Penang, Malaysia : a pearl of the Orient

Penang is a beautiful island in the north of Malacca Strait.  It enjoys a year-round warm and sunny Tropical weather.  The months of December to March are less rainy and are ideal for recreational visits.



(House overlooking the Malacca Strait)


British came to Penang in the eighteenth century.  Together with Singapore and Malacca, they formed the Straits Settlements under the British colonial administration for more than a century.  Nowadays, you can still find many Victorian style buildings in the island.

(Penang City Hall)

When I visited former British colonies, including Penang, Singapore, Hong Kong, Melbourne, Christchurch, their botanic gardens were my favourite spots. I enjoyed seeing their beautiful flowers, trees and birds in the gardens. Let me share with you a few photos that I took in the Penang Botanic Gardens.


(Flowers of Cannon Ball tree)



(Water lilies in the pond)

(White-throated Kingfisher with a frog in its month)



(Black-hooded Oriole)

Penang has many churches and temples for different religions.  It is also a good place to study the lineages and customs of migrant Chinese and Indians.  Last time, I had an enjoyable morning walking around the streets of George Town and talking photos of its temples.

(Chinese temple built by migrants of Fijian province)

(Chinese ancestors temple)

(Hindu temple)

Malacca, Malaysia : a historical site on maritime trade

We have been to Malaysia many times for business and leisure.  The City of Malacca has long captured our interests.  Until recently, we are able to visit it for the first time.  

The Malacca Strait is one of the busiest maritime trade routes in the world.  The City of Malacca is strategically located in the strait.  Before the development of Singapore into an international trading port, Malacca held the key position on the maritime trade between Asia and Europe.
   

(Houses along the Malacca River with modern hotels around)

Portuguese first forced its way into Malacca in the fifteenth century.  Malacca became its beachhead of Asian trade and its stepping stone to secure its holding of Macau in China.  After a century and half, Dutch took over Malacca and then Sumatra.  British was a late comer. Instead of Malacca, British took Penang and Singapore as its anchorages for Asian trade.  For those who are interesting in the Portuguese maritime trade can read Boxer, C. R.. Portuguese conquest and commerce in Southern Asia, 1500-1750. Hampshire, UK: Ashgate Publishing Ltd., 2002.

(Ruins of Portuguese fort - Porta de Santiago)

(Christ Church built by Dutch over the site of a Portuguese church)

Similar to other Malaysia cities, Malays, Chinese and Indians are the three major races living in Malacca.  Early Chinese immigrants married local brides and adopted local customs.  This community formed the Peranakan culture with interesting fusion of local and Chinese customs and food.  In Malacca, there is also a small community of Euroasians of Portuguese decent. 

(Building of colonial time in the street of Malacca)

Maritime trade is no longer the main economic activity for Malacca.  Tourism has already taken its position.  Next time you are in Malacca.  You can spend two to three days touring around the city in leisure.

Wild lives in the Canadian Rockies

Besides enjoying natural scenery, we like to observe wild lives as we travel.  Here we can share with you some photos of wild lives that we encountered during last trip to the Canadian Rockies.

a. Calypso bulbosa

We found such lovely wild orchid near the Athabasca Falls and Sunwapta Falls.  It is better to use telephoto for capturing the image.  Calypso bulbosa is rare and can be easily destroyed.  You should only watch it from a distance.

b. Mountain Goat

The white Mountain Goats are good climbers.  They like to eat grass on the hill slopes.  They usually go as a herd.  We saw this Mountain Goat in the Kootenay National Park.

c. Ground Squirrel

We met this cute Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel near the Pyramid Lake. It stayed near our car for more than ten minutes before leaving. Its image still stands as the screen saver in my computer.

d. Black Bear

We encountered this Black Bear near the Maligne Lake.  We took its picture with a telephoto len at a distance from our car.  Remember - do not come close or feed wild animals no matter how lovely they are.  

e. Bighorn Sheep

We saw these Bighorn Sheep near the Sunwapta Pass.  They were trying to find grass near the stream that was still covered with snow.

f. Red Fox

We met this Red Fox in the highway near the Medicine Lake.  We stayed in our car and followed it for more than five kilometers.  It kept walking along the highway with its catch in the mouth.  Its den might be quite far away. 

