Anyway, the carvings are incredible! The second best tour to date so far! Until we have 3-D cameras, it will always be difficult to capture in a picture what you are truly seeing. These carvings go back over 800 years! I like to take pictures of description stones to help remind me of what it is I am seeing since I suffer from permanent CRS (can't remember s*it). So, here is the first description stone that tells about the entire area:

The carvings were made under the supervision of a monk by the name of Zhao Zhifeng. He probably looked better in person:

These carvings have a mixture of Buddhism, Confucianism, and some theories of Taoism (Greg and Teresa: You'll Love These!).

Here is the first one as you walk into the site:

I don't have descriptions for all of them but I will post them below as they come up on my queue. As a history freak, looking at these articulate and precise carvings made more than 400 years before America was discovered by foreigners is particulary interesting. The preservation is also amazing. There are a few missing faces, toes, or other parts, but most are in excellent condition. These are carved right out of the sides of hills! They obviously had an idea about preservation because each is either inside a cave or has an outcrop above that extends past the carvings themselves in order to prevent rain and drainage from higher elevations from creating erosion and damage. You really have to see this to believe it. Pay attention to the dimensions of the statues (on the description stones). This will also help to give you an idea of their enormity.

In Alaska Eskimo/Indian Culture, the 'Circle of Life' is a dominant theme. For those who haven't come across this cultural value, it basically states that everything on earth is intertwined not only from people-people, but also between the earth, animals, and spiritual entities/beliefs. This has been a consistent theme in almost all cultures from way back when to the present. It is obviously true in Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism as well. Here are the photos of this important but seemingly presently overlooked way of life:

Their are six basic principles of this theory starting with being reincarnated/born in the top wedge (if a clock, think 11:00 - 1:00) to leaving earthly life in the last wedge (9:00-11:00).

The next photos talk/show three people practicing Buddhism:

This is a neat one:

Here are a few more:

Can't remember the story on this one but their are nine dragons which represent power and good fortune:

Here is one to show filial piety:

And the last of them:

Here's one of me Eric took. Yes, the spot on the bridge is me:

So, we finish the tour and then head back to the right to get to Chongqing (shung sheeng). I think I have mentioned the driving here in a previous blog. Let's just say that if any of us drove as they do here, we would have enough points in a day against our driver's license to have it suspended for years. On our return, we hit rush hour. That's a misnomer because the entire day is nothing but a rush-minute. So, we get about half way up a clover-leaf exit ramp so we can join the main expressway. About half way up is when you can see what the traffic is like on the merging expressway. In this case, our driver decided we were not going to join that expressway. So, he decides to stop and proceed in reverse back down the UP ramp so as to take the previous exit. Many others decided to do the same thing as you can see by these pictures I took:

More people getting the same idea:

We were fortunate to meet a young lady and her mom who both live in a Detroit suburb. They are both Chinese. The daughter was born here but moved with her family when she was six (she is 22 now). They helped to explain any important stuff the guides were saying. However, they didn't start helping us until after Eric and I walked through a door (I now call it the No-No Door). Apparently, the guide just finished saying that we should all go through a particular door on the right. Instead, because we were hanging back looking at the architecture because we had no clue what they were saying (we declined the heavy cost of having an English interpreter), we decided to go through the door on the left. That would be the No-No Door. Everyone started laughing, pointing at us, and saying something. Because we entered through that door, in two years Eric and I will begin studying in China to become monks. I can't wait. That's the pitfalls of going without an interpreter.

Towards the end of the tour, we ended up inside a room where there was a wise monk speaking in Chinese. Again Eric and I were in the back by ourselves sitting on bench seats. As he was obviously expousing the Buddhist religion and then half-bowing, both Eric and I half-bowed as well out of respect. In the next few minutes, the monk had a group of people (6 or so) stand and dismissed them through the same door we came through on entering. Next, he had a group of 2-3 stand. He said something important I guess because after he gave them something, he dismissed them through a side door. The first group received nothing from this monk. He did this with one other group and they too went through the door on the left. At this point, Eric and look at each other and wonder where he is going to send us. Will we be stoned to death? Will we be taken directly to monastery school? Maybe he'll just ignore us and he will leave and Eric and I will make a beeline back to the van. So here we are, the last two people with the monk and we have no idea what the heck he's saying. He motions for us to stand and come up to his alter (oh shit.....), begins saying something more (double shit......) and then hands us a medallion in a red case and then points to the entrance we came through and dismissed us. When we walked back out, we were guided outside and to the van. We made it without crushed skulls, burned body limbs, and all of the parts we walked in with were still with us! YES!!!! Oh wait, shhhhh. I keep forgetting to keep my comments to myself for fear of arrest.

As it turns out, the first group that was dismissed were non-believers of Buddhism, Confucianism, and/or Taoism. No 'good left door' for them to exit through. The other groups were believers and were allowed to exit through the 'good left door'. Eric and I have a chance one day to walk through the left door but we must commit to becomming believers. I showed the medalions to the desk staff here as well as 'The Believers' on the bus and they were surprised we received anything. Here is a picture of the front of the medallion:

Here is the back:

I now expect that you would like a translation? Ohhhhh, you make me laugh! I have no idea what it says. I did ask the girl working downstairs but she couldn't find the English words to interpret. She used a few though, Good Fortune, Peace, and Prosperity. The medallion itself is maybe 2" high and 1" wide. It was hard to get a good picture so I hope you can make out a little of it. The shiny-ness of it makes it hard to photograph as well.

Eric and I are going to try and go to see the pandas tomorrow. Apparently, the prima donna bears feel it is too chilly out for them to come out of their dwelling. Maybe it will be warmer tomorrow.

Eric and I are also seriously considering a quick (3-4 days) trip to Tibet, return to Chongqing and take a river cruise for another 3-4 days, take the train to Guilin then on to Xian to see the terra cotta statues and all the history there and then on to Beijing so Eric can get to see the Great Staircase (Wall), Tian'amen Square, and whatever else floats his boat. I'll know more later tonight which will be when you are waking up.

I hope you enjoyed this blog. This was a great tour/trip. Also, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE sign your first and last name to the blog. I think it's getting hacked because there are some comments from I don't know who. I've blocked two that have tried to leave comments but their are 3 others I don't know about for sure. I have figured out Doug's (thanks for the nice comments!) but their are others I am not sure about. I don't have anyone I know that would sign their name as 'Sis'. Yes, I have two sisters but we never spent the end of the night turning lights off as we said good-night to everyone. No, we were definitely not the Waltons. The other two I don't know about so please leave a name that I can identify easily. Thanks!

written by  akstoltzy on June 1, 2010 from Chongqing, China
from the travel blog: China
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Sis is me..sorry for the confusion. I comment so much that I got tired of signing Lori. I will be more clear from now on...sorry!!!!

written by  Lori on June 2, 2010

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Sorry, we've been lurking. What an interesting trip you've had! Seeing the dates of stuff always makes a huge impact when thinking of a thousand years ago or more.

written by  Jen V. on June 26, 2010

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