Rongxian Giant Buddha

Day trip to Rongxian: We ride city bus #1 to the bus station and buy 2 x 14 = 28 RMB tickets on the 9:55 express bus to Rongxian, which takes about an hour.

Walking out of the Rongxian bus station it's no trouble finding the town's main attraction, the 2nd largest Buddha Image in the world (the largest is just down the road at Leshan); there are several large signs featuring a Buddha's head pointing the way.

Arriving at the ticket window we find to our surprise that the ticket price is 60 RMB per person for all non-residents, almost $10, much more than the 8 RMB we expected from our research; so we punted, and enjoyed the "for free" views (see photos below). The price for locals is 10 RMB, that seems a bit high as well. Sigh. I guess the tour groups will pay up though.

We stood around for awhile at the entrance and watched a family of five visiting a friend in Rongxian also punt. No wonder. 60 x 5 - 300 RMB, about $45.

On to the Number Two Buddha across the river which is a temple that features many Buddha images carved out of a cliff. Entrance fee 1 RMB; and we had the vegetarian lunch for 4 RMB each. Then after trying and failing to find anything old in the Old Town, we climbed up to the Pagoda, then returned to Zigong.

Full disclosure: We saw the Giant Buddha at Leshan in 2004. See photo way below.

View of Rongxian Giant Buddha from ticket gate.


And from the Parking Lot.


John washing our the lunch dishes at the Number Two Buddha Temple.


Pagoda.


John and Leshan Giant Buddha (Dafo) in 2004 as seen from a boat in the Min River.

The Five Religions of Lincang

After some Internet studying, Sun-Ling determined that Lincang, Yunnan, China was home to at least 5 different religions. So we set out to find all the various places of worship and succeeded: Two Protestant Churches, the Muslim Mosque, four Taoist Temples, two Mahayana Buddhist Temples, and two Theravada Buddhist Temples. But no Confucius Temple? Stay tuned.

In the afternoon we strolled out the 7 kilometers or so to the Ling Shan temple and Wen Bi Pagoda. What a nice pagoda. Built in 1906 and set atop a hill in the middle of a pine forest.

Theravada Temple with children and elephants.


The Buddha image inside the Theravada Temple.


Another Theravada Temple.


A pavilion at a Taoist Temple in the city center.


The Mosque is located off a narrow lane. I could not get a good shot of the green dome but the nice folks at the mosque opened the prayer room so we could take a look.


Mahayana Buddhist Temple.


This Protestant Church was built in 2004; actually converted from a rice granary said the pastor.


Ling Shan Taoist Temple just outside Lincang.


Wen Bi Ta - Pagoda in the pines.


Bonus photo. John with Giant Cabbage, Zhou Enlai and Chairman Mao.


And a shot inside Lincang's well maintained circa 1960's cinema.

Typical Travel Day

Hopped on the bus from Ninger to Jinggu at 9AM and a pleasant 2 hrs later we arrived 100 kilometers down the road in Jinggu. However, the next onward bus to Lincang, our final destination for the day, was not until 2PM, so we had 3 hours to kill.

Luckily SL had studied Jinggu so we walked out to the nearby Theravada Buddhist Temple, a 20 minute walk, ignoring the advice of the policeman who told us it was 3 to 4 kms and we should take a taxi. A very cool temple with 2 stupas and a peacock. One stupa is said to be surrounded by a banyon tree, the other surrounds a banyon tree. They both looked about the same to me.

The 2PM bus to Lincang left almost on time with the aisle completely full of cargo. Hmmm. However this ride had a highlight, crossing the Upper Mekong River, called the Lancang Jiang in China.

We've crossed the Lancang several times in China, once north of here, and once south. This crossing was a thrill. The new and improved Route S323 is completed everywhere except for the bridge across the Lancang, so just before the river, we plunged down, down, down on a temporary dirt road, crossed the river on the old bridge, then headed up, up, up back to S323 getting a good look at the new bridge construction.

Arrived in Lincang about 6:15 PM. Found a hotel by 7PM. Changed hotels at 8PM after the first hotel could not produce sufficient hot water or roon lighting.

Just another day on the road.

Banyon tree and pagoda.


The other banyon tree and pagoda.


Best look ever at a peacock!


Theravada Temple.


Several views, in chronological order, from both banks, of the new bridge over the Lancang/Mekong. On the west bank, we go north below the bridge. Then we cross the river the old bridge; new bridge to the south. Then we head south on the west bank, passing the new bridge at eye level.