Columbia Icefield : glaciers in retreat

The Icefields Parkway is one of the most scenic highways that we have experienced.  With magnificent natural landscape and evergreen trees on both sides, you can drive leisurely along the Parkway.  You can stop at lookout and picnic areas to enjoy the beautiful scenery and to take some pictures.


(Icefields Parkway)

 We drove from the Banff to the Jasper National Park along the Parkway.  In mid-way, we stopped at the Parks Canada hotel that overlooking the Columbia Icefield.  We had snow that night even though it was already in June.

(Columbia Icefield and Athabasca Glacier)

We took the "Ice Explorer" which took us up the glacier.  It was an experience walking in the glacier and coming close to the icefield.  You will realize how tiny we are in front of the Mother Nature.

("Ice Explorer" going up the glacier)

(Icefalls of the Athabasca Glacier)

(Walking in the glacier)

With the global warming effects, the glaciers are in retreat.  Compared to what we had seen in our previous trips, we could notice the terminal moraine moving up the hill. 

Canadian Rockies : gifts from Mother Nature

My wife and I have travelled to both the American Rockies and the Canadian Rockies.  Their magnificent landscapes, beautiful natural scenery, flesh air, lovely wild flowers, birds and animals have attracted us to revisit them again and again.

Last summer, we revisited the Canadian Rockies for the third time.  We started our trip from Calgary.  After driving for an hour along the flat Alberta Plain, the Mount Rundle appeared in the land horizon and welcomed us to the Banff National Park. When you are in Banff, you should visit the historical Banff Springs Hotel which was first opened in 1888.



(Banff Springs Hotel)


We spent a week in travelling through the Banff, Yoho, Jasper and Kootenay national parks.  We drove only about two hundred kilometers a day in order to spend more time enjoying the natural scenery and walking a few short trails. 



(Waterfall in Johnston Canyon)


The month of June is our preferred travel time to the Canadian Rockies.  It is still spring in the Rockies.  You can see many beautiful wild flowers. You may also encounter some wild animals with their new offspring. Traffic is still relatively light. There are not too many tourists around.  You can enjoy the scenery at peace.   

(Lake Louise still covered by ice)

(Bow Summit overlooking at the alpine lake)

(Athabasca Falls)

Parks Canada did a good job in managing the national parks.  Development within the national parks was controlled in order to protect their natural environment.  We stayed in log houses and motels inside the national parks.  Some of them had been there for many years.  We had stayed with a few motels more than once.  Good memory returned to us.  Also, we found new experience each time.

We shall share with you more photos on natural scenery and wild lives of the Canadian Rockies in the following posts.

Xian, China : East end of the Silk Road

Xian is used to called Chang'an (meaning "long peace").  It was the capital for several Chinese dynasties.  The development of Chang'an reached its peak during the Tang Dynasty.  It was a major political and commercial center with about a million population.  Many Silk Road traders, including the Sogdians, also settled in Chang'an.  If you are interested to know more about their stories, you can read Schafer, Edward H. The golden peaches of Samarkand. Berkeley, California, 1963. 

(The Bell tower in Xian)

If you visit Xian for the first time, you need to spend at least three to four days there.  With its long history, there are many museums and cultural centers to visit.  The Qin Terracotta Army Museum is one of the popular ones.  Archaeologists are still working on the site forty year after the first find of terracotta soldier.  Their next big project is to unearth the Qin Emperor Tomb.



(Terracotta army)

(Archaeologist team at work)

There are many more interesting places to visit in Xian, including the Shaanxi History Museum, the towering Famen Pagoda and the Stele Forest.  Xian has experienced rapid development in recent years.  Many modern hotels and office buildings are erected in the city.  Like many Chinese cities, traffic in Xian is getting more crowded. 

