Street art at 50 Moganshan Road Art Center

Yangzhoug to shanghai

Yangzhou is an amazing place.  So far, my favorite in China. It's beautiful and scenic.  I am not at all surprised that it's been full of artists for thousands of years.  Where there is artists, there is great food.  They had the most AMAZING steamed buns I've ever had.  We visited a musical instrument factory where I met the crafts people, artists and musicians.  I was sad to get on the train to Shanghai.  The train ride was SO SMOOTH and fast. Much much better than the Long Island Railroad or any Amtrak train.  The night scene and skyline of Shanghai is spectacular.  More later...

Sun Yatsen Mausoleum/Grand Canal/Dinner

Flew into Nanjing this morning and visited the Sun Yatsen Mausoleum, who is recognized by the communists and Kuomintang alike as the father of Modern China.  Then drove to Yangzhou, which is historically a major art center. Got here late, so I didn't see much, but so far, it's really clean and beautiful.  Full of canals and parks.  Some of China's most famous painters are from here.  Will see more tomorrow and report.

2008 Olympic Buildings

Small Goose Pagoda/Famen Temple/Tomb of Qin Shi Huang

Ok.  It finally stopped raining, but no sign of sun...gloomy :(

Little goose pagoda...built in 684AD and then in the 16th century was split during an earthquake and then put back together during another earthquake.  so considered somewhat a miracle.  They completely redid it and it now sits in a beautiful park with a nice museum.  I was more into the goose.

Then we drove 2 hours to the Famen Temple where the sacred finger bones of Buddha is housed.  The old temple is super cool...but they constructed this crazy monster of a new concrete temple with some lady screaming at the top of her lungs to light candles.  It's just massive.

And then we visited the Tomb of Qin Shi Huang who was China's only female ruling empress.

It was cold a gloomy in Xian.  Beautiful place, but I was pretty happy to get back on the plane to Beijing....where it's 90 degrees...i haven't seen the sun since I've been here.  In Beijing, it's hazy and dusty and polluted...1 more day and off to Nanjing.  Tomorrow, I might go check out the Olympic buildings...