Day 8: Datong where Jerome reveals his super star status
Datong is known for its coal mining and high pollution levels. But also for it's close proximity to important historical sites.
At 9 am, the gang met us at the hotel and we went to the Yunang Grottoes about 15 km out of town. Along the way, we saw many donkey carts including one old man pulling a cart full of steel reinforcement for reinforced concrete in his donkey cart. It's a rare contrast that we don't usually see but seemed normal in China.
The Yunang Grottoes are located directly across from a coal mine which, unfortunately, causes a lot or irreperable damage. Turns out there was a seminar that same weekend about how to protect the grottoes including several hundreds of international specialists.
We were amazed at the beauty of the caves! There are 45 of them, each containing various sculptures and carvings of the Buddha and Boddhisattvas built during the Wei Dynasty. There was a 15m tall Buddha too where Jerome became a Chinese icon when a little girl asked for a picture with him. It was only the beginning and other people asked to take a picture with him, including kids and military men. There were also some Buddhist monks, very "attached" as Bo said, taking pictures in front of the carvings.
Then we went back to Datong to eat - we ended up at a place specializing in local peasant-like food. We had knife-cut noodles with various innards, chicken cooked in an aluminum pouch and various dumplings in strange shapes. Jerome went for a nap and the rest of us went to see the Nine Dragon Screen, the only remnant of the royal palace in Datong. The screen once protected the vice-king and the dragon's were meant to scare evil spirits from entering the palace. Then we went shopping...
Then Rebecca learned she was a size extra-large in China (compared to a small in the US!). There were beautiful clothes but none fit - she got stuck in a dress and the sales lady had to pull her out of it. We went to another store with tradition-modern clothes and it was Rebecca's turn to be a star. Everyone in the store was helping, bringing different clothes but in the end Rebecca only left with a shirt. And she even got a special discount.
We went to dinner in the pouring rain that followed the huge dust storm in the city. For dinner we had Peking duck, the chef cut the duck in front of us and then made soup with the bones. We also ate sichuan chicken with huge peppers, and Chinese "french fries". We had to get up early the next day so went to sleep early.
Click here to see some 'kaolaole' making
At 9 am, the gang met us at the hotel and we went to the Yunang Grottoes about 15 km out of town. Along the way, we saw many donkey carts including one old man pulling a cart full of steel reinforcement for reinforced concrete in his donkey cart. It's a rare contrast that we don't usually see but seemed normal in China.
The Yunang Grottoes are located directly across from a coal mine which, unfortunately, causes a lot or irreperable damage. Turns out there was a seminar that same weekend about how to protect the grottoes including several hundreds of international specialists.
We were amazed at the beauty of the caves! There are 45 of them, each containing various sculptures and carvings of the Buddha and Boddhisattvas built during the Wei Dynasty. There was a 15m tall Buddha too where Jerome became a Chinese icon when a little girl asked for a picture with him. It was only the beginning and other people asked to take a picture with him, including kids and military men. There were also some Buddhist monks, very "attached" as Bo said, taking pictures in front of the carvings.
Then we went back to Datong to eat - we ended up at a place specializing in local peasant-like food. We had knife-cut noodles with various innards, chicken cooked in an aluminum pouch and various dumplings in strange shapes. Jerome went for a nap and the rest of us went to see the Nine Dragon Screen, the only remnant of the royal palace in Datong. The screen once protected the vice-king and the dragon's were meant to scare evil spirits from entering the palace. Then we went shopping...
Then Rebecca learned she was a size extra-large in China (compared to a small in the US!). There were beautiful clothes but none fit - she got stuck in a dress and the sales lady had to pull her out of it. We went to another store with tradition-modern clothes and it was Rebecca's turn to be a star. Everyone in the store was helping, bringing different clothes but in the end Rebecca only left with a shirt. And she even got a special discount.
We went to dinner in the pouring rain that followed the huge dust storm in the city. For dinner we had Peking duck, the chef cut the duck in front of us and then made soup with the bones. We also ate sichuan chicken with huge peppers, and Chinese "french fries". We had to get up early the next day so went to sleep early.
Click here to see some 'kaolaole' making
posted by Gros Joe at
6:07 AM
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