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.
I was very let down by my location once more this semester. It took me 2.5 hours to reach the train station on the teacher bus and then 3 hours to return from the train station on the light rail. Not to mention the 1 km walk back to my apartment from the train station. It's just as bad as it was last semester, if not worse, because there are no longer any trees or stray cats. It's simply a vast dusty campus on flat ground, with a lot of wind and currently, the sun is quite uncomfortably hot.
A highly soggy mountain and an extremely busy panda sanctuary.
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.
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.
Along the Yangtze River, there are several caves featuring Guanyin, but since most of them are inaccessible, I simply walked along the cliff.
I recently had the amazing chance to visit the Great Mosque in Xi'an, China. It was genuinely an unforgettable cultural experience. Situated in the vibrant Muslim Quarter of Xi'an's downtown area, this mosque is among the oldest and largest in the country.
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.