Hello, my name is Dumpling. 

Last summer, I went to China.  I kept a diary while I was there, and took a lot of photos.  Would you like to see some of my photos?

It is a really long way to China - I was going to fly but it was too far.

I ended up getting in a really big bird with all the others to get there.  Here we are:                    

 

Once we got there, I saw so many cool things.  The first day we went to the Great Wall of China, which is really huge and goes across China for thousands of miles. 

Text Box: This about half way up the mountain - the Great Wall has steps all the way up the mountain.  I am with Bob, here.  I had to help him because he was so tired. Text Box: This is me and Pan Yin, a student at Beijing University. We are at the bottom of the wall here.                                                                                 

 

Next we visited the Ming Tombs, with all these crazy statues.  I don't like those big lion creatures - you'll see why later.

Beijing is a really awesome city that is very old.  We visited some old towers called the Bell and Drum Towers, and also the ruined Summer Palace that was destroyed about 100 years ago during a war.

Text Box: The Bell Tower Text Box: Yuan Mingyuan Summer Palace - where the last Emperor of China spent the summer.                           Then we went to TianenMen Square.  It is famous because it is a public gathering place and is where Chairman Mao's Tomb is.  He was a Communist Leader who brought many changes to China about 50 years ago.  People line up every day to view his tomb.  It is also the entrance to the Forbidden City where ancient Chinese emperors had there palace and where they ruled the country.  Here are the photos from that day.

Text Box: Another scary lion - I think this one likes chicken for snacks Text Box: Mao's Tomb Text Box: That is Chairman Mao in the background.  We are on Tianenmen Square.  Dana wants her picture taken with him, too                                              

Text Box: Inside the Forbidden City with Bob.  He is afraid of the lions, too, but won't admit it.                                     

Another awesome thing about Beijing is it's opera.  Here is the Monkey King - he is a character in the most famous story in China. 

Text Box: In Beijing we stayed at the University Housing.  Here we are getting ready to leave the University.  

We traveled west to Xian, another very old city, by train.  We got to sleep in the train which was fun.

Text Box: Me and the gang on the sleeper train.                             .  Xian has a wall around it.  Many old cities in China had walls but most are gone now.  Xian's wall is tall and wide enough for a road on top of it. 

Text Box: I like sitting with Peggy, she is very nice to poultry. Text Box: On top of the wall <- and at the bottom of the wall ->                                         

The next stop for us was the world famous Terra Cotta Soldiers.  These are life sized statues buried thousands of years ago with an Emperor when he died.

Text Box: We learned about the excavation and about the reign of this wild Emperor who created a whole army out of clay                                           

 

We visited MANY Monasteries and Holy places and learned about Chinese belief systems like Buddhism and Daoism.  Most have Pagodas - which are big fancy towers.  I like this one because it is called Big Wild Goose Pagoda

Text Box: I felt at home at the Wild Goose Pagoda                                                       

Text Box: I liked the Bamboo Groves here as well We traveled further West in China to visit Chengdu and the Wild Panda Preserve - one of the few in the world.  The panda's are so cute!                                   

Near Chengdu is a beautiful mountain with a Daoist temple at the top.  It was quite a journey to get there.  We drove to the base of the mountain on a bus then we climbed up a lot of steps and crossed a lake.  THEN we rode a cable car up the mountain some more and climbed MORE steps to get to the temple.  It was the most beautiful place I saw on the trip     

Text Box: At the top

Text Box: Now you can see why I don't like the lions, this one tried to eat me!        

 

This is an ancient irrigation and dam system develop hundreds of years ago.  It is called Duijangyan and helps irrigate the whole valley of Chengdu.

Text Box: Chickens can't swim very well - so I rode across the bridge with Bob.                                  

After leaving Chengdu we traveled west again into the mountainous areas near the Tibetian area.  It's very beautiful there and I made some new friends.

 

Text Box: I'm glad I don't have to travel like this! Text Box: These girls were at a rest stop on the road to Dali <-                             

Text Box: You can see who rules the roost here!                                 I have learned my Chinese Name, it is Jiaozi (pronounced jau she) - you can call me that from now on.

 

Our trip lasted another 2 weeks and we went to Thailand as well. 

More later - time for a snack and a nice nap in my hen house

See ya later!