Fossils - Blogabond

Chaoyang, China

We made it! After first heading to the bus station to buy tickets out of town (next day, as the last bus would not allow sufficient time to see the fossil museum necessitating an over-night in a city we were told we could not over-night) we hired a pedicab (no longer an applicable name as they are all electric or gas now) to get us to bus 15, the vehicle that can take us to... FOSSILS!!! The pedicab takes back to the train station. We thought that was fine until we learned that bus 15 does not pass by the train station. A very kind chaoyang-ian says she'll ride (a different bus) with us and take us to the correct bus stop. That's why I love the Chinese! A long city bus ride later she points us to the unmarked bus stop. We get off and wait. It takes a while but Bus 15 finally comes and we make it to fossil paradise!

But we don't have same day tickets out of town and we don't have a place to stay in this foreigner-forbidden city. What to do? I had a plan all along. At the ticket counter I tell the 5 ladies behind the counter (and only me and RJ in front - read that, "almost no visitors, way over staffed") that we need a hotel for they evening. Sure enough, these very helpful ladies call around and find us two, TWO!, hotels that will take 'outsiders.' One one cheap and near the train station, one is expensive and not. To the great Surprise of all who know me well, I chose the latter. 'Near the train station' is code for filthy. Read the next post for how the day ended!

written by

prrrrl on October 2, 2013 from Chaoyang, China

from the travel blog: Liaoning, 2013

tagged Plans, Fossils and Botel

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Chaoyang, China

Fossil blog
The Bird Flower-rock (fossil) National Geological Park is 60% kitsch, 30% awesome. They have the actual pit where some of the first fossils were found. They have a long, deep trench showing the sediment layers. This is not open air but in a modern building resembling an ankylosaurus. They have a museum showing scores of fossils pulled from the site, including a turtle visitors can touch, the famous feathered Dinosaur and a specially lit main feature: two small Dinosaurs caught in the act of creating new little Dinosaurs. The hokey parts are the animatronic T-Rex and others since the animatronics is hokey and these Dinosaurs were not found in Liaoning. The petrified Forest is disappointing in how pieces were poorly glued together in columns of their original growth. I'd prefer to see them the way they were found. Also very hokey is the fake and unimpressive in size Volcano.
But still worth the trip for the fossils, dig site and trench. Ahhhh...

Fossils!

Chaoyang, China

Dig it!

Chaoyang, China

Heading South?