Grassland that is NOT

The vast grasslands of Mongolia has always been something intriguing to me and has remained one of the several places that I wanted to visit while I am here in China, the other being able to hike some parts of the `wild’ Great Wall of China and to spent a night, camping and enjoying the stars.

But the nearest grassland is at least 5 to 6 hours away from Beijing and the trip had to be carefully planned, especially when you are travelling with two little children. So, when someone told us that there is a vast grassland called the Kangxi Grassland only about an hour away from Beijing, we were hopeful that at least we could do something over the weekend, and the kids or me get to ride some horses, running wild on the vast rolling grassland and under some stunning clouds formation with blue skies.

My expectations were high. With my camera gear all cleaned up and filters ready, I was even expecting to stay till evening, hoping to get some stunning sunset shots. We engaged a driver and set off on a lazy Sunday. The journey was uneventful and the highway choked with traffic since the particular place is located relatively near to the Badaling Great Wall, the most crowded section of the Great Wall where most overseas and local tourists go on weekends.

The signboards were relatively clear pointing the direction of the Kangxi Grassland. After being on the road for approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes, we finally arrived. What greeted us was a small ticketing office with no car park in sight. I was told that the car park is inside the entrance and entrance fee is RMB30 each. Not exactly expensive, I thought considering that we have paid much higher entrance fees for other locations in China before.

Tickets were issued and we drove towards the entrance, where there was a booth to collect our tickets. To our surprise, the guys at the entrance took our tickets and did not even bother to give us back the stub. When our driver asked for it, he told us that that was it. (The auditor part of me tells me that I smell a rat somewhere but then again, I could not care less. All I wanted was the grassland).

The moment we entered the entrance, there was an empty piece of land, supposedly the car park and a building with stadium like seats.

We were immediately approached by a man who quickly ushered us to this building, telling us that that is the place to get horses to go into the grassland. Since, my mother in law and two children came along, we were advised that we need to get a horse cart which will cost us RMB200 for one hour without the HORSES! Two horses for one hour would cost us a further RMB200 and we were still expected to tip the driver after the trip. All I could smell then was horse shit and horse pee. Well, since cars can’t go in (or so we were told initially) and there is no way we could walk into a 5,200 acres of grasslands, we agreed with the horse cart but were told that we have to wait at least 30 minutes for the next cart to come back.

Just as we were waiting, a bald man that I have noticed sitting at one corner since we walked in, drinking his Yanjing beer, stood up and came over and told me that he could let us drive our car in for RMB200. That was indeed a tempting offer considering that we would have to pay RMB400 an hour besides tips to the driver for the horse cart. We agreed and he led us to a dirt road blocked by some man made metal barrier. We paid him the RMB200 and he lifted the barrier to allow us to drive through. Well, I thought that I am on my way to see the vast rolling grasslands! Yipppeeee!

What I saw was disappointing to say the least. What greeted me was a huge and vast piece of flat land, overgrown with weeds and shrubs. I got down to take some pictures and every which way I turned, I could see horse shit. It was far from what I have expected. The day was hot with temperature touching 34 degrees. On the internet, I saw pictures of herds of sheep and rolling hills. Where have they gone to?

Since we have paid the RMB200, we drove on and finally the road ended after 15 minutes drive by a pond or a lake so they claimed. There is a patch of land planted with sun flowers and some old row boats where one could hire to row out (chargeable of course). By this time, I was too hot and too disappointed to bother.

We got down to grab some pictures and headed back.

Is the type of grasslands that I would encounter in Mongolia? I don’t know but I still intend to find out. But for now, I would strongly advise anyone thinking of spending a day here, riding horses especially with kids to give this place a miss.

Kangxi grasslands were reported to be as vast as 5,260 acres and are supposed to be teaming with sheep and cattle with mild temperatures even in summer. What I have experienced was totally the opposite. Maybe I have not ventured deep enough from the main road to see the wild side of her but whatever I saw from the outside including the experience from the people manning this facility does not impress me.

This is definitely a grassland that is NOT! And oh yes…I also found out later that you could drive your car in for as little as RMB100!

Government Appointed CarPark

It was gloomy day when we arrived at town of Pingyao, on our way to see the Pingyao ancient walled city, reportedly the best preserved ancient wall city in China, dating back 1200 years old. Everyone was telling us that this IS one of the attractions that we must see if we ever visited Shanxi.

