China Assignment (Suzhou) bio picture
  • Welcome to my Suzhou blog!

    For the next two years (starting on Feb 14, 2011) I will use this blog to chronicle our travels while on assignment in Suzhou, China. My wife and I (OK, mostly me) consider this a great opportunity to get to know one of the oldest and richest cultures in the world. We are excited about the opportunity and hope you will join us as we explore this amazing land and it's surroundings. We encourage you to add comments as you see best.
    Thanks for visiting!
    My assignment ended on March 8, 2013. If you like to follow our next adventure click HERE
    Carlos & Bethe

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Kiyomizu-dera

The Kiyomizu-dera Buddhist temple complex, the second stop in out tour of important tourist attractions in eastern Kyoto. This temple is part of the Ancient Kyoto UNESCO World Heritage sites. The temple complex dates back to 778, but due to fires it has undergone several reconstructions. Its present buildings date back to 1633. See pictures and commentary below for more details.

Entrance to the temple complex. Another brisk start that quickly turned nice and warm. By the time we got there, about 10 AM, there was already a large number of tourists.

 

The main three-story pagoda in the complex. Colorful and told built with no nails at all. Looks like very fancy and colorful lincoln logs to me (the original wooden version).

 

A closer look of the pagoda. See how the pieces seem to interconnect and lock in place?

 

I took this picture as we were standing in the main hall large veranda. This view if to the left overlooking the city in the distance.

 

Before you can access most of the buddhist temples you must take your shoes off. Did not feel like doing it so had to settle taking a side view of the main altar as some worshipers say some prayers.

 

This lady did not enter the temple either, but that did not stop her from saying a prayer. What is she praying for and or to whom...only she knows. Buddhism is a religion and philosophy composed of many different traditions and beliefs. This makes for many different ways as to how each adherent behaves and the way they worship.

 

View from the main hall. It is built on top of tall wooden pillars and give a great view of the city and hillside around it. We were told by the guide that in Japan this site is very well know because long time ago people in the area believed that if they could survive a 13 meter jump from the stage, whatever wish they had would be granted. OK...? About 235 people took the plunge records show. Of those 85.4% survived; the practice is now prohibited. In America we have the saying "take the plunge"; in Japan the equivalent saying is "to jump of the stage of Kiyomizu". there you have it!

 

As we were descending from the main hall, we saw a good number of people in an open temple like spot within the woods involved in some type of ceremony. This seems to be the main minister.

 

There was constant chanting that sounded very soothing. The smell of incense was also nice. Each of the attendees looked like they had to place a small portion of incense into small square pots as seen in this picture. Wish I would know the real reason and significance of this.

 

While still in the complex we went by an open door tea house (no shoes allowed in the booths). They had many of this nice booth like places. They were all busy so we could not try them ourselves. the one thing I do not like about bus tours is that you have a very tight schedule and you cannot deviate from the plan. Do not like that.

 

Two geishas or maiko (that would be an apprentice geisha); do not know how to tell the difference. Traditionally, geishas were entertainers, but some mixed this with sexual favors. Those that came from well to do families were true entertainers, but those that came from lower class families would mix the two "arts" as it was called. Traditional Japanese men did not have to be faithful to their wives; this has change today I was told (how much, I do not know). Was also told that the make-up used is so thick that if they smile too much it will crack and look real bad. Colorful regardless of everything else.

 

Was also told that the make-up used is so thick that if they smile too much it will crack and look real bad. Colorful regardless of everything else.

 

Japanese high heels or the original platform shoes. Candy's, eat your heart out.

 Thanks for visiting, next week a bit more on Japan.

Kinkaky-Ji – Temple of the Golden Pavilion

A National Historic Site and one of the most popular tourist destinations is Japan – the beautiful Golden Pavilion and surrounding gardens. Built in 1397, the original pavilion was burned down during the Onin war (1467-1477). It was rebuilt and then burned down again in 1950 by a 22-year-old monk. The current version was rebuilt in 1955 and it is covered by a thin layer of 24 karat gold. You can not enter it or get close to it any longer; no need to wonder why. This place was about 1 1/2 hour drive from Osaka, it was a beautiful crisp morning and when we arrived the air was cool and appeared so clean.

Detail of the building at the entrance of the Golden Pavilion Garden. While overall shape is similar to Chinese roofs from the same era, the details are quite different. From this building there is about a 5 minute walk to the Golden Pavilion.

The Golden Pavilion from afar. The gardens surrounding it are quite nice and impeccably maintained.

As you can tell, this image is not mine. Saw it in Wikipedia and could not resist posting it since it gives you a feel for how the pavilion looks in the winter; just beautiful capture. Picture taken by unknown photographer, copyright released to public domain to be use by anyone as desired.

Closeup showing details and gold veneer all around it.

One last view of the pavilion.

Looking into the pond to the left of the pavilion. Such a peaceful place, perfect for relaxing with a good book.

On the way out this gentleman was doing some calligraphy work. Quite popular to have your name added to a scroll for hanging at home.

Beautiful, but it just seems so difficult to learn this type of writing.

While in Japan we saw many Japanese ladies dressed like Geishas. Some are really not true geishas, just look like they are and make some cash from tourists.

We saw many of this rickshaws around the golden pavilion and also in Kioto. Tourists seems to keep them quite busy. The men pulling them looked quite fit and had very strange-looking shoes called Jika-tabi. They are split toes shoes that look very comfortable (toe in one portion of the shoe, rest in the other portion). Wish I took a picture of them, but as soon as I noticed them they were gone.

In every tour we took we saw large number of high school groups. This girls were happy to pose for us as we were getting ready to board our bus.

Kodo Drumming Group

Each night on the cruise we had one main entertainment attraction. One of our most favorites was the Kodo Japanese drumming group that joined the ship while we were docked in Osaka. Initially we had no idea what this team would do so we had little expectations. After dinner we sat very close to the front row and waited for the show to begin. We were thrilled we decided to go. The show was amazing; this group is quite famous and they tour the world promoting the fine art of Japanese drumming. From Wikipedia…”In Japanese the word “Kodo” conveys two meanings: “heartbeat” the primal source of all rhythm and, read in a different way, the word can mean “children of the drum,” a reflection of Kodo’s desire to play their drums simply, with the heart of a child”. For more on this group see HERE.

See below for some of the best shots I took. Challenging light, but colors and action was great. The sound and the speed on some of this drummers was exceptional. How much can they do with drums? You will be surprised; they kept the crowd very well entertained with a mixture of raw power and comedy. As I mentioned before, they do tour the US and many other countries. If you get the chance to see them, do. You will  not be disappointed.

This fellow seemed to be the leader. He was very good and funniest of them all.

Right after the Kodo show, a couple of acrobats had a brief performance. They were good, but should not have gone after the Kodo group. Tough to follow them with this kind of subdue act. However, juts a few pictures to get a taste of what they had to offer. You will notice only pictures of the lady; the guy was kind of not relevant so did not include any of them together.

Our Third Cruise

My wife and I went our first cruise on our honeymoon 25 years ago (Carnival Cruise line). We really loved it and said then we would do it again real soon. You know how those things go; soon was not until 2010. When we heard we were going to China for a couple of years, we decided to take our second cruise with the girls as a last fun thing together before we left. We booked a 4 day cruise to Cozumel on Celebrity cruises and we all had a lot of fun; we really enjoyed Celebrity experience.

What is not to like about a cruise? You have a floating hotel, many restaurants, fitness, theater, casinos (not a fan), and just great things to do all day and most of the night. Hard to go wrong with a cruise in my humble opinion. So we had Chinese National holiday coming and were told that the thing to do was to leave China. The People’s Republic of China was founded on October 1, 1949 with a ceremony at Tiananmen square – Beijing.  The Central People’s Government passed the Resolution on the National Day of the People’s Republic of China on December 2, 1949 and declared that October 1 is the National Day. We were told that, since everyone takes a holiday, there is not much to do and very few places open. Everyone seems to take most of the week off.

So we took the advice and booked a 7 day cruise to Japan (stops in Osaka and Fukuoka) and S. Korea (stop in Busan). Did not take too many pictures from the ship (Royal Caribbean’s Legend of the Seas’s), but it was a nice, not too big of a ship. Clearly the Chinese middle class is growing and major cruise lines are literally flocking to South east Asia to capitalize on the growing market before them. About 85% of the passengers were Chinese nationals. Pictures below are from the first full day, the majority of which was spent on the sea en route to Osaka.

Not the newest or the largest ship in the Royal Caribbean line, but a nice ship never the less.

The weather was good. A few cloudy days, but for the most part very pleasant.

One of our favorite spots to relax during the day or early evening (my wife in the background). After 10 PM, not a place to relax, actually it turns into quite a lively place. All the young people loved it; that leaves us out.

As we left port, we saw a massive ship go by ours. These cruise ships are quite large. IMPORTANT FACT: How does the RMS Titanic compare to our ship (The Legend of the Seas)? This may surprise you...some quick statistics Titanic/Legend of the Seas: Length 882 feet/867 feet; beam 97 feet/ 105 feet; number of decks 9/11; number of passengers 2,662/2,067; speed 21/27 knots. As you can see, very small advantage to the Titanic. Other larger modern cruise ships now dwarf the Titanic.

One view of the main lobby. As I said, not as big as other, and the most traveled ship in the Royal Caribbean line, but they keep it very nice.

Looking down to the same spot from the previous picture.

The first full day was mostly spent in route to Osaka. Perfect time to relax; these two ladies are just one example of many others that took this opportunity to shut down for a while.

Yes, we also relaxed and caught up with some good reading. The story I am reading is what happened to the last roll of Kodachrome; hands down the best color slide film ever. Yes, call me boring, but it was a great article. The most famous slide film of all time is no more. The last roll was taken by Steve McCurry, a photojournalist famous for his work with National Geographic. Would you like to see pictures taken with the last roll...see below.

For more on the last Kodachrome roll click HERE

We arrived at Osaka in the late afternoon. Took us a while to get off the ship, but we had an opportunity to wander around the dock. This group caught us all by surprise. Young Japanese business men going home after work? Men in Black anyone?

I like symmetrical pictures. This elevated high-speed train entrance invited me to a picture.

We found Japan extremely clean and orderly. This public restrooms stall was a bit of a surprise though. Hmmmm...a bit different from the US would you say?

Liked this ornate manhole cover.

As we were walking around we went by a very small sushi bar. Squeezed my lens between a small opening in the front widow to take this one. Yes, very narrow, what you see is the whole place. Must be good; not a seat left open.

You just do not see this in the US. The major soft-drink companies have not monopolized the vending machines yet in Japan. One machine has a variety of brands and flavors; this is good for the customers.

The large number of vending machines with drinks and cigarettes was really noticeable. Saw several American brands no longer available in the US.

Huge ferris wheels are becoming very popular around the world. While this is not as large as the one in Suzhou or London, it is quite large.

Same ferris wheel as we are getting ready to tour Osaka. More on that on next week's posting. Thanks for visiting.

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