Have you ever been to a home where two presidents of the United States and a governor of Florida were raised?
When my son was posted to the Midland of Texas in 2010, we had the opportunity to visit him on our vacation and also to the George W Bush Childhood Home in Midland.
"It seems improbable in that little house on Ohio Street that there would be two presidents and a Governor of Florida." - George W Bush, January 17, 2001, Speech, Midland, Texas.
The House of two Presidents
Opened on April 11, 2006, the home has been restored to the early 1950s and reflects the lives of the young family through exhibits and furnishings. Nowhere outside the United States, other than the White House, have so many prominent political figures live in one home - two presidents, two governors, first lady, ambassador, CIA director and much more. Our journey through the home enabled us to know more about the early years of the Bush Family and the post- World War II America.
The President's bed
Poster of Lone Ranger
In 1948, the Bush Family left New England to make a new start in West Texas. George and Barbara Bush had moved constantly since they married on January 6, 1945. However their new house at 1412 West Ohio Avenue was only the second home they had actually owned and was by far the largest.
They were active leaders in the community, their church, with the YMCA and busy with George's growing business, the Bush-Overby Oil Development Company. The first year in the home was a happy time for the young family - a wonderful neighbourhood and a new baby on the way, West Texas had truly become home.
Having dinner with the President
Old time comics
As we thronged through the exhibits, we could imagine how life in Midland in the 1950s would be. Midland was an idyllic place where children would ride their bikes downtown, play with marbles and yo-yos, climb fences, run through sprinklers and play ball. Homework and schoolwork were important. As for the adults, everyone was involved in raising everyone else's children. Midland was a small town, with small town values. Families went to church and supported each other. Children learned to respect their elders and to be good neighbours. Friends and families spent time together outside, talking with neighbours while their children were having fun themselves.
It is through the example of this American Family that we were able to see the reality of an American dream. To know that it started so long ago in the oilfields of West Texas and the neighbourhood in Midland, the Gorge W Bush Childhood Home serves as a testimony to hard work and, dedication, and commitment to community and what that can mean later in life. The legacy of the Bush family holds inspiration to all who bare witness and this home stands as a monument to that legacy.
"Our deepest values in life often come from our earliest years... It is here where I learned what it means to be a good neighbour at backyard barbecues or just chatting across the fence. It is here in West Texas where I learned to trust in God." - George W Bush.
Fancy having a water garden and a picturesque underwater world at home, right in the sitting room?
Well, with a small capital upfront, you can design and own a water garden right in the sitting room of your house. Then you can sit back and enjoy beautiful picturesque underwater world after a hard day's work in the office.
I am not referring to those outdoor types of garden where you have to spend hours under the hot sun to clear wild grasses and trim and water the plants. Anyway, if you don't live in big houses with huge compound, there is no way you can have your own garden and do your gardening chore. For people like us who stay in apartments, the type of gardens that are suitable are the ones inside big enclosed tanks. In these tanks one can plant aquatic plants and keep some exotic tropical fish. Lots of possibilities exist on how to set up a attractive aquarium. There are no limits to your fantasy and caring for an aquarium is a beneficial way to relax during your leisure time. Don't forget, when everything works as planned (I mean the plants are growing and the fishes are striving), you still need to do your weekly task of gardening work like trimming the plants, putting in fertilisers and feeding and caring for the fish; and also not to forget changing water regularly.
What is so special about this water garden? As I said earlier, you can design your own aquatic tank. I mean you get to plant the aquatic plants you like and choose the tropical fish you would like to have to make the tank come alive. If you put in effort you can see the fruits of your labour. Imagine your family members and yourself gather around the tank and admire the greenery and underwater life over a cup of tea. If you have small kids, what a good time to cement bond and build friendship with your young ones.
Keeping tropical fish is no easy task. You have to make sure that water in the tank is clean and free from chlorine. A good filtration system is needed to ensure that organic wastes are effectively filtered out. Both internal and external filters are adequate to do the job. Then you need the air pump to deliver the oxygen that the fish needs to survive. From young, I have always been interested to keep gold fish, angel fish and other tropical species such as guppies and swordtails. But to keep and maintain a tank full of aquatic plants and fishes is quite a challenge to many beginners. This is because plants need carbon dioxide and sunlight to survive whereas fishes need oxygen and hate strong light. If you get the chemistry right, the plants take in carbon dioxide and sunlight to produce oxygen in the process of photosynthesis. So the tank system will achieve a state of balance where plants consume carbon dioxide and produce oxygen that the fish needs. The excrement from fishes also serves as a source of fertilisers for the plants.
Once you have an aquarium of aquatic plants and fishes that flourish well, the only maintenance work required is to change water regularly, trim the plants if they grow too thick and care for the fishes. Tap water contains chlorine and it has to be stored in pales over night before mixing with water in the tank.