After visiting the mind boggling architecture of the Hanging Temple and experiencing the awesome Yungang Grottoes, both dating back 1,500 years old, my expectations were high, looking forward to see some ancient authentic Chinese houses and their alleys and hopefully, for a moment, relive the lives of those living there so many years ago.

But that was definitely NOT THE CASE. In fact, it is here that we have our worst and probably most frightening experience as a foreign tourist in China so far.

Our driver who is also our good friend and someone who came from the tourism industry previously was equally appalled with what he saw and experienced.

About a kilometre away from the ancient city, we saw a huge new car park by the road side but there were only two cars parked there. Since, we were not quite sure where the ancient city was, he stopped to ask the parking attendant who immediately without hesitation told us that we have arrived, gave us a parking ticket and ushered us into the car park. We were apprehensive. Although it is off season and we arrived relatively early, but knowing China, there is no way that there would be no crowd here. We drove around in the car park looking for the exit only to notice a car following us closely behind. The moment we stopped, so did him. A burly Chinese man came out and immediately advised us to take one of the open trams (fit for 6 to 8 people) waiting in the car park to the entrance.

Smelling a rat, we repeatedly asked him where the entrance was and how far was it but to no avail because he kept on avoiding the question and insisted that we should follow him to take one of those trams. We asked again, whether is there another car park for us to park our car because it looked rather empty to us. Again, he kept on insisting that we are at the right place. In fact, he pointed us to a signboard which wrote “Government appointed Car Park!”

Failing to be convinced, we insisted to go out of the car park, paid our parking ticket and drove away, only to our horror, realizing that the burly man was closely following us in his car. Our driver tried every turn he could to shake him off but to no avail even to the point of running a red light.

As we drove on towards the direction of the site, we began to noticed more “Government appointed Car Park” signage put up at almost every single empty land we could see, some even as small as just enough to park 3 cars! 

We finally arrived after driving for another 5 minutes and saw the entrance to the ancient city of Pingyao. By this time, we have noticed that the car was no longer following us. There is another relatively sizable car park outside where we could park our car. We got down and went for our tickets as everywhere in China nowadays is chargeable!

RMB120 (RM60) per person! This is another issue that the tourism industry in China is currently facing, rising cost of entrance fees. We do not have much choices since we have come so far.

We thought the worst was over only to find that another new nightmare has just begun. As we walked through the gates into the Pingyao, a lady kept on following us, pestering us to take a tourist open van instead of walking, with the driver following close behind. The streets in Pingyao are narrow and crowded. I was really agitated and stressed with her, while we carefully negotiated ourselves along the narrow street, avoiding being knocked down by one of these tourist vans coming from either direction.

They finally gave up after following us for over 20 minutes and not until, our driver and guide told them off firmly.

With that, we finally have some space of our own to look at this ancient city.

Was it worth our while. Personally, I do not find it any more interesting than going through the hutongs back in Beijing. Yes, we still have many old buildings dating back hundreds if not thousands of years ago, but all of these have been refurbished into cafes, restaurants, hotels and souvenir shops, making the entire place rather commercialized  It was also dusty and crowded. We made our way quickly through several streets and walked along some lest crowded ones, all too eager to get out.

Overall, I would say that Pingyao has been over commercialized with little or no control by the local government. The place itself has been oversold. Although it could be true that it IS the best preserved ancient walled city, the over commercialization has left it with little authenticity.

This is one place that I would definitely NOT COME BACK and would not recommend as a place to visit.

52K Buddhas 1500 Years old

Yungang Grottoes (云冈石窟) also known as Yungang Shiku is located 16 km near Datong in the Shanxi province. It is by no means near from Beijing and the journey by car took almost 5 hours. Datong is a town famous for her coal mines and is an industrial district first and foremost. Hence, do not expect clear skies and clean air. However, we were lucky as it has been raining the entire journey from Beijing to Datong and when we finally arrived at the Yungang Grottoes in the late afternoon, the air has been cleared somewhat and towards the evening, there were clear blue skies and a relatively nice sunset.

