Chengde

   Today was my last day of classes at the UChicago Beijing Program! Eight weeks really flew by. Tomorrow I'm taking a train to Hohhot, the capital of Inner Mongolia. I'll spend a night in a Yurt on the Xilamuren Grasslands and then of off to Datong in Shanxi, where I'll check out the Yungang Grottoes (huge buddhist cave carvings). After that I'm going to explore Wutaishan for a couple of days. Wutaishan is one of the four sacred Buddhist mountains in China. Then it's back to Beijing and over to Hong Kong for about two days before I catch a redeye back to the states. I'm thinking there will be lots of photo opportunities on this trip, so keep an eye out for posts coming soon (probably not until after I get back to America in a week or two though).

Here are some photos from my last trip out of Beijing to Chengde, the imperial summer resort town. The emperor used to come here to get out of the Beijing heat. We got to check out the imperial summer palace, a replica of the Dali Lama's temple, and Sledgehammer mountain (whose name will become obvious when you see the pictures). Enjoy!

Two people enjoy tea in a resting spot on a mountain in Chengde.

A river in the Imperial Summer Palace in Chengde, China.

Pule Temple in Chengde, China.

Prayer wheels at Pule Temple in Chengde China.

A boy plays at the summer palace in Chengde.

The Putuo Zongcheng Temple complex, completed in 1771 during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor. It is modeled off of the Potala Palace in Tibet. Seeing this copy made me want to visit the real on in Tibet.

A taxi comes down a road on the outskirts of Chengde, China.

I went exploring outside our hotel in Chengde. We were in the middle of a village/industrial area, and I bumped into a worker coming from a construction site. He tried to talk to me but his accent was so strong that I couldn't understand a thing he said. As he walked away I snapped this picture of him.

A man comes outsides to see why his dog is barking at night. I had to use manual focus for this shot because it was so dark that there was no hope for autofocus. I think I got it semi close.

A crazy rock formation shaped like a sledgehammer in Chengde, China. We hiked to the base of the rock and were able to rub the handle of the hammer.

Stairs in Pule Temple in Chengde, China.

Prayer flags at the Putuo Zongcheng Temple. I used my on-camera flash to light the flags in the foreground against the backlighting.

The inner courtyard of Putuo Zongcheng Temple.

This is the roof of a temple next to the Putuo Zongcheng Temple in Chengde, China. It is adorned with nine golden dragons.