Jiuzhaigou, China : Valley of nine villages

We made our first trip to Jiuzhaigou during the last Christmas holidays.  Jiuzhaigou is situated in the north of Sichuan near Tibet.  Motor roads to Jiuzhaigou are still being repaired from damages made in last earthquake three years ago.  We took a flight from Chengdu to the Jiuzhai-Huanglong Airport.  The airport was built at a high latitude of about 3,500 meters.  When we first landed in the airport, we could feel the high mountain effect.

Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong are both famous for their natural beauty and karst topography.  Recent years, millions of tourists are attracted to these places.  Local administration authority has now imposed stricter control on the motor traffic and tourist flow in the park areas.  If you want to avoid the crowd, winter will be a better season to visit Jiuzhaigou.

(One of the water sources of Yangtze River is from the Min River head)

Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong are in the southern part of the Min Mountains.  Water from the glaciers flow down the Min River and into the Yangtze River.  Within half an hour bus ride from the airport, you can reach the Min river head.

Jiuzhaigou has different faces for each of the four seasons.  Autumn is colourful and the busiest season.  The beauty of Jiuzhaigou in winter is ice and peace.

(One of the Tibetan village in Jiuzhaigou)

If you like hiking, you can plan for two-days walk along the Y-shaped valley in Jiuzhaigou.  The karst topography forms beautiful landscapes and scenery.  Well maintained walking paths are built along the valleys.  Proper signage along the road can help you to find the way.  Sometimes, tourist crowds can be disturbing.  We prefer to avoid the crowds in order to enjoy the natural scenery in peace.

(Image of mountain range reflected in the calm water surface)

(Frozen lake in the upper range of Jiuzhaigou)

(Ice and snow covered the waterfall)

(Beautiful ice crystals formed along the river stream)

Calcium carbonate deposited in the surface of fallen trees along the lakes.  With light reflection, it formed colourful coatings.  

(Five colour pond in Jiuzhaigou)

 
Another karst topograhy that we have encountered before is in the Plitvice Lakes, Croatia.  In comparison, the areas covered in Jiuzhaigou is bigger in size.

(Photo taken in Pilvice Lakes, Croatia)

Emei Mountain, China : a great destination for hiking

Emei Mountain is about 3,100 meters in height.  It is situated in the north-west of Sichuan basin.  Going further west, you can reach the Tibet plateau.  Emei is one of the four, and the tallest, scared Buddhist mountains of China.  In the past Christmas, my wife and I had great experience climbing up the Emei mountain.

Emei Mountain is rich in vegetation.  There are water streams and rapids along the walking paths.  If you love hiking, you will enjoy the journey walking up to the mountain top.  There are local hostels along the way for those who like to stay over night in the mountain.  Due to time constraint, we took the eco-bus and cable car to about 2,500 meters level.  Then, we walked up to the mountain top.

When we walked out the cable car station, snow had covered all buildings, trees and walking paths.  We had to move slowly and to avoid the slippy ice along the paths.  However, the scenery was just great.  Here are few photos that we took near the mountain top.

(Evergreen trees covered by snow)

(Snow covered walking path to the mountain top - beautiful and peaceful)

(The silver temple in Emei top)

(The main temple)

(The famous Emei gold peak)

(The snow cap indicated the wind direction)

Emei Mountain is a great place to watch sunrise.  With good weather, cloud can be seen floating below the mountain top.  It is a magnificent picture with the Emei gold peak shining under the early sun rays.  We look forward to coming back to Emei again.

Sichuan is home of the world famous pandas.  During our trip, we did not miss the chance of seeing these lovely creatures.  Here are their photos that we took in Chengdu.

 

Prague, Czech Republic : the western city in East Europe

Many people think of Prague together with Paris, Vienna and other European cities.  When we visited Praque in late September this year, we could see fashion show in the street, thousands of tourists in every parts of the city and enjoyed the warm weather. 