My aquatic tank
Now, lets look at the essential equipment needed to set up an aquatic tank. First, an aquarium tank of 3 to 4 feet long, a filtration system of internal/external filters (optional, as the wastes form fishes can act as fertilisers for the plants), long tubes of light (the one that give out the equivalent of sunlight) and a cylinder of carbon dioxide with tubings and regulator valves. You also need plenty of sand to lay at the bottom of the tank to grow the plants. The sand should be arranged like a slope from the far end of the tank to the fore ground. In this way the sand will not reduce the tank view from the front. Aquatic plants (from aquarium shops) are planted in a way such that bigger ones are at the back and smaller plants at the front of the tank . Rocks or wood can be added to blend well with the plants. Then fix up the tubings in the tank for the supply of carbon dioxide (aquarium shop may offer advice in this aspect). Then put up the lighting and the tank will be ready for putting in the fishes. Before that, let the system runs for a few days to achieve equilibrium. When the plants are striving, you can see they breath out streams of tiny oxygen bubbles from their leaves. This is photosynthesis at work, what a lovely sight. When this happens, put in a few fishes to check if they survive. After that, the tank can be populated with any tropical fishes you like such as the neon tetras and angel fish. Don't forget fishes are very territorial, large ones do eat up the smaller ones, etc. Sometimes, people like to put in a few hundreds of those tiny neon or cardinal tetras. These fishes have splendid colour in their bodies. It is quite amazing to watch a large school of fishes swim from left to right in the tank. Angelfish are easy to keep too. You may get some good quality angelfish and they can also lighten up your aquatic tank. These angel fish swim elegantly around and they don't create any disturbance to the tranquillity of the tank. However, they should not be kept together with neon or cardinal tetras, as these tetras are a delicacy for the larger angelfish. I once put in a hundred neon tetras together with 2 angelfish. After sometime I noticed that the population of the neon tetras was dwindling. Until one day I saw with my own eyes that the larger angelfish eating up one tiny neon tetras. By that time, my tank was left with a few dozens of tetras. Never put any gold fish in the tank as well. Gold fish are notorious for aquatic tank as they will sure turn your tank upside down when they go round looking for food to devour. They are forever hungry and their clumsiness in the tank surely upset the objective to create a peaceful environment of tank life.
High quality angel fish give extra dimension to tank
While we were in Texas in 2010, we made an exciting day-trip to New Mexico where we embarked on a journey to the underground world. We visited the Carlsbad Caverns National Park and ventured over 1000 feet below the surface of the earth.
Carlsbad Caverns National Park sits in a bed of limestone above a layer of groundwater; below the groundwater are petroleum reserves. Millions of years ago, hydrogen sulfide (H2S) began to seep upwards from the petroleum into the water table. The combination of hydrogen sulfide and oxygen from the water formed sulphuric acid. The sulphuric acid then continued upward, aggressively dissolving the limestone deposits to form caverns. Gypsum's presence within the cave is a confirmation of this process's occurrence, as it is a byproduct of the reaction between sulphuric acid and limestone. Once the acid bath drained from the chamber, cave formations were able to grow within the cavern. Erosion processes occurring above ground created the natural entrance to the Carlsbad Caverns within the last million years. Exposure to the surface has allowed for the influx of air into the cavern. Rainwater and snowmelt percolating downward into the ground pick up carbon dioxide; once this water reaches a cavern ceiling, it precipitates and evaporates leaving behind a small mineral deposit. Growths from the roof downward formed through this process are known as stalactites. Additionally, water on the floor of the caverns can contain carbonic acid and generate mineral deposits by evaporation. Growths from the floor upward through this process are known as stalagmites.
Our visit to Carlsbad Caverns began in the Chihuahuan Desert of the Guadalupe Mountain in New Mexico. But beyond the familiar rugged mountains and broad plains of desert world, we discovered another world. Away from sunlight, away from the flowering cactus, away from the songs of the desert birds and the howl of coyote, we found the celebrated underground world of Carlsbad Caverns. This is an incomparable realm of gigantic subterranean chambers, fantastic cave formations and extraordinary features. We were like the first adventurers entering the Caverns, we had no idea what to expect as we walked, crawled, and climbed down into the darkness. This made our journey and experience of exploring the underground world every bit as exciting as those early adventurers. Of course, many of the wonders of Carlsbad Caverns are today well known and all the trails are paved and well lit and quite accessible.
Rugged Mountains
Chihuahuan Desert
As we had time on our side, we took the Natural Entrance Route. This was a self-guided tour which was a one mile journey that followed the traditional explorers' route, entering the cavern through the large historic natural entrance. The Natural Entrance Route descends over 750 feet into the earth following steep and narrow trails through a tall and spacious trunk passage called the Main Corridor. Highlights along this route include Bat Cave, Devil's Spring, Green Lake Overlook, and the Boneyard, a complex maze of highly dissolved limestone rock reminiscent of Swiss cheese. There is also the Iceberg Rock, a single 200000-ton boulder that fell from the cave ceiling thousands of years ago. This route culminates in the lunchroom and underground rest area near the elevators and the Big Room Route starting point. Big Room is a huge chamber 8.2 acre big 755 feet below surface where visitors can also descend directly taking the elevators from the Visitor Centre.
