Beautiful China, Part 2

(this is Part 2 of a series - for Part 1, click here)

 Again, we are going to start with mountains! There's just something majestic about them. Seeing mountains reminds me of [insert a profound realization about the nature of life that I cannot really express here] and I'll always keep that with me.

(Left) The flat mountain here is Maiji Mountain in Gansu Province. (Below) Taken from Maiji Mtn itself.

Although you can click on these pictures to make them bigger, something is lost when you take a picture of mountains which are surrounded by the early morning's fog. 

Although you can look at the picture and say, "wow...", it is a truly awesome thing to actually experience. Awesome as in the original sense of being full of awe. 

For me personally, there is nothing better than a combination of three things which I love most of all - mountains, cultural history, and China.

And Maiji Mountain gave me all three at once! Buddhist carvings dating back over 1000 years on a mountain in China! How about that?

As I walked along the side of this mountain, I was once again reminded that I was in China - sometimes I forgot that I was on the other side of the world in a country that I technically didn't belong in, but felt like I belonged in.

Sometimes it takes something truly foreign and unique to remind us of where we came from and how we got to where we are today.

When I think of something beautiful, normally I think of the mountains or somewhere far away from the city. But beauty isn't just about mountains and nature. It's about something that is stirred deep within you and reminds you of your humanity and your fleeting time on earth.


(Lanzhou University of Technology campus)

It's not limited to Tianshui, Lanzhou, Beijing, New York, Colorado, or any place.

Beauty is everywhere - you just have to be aware of it, I guess.

To me, the beauty of these places is that all of these places are special to me because I got to Rest. 


That seems to be something that's largely been lost on humanity. The ability to just rest and reflect on yourself. Now life is all about doing and planning, but rest and reflection have been all but forgotten.

(Lanzhou from Bai Ta Shan)

Sometimes you can find the most peaceful and beautiful spots in the unlikeliest of locations....would you care to guess where this is?




Downtown Beijing.

Yep - this is at the Old Summer Palace! It's not exactly downtown - it's north of downtown, but still.....it's in the smack middle of one of the biggest cities on the planet.


Who would've thought it?

Despite its location, it was a great place for introspection and soul-searching.

This was the point in time when I was nearing the end of my stay in China - I had maybe 1 week to go. It was the perfect time and place for me to rest and reflect in the disastrous humidity.

The world is a beautiful and wonderful place, and I've done my utmost to never foret it.

Just try and tell me otherwise.

What do you think? Feel free to leave comments and responses! No sign-up, just leave your name and your comment! I love hearing from you :)

Away From Isolationism and 2 New Videos

Here are two URLs for some interesting (and short) articles that reflect a growing trend in China's governmental policy.

Before:

Just picture that sign in Chinese, okay?

Now.

China is Biggest Investor in the U.S.A.

China to Help Boost African Development

China seems to have come to the point of its development where it has begun to withdraw from its traditionally more isolationist leanings and get more involved in the outside world. Since the West forced the opening up of China, China has been involved with the world as far as accepting some foreign investments domestically and exporting goods to those foreign countries.

(((((((Now - when I say "isolationist", I mean it purely in terms of getting involved in stuff outside that country's borders. Foreign investment inside and exportation from that country is just fine - but as far as foreign policy in the outbreak of war/financial/diplomatic tensions, that country doesn't really care.)))))))

However, both of those were pretty much exclusively handled within Chinese borders. In the past 20 years, and especially the past 10 years, Chinese people have come by the thousands to America, Europe, and other places to study, start businesses, etc. and the exchange has begun to level out. Over $6 billion in investments in America, thousands of exchange students and businessmen, diplomatic and aid efforts in Africa - China has begun to step outside of its box.



Guangzhou, like I said, is a nice halfway point. It's English friendly, not too dirty, and it is an air-conditioned city. However, I did not enjoy my time in Guangzhou - I tell Chinese people that I did, but I didn't. When I went places, I would always ask people stuff like directions or where to buy something or something basic, I would ask in perfectly understandable Mandarin AND English, if that didn't work....I'd ask them, and they'd just blow me off just like any New Yorker who doesn't think you're worth their time. Guangzhou people are so rude - the only friendly Guangzhou natives I met were university students. Everyone else on the street was so rude. The food is Guangzhou is okay, but I'd suggest eating food styled after other places. Sichuan food is very popular and I'd recommend that. Local Guangdong food is relatively bland or is a little sweet. The sweet is good, but bland is stupid. Guangzhou's a huge city and I'm not a huge city type, so maybe we weren't destined for a great relationship. But the White Cloud Mountain was cool!

Of course, I'll always enjoy historical sites, such as the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall.

This is from the 白云山 White Cloud Mountain. This day was really hot and humid, but the view of the skyline is really cool!

The Old Summer Palace is a pretty cool place, although it suffers from the unfortunate downfall of being swarmed with tourists during the summer and winter holidays.

It's about 5 miles northwest of Beijing's Forbidden City and was the residence of the Qing dynasty emperors and the place of everyday governmental affairs, while the Forbidden City was for formal occasions. The place was destroyed in 1860 by the French and the British during the 2nd Opium War and it has never been rebuilt.

If you go during a time without a lot of people, I can imagine feeling a very strange and eerie aura coming from the place. I had never visited a set of ruins before, so my feelings were very different from what they were normally.

There's a strange feeling of sadness and mystery and grandeur all mixed together - it's sad because it's been destroyed, mysterious because we can't fully reconstruct and imagine what it was like to stand in those halls, and grand because of the sheer size of the place and the intricacy and splendor of the marble carving and natural scenery.

There's also a kind of weird emptiness that can't be described. You really really want to see what these buildings were like and you really really want to have that intimate feeling of seeing the places where the emperor walked and ate and sat and relaxed, but you can't.

The place was destroyed and all that is left are paintings, writings and memories of the dead.

"History cannot give us a program for the future, but it can give us a fuller understanding of ourselves, and of our common humanity, so that we can better face the future."
Robert Penn Warren



Just something to think about. I'll be keeping you guys up to date - thanks to one and all who read and care about what I have to say.



Keep coming back - I'm still going to be updating. Got a lot more to come