Chengde

	We flew into the Beijing airport, then embarked immediately on a 4+ hour bus ride (in nice coaches, fortunately) to Chengde. We left our house at 5:00 in the morning, and arrived at the hotel just in time for a late dinner and bed. We were EXHAUSTED, since it was actually a 36 hour day for us! Early the next morning, the band held a brief rehearsal in the parking lot, before going to the Chengde Teachers College for Nationalities for a concert with two other US bands and a band from the college.
	Many locals stopped by to listen as the band rehearsed that morning. This little boy was enthralled by the band, and happily bopped to the beat. He was a little scared of me, but his folks seemed proud that I wanted HIS picture! Chengde is an interesting area -- it's a small city that's not too touristy and a bit off the beaten path. The area around it is very rural.
	After the concert, we went to classrooms in small groups, where we chatted with university students. They were enthralled with Katy's red hair, which is even MORE unusual in China. We were frequently asked if it was dyed! The Nationalities part of the college's name is due to the fairly large Mongolian and Manchurian population in the Chengde area. Click Here for a snippet of a student playing an Erhu, sometimes referred to as a Chinese Fiddle.
	This is a typical farmhouse in the rural area around Chengde. (This is a prosperous one; some looked positively ramshackle.) Most of them look a bit like old-time gas stations, because they are usually one floor, three or four rooms, and have big windows to take advantage of natural light. In this rural area, many houses do not have electricity.
	Most stuff in Chengde moves by bike, trike, or motorcycle. There are some cars, but not NEARLY as many as in Beijing. Some of the city looks to have seen better days, but new buildings are being constructed downtown, as the area seems poised to become a major cultural/tourist destination.
	There had been recent minor flooding in Chengde, but no one seemed to be in a hurry to clear off the debris. We drove past this gate two days in a row, and folks were just detouring around the rubble. We noticed that some parts of China seem to have maintenance issues. They prefer to put up new buildings, instead of fixing up the deteriorating ones. Quality control is another challenge, seemingly. Building codes are more like rough guidelines.
	The biggest "attraction" for western tourists in Chengde is the Emperor's Mountain Resort, built in the early 1700s. The elevation is about 3500 feet (I think). The grounds are huge, and the middle is a large man-made lake several dozen acres in size. Pavilions, viewing platforms, and other buildings are arranged around the lake. The entire area is surrounded by a high guard wall.
	The Resort was used as a getaway during the heat of summer, and as a safe hiding place when Peking was in peril. Whenever the emperor came here, the seat of government came with him. The Resort also features a large Administrative Center situated near the main gates, nearest to the town.
	Most Chinese palaces have a lake or river to provide water for cooling, fire control, and Feng Shui (the placement of buildings, particularly dwellings, in relationship to water is very important).
	In this picture, a natural rock formation called Sledgehammer Peak is visible on the hillside in the background. The Mountain Resort's location was considered auspicious, because of it is within view of it.
	Chengde is famous for deer, and is sometimes referred to as the "Deer City." The Mountain Retreat has a herd of semi-tame deer on the grounds, and they seem unfazed by tourists with flash cameras.
	In lieu of supermarkets, groceries are for sale at the roadside in Chengde. Everyone does their daily food shopping at this type of stall. We saw many impromptu stands and food stalls. (We were warned not to eat anything from them, in case we wandered down and bought something there.)
	And here we have a typical Chengde roadside restaurant. I wonder what they're cooking! We frequently saw this sort of makeshift steamer, and a large version of the Storm Kettle in use. Anyone with a canister, fuel of some kind, and some extra food can cook it up and sell it.
	Chengde also has a set of eight very old and ornate Buddhist temples, referred to as the Eight Outer Temples. We toured two of them. Putuo Zongcheng Temple is a huge, sprawling Tibetan-style temple, modeled after Potala Palace in Tibet. The Puning Temple is the site of a huge standing wooden Buddha, several stories high. This is the main entrance to the Putuo Zongcheng Temple.
	Kevin and Katy climbed all the way to the top of the main building of Putuo Zongcheng. It's probably at least a thousand steps, very steep (and often uneven). Some of the outdoor steps were very roughly hewn, and looked like natural rock. Scenically beautiful, but tough to climb! I went about half way, then stayed behind with several others from our group. We were the "tired old biddy committee."
	The workmanship and details were amazing! This is one post at the top of a set of stairs, and one of dozens of matching posts. Both of the temples we visited had many different buildings each, with carvings, paintings, stele, and even the roofs were made of stone or terra cotta.
	The variety and color of the glazed terra cotta work was fantastic. This is one of many matching Buddha windows at Putuo Zongcheng. Although we admired the many buildings, the guides weren't too forthcoming about how they were used.
	The color red has a special place in the Chinese heart. It symbolizes fire and is associated with courage, loyalty, honor, success, fortune, fertility, happiness, passion, and summer. Traditional Chinese wedding dresses are red, and red paper is used to wrap gifts, particularly money.