Natural Entrance of Carlsbad Caverns
For visitors who descend directly to the Big Room from Visitor Centre, they take the Big Room Route which again is a mile, self-guided, underground stroll around the perimeter of the largest room in the cave. Taking approximately 1 hour, this circular route passes many large and famous features such as Bottomless Pit, Giant Dome, Rock of Ages and Painted Grotto.
Entering the cave
Over 1000 years ago American Indians ventured into the entrance of Carlsbad Caverns, leaving behind mysterious drawings on cave walls near the natural entrance. In the 1800s settlers discovered the cavern, drawn to it by the spectacle of hundreds of thousands of bats rising up out of the natural entrance in the evening. Some stayed on to mine the huge deposits of bat guano in the cave to sell it as a natural fertiliser. A cowboy name Jim White became fascinated by the cave and spent hours exploring it. White as eager to show the natural wonders of this unique place to others but few believed his improbable tales of a huge underground wilderness full of unusual formations. He then took photographs to convince skeptics that Carlsbad Cavern was everything it was said to be. Carlsbad Cavern was proclaimed a national monument.
Spectacular View
Inside Carlsbad Caverns
White, who continued cave explorations for most of his life, became its first chief ranger. In 1930 Congress of the United States created Carlsbad Caverns National Park. Today, Carlsbad Caverns become one of the world's most celebrated cave systems and was designated a World Heritage Site in 1995.
If you are in Texas, there is one place you would not like to miss. This is place is so big and remote that you can feel and see nature at its best. There are no skyscrapers nor highways that remind you of busy city life, just plain mountains, rivers and cactus plants (things of nature).
During my childhood days, I watched many Western movies like the Wild Wild West, The Good the Bad and the Ugly, the Lone Rangers and many others. I can remember vividly scenes of Red Indians chasing cow boys on rocky mountains with the occasional gun shots being fired at each other, the fight inside a bar where chairs and tables and of course bottles were smashed and also the bank robberies. This is the Big Bend National Park in Texas. The ideal shooting location for Western movies of cow boys showing their skills in drawing our their guns with fast lighting speed and then the villains came crashing down. During our stay in Texas in 2011, we visited the Big Bend and spent two days driving around this huge national park. We had a good time venturing into deep mountain trails, watching sunsets and playing on shallow rivers and streams.
Big Bend National Park has an area more than 800,000 acres big in southwest Texas. The Rio Grande forms the international boundary between Mexico and the United States with a stretch of more than 1,000 miles. Big Bend National Park administers approximately one-quarter of that boundary. Within the 118 twisting miles that also define the park’s southern boundary, the river’s southeasterly flow changes abruptly to the northeast and forms the “big bend” of the Rio Grande.
At entry to the national park
Big Bend National Park has national significance as the largest protected area of Chihuahuan Desert topography and ecology in the United States. Few areas exceed the park’s value for the protection and study of geologic and paleontologic resources. Cretaceous and Tertiary fossil organisms exist in variety and abundance. Archeologists have discovered artifacts estimated to be 9,000 years old, and historic buildings and landscapes offer graphic illustration of life along the international border at the turn of the century.
In front of Canyon
Inside the Big Bend Museum
Before we explored the vastness of the Big Bend, we visited the Museum of the Bend to view the history and artifacts associated with the park. The museum introduces visitors to the history and confluence of cultures represented by the region. Native Americans inhibited the area for thousands of years before the arrival of the Europeans, the Spanish. The Spanish, through their system of missions, imprinted their customs on the region only to be replaced by the the nation of Mexico. The westward expansion of the United States of America brought yet another unique culture to Big Bend.
On the BoquillasTrail
On Santa ElenaTrail
One of the park's best known features, Santa Elenar Canyon, is only half a canyon on the United States. Its south canyon wall towers above Mexico. We spent almost 3 hours exploring the mountain trail at Santa Eleanor Canyon until we reached a dead end where our path was blocked by a gigantic mountain rock and a river that serves as border between Mexico and the United States.
End of Trail at far end
Despite its harsh desert environment, Big Bend has an amazing variety and number of plant and animal species. It has more than 1200 species of plants (including 60 cactus species), more than 600 species of vertebrates, and about 3600 insect species. The diversity of life is largely due to the diverse ecology and changes in elevation, ranging from the dry, hot desert to the cool mountains to the fertile river valley.
Most of the animals are not visible in the day, particularly in the desert. The park comes alive at night, with many of the animals foraging for food. About 150 Cougar sightings are reported per year, despite the fact that there are only a total of two dozen Cougars. Other species that inhabit the park include Black-tailed Jackrabbit, kangaroo rats, Greater Roadrunner, Golden Eagle, Collared Peccary, and Coyote. Mexican Black Bears are also present in the mountain areas.
A life-size specimen of black bear at the Museum of the Big Bend
Huge Cactus
The variety of cactus and other plant life add color to the Big Bend region. Cactus species in the park include prickly