Chapter 103
Sanmenxia - The City of Swans
Sanmenxia is a city two hours west of Luoyang. I was there three times. Once with people from the Number 19 High School, another time with Barbara (Liang Feng), a teacher from the Number Two Foreign Language School and her daughter Lois (Han Xiao). This trip I went with Guan Jigang and his wife Huang Guoqin.
From early winter to late spring, hundreds of thousands of white swans come to Sanmenxia from Siberia.
On the way to Sanmenxia. This is how we drive in China. The right lane is the shoulder, not a driving lane. It’s an open lane so let’s use it.
People taking pictures of the swans.
Guess what this is. Yep, when nature calls that’s where you go. I cannot read the sign on the left but the one on the right says men’s.
Huang Guoqin
Lingbao is about an hour Southwest of Sanmenxia. This sign tells about Hangu Pass. This is six miles from the city of Lingbao. The rest of the following pictures were taken here. There was a lot of construction going on when we were there.
My friends Huang Guoqin and Guan Jigang that I went here with. They are both very good English teachers. Jigang has also been the Foreign Affairs Officer at the Number One Foreign Language School and an Associate Principal at the Number 19 High School. As far as I know, Huang Guoqin has always been at the Number One Foreign Language School, at least as long I have known her.
This is a statue of the Philosopher Lao Zi.
That’s me. The Chinese characters are his name, Lao Zi.
These pictures give you an idea how big that statue is compared to other things.
Chapter 104
Longmen Grottoes
This is one of Luoyang's tourist sites and it is worth going to see.The Longmen Grottoes (Dragon’s Gate), or Longmen Caves, are one of the finest examples of Chinese Buddhist art. Housing tens of thousands of statues of Buddha and his disciples, they are located 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) south of Luoyang along the Yi River. There are as many as 100,000 statues within the 2,345 caves, ranging from 1 inch (25 mm) to 57 feet (17 meters) in height. The grottoes were excavated over a period of 400 years from 493 to 907 AD.
Entrance to the Longmen Grottoes
This picture was taken from one of the stairways by the caves. This is the Yi River that goes by the Longmen Grottoes.
The main statue is 57 feet tall (17 meters)
This is Justin Patch that I worked with at the Number One Foreign Language School.
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