I'm still testing my knee, so I visited Zhou "garden" (which isn't really a garden) and the Wenfeng pagoda, the latter being impressive but challenging to climb. I've been feeling quite lazy and completely worn down by the authorities at Nanjing University of Finance and Economics. I'm doing my best to leave, but they keep undermining every attempt. Anyway, here are some photos from the pagoda, located 12 km and three buses away from my campus: This is the view from the top, indicating that I live in a pretty remote area. I also went to Zhou garden in Lishui, the town where I catch the train to other cities (you'll notice I don't board the train in Nanjing, right? That's because I don’t actually live in Nanjing!). It’s not exactly a garden, but rather an antique house that was moved here from another province. The rest of the site was filled with Buddha sculptures, which were all quite overwhelming and impressive. I’m not sure where these sculptures came from, but it’s an impressive collection. There's also a vast assortment of antique wooden furniture.
Zhangjiajie, situated in Hunan Province, China, is a breathtaking location recognized for its extraordinary scenery, featuring towering sandstone spires and verdant woodlands. This UNESCO World Heritage site gained fame for inspiring the floating mountains depicted in the film Avatar. In this article, we will explore the main attractions in Zhangjiajie, offer practical travel advice, and discuss how to maximize your visit.
This month, I've been extremely lazy due to my knee not feeling completely right and the inconvenient location I reside in. Traveling to the south end of the city requires me to take two light rail trains, which takes at least 1.5 hours. I live in Gaochun, south of the airport, so I first take the local rail to the airport, then switch to the airport train to finally reach the south end of the city. My tourist card now only has destinations on the north end of the city left, and I lack the motivation to visit more than one each weekend. Without further delay, here are the photos I took during the weekends in December.
If China can provide rapid and efficient rail service throughout its extensive territory, there's no reason the US can't do the same! Oh, I forgot! US automobile and gas companies hire lobbyists to influence our congress and politicians to persuade the public that it's not feasible or cost-effective.
We spent two weeks in Changde. It rained nearly every day, which limited our exploration more than we had hoped. We enjoyed playing at arcades, engaged in Township (a game on our phones and tablets), and went go-karting three times. The go-karts were fully electric and located inside a mall. Logan and Lizzy have been playing Township for over three years and taught Jenny how to play during a two-day stretch of continuous rain. She enjoys the game because it allows her to garden digitally while we travel. They also introduced Lutao to the game, so now the entire family plays Township together.
One thing that surprised me about Chengdu was how similar it felt to Beijing and other major Chinese cities we had explored. While we experienced some interesting nightlife spots, the city overall seemed quite generic. I initially thought this might be due to my limited Western viewpoint, but Mei Ling concurred that Chengdu didn't truly embody Sichuanese culture. We resolved to venture beyond the city borders during our remaining days in Chengdu.
Along the Yangtze River, there are several caves featuring Guanyin, but since most of them are inaccessible, I simply walked along the cliff.
I'm still trying out my knee, so I visited Zhou "garden" (which isn't really a garden) and Wenfeng pagoda. It was impressive but tough for me to climb.