Two Walled Cities- Xian and Pingyao

Xian, Shaaxi (July 21-22)

Bell Tower at the center of the city.



Small vendors at the South Gate.


Man making a print from a stele.


Pit 1 at Bing ma yong (terracotta warriors)


Each soldier has a unique face.


Horse statue.


The train station is right outside the city walls.

Pingyao, Shanxi (Aug 11-12)

Notice the two suns.


Overcrowded train ride.


The courtyard hostel.


Ancient fire extinguishing equipment... still used today.


Birds-eye view of hostel.


Ancient Ming dynasty Buddhist statue striking realistic.


Courtyard House.




A surprise parade down the main street.


Bell Tower at Pingyao- tallest structure in the old city.



City wall.

Suzhou

At the last minute, our boss decided to send our project team (of three) to visit some towns around Suzhou. We spent the weekend there, racing through as much as we could.

Random Photos

This is the view from my 6th floor apartment.


A few months ago, we had a surprise birthday party for Esther. The idea was that, during the night, we would break out into "Sound of Music" songs. Here is Sam and Cameron serenading her with "16 going on 17".


Calvin did a rendition of "Climb Every Mountain", as a nun behind a screen.


Canada Day BBQ at my apartment

We have a barbeque on the second floor of our loft. My colleagues love "chaun"... so naturally, they like to flip the meat.


Others playing cards downstairs.


Over on the right is Chen Cheng, who has helped me immensely at work by explaining things in Cantonese for me.

Trip to Science Museum with 60 kids from School of Light and Love

Weekend in Henan

Three colleagues and I travelled to Henan Province over the weekend, nine hours south of Beijing. We took an overnight train there, spent a night in Luoyang, and then took the same train back. This is the center of Buddhist culture as well as the origin of Shaolin martial arts.