	This is one arch of a three-doorway entrance gate into one of the inner temple courts, also done in glazed terra cotta. At one point the temple housed many more monks than it does today. The guide didn't say so, but I have read that the Chinese government has been seeking to severely limit the number of Buddhist monks. The area where the monks live and worship is not on the tour.
	Beautiful courtyard, which seems to be made for some kind of assembly. Our guide in Chengde spoke heavily accented English, and when she didn't understand the question or did not know the answer, she told us simply "It's part of traditional Chinese culture." We heard that rather a lot, so to save face we did not press her.
	This is one of the upper buildings of the huge Putuo Zongcheng temple. The roof of this building is supposed to be real gold leaf. The white thing hanging above the people's heads is a security camera, so maybe it is real gold!
	Some of the smaller buildings housed various statues of Buddharupa, devis, and demons. We were trying to be sensitive to the religious aspect of these places, but no one except our tour group were in this building at the time, so we snapped a few quick pictures. There were no ceremonies or other functions going on at Putuo Zongcheng, that day.
	Here is a roof detail, as seen from the top of the Temple. The first figure represents the emperor, riding a chicken. Chickens symbolized prosperity. Maybe this represents the Chinese version of Hoover's promise, "a chicken in every pot!" In the background is a Bactrian camel. I don't know if it's a wild one or domestic and turned out to graze, but it was interesting to see, none the less.
	One of the kids bought a fan painted with a map of Putuo Zongcheng. I wish I had seen them! When we got on the bus after touring, the big question we asked each other was "What did you get?" Numerous souvenir vendors were hidden away, and everyone found something different. So it was fun to have "show and tell" and see what the others had bought.
	The Puning Temple was fascinating, and seemed very exotic to us. It was actively in use that day, and there were prayers, incense, musicians, and worshipers at the main building. Out of courtesy, I didn't take pictures in that part (but I did discretely video the musicians in an outer court.) The red sticks are incense and candle offerings, and there is smoke rising from a huge open brazier where incense cones and candles can be lit.
	This building at the Puning Temple houses one of the largest carved standing wooden Buddha statues in the world, a Guan-yin (female) Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, several stories high. Photography was discouraged inside the temple, because it's a holy place. The statue was absolutely fantastic, but very dusty. (There are pictures of it on the Puning Temple Wikipedia article.)
	I wish I knew how and when the smaller buildings were used. This building seems made for someone to address an assembly of some kind, or perhaps it is a drum tower (for telling time)? The style, too, is different from the rest of the temple. Most of the other buildings are of comparatively austere red and white Tibetan architecture. This one is reminiscent of the Mountain Resort.
	Here's another building at the Puning Temple in Chengde. The cartwheel is a Buddhist symbol, indicating the cycle of reincarnation. It houses a large stone devotional stele (carved obelisk). Notice the scarves tied to the bronze incense burner on the right. These are a kind of offering. The temple grounds are cared for by local believers, who voluntarily tend the gardens or donate plantings. Some areas and some temples are more well cared for than others.
	The way out from the Puning temple lead through a small bazaar -- with acrobats, vendors, dancers, and many other things to see! One man had "trained" mice, who climbed ropes and did many other cute things. I would have liked to spend a lot more time there.
	I think this is the Chinese version of "Only you can prevent forest fires." We saw many other examples of the difficulty of the English language.
	These roadside vendors are just getting ready for a day's business. The items they will sell probably have not yet some in from the farm. Locally caught fish are also for sale in these stalls. The Rehe river runs through Chengde, although it is barely a trickle for most of the year due to recent hydroelectric damming projects. We saw groups of men netting and fishing in the remaining pools.
	Shot of a Chengde factory, beside what was the Rehe river. Grass is now growing on the former riverbed, and we saw flocks of sheep and goats grazing there. In an effort to preserve some water, inflatable rubber dams are used to create periodic pools. The equivalent of a small creek flows through the middle.
	After two days in Chengde, we bussed back to Beijing. One of the biggest challenges we Westerners faced, besides the language barrier, was the Toilet barrier! Most public facilities are apt to be VERY rudimentary. Only hotels and fancy establishments have western-style toilets. Tourist areas, roadside rest areas, and temples usually have what we called the "Squatty" (instead of "Potty.") Occasionally, an upscale facility might include one western-style toilet -- marked with a Handicapped symbol! But when ya gotta go, ya gotta go -- so we managed...!
	Another issue was drinking water. Tap water is not safe to drink, even for the Chinese. Everyone drinks bottled water, and carries it with them. When the bottles are empty, they just put them down wherever. Older ladies, like this one (she looked almost four feet tall), gather them up to recycle for a pittance. They are grateful if you hand them the bottles directly, and will even come to ask for them if they see you have just emptied the one you're carrying. Our bus carried a constant supply of water bottles in a refrigerated cooler, for less than fifty cents a piece.