China

We concluded our trip to China with a couple of days in Shanghai, a city of 17 million... Our visit included the famous Yuyuan Garden located in the heart of the old city,

and the old city which has been mostly rebuilt into commercial developments (here is a view at night)

We also visited the waterfront, also known as the Bund (here is the view opposite the Bund)

That's it. Japan is next.

Separated by 2 1/2 hours on the highway, Luoyang and Kaifeng are both former imperial capitals. In Luoyang, we visited the White Horse Temple and then spent some time at the Shaolin Temple, home of the most famous Kung Fu school. We had a chance to visit the temple and the amazing "Pagoda" forest

followed by a Kung Fu demonstration

Jordan and I even tried some of the monk's training equipment...

At the end of the day, we visited the carved Buddhas of the Longmen Caves

including the largest Buddha which is 25 feet in height

The following day, we visited Kaifeng, home of the best documented Jewish community in China. We met with a couple pf descendants of the community and learned of efforts to revive the community. We also visited the 700-year old Iron Pagoda

Following Guilin, we flew back north to Xi'an, one of the seven former imperial cities. The city is best known for the tomb of Emperor Qin, which contains the Terra Cotta Warrior Army

Each of the 7000 life-size warrior is different and amazingly lifelike. Following the visit, we were treated to a dumpling banquet

followed by a show

The next two days, we visited some of the attractions in Xi'an, including the Great Wild Goose Pagoda

the lesser wild goose pagoda

a bike ride on the 600-year old city walls

and a visit to the Feng Shui museum

We left Xi'an by train for the 6 hour ride to Luoyang where Jordan displayed his social skills...

We flew from Beijing to Guilin in the Southwest of China to admire some of the most dramatic landscapes of then whole country. At first, we took a 4-hour cruise on the River Li to admire the famous karst formations...

On the following picture, Jordan shows the 20 Yuan bill in front of the landscape that inspired its engraving.

Following the cruise, we toured the countryside and visited an old farmhouse used by the same family for many generations. Here Jordan made fried with the owner...

We met in Beijing with our friend Jackie for the China leg of our trip. Our visit to Beijing included all the traditional landmarks, including the forbidden city

the Temple of Heaven,

The summer Palace

and the Great Wall of China

In addition, we experienced other sights of Beijing, including he famous Pandas at the Beijing Zoo (like the Moscow zoo, they could use some help)

We also tasted the deliciously famous Peking Duck

but stayed away from some of the street food...