Not until recently, the site of Yungang which has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was not exactly impressive. Located among vast coal mines with polluted air, this site was hardly attractive as commented by many who visited this amazing place a couple of years ago. But the Chinese government recognizing the significance and the importance of this structure has poured in vast amount of funds, not only to preserve the eroding grottoes but also the build better infra-structure such as roads and an impressive tourist complex to welcome her visitors.

The Yungang Grottoes were built against the mountain that stretches 1 km (0.62 miles) from east to west, started by the a monk called Tan Yao in 453 AD under the Northern Wei Dynasty and took approximately 50 years to complete, involving over 40,000 people. This made this entire construction approximately 1,500 years OLD!

My first impression or the first thing that greeted me was a rock formation with small windows and openings that closely resembles a honeycomb. It is not until I ventured into these honeycombed rock that I began to discover her secrets …. Huge grottoes and statutes, carved out within the rock, some reaching to the ceiling above, towering 15 to 17 meters high, and many with very delicate carvings and inscriptions on the walls and ceilings of the caves.

Apparently most of these grottoes in the caves were once covered by wooden temples but many have been damaged either due to natural wear and tear, natural disasters or wars.

There are apparently 253 grottoes with over 51,000 statutes of various sizes here, ranging from several centimeters to over 17 meters tall.

The first cave that greeted me was Grotto (cave) 3 towering over 25 meters in front. There is a Buddha statute over 10 meters tall, flanked by two Bodhisattva on either side of 6.2 meters tall. The shadows and the little natural light into the caves coupled with the reflections on the wall made this grotto a very interesting yet challenging photography opportunity.

As I walked from east to west, the amazing sight of many of these towering statutes were simply breathtaking and mind blowing.

Cave 17, one of the earliest grottoes, also known as the Five Caves of Tan Yao for example is a 15.6 meters Buddha sitting cross-ankled on the lion seat build between 460 to 470 AD. I had to literally lay on my back facing up with my super wide angle Sigma 10-20 mm lens to capture her in totality.

Cave 20 is of course probably the most photographed and is also the representation of the work of Yungang, with a statute of Sakyamuni towering 13.7 meters tall, with a full and round face, majestic smile, slim lips and a high nose, ears that extend almost to the shoulders, radiant eyes, and broad shoulders.

This is definitely a place, just like so many other places in China, to be enjoyed in leisure to fully comprehend and appreciate her true and delicate beauty and value.

As the sun sets and blue skies returned a beautiful array of orange, amber and red, and as I slowly made my way back to the car, the feeling of awe and admiration lingers on, knowing that I have again visited another marvelous human endeavor that could only be made possible with sheer determination and commitment.

Opportunities Everywhere

I am no professional photographer and neither do I have the best gear in the world but GOD has given me this deep passion to capture what I see or what HE has to show me through my camera and my lens.

With them, I have learnt to appreciate HIS creation more, the places where I go, the food I have tasted and the people that I have met. More importantly, this passion have also helped to open my eyes to see beyond what I would normally see when I go travelling, to be more sensitive and alert for amazing scenes and happenings around me.

Such is the case when I was in Shanxi recently. I was visiting the Yungang Grottoes, where there are over 51,000 Buddha statues and 252 grottoes, some as little as several centimeters with the largest standing over 17 meters tall, carved out from solid rock and into caves, dating back 1500 years ago.

I took plenty of pictures of these (which I will post in a separate post) and most of these pictures would probably be similar somewhat to what other travelers or visitors have taken (some could probably be much better).

But there is one picture which I believe would be my most UNIQUE picture of this place.

As I was crossing the bridge, walking towards to the rocky formation where the statues and grottoes are, I turned back to see if there are any interesting sights behind me. The skies immediately caught my attention. It has been raining prior to our arrival and the skies were slowly clearing up as the sun was setting. What caught my attention was the formation of the clouds right there before my eyes. It was majestic, mesmerizing and in the context of the place of which I was visiting and the foreground of the magnificent temple simply MAGICAL and MIND BLOWING.

Needless to say, my hands were busy clicking away from every angle I could find and think of. 

There she was, the awesome and magical dragon flying across the skies with the sun rays behind her. I stood there for several minutes more before her form `disappeared'. 

I walked away, satisfied, knowing that I have been blessed with one of a lifetime opportunity to capture something that is unique to me at that point in time.

Yes, photo opportunities are everywhere. We just got to be sensitive to our surroundings and allow our heart to feel them.

