Shanghai

We took the fastboat back to the mainland, followed by a two hour drive to Shanghai. Once in Shanghai we met up with some other friends at dinner, Susan Zhang and her husband David. I met Susan in the summer of 2007 when she taught an immersion class in Chinese language in Redding. Afterwards we took a stroll on the Bund and also in a shopping area.

Shanghai's crowds, traffic and lights were the total opposite of what we had experienced during the two weeks in remote mountainous areas of China but we enjoyed it just the same and it was nice to be able to finish the trip just the way we started - with friends.

Top Right: Right to Left: Hannah and Michel Czehatowski, Susan Zhang and her husband David.

Top Left: View across the river from the Bund.

Bottom Right: On the Bund. The skyscraper on the opposite side is like a huge television screen with commercials played out on the building.

Bottom Left: Mark Van Loan in a Shanghai shopping district.

Putuo Shan - Beaches

Putuo Shan has nice beaches also. We didn't see anyone swimming but the scenery was nice.

More Putuo Shan Sights

Top Right: A 1,000 year old camphor tree that is 20 meters in height and two meters in diameter. Trees of this size are rare.
Top Left: (Lt to Rt) Mark Van Loan, Hannah Czehatowski and Michel Czehatowski in front of the character "xin" or "heart" carved in a large rock.
Center: The characters for Buddha (top of picture) blending into the character for "heart" bottom of picture. This was carved in stone.
Bottom: A balanced stone.

Putuo Shan sights

As with the other areas of China that we traveled in there is an abundance of temples to see. The pictures are highlights from our travels.
Top Right: Metal bell
Top Left: Fish
Center: Characters carved in stone.
Bottom Right: Detail of characters carved in stone. Hai Tian Fo Guo
Hai means "sea", Tian mean "heaven", Fo means "Buddha", and Guo means "Country".
Bottom Left: Dragon wall

Behind the statue of Guan Yin there are temples and a huge stone wall covered in Buddhist art. Here are some of the highligts.
Top right: Picture of the wall which gives you an idea of the size.
Other photo's are details from the wall.

Putuo Shan - Guan Yin

Putuo Shan is considered the place of enlightenment for the bodhisattva Guan Yin.

For more information on Putuo Shan see this link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Putuo_Shan

Top Right: 100 foot tall (33m) statute of Guan Yin.
Top Left: Close up of Guan Yin.
Bottom Right: Statue found at the entrance to the temple.
Bottom Left: View taken from the base of the Guan Yin statue looking out to sea.

Putuo Shan

Putuo Shan is known as the place of enlightenment for the Bodhisattva Guan Yin. It is a small island in Zhejiang Province whose main industries are tourism and fishing.

Top: Scenic Island views

Bottom Right: Temple.

Bottom Left: Detail of stonework window at a temple.