Prague is the capital city of Czech Republic.  The Vltara River flows through the city and provides it an easy mean of transportation and water. 

(Beautiful mechanical clock tower near the city square)

Many people may still remember the Prague Spring that induced the invasion of Czechoslovakia by Soviet Union and its allies in 1968.  In fact, Prague is also the home of an early church reformer, Jan Hus.  As a priest and a scholar, Hus had voiced out for reform in the Catholic Church early in the 14th century.  His stature in the city square was painted in black when the Soviet tanks entered the city after the Prague Spring.

(Jan Hus stature in the city square)

When you are in Praque, you will not miss the Prague Castle.  It stands close to the Vltara River and overlooks the city.  It was used by the former Habsbury emperors.  Franz Kafka's Le Castle wrote about the stories of its nobles and ordinary people in the Castle.  The President office of Czech Republic is now housed there.

(Local students attending their lesson in the Praque Castle) 

(Tomas Masaryk, the first President of Czechoslovakia)

Walking down the Castle, you will reach the Vltara River.  You can cross the river by the famous Charles Bridge.  There are many beautiful statures along both sides of the bridge.  You can see the city buildings along the river.

(City view from the Charles Bridge)

(Bridge tower of the Charles Bridge)



Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic : a romanic medieval town

On our way to Prague, the capital city of Czech Republic, we stopped over in Cesky Krumlov for one day.  Cesky Krumlov is a small town in the Bohemian region.  Its history can be traced back to the medieval time.  The town has been carefully restored with its original castle and town houses.  We prefer to stay in such lovely small towns when travelling in Europe. 

(Town of Cesky Krumlov surrounded by River Vltava)

(Local vendors in the medieval town center)

(School girls dressed up for performance)

Lords of Krumlov built the Gothic castle in the hill overlooking the town of Cesky Krumlov early in the 13th century.  The castle and the town preserve their original presence in the past centuries. The Czech government has succeeded in listing Cesky Krumlov in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Monuments in 1992.  Tourists from around the world are drawn to this small medieval town.

(Entrance gate to the Castle)

 

(Museum and watch tower in the castle)

(Time clock on the wall)

(Spot lights lighting up the castle at night)

Within an hour ride, we reached Ceske Budejovice.  It is the main city in the South Bohemian region.  It has a beautiful town square and many catholic churches.  Its Budweiser Bier was first made over three centuries ago in 1785.  When you are in Ceske Budejovice, you can try the original Budweiser.

(Water fountain in the town square center)

(St. Nicholas Catheral and the Black Town)

Vienna, Austria : art and architecture

Vienna has been the capital city of the Austria Empire for several centuries.  The city has drawn in a lot of talents around Europe to build up its impressive art and architecture.  Recently, my wife and I visited Vienna.  We were able to see a few of its baroque architecture and modern buildings.   

The Schonbrunn Palace is a good sample of the baroque  architecture. It was originally a royal pleasure and hunting ground.  Under the reign of Empress Maria Theresia in the 18th century, Schonbrunn was transformed into a show piece of baroque architecture.  Its beautiful painting and sculpture inside the palace offer lovely setting for musical events and performing arts.  The grand garden landscaping is ideal for staging of out door festivals, ceremonial occasions and firework displays.  

(One of the two fountains in the entrance courtyard of the Palace)

(Brass casting inside the Palace)

(Lovely garden facade in the Palace)

(Classical sculpture in the garden)

Vienna also has many interesting modern architecture.  The Hundertwasser House is one of them.  It was built by the Viennese artist, Friedensreich Hundertwasser, in 1985 as a public housing.  The building was decorated with artistic facades and roof gardens.
This reminds me of the Gaudi architecture in Barcelona, Spain.

(Exterior decoration of the Hundertwasser House)

(Small fountain in the house entrance)

Vienna is also well known for its musical art. Vienna Boys' Choir and the Vienna Orchestra are world famous.  That is why Vienna has many great musical halls.  The Vienna state opera house, Staatsoper, is located in the city center.  Next time you are in Vienna, you should visit it and enjoy one of its musical shows.

