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.
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| 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.
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| Reminded me of playing in creeks at home. |
Sights at the Taoist temple - The Temple of Great Purity:
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| For burning incense |
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| I almost missed the Monk in the picture. |
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A couple of impressive trees:
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| This impressive giant is 1000 yrs old |
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| hollow |
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| with trees growing up inside it. |
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| 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.
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| Many hands have rubbed the head of the dragon and the sun. | |
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| This man and his daughter held this pose for a full five minutes or more. | |
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