Links
to China
Photos
China is a vast country with a coastline that runs north and south for well over 5000 miles. Its lengthiest eastern and western extent runs for another 5,000 miles or so from a remote eastern border with Russian Siberia to an equally remote western one with far away Tadzhikistan. Thus, China encompasses within its borders nearly all of the earth's climatic environments from lush tropical jungles in the south to frigid ice covered arctic tundra in the north and warm sunny sandy beaches along its coastline in the extreme south and southeast to rugged wind swept high altitude (the highest in the world, in fact) mountain peaks and plateaus in the west. In addition, the history of the highly developed civilization of its people is equally as vast as its geography extending back through time over 4,000 years. One of the most highly visible achievements of that great ancient civilization is the Great Wall that extends for 3,600 of the vast 5,000 miles of China's northern frontier.
All the vastness of its culture, history, and geography makes this country one HELLUVAN interesting, colorful, and scenic place to see and experience! This has to be one of the ultimate tourist destinations in the world today as these photos I've taken will, hopefully, well testify and document. What I hope really comes across in them is the absolutely astounding contrasts that exist here in this ancient civilization adapting to, and integrating with, a technological and economic way of life with which it has fully come to grips in just the last twenty years. Please begin your pictorial tour of China by having a look at Shenyang which was my home when I was living there from August 2004 to August 2006. It is the capital city of the province of Liaoning in northeastern China. Note: each purple-blue highlighted and underlined location name is a link to its "photo page" so just click on it and you'll be taken there...
Shenyang ranks fifth in population amongst China's major cities after 1) Shanghai, 2) Beijing, 3) Tianjin, and 4) Wuhan, but, though it is large (over 7 million inhabitants), it's not very cosmopolitan, i.e., it doesn't have much in the way of attractions for foreign tourists and not many multinational companies have set-up here, yet, so, it's not a culturally interesting town in which "to hang." What makes it so large and prosperous is plenty of drab local heavy industry. In other words, it's China's equivalent to Detroit - ugh! Nevertheless, it does have some attractions for those of us who (are forced to) live here and the university at which I teach, Shenyang Normal, is pleasant enough. World class scenic attractions which are closest to Shenyang are the "water caverns" in Benxi about 50 miles (1 hour by bus or train) to the southeast and the truly beautiful Qian Shan mountain resort just outside of the town of Anshan 70 miles (1 1/2 hours by bus or train) to the southwest. Farther along that same highway (called the "Shen-Da Expressway") at the very end of it, in fact, about 300 miles to the southwest of Shenyang (4hrs. by bus or train) is the absolutely delightful seaside city and resort of Dalian which was known as Port Arthur at the turn of TWO centuries ago, i.e., 1900, when Russia and Japan were continuously sparring with each other for control of it. This resulted in the Russo-Japanese War of 1905 which Japan won in a climatic naval battle just off of that area of old Port Arthur called Lushun. As a consequence, Japan emerged as the "new kid on the super power block" of the 20th Century and began its buildup to World War II which culminated in it's attack on Pearl Harbor. Present-day Dalian, with its strong attraction to foreign tourists (mainly Japanese and Korean with, interestingly enough, more than a few Brits thrown in) is a real cosmopolitan "happening" place and it became my favorite place "to hang" on long weekends from Shenyang. I even contemplated buying a condo down there to a) have a pleasant alternative place to stay than "not very happening" Shenyang and b) as a particularly attractive investment over there in the hot real estate market that all of China has become.
The second place where I liked "to hang" for long weekends was, of course, that very cosmopolitan and very happening "imperial capital" of Beijing which is only 500 miles due west from Shenyang. It's a perfect eight hour train ride away which makes it a perfect over-nighter, i.e., you tuck yourself into your sleeper as the train leaves Shenyang and wake up bright eyed and bushy tailed (usually) the next morning in Beijing. This is how I was able to attend half (i.e., two of the four operas) of a performance of Wagner's entire Ring Cycle (an absolutely incredible and fortuitous happening) just recently. Unfortunately, both Shanghai and that other high profile tourist attraction of Xi'an (the capital of ancient China that predates Beijing and is well known for its army of 10,000 ancient terra cotta warriors) are much farther away than just an overnight train ride, so, I haven't been able to visit either of them, yet. But, for now enjoy the photos I've taken of the other places that I've explored that are within that eight hour radius from Shenyang: Harbin, the quaint "Russian" capital city of the most northern province in China, Heilongjiang, which is 400 miles, or six hours, to the north; Cheng Bai Shan, a spectacular mountain resort area very reminiscent of the Lake Tahoe area in the California Sierra Nevada mountains which is actually 24 hrs. away from Shenyang way up in Jilin Province and involves hopping several connecting trains, buses, and taxis; Changchun, the very pleasant capital city of Jilin Province which is only 4hours (250 miles) "up the road" from Shenyang. The chief attractions here are 1) the grandiose "Puppet Palace" with its beautifully preserved Art Deco decor and furnishings which is where Pu Yi, the last emperor of China, was installed as the "puppet emperor" of the fictitious state of "Manchukuo" created by the Japanese army of occupation towards the end of the war (and featured in the film "The Last Emperor") and 2) China's version/imitation of Universal Studios' amusement/theme park which is a tribute to China's own internationally un-sung cinema industry (which I'm finding out was quite extensive and well developed both before and after the war...); Dandong, the riverport city that sits right on the Yalu River, that infamous natural border with North Korea that figured prominently in the Korean War (the sky over it was dubbed "Mig Alley..."). Remember that first "Vietnam fiasco" from which America did not learn its lesson? Well, irony of ironies, Dandong has now become an enormously popular tourist attraction just because of this special "place in history" that it occupies; and, finally, Tianjin, Zhou En Lai's very pleasant "home town" just forty minutes southeast of Beijing.
Eventually, I will add links here to access photos of my other short and long "expeditions" to the extreme southern and western reaches of China during the long winter and summer breaks. Please email back any comments or questions you'd like to make concerning anything you see here - thanks!