Budapest, Hungary : search for Hungarians' ancestors

River Danube flows through the beautiful Budapest, which is the capital city of Hungary and a gateway to Eastern Europe.  This ancient city has many interesting spots waiting for tourists to explore. 

More than two thousand years ago, this was the frontier city of Roman Empire in the Lower Pannonia region.  Romans stayed in the west bank of River Danube.  "Barbarians" were kept in the east of the river. 

Hungarians do not take these Romans as their ancestors.  Instead, they trace their roots to the Magyars who came from northeast and settled in Hungary in the ninth century.

(Leaders of the seven tribes in the Heroes Square)

(Hungarian parliament building in the east bank of River Danube)

(Bridge across the River Danube joining the former cities of Buda and Pest) 

(Hungarian Royal Palace overlooking the river cruises)

King Stephen I who had unified the country in the 10th century was recognized as the first king of Hungary.  He also led his country in conversion to Christianity.  His right arm (the Holy Right) was kept in the St. Stephen's Basilica.  There are organ concerts held in the basilica during summer .

(St. Stephen's Basilica)

Budapest was not only the frontier city of the Roman Empire, it also stood between the Austrian and the Ottoman empires.  In the fifteenth century, Budapest was under the rule of Ottoman Turks for about ninety years. 

(Monument in the Hungarian Royal Palace commemorating the defeat of Turks)

There is an interesting question for historians.  Were Huns related to Hungarians?  Huns, the horse riding nomads from central Asia, moved into eastern Europe in the fourth century.  It was a general belief that Huns induced the eventual downfall of the Western Roman Empire.  If you are interested in history, you can read more in Maenchen-Helfen, Otto. The world of the Huns: studies in their history and culture. London: University of California Press, 1973.

Dresden, Germany : reclaiming its past glory

Dresden is the capital city of the Saxony state in Germany.  It was a major cultural, economical and political center in Eastern Germany and Eastern Europe.  However, it suffered its deadly destruction before end of the Second World War.  The city was nearly levered off by the bombings of the Alliance air force.  After the Second World War, Dresden became part of East Germany. 

The city reconstruction works took half a century.  With the unification of Germany, Dresden has gradually reclaimed its past glory.  The city has rebuilt its economic and cultural importance.  Major historical landmarks have been reconstructed with great efforts.  You can feel the proud of the citizens who have made this happened.

Dresden Fraudenkirche (the Church of Our Lady), a Lutheran church built in the 18th century, is one of the city landmarks.  The church was destroyed by the bombings with only the status of Martin Luther remained.  After half a century, the church was reconstructed to its original form with parts of its remaining sandstones.

(Status of Martin Luther standing in front of the reconstructed Frauenkirche)

(Baroque style pipe organ restored in the church)

You can see status of Frederick August I around the city.  He was Saxony's Prince-Elector and developed Dresden to one of the major European cities in the 18th century.  He later reconverted to Roman Catholic and became King of Poland.  That is why you will find Kutholische Hofkirche (the Church of the Royal Court of Saxony) a Roman Catholic cathedral.  It is just within walking distance from Frauenkirche.

(Many beautiful paintings are kept inside the Kutholische Hofkirche)

(Kutholische Hofkirche has one of the largest pipe organ)

The Semperoper (the Opera House) is another beautiful architecture restored to its former glory. 

(Semperoper is still the best opera house in Dresden)

The Furstenzug (the Procession of the Princes) was lucky enough to escape the destruction of bombings in the Second World War.  It is one of the largest porcelain artworks.  Princes of the Saxony were shown in the 103 meter x 9.5 meter wall of porcelain tiles.

(Beginning part of the Furstenzug)

Dresden is located nearby the German Alps region.  It is one of green cities in Europe.  Within an hour ride, you can reach the green forests.  You can see the beautiful River Elbe flowing through Dresden and its suburb area.