Mao Zedong, born 1893 in Shaoshan in the Hunan province.
He is still a popular leader for many people, especially in his home district.
I bought a military cap with the Red Army star in front, and many people smiled to me when I walked in the streets.
Kalt «Den fire store»: Den Store lærer, Den Store leder, Den Store øverstkommanderende og Den Store styrmann!
Annie and Per gave me this trip to China as a birthday present.
We travelled by Finnair from Oslo via Helsinki to Chongqing.
And Froydis gave me a cake for the celebration, not this one, but…
Chongqing is a big city, appr 4 – 18 mill people, depending on how you define a citys borders.
From there, we went straight to a cruise ship for a four days cruise on the Yangtse river.
Well, I said straight, and I really mean it. Our first taxi driver had a small Toyota Van, and he filled it to the top with six big suitcases and five passengers.
Cheap and fast! He drove like a Japanese kamikaze airfighter. The fuel was gas. We felt lucky when we arrived to the ship.
We soon learned that international traffic rules were just suggestive for most drivers. Few used the back mirrors and turning signal lights, they just honked their way thru the crowded streets.
Fill up the cars with as many persons as you like:
Hva??? Bomstasjoner HER også!
Going up a side river in smaller boats
Out of 400 passengers, this little boat was the only one with western-looking persons
As you can see, she was my favourite guide!
The Three Gorges Dam, one of the biggest dams in the world and the biggest power station of all. It displaced some 1.3 mill people, its total reservoir length is 600 km and stretches 2,4 km across the river sides.
History: Sun Yat-Sen was the first to talk about a dam across the river in 1919. In 1932, the Nationalist government of Chiang Kai-shek began preliminary work on plans, Jaspanese forces occupied the Yichang area, but in 1944 an american design engineer drew up new plans, and 54 Chinese engineers went to the US for training. In 1949, Mao Zedong supported the project. But The Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution slowed down the project and some engineers who dared to speak out against the project were imprisoned. But in 1992 the National Peoples Congress approved the dam and it was fully operational in 2009. The ship lift will be opened in 2014.
The five locks take us 175 metres down during the night.
Fengdu; temples with Buddhas and demons, also called The place of the dead.
I passed the two first tests, but failed on the last test, so maybe we meet in hell?
Or in Heaven???
I decided to buy one red ribbon and hang it in a tree with all good wishes for the future, just in case…
Zhangjiajie, with the World Mysterious Mountains.
We start at the Tianzishan cableway, taking us 2,5 km up in the mountains.
These mountains were used as background when making the Avatar movie.
Ikke slik, Leif, men kanskje slik?
Walking around the mountain on the outside is thrilling.
At some places, it is almost 1000m down to the bottom.
It does not make it better for me when a hundred meters of the floor is made of glass!
Local beauties, almost at the top?
Mange tusen forelskede par kjøpte hengelås og forseglet sin kjærlighet langs rekkverket.
A polite reminder of our duties in the National Parks.
The caves in Zhangjiajie are also mysterious enough.
We walked for 2,5 hours before we were out again!
Outside there was a museum, with this impressing old watermill.
Wild monkeys in the forest
Sanitary conditions in our hotels were good, but not in the countryside!
…and handicap toilets were not always ready to use for people who needed them!
Mother and daughter making lunch for us. We did not know what we ordered, neither did they, but the lunch was delightful.
Wonderful kids!
Open markets all over.
Bargaining is part of the game
A five star rated nice hotel where we stayed two nights.
Eating at street level. What the barbecue food was made from (pork, dog, mice, chicken, snake?), I would rather not like to know, but it tasted good!
Still in the Zhangjiajie area, now in an old part of the town. We had to buy tickets to enter it.
Night in the old town.
we had a sightseeing in a small boat
people washing clothes in the river
a very good folk show one evening
and workouts (in Chongqing) one morning!
No, not a pyjamas party, so we joined it, or at least, tried to…
then celebrating Annies birthday
På nattoget ble det tid til litt kortspill
Dyrt nok på cruiseskipet: Denne kostet ca 40 NOK, og da var en is NOK på båtturen!
A power nap for a tired father just before leaving China.
En herlig fjortendagers tur med inntrykk og opplevelser som jeg sent vil glemme!
TAKK!