Touring around Changhua: Lukang

For the island, Lukang is high on the list of historical significance, second only to Tainan. This means many temples. After one day of traipsing around Lukang, I got temple-ed out, which I never thought could happen! As a rule, we religiously go around gawking at superstition and spiritual centers around the world. At one time I even had ambitions of mastering all the Mahayana iconographies, but after seeing myriad of statues in various temples I lost heart.

Fortuitously later in that evening I looked at the cultural background section of Rough Guide Taiwan. I began to get a handle on the mess. Most of the temples and statues have nothing to do Mahayana Buddhism. Instead, they are conglomerations of localized Buddhism and Chinese indigenous religions (Taoism, Buddhism, etc.), based on historical and legendary figures. Feeling enlightened, I am back on my scholastic pursuit, only the scope is bigger now.

The Mazu (Goddess of the Sea) Temple in Lukang.


The image of Mazu in the Mazu Temple.


One of Mazu's two guardian generals.


And the other guardian general (from another temple).


The domed ceiling of the Opera Stage at Longshan Temple.


Sun-Ling in the narrowest lane of Lukang.


And of course there was some cool architecture in Lukang dating from the period of Japanese Occupation. First a building on the main street, now the Folk Art Musuem...


...And a rice barn (rice grainary; also now a museum.

Touring around Changhua: Changhua

Staying near the Changhua train station turned out to be a real good base. One day we walked around Changhua, one day we day-tripped to Taichung, and one day we did Lugang.

Changhua is known for its giant concrete Buddha. While it lacks the history and serenity of the Kamakura Buddha, it makes up in its festival atmosphere during our visit on New Years Day. Families, friends, people young and old were enjoying an outing to the surrounding hills and temple. Not to mention the busking saxophone duo.

However the true gem of the city is the Changhua Roundhouse, officially known as the Changhua Fan-Shaped Depot. Visitors are allowed to inspect the cool mechanism of this working garage. John noted that all the visiting boys as all ages were significantly more excited than the accompanying girls.

The festive atmosphere around the Giant Buddha.


Sun-Ling approaches Dafo the Giant Buddha who sits on a lotus flower.


The Giant Buddha looks out over Changhua to the sea beyond.


The Fan-Shaped Depot.




As an added bonus, Changhua has an old cinema, built in the 1930's and currently under renovation.


And finally, another photo of the Changhua Vegetarian Restaurant. Great food! Nice folks!

Three Buddhas - Mrauk-U, Myanmar Burma

Budhhas - Mrauk-U, Myanmar Burma, originally uploaded by meckleychina.

Put together this collage of 3 Buddha images seen in Htukkanthein Temple in Mrauk-U Myanmar (Burma) on our 2009 trip. Although the images are very similar, each one has it's own distinct facial expression.
Collage constructed using picnik.com.

The Strike

We arrived at the Nepal border around noon on March 12th and after a painless visa-on-arrival process, found ourselves in the middle of an open-ended, regional, general strike. Hotels were open but most other businesses were closed. Buses and taxis were not running. The only available mode of transportation was bicycle rickshaw.

Our original plan was to cross the border, take the local bus 4 kms to Bhiarawa, then 22km to Lumbini, the Buddha's birthplace, stay 2 nights in Lumbini and continue by bus to Royal Chitwan Park where we were scheduled to meet up with friends. Now, no buses and the rickshaw drivers wanted, commanded, 500 Nepali rupees (10 times the normal bus fare) to carry us and our bags one way to Lumbini. Another option was to take a bicycle rickshaw 25 kms north to Butwal where we could then catch a bus to Pokhara, but that meant skipping Lumbini.

The locals told us the strike was in it's 10th day and was confirmed to last at least 2 more days. They also said that it was a bad idea to go to Chitwan Park as several policemen had been killed in that area during the strike. After some deliberation, we decided to spend the night in Bhiarawa and day trip by rickshaw to Lumbini on the 13th and go on to Pokhara on the 14th - no Chitwan for now.

We found a nice hotel. The next objective was to find an Internet cafe and email our friends to meet us in Pokhara, not Chitwan. Walked out of the hotel and strolled around town. It's quiet as there are no buses, trucks, or cars; only the occasional motorbike. The bicycle rickshaw drivers are feeling good as business is booming at inflated prices and cruise by us asking "Lumbini?", "Butwal?", "Where you want to go?".

