East Earth Travelogue: Naxi Dancers, Lijiang, China

While visiting Lijiang we had the opportunity to watch Naxi dancers in the old town square. The women and men here are pictured with their traditional dress. The the Naxi ethnic minority mostly live in Lijiang, Yunnan Province, while the rest live in Sichuan and Tibet.

The colorful traditional dress of the Naxi women pictured below.

East Earth Travelogue: Ganden Sumtseling Monastery

The Ganden Sumtseling Monastery (Songzanlin Monastery) is the largest Tibetan Temple in Yunnan Province. It was built in 1679 and is situated at an elevation of 11,090 feet. It is the most important Tibetan Monastery in southwest China. The main monastery structure built in Tibetan style has a gilded copper roof similar to the one at the Potala Monastery in Lhasa.

View from the Monastery of the surrounding countryside.

China's Taoism Shrine to mark 600th anniversary

BEIJING, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- A series of memorial activities will be held later this year in central China's Hubei Province to mark the 600th anniversary of the construction of the ancient Chinese Taoism building complex at Mount Wudang, the provincial government announced Tuesday. 
 For the rest of the article, see:
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90782/7927318.html

East Earth Travelogue: Xiang Ge Li La (Shangri-la) Watch Dog

Xiang Ge Li La (Shangri-la) is an area of China that is a primarily Tibetan county in northern Yunnan Province. The elevation of the city is rather high, around 10,800 feet. While walking around the older city I noticed this handsome dog on a rooftop watching the going's on in the narrow streets below him.

East Earth Travelogue: WuDang Kung Fu

In Ngong Ping Village on Lantau Island, Hong Kong there was a Kung Fu performance by Wudang style martial artists. The video was framed by umbrellas that people used to shade themselves on this hot August day.
Wudang Kung Fu (or Wudang Gong Fu) has its home at Wudang Mountain. Wudang Mountain is the birthplace of internal martial arts where the great Daoist priest Zhang San Feng came to live as a hermit and learn the Daoist methods of attaining immortality. During his time here and through his practice Zhang San Feng created Nei Jia Quan, or what is now more commonly referred to as Tai Ji (tai chi).

The main focus of the video is the performers in the center but you should watch the video a few  times. If you do you'll notice in the back on a narrow stage is another martial artist who appears to be doing a separate form yet it blends seamlessly together with the men at the center from time to time. It is really wonderful to watch! 

East Earth Travelogue: Po Lin Monastery

On my initial visit to Lantau Island I noticed a cable car going up a mountain. On further investigation I learned that it took people to visit Po Lin Monastery and the large bronze Buddha. My friends and I decided to visit it. The cable car is a fantastic ride. The only drawback was waiting two hours in line to get on. The wait was worth it though.
Po Lin Monastery is a Buddhist monastery, located on Ngong Ping Plateau, on Lantau Island, Hong Kong. The monastery was founded in 1906. The main temple houses three bronze statues of the Buddha – representing his past, present and future lives – as well as many Buddhist Scriptures. When I went inside I was surprised to find that people were taking pictures inside the Monastery. I have been to many temples in China and taking photographs is always forbidden. However, I could not find a sign here indicating not to take pictures. Feeling a bit guilty about doing the wrong thing I took a few pictures anyway. It was a rare opportunity that was unlikely to happen again. Here is a photo of the three Buddhas at the main alter.

Buddhist Statues in Po Lin Monastery

There is also a large Buddha associated with the monastery. The Tian Tan Buddha statue that was completed in 1993. It is 112 feet tall and weighs 280 tons. When you are on the cable car ride you can see it from miles away.  There are 268 steps to climb up to the Buddha. We didn't do that though. The temperature of Hong Kong in August was around 90+ degrees with 80% humidity and we were hot enough already.

The Tian Tan Buddha statue

Tian Tan Buddha from Ngong Ping Village

People walk up 268 stairs to go up to the Buddha

Note: If you are going to see Po Lin Monastery it is well worth the extra money to ride in the Crystal 360 Gondola with glass floors. It not only gives a better view but you get shifted to a different line that gets you on the gondola much faster. It saves you at least another hour of waiting in line for the less expensive regular gondola. The gondola ride is worth the wait though. It is over 5 km in length and you get spectacular views.

East Earth Travelogue: Hong Kong's Lantau Island

On a recent trip to China I had to stay overnight before catching a plane to the mainland. I decided to stay on Lantau Island. Lantau Island is where the airport is and is connected to Hong Kong and Kowloon by road, ferry, and subway. It is also the home of Po Lin Monastery and an 80 foot tall Buddha. Po Lin Monastery and the Buddha statue are major tourist attractions and draw thousands of people each day (In fact, when I returned to Hong Kong two weeks later we took the 5.6 km cable car ride to the Monastery and had to wait two hours in line because there were so many people). Generally, this area is packed with people, as is the rest of Hong Kong, but on the south side of Lantau is Silvermine Bay where I booked a hotel room. This was a pleasantly quiet little town with virtually no one on the beach while I was there except for some cattle. Yes, "No Dogs Allowed" but Lantau has feral cattle, remnants to the days of rice farming. They now roam free and look really healthy. The sun, sand, and surf must be relaxing for them. It was the last thing I expected to see in Hong Kong.

"Feral Cattle on the Beach, Silvermine Bay,  Lantau Island"