Jiayuguan, Gansu : a fortress in the west end of the Great Wall

China built the Great Wall to prevent the raids of nomadic tribes. Such defense works carried on over two centuries.  Jiayuguan in a major fortress in the west end of the Great Wall.  It holds a strategic location in the Gansu corridor.  With Gobi desert in the west and Qilian mountains in the north, Jiayuguan controls the narrow pass to the China mainland.

(Entrance gate of Jiayuguan)

The present Jiayuguan was built in the Ming Dynasty with over six hundred years history.  It is one of the best preserved fortresses along the Great Wall.  Its massive defense walls and garrison buildings are impressive.


(Watch tower over the defense wall of Jiayuguan)





(Inside the defense walls)



(Modern railway cutting through the old Great Wall)

There is no battle fought in Jiayuguan since it was built.  The Great Wall could not save the downfall of the Ming Dynasty.  Its external enemy did not break through the Great Wall.  It was a Ming general, Wu Sangui, who opened up the gate for the invading Manchu armies.  

Jiaohe Ancient City, Xinjiang : an oasis in the desert

Jiaohe was one of the ancient cities along the Silk Road.  It was first built over two thousand years ago.   It had witnessed the ups and downs of the trade route.  It was also on the crossroad of different civilizations.


(Jiaohe ancient city)

Jiaohe was one of the thirty-six ancient city states in the Western Region of China.  The Han Dynasty extended its control over the trade route by installing its garrison government in the city.  Jiaohe reached its peak during the Tang Dynasty.  Buddhism also enjoyed its favourable development in the city.  Jiaohe was under the control of the Uighur Kingdom from the ninth century until the Mongols took over about four centuries later.  Continuous wars and fighting had put the city in ruins.   

(Jiaohe city ruins)

It is interesting to know that the city was dug up from the surface.  Instead of building above the surface, ancient people dug below the surface to create their houses and temples.  The city was surrounded by river that also cut deep into the surface and formed its protective terrains. 

Nowadays, Uighur farmers still live near the city in the oasis.  When I first visited Jiaohe thirty years ago, I saw cotton fields along the river.  This time, I found vineyards instead.  Local farmers dried their grapes with the hot desert air in the storage houses (see photo below). 


(Storage house for drying grapes)



Dunhuang, China : a diamond in the sand dune

Dunhuang has long been an important landmark for the Silk Road travellers.  It can be a great relief for those travellers coming from the West.  They have succeeded in crossing the dangerous desert.  For those travellers going West, they have loaded up their supplies before starting their harsh journey. 

The fate of Dunhuang was very much tied to the development of the Silk Road in the past centuries. During the Han and Tang periods, the  City of Dunhuang gained its prosperity from the busy Silk Road.  After the fifteenth century, sea trade routes took up most of the traffic. The name of Dunhuang regained its fame when Aurel Stein drew world's attention to the Dunhuang Mogao Caves in the early 1900s.

The Silk Road traders, travellers and monks built beautiful Buddhist shrines by cutting caves from the hill slope about ten kilometers from Dunhuang.  The development process continued over a century.  It became a live museum for the long cultural history of the Silk Road.

(Mogao caves from a distance)



(Entrance to the Mogao caves)


There are many beautiful Buddhist murals in the caves.  They are valuable cultural artifacts for study of the Silk Road and the spread of Buddhism.  If you are interested to study these murals in details, you can refer to 段文杰、樊錦詩(编)：<<敦煌石窟全集>> (香港：商務印書有限公司，2005). The authors spent more than three decades since 1960s in studying and preserving the murals.

If you are in Dunhuang, you should not miss seeing the natural wonder of Ming Sha Sand Dune and Crescent Moon Lake. 



(Ming Sha Sand Dune and Crescent Moon Lake)

In the middle of the sand dunes, there is a water pond with vegetation around.  You can hear the sound of strong wind blowing up sand over the sand dunes.  Yet, the water pond has not been dried up and covered by the moving sand in the past century.  Do you know why?