Shansi Hanging Temple - Definitely not a place for the Acrophobic

 

When I first arrived at the site, I was simply overwhelmed by the grandeur of Mount Hengshan where the Hanging Temple (悬空寺) was constructed. Looking at the mountain, I took me awhile to locate the site of which we were there in the first place, the Hanging Temple. The picture above was exactly what I saw when I was on the ground far off. The first thing that caught my attention was the beautiful majestic rocky Hengshan, I was dwarfed by her as we approached. As my eyes slowly picked through the cliffs, there she was, the Hanging Temple, dangling and floating as if she was in mid air by the cliffs.

 

Hanging Temple is located at the foot of Mount Hengshan,Hunyuan County, Datong City in the Shansi Province. She is approximately 64km from Datong, the second largest city in Shansi, after Taiyuan, the capital of the Shansi province.

 

Datong is approximately 3.5 hours drive from Beijing. The journey was pleasant and smooth travelling on the expressway. Shansi (山西) or simply translated as 'mountain's west', probably due to her location west of Taihang Mountains. Besides being famous for this magnificent structure, Shansi is also well known for her noodles (which is really out of this world) and also for her black vinegar, something that one must taste to truly  appreciate. Shansi is also the home province of a famous warrior, Guan Gong or Guan Yu (关羽) or Guan Yunchang, made popular by his loyalty and his fearless exploits in the battlefield as depicted in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms (三國演義).

 

 

The Hanging Temple is reportedly built approximately 1500 years ago, by a lone monk named Liao Ran (了然).  This temple is built 75 meters or 246 feet from the ground, along the contours of the cliff, making use of natural hollows and outcrops, where timber poles were driven deep inside the cliff, used as the core supporting beam for the entire structure.

So well built is she that she could withstand the catastrophic earthquake at Shannxi, (华县大地震) a nearby province in the morning of 23rd January 1556 which reportedly killed 830,000 and measuring 7.9 based on our current modern measurement.

Besides the simply incredible manner of which she was constructed, the Hanging Temple is also one of the rare temples or locations where the three main beliefs or religion in China can be seen together, namely Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism.
 

Covering an area of 152 square meters with over 40 halls and multiple narrow and steep walkways and passage ways, this is definitely not one for those with an acute fear of heights (acrophobia). Falling overboard the narrow passageway would mean a straight drop of over 246 feet to the cliff below, and the thought is certainly scary, all the more with the ever pushing Chinese tourists, all eager to pose and to get the best spot for their pictures.

 

 

The picture above just illustrates how narrow the passage way and I had to lean a little over the railing to capture this angle, just to depict how high this structure is. To be honest, my legs were trembling as I lean over for this shot as I for one, is not exactly fond of heights.

 

The staircase within is steep and narrow. Here, as you can see, I had to bend my legs to ensure that I have a good footing coming down from one floor to another and at one stage, I was literally stuck because of the camera bag and tripod that I was carrying on my bag. It is that narrow and dark too.

 

But the view from the top is simply magnificent and breath taking. Standing there, looking beyond the Golden Dragon Gorge below, one could only imagine the things, people, battles and history this structure has bear witness to.

 

 

 

 As I leave, I take with the memory of stepping, climbing and walking along the passageways of one of the oldest and simple incredible architecture in the world and the experience is simply amazing. The Hanging Temple is definitely another MUST VISIT place in China, among other interesting sites such as the Great Wall to name one.

The only problem with China is that all her interesting attractions are so scattered all over the country that it is so difficult to visit them all within a short span of time. When I was first relocated to Beijing for 2 years, I thought I have all the time in the world to see what China has to offer. 9 months on, I come to a realisation that I will never be able to see and experience everything that this great diversify land has to offer because it would take more than a lifetime.

Stay tune for the next post on Yunggang Grotoes, statues carved into caves 1500 years ago, so huge and narrow that even my super wide angle lens has difficulties capturing them all.



Illusive Bill Gates

I did a lot of travelling last year. Besides the trip to Club Med Maldives, we made two separate trips to US. One was to Atlanta followed by San Francisco and another was to Seattle followed by Los Angeles and San Diego.

I have always wanted to visit Seattle, especially after I read about the Pikes Street Fish Market in the management book aptly named "The Fish". The movie "Sleepless in Seattle" by Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan comes into mind too.

