 1: Fengdu, the city of ghosts

First destination in this cruise, the city of ghosts is on a sacred hill, almost submerged by the rising waters of the Chang Jiang. A fantastic place full of temples, the theme is hell and punishment/salvation, or damnation/rebirth.

There are statues..

and terrible guardians and judges...

some scenes from Hell a la chinese...
(pretty similar to christian hell btw)

mass tourism and interesting architecture...

and a theme park city of ghosts, complete with dungeon ride!

Back to Concrete Jungle (Chongqing, 重庆市中国)

The city of Chongqing, in the province of the same name (sometimes spelled ChungKing like in "ChungKing Express") is a truly industrial million-people dwelling. Growing on trading and industry in the interior of China, the cruise on the YangTse (ChangJiang 长江) starts here and that's why I came to Chongqing.

On the small image on the left, one of the most impressive things I've seen on this trip: that guy has a street show with math tricks! He would ask numbers from the audience and multiply them in a second. There may be some trick, like a partner or so, but who cares - the sole fact that you can entertain people there with mathematics surely says something about the culture!

On the right, a small pictoresque old town on the outskirts of the main city, is now converted into postcard-picture, weekend-promenade for the millions of middle class city dwellers, the old houses there renovated and all sorts of shopping and street stalls. There is a temple too (of course!) where you can go ask for luck in love and marriage...