Qingdao/Chengdu/Tibet

This will be my final blog post for awhile. Thanks for accompanying me on my journeys. It's been an unbelievable adventure!

Qingdao:
It was so great to have Rachel be able to meet me in Qingdao on my last day of classes.  We were a little nervous about her finding her way to my Freshman classes because I was at a satellite campus. But she made it and was treated like a celebrity!  She said "Now I understand why you don't want to leave. I don't want to leave and I've only been here a day!"

Our time in Qingdao was very short. One day we walked through a sculpture park and along the beach.

 Then we walked through the old German section of town and to  "Snack Street" which had an incredible assortment of wild things to eat - starfish, scorpions, snakes - to name just a few. I wish we could say we were brave and tried something, but we were afraid of getting sick right before our trip to Tibet.

Old Catholic Church

Snack Street: (Pictures by Rachel)

 

 

 

 

Our first stop on our trip was Chengdu, China

My lovely traveling companion

 Some of the sights around town:

Prayer flags hung in the trees

Chengdu is famous for its panda park.  The Giant Pandas were behind glass so the pictures were not as clear as the Red Pandas, but both were very cute.

Tibet:

A comfortable way to tour the city

Tibet was an amazing place. The people were so friendly, so quick to smile.
We really felt the effects of the altitude (15,000+ ft). We were in Lhasa and Shigatse.

Potalla Palace - Former home of the Dalai Lhama

A magnificent, awe-inspiring structure

 Pilgrims spinning their prayer sticks on their way to the palace:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yak butter candlelight

Laoshan

Hi, Everyone - We just had a 3-day holiday - the Dragon Boat Festival. On the first day, Monday, we went to Laoshan - the highest coastal mountain range in China.  It's only about 1/2 hr away, but we hadn't been there yet. Most of our trips have been to far away places, so we decided we need to start seeing more local sites. "Shan" means mountain - so "Lao Mountain". It's located right along the beautiful coast of the Yellow Sea.

Lori, a fellow teacher and Nancy, our friend and guide

Our first objective was to hike up the 1000 steps to a Temple and see the sights along the way.

For less than $10 you can take the lazy way out.  After we made the hike, it seemed like a good idea!

Part way up is this dam and beautiful reservoir.

Spring was a wonderful time to make this trek. Cool, green and in full bloom.

Reminded me of playing in creeks at home.

Sights at the Taoist temple - The Temple of Great Purity:

For burning incense

I almost missed the Monk in the picture.

A couple of impressive trees:

This impressive giant is 1000 yrs old

hollow

with trees growing up inside it.

This one is not as big, but is 1100 yrs old.

 At another site - The Temple of Supreme Purity. Many of the temples we've seen have been in the city.  I love the serene, mountain setting of these two temples.

Many hands  have rubbed the head of the dragon and the sun.

This man and his daughter held this pose for a full five minutes or more.