It was a long and tiring flight from Kuala Lumpur to Seattle after transiting in Los Angeles. By the time, we got to our hotel, the Hyatt Regency at Bellevue, Seattle, it was already rather late. As the taxi pulled into the hotel lobby, we literally drag our luggage down from the taxi and just as we were about to entire the lobby, lo and behold, standing outside the hotel a short distance away, was Mr. Bill Gates waiting for his car. This is probably as close as one could get to Bill Gates and beyond my wildest imagination. I was stunned and rooted to the ground. Before I could react, this illusive and reclusive gentleman got into his two door luxurious sport car and roared off into the night, with the only chance of my lifetime to meet and probably shake the hands of this great man of our century.

Bellevue is a very nice suburb in Seattle, away from the hustle and bustle of downtown Seattle. Up market with enough malls, shops, F&B outlets and pubs to cater for the many companies that have made this suburb their office. The community that stays here looks like a tightly knitted community. The following morning, as I took a walk in the park nearby, I met a very nice old couple who told me as we chatted that they have been faithfully going for their morning walks in that same park for the last 40 years and I can see why judging from the serenity and beauty of this place.

This is truly a place that I could make my home, if I am ever coming to stay in US but unfortunately, this place is also highly expensive. 

Next post, the Pikes Fish Market, the place that I have read so much about and eager to see with my very own eyes.

Get that shot

Being behind China great big firewall that blocks off any access to blogspot, wordpress and Facebook can be rather frustrating. Although I have signed up and paid for a proxy to access these websites, I was having difficulties updating a new post for quite a while recently, which is partly the reason why this blog has not been updated for a while. But I have not stop travelling especially around China and neither have my Nikon taken a rest. In fact, I am spending more time taking pictures and the opportunity to learn more post-processing and editing with my newly installed Lightroom 4.3.

Now that I am back blogging, I promise that I would play catch up and write about some of the interesting and amazing places I have been in China besides sharing some other interesting pictures I have managed to captured from time to time.

Although I am passionate about photography, there were many times when I have missed good opportunities for a good shot simply because I was too lazy to either get down to grab that shot or to take out my gear and set it up for that one shot which at first glance to me, presents a rather interesting picture. Time and time again, I would tell myself that that opportunity would come again and so far, the same opportunity have never come twice.

Now that I have more time in China, I am more impulsive when it comes to photography and I have learnt not to miss those opportunities when I see them. Such was the case recently, when opportunities presented themselves and because I did not hesitate to grab my gear and patiently take and retake the same scene or object over and over again, I was rewarded with several interesting shots that I am happy about. They might not be the best pictures that I have taken but I was satisfied that I have at least tried and not let the opportunity passed me by.

First example was last night. It was one in the morning and as I walked to the kitchen to wash my cup, I noticed cooking oil floating on the water in the plate that I have left in the kitchen sink. The reflection from the kitchen ceiling lights on the oil swirling and their patterns looked particularly interesting. I drop the cup, grab my gear, change my lens to my trusty Sigma 18-50mm f2.8 Macro HSM, steadied myself and clicked away, trying different angles and settings. The above shot is by far, one of my most satisfying capture.

Second example was several nights ago. A thunderstorm was brewing in Beijing after days of terrible haze. Flashes of lightning brightened up the skies. I had always wanted to try capturing lightning strikes because I have seen beautiful postcard pictures of such amazing wonders of nature. Without hesitation, I set up my gear at the balcony of my  apartment and stood there for an entire hour, just shooting at 30 seconds interval. I was rewarded with the picture above, a stroke of bold lightning in the distance against the foreground of our apartments. Not the best composition but I was delighted, knowing that my efforts have been rewarded to some extend and spurs me further to look forward to the next thunderstorm.

The third occasion was as I was walking out from my kitchen one evening. My eyes caught the sight of the orange and amber glow of the setting sun and the skies being reflected on the glass windows and doors of the apartments at the opposite block. I literally drop everything, ran and grab my Nikon and change to my Nikkor 18-105mm lens and captured the above reflection.

The above few instances taught me one thing. Photo opportunities are everywhere. I just need to open my eyes to see them and my heart to feel them. And when I do, GET THAT SHOT!

One last parting picture ..... an inspiration as I sipped my red wine in the middle of the night ...