Most of the stores are closed or have their doors just half open. We don't see single restaurant that's open so we eat at a noodle stand - 4 plates of veg fried noodles at 10 NRs each. We see a few other travelers and chat with them, hoping to get some information. A pair of Polish women are quite jovial. They are part of a group that has charted a bus and are off tomorrow morning to either Pokhara or Kathmandu. They invite us to ride along with them - "It's a big bus".

Eventually we find an Internet cafe that's open. Woohoo! The connection is good and Sun-Ling is able to "chat" with our friend and it is agreed to meet in Pokhara on the 15th. This cafe also sells phone SIM cards and we fill out some forms, hand over one passport photo and 516 Nepali Rupees (NRs) and we are mobile. Woohoo again! After tanking up on more fried noodles we head back to the hotel and call it a day.

To make a long story short. On the 13th we hired a bicycle rickshaw for 700 NRs to take us the 22kms to Lumbini, wait for 3 hours, and return; a trip we will never forget. And on the 14th we hired a rickshaw to take us and our bags 25 slightly uphill kms to Butwal where we caught a bus to Pokhara, arriving at 7:00 PM. On the 15th we met up with our friends. The strike ended on the 16th.

Day 9 - January 14, 2008 - Hsipaw - Burma Road

In order to "finish" Myanmar by the end of October, I'm going to start doing a video for each day with a short description instead of a bunch of text.

Day 9 - January 14, 2008 - Hsipaw - The Burma Road

After a fine day of sight seeing in Hsipaw in which we were given oranges and cheroots (Burmese cigars) and invited to the wedding of Mr Food, we decided to head over across the river to catch the sunset view recommended in Lonely Planet. Seemed simple enough; we even confirmed the location with the folks at our guesthouse. Cross the bridge, take a right at the archway and walk up the hill to the Buddhist temples at the top.

However, it turns out that the bridge - over the Dokhtawady River - is on the Burma Road which goes from Mandalay to Kunming, China and there were many large trucks coming from China that can only proceed one at a time over the rickety, one lane, wooden plank bridge.

The sunset spot is in the "China direction" so we waited for 10 or 20 minutes before getting up enough nerve to cross the bridge on foot against the oncoming, one at a time, trucks.

Here's some video.


The sunset was amazing. There were two monks at the temple. One was of Chinese ancestry and spoke Mandarin. He had us sign the guest book; then brought us some tea. We chatted a bit, I smoked a cheroot, then the other monk came challenged him to a game of checkers.

Watched sunset and the sky turn orange, then purple. Walked back to Mr Charles Guesthouse.


Check out this google map for more info.

View Larger Map

Day 3 - January 8, 2008 - Mandalay, Myanmar

Day 3 - January 8, 2008 - Mandalay, Myanmar

"A busy day - best day in Mandalay so far."

"No good deed goes unpunished."

Got going somewhat late, breakfast at 8:30, and decided to rent bikes for the day (1500 Kyat each). I got a big heavy clunker. Sun-Ling got a light hybrid. Perfect for her.

Rode over to the Chinese Consulate at 35th between 66th and 67th. The entrance is down a smaller unpaved road. As we got close I saw a Burmese soldier with a machine gun behind a bank of sandbags. Dismount! We walk by the soldier. He smiles.

A small sign says the consulate is OPEN: 8:30 - 11:30. We went in. The young lady behind the counter speaks English, Chinese, and Burmese. She is Mian Dian Ren - a local. The Chinese word for Myanmar is Mian Dian (緬甸).

After getting info, we decided not to get our China Visa in Mandalay. Too expensive we think... But it later turns out that the cost of a Chinese Tourist Visa went up from $100 to $130 dollars on Jan 20th. So....

Back on the bikes and we headed west on 35th street over the railroad bridge and on to the Irrawaddy River docks. A nice ride on a fairly good road. Most of the smaller roads are a maze of potholes or just poorly paved or a very narrow strip of pavement or all of the above.

Parked our bikes at the jetty and inquired about ferry schedules to Bagan. Our guidebooks said that there is a slow boat every day and a fast boat twice a week. At the fast boat ticket office they told us that the only goes to Bagan when they have a tour group going. Then independent travelers like us can hitch along for a price. The so-called slow boats goes everyday. No decision by us. We will check later with the front desk of our hotel. They seem to have reliable information.

The Irrawaddy River is slowish, greenish, and not inviting.

The jetty is quiet. No goods loading or unloading. No boats arriving or departing. Women are doing laundry and bathing.

Rode back towards town in a SE direction. Small school kids were going home for lunch. They shout "hello' or "hi" and run along with our bikes or wave furiously.

After some navigation we found ourselves by the famous Jade Market which is part workshop and part market. Not impressive.

Then on to the very impressive Shwe In Bin Kyaung, both Buddhist Temple and Monastery. It's a traditional temple built of teak and resembling a on old sailing ship as it stands on silts with broad wooden decks surrounding a wooden temple soaring to the sky like masts and sails. See my photos below.

Not much activity at the monastery grounds. I took a photo of the wooden dinner bell with a carved parrot towards the top. I learned last year that most Buddhist temples and monasteries have a wooden bell that is struck in times of emergency or to summon the monks for dinner. So I'm now trying to amass a collection of photos of these bells. Many of the ones in China are shaped like a fish.

Lunch! Stop at an outdoor place near the kyaung. There is a roof but no walls. It's during the lunch rush. Rice is cooked in big pans and scooped out by hand onto plates and then various curries are added. We have a rice plate with lentils, corn and veggies, plus lemongrass soup, plus hot sauce all round. Very tasty. In addition, an older man is walking around filling up a bottomless salad bowl at each table: carrots, turnips, cabbage, and parsley. All for 600 K - about 50 cents.

Observations on this restaurant:
-Turns out that this type of open-air restaurant is very common all over Burma.
- The toilet was very clean as were almost all the toilets in Burma.
- The patrons were eating with fork or spoon or chopsticks.

Biked around the block with a brief stop at a temple where a Chinese speaking monk tried to be helpful and show us around. He seemed a bit too pushy and we escaped with a "that's too much trouble for you". A couple of men were mediating there.

Then around the corner to the big Monastery south of Shwe In Bin. This was a real monastery. Monks were studying in 4 to 5 buildings. We saw at least one dormitory with shoes and bowls neatly stowed outside. However, as the monks studied, a gang of young women were hauling concrete around to fix the road. We wondered why the monks were not working on the monastery.

Finally we headed south, passing a small factory that makes stone Buddha images, to the most famous temple in all of Mandalay - the Mahamuni Paya.

We entered from the West Gate. A woman vendor motioned that either she would watch our shoes or that our shoes and bikes would be safe. So we left them at her stand. Then down the long dirty corridor to the main temple where the famous Mahamuni Buddha sits covered with 15 cm of gold leaf to the point that he is unrecognizable below the shoulders. Only men can enter the inner sanctum and apply gold leaf. Women sit outside.

It's a very busy place. We only saw three other Western tourists but there many Burmese visitors and vendors. There were bells ringers, and gong bangers, and water pourers. Book sellers, food vendors, fortune tellers, and beggars line the walkways. There were several museums about Buddhism with artifacts, photos of temples, and maps. At one point in the 19th century, and maybe still today, Burma was known as the "Center of World Buddhism".

We returned to our bikes and headed north on 83rd street to 30th where we cut over to 80th and entered the second level of the train station with its confusing "car and bike" ramp over the tracks. We should have entered at ground level on 79th, but after a few minutes Sun-Ling found the ticket office. Inquires were made. Information was written down. No tickets were purchased.

Returned bikes to hotel and walked the 6 blocks or so to "Mann Chinese Restaurant" which had about 15 tables, most filled with men drinking Grand Royal Whiskey mixed with water and ice, and nibbling. Sun-Ling was the only woman in the joint. No Chinese was spoken, but no problem, we had veggie soup + veggie fried rice + veggie fried noddles + 2 x Dagon Extra Strong Beers; all for 6100 Kyat. And we sent a veggie fried rice out to a woman who was sitting on the sidewalk with an infant.

Normally we do not give handouts to beggars as most are professionals, but this young woman looked distressed, had an infant, and had not motioned to us nor bothered us at our table. When the waiter took the food out, the first thing she did was feed the infant, then herself. So probably a good deed. Your run-of-the-mill professional beggars don't need food.

Then, as no good deed goes unpunished, we stepped into a ditch in the darkness on the walk home and got fairly banged up, John on his left palm and right shin, Sun-Ling on the right shin. She would bleed a bit for several days and not heal completely for weeks. But it could have been worse - broken bones - so we felt lucky.

SLHOTD: bike ride
JHOTD: temple like a ship

Ferry moored at the docks.


Shwe In Bin Monastery - the decks.


Shwe In Bin Monastery - the masts and sails.


Remnants of lunch.


Young women hauling concrete.


Monk Dormitory with shoes and wash bowls and robes.


A horsecar passes in front of the Gem Market.


The Maha Muni (Great Sage) Buddha.


Wooden Drum with bird carving.
a>