China--Vietnam border

Took a 10-hour train from Changsha to Nanning,  a south-China city about 250 miles from Vietnam's capital, Hanoi.

Not sure why the Chinese characters "su chao mian" (stir fry noodles) are translated as bowel of noodles.  The underwear are in the bathroom at the Nanning hotel where I'm staying. Actually pretty logical, though incorrect, use of English. They are not free for the taking, thus the message on the package, "uncomplimentary."

Nanning seems more like Vietnam than China. Lush, hot, tropical, and a million scooters.

$150 turtle

Kaifu Temple, fire for burning offerings. Changsha, south-central China.


Turtle for sale in front of Kaifu Temple. The owner was asking 1000 yuan (about $150), and told me it was 300 years old, and delicious.



Set up for dinner at a Changsha restaurant -- a complimentary pack of tissues, my bill, and a timer to ensure my food would arrive quickly.



Some people really like having their picture taken.




Above 2 photos, Wuyi Square, Changsha.




Silversmith, Wuyi Square, Changsha.

The Mao cult

First 4 photos taken at Yellow Crane Tower, Wuhan, east-central China. I had only one full day in Wuhan, so chose to visit "the city's pride & joy."

From Wuhan, I headed south to Changsha. Very close by is Shaoshan, Mao Zedong's hometown. Millions of people make the pilgrimage here every year and it certainly was crowded this morning. Interesting to see various tour groups in uniform.

If you want to buy a statue of Mao, Shaoshan is the place to shop.

Photos above and below taken at Wangcheng Park, Lanzhou. The game in the photo below is called jianzi. Similar to badminton except you use feet (and other body parts) instead of a racket.





Muslim Chinese, Lanzhou, China.

Above two photos, singers, Wangcheng Park, Lanzhou. Photo below: robot bear cart puller.


Hotpot restaurant. Diners choose the foods as they pass by, then cook them in one-person pots.

Luoyang, peony city

Great Mosque, Xian



Chinese Muslims going to evening prayer, Great Mosque, Xian.




Drum Tower, Xian.


A recent street food trend in China is to buy huge plastic containers of fresh fruit. Note the little molded melonheads in photo below.




Red pepper store, Muslim Quarter, Xian.



Yesterday I moved on to Luoyang, central China, perhaps best known for its many peonies in spring. At the inn where I'm staying I got free slippers, compliments of United Airlines. Also got a pair of disinfected slippers for the bathroom.







I'm glad I decided to stay in Luoyang's Old Town, a very picturesque place, particularly at night.





Following the ancient tradition of India, there are various caves throughout China containing Buddhist carvings. Longmen Grottoes, about 10 miles south of Luoyang, have more than 100,000 carvings. Above you can see some of the more impressive ones, and below, a view of the numerous caves along the west Bank of the Li River.

Minimalist's traveling kit

30 years ago packing basically involved an extra pair of shoes, a few articles of clothing, a mat for sleeping on, a paperback. This all fit into a small backpack. Nowadays I lug more along on trips, but still try to keep things small and light. My phone is not in the photo because it is my camera. It also holds all my ebooks, my Chinese dictionary and Chinese character recognition app, and my app for scanning at Chinese stores for purchases instead of using cash or credit cards. There's also my mini MP3 player & headphones, mini speaker, sleep sound machine for noisy hotel rooms (or rooms that are too quiet), yoga strap and traveler's yoga mat, Captains of Crush hand gripper, mini headlamp, an old iPad for blogging, loofah sponge.

L

Wulukou metro station, Xian.

View from my room, Bell Tower Hotel, Xian.

Great to have right in front of the hotel: entrance leading to Xian's huge underground pedestrian walkway system, and to the subway.

I love these wide wooden Chinese couches. You can sit on them, have tea on them, sleep on them.

Never know what little treats I'm going to find in my room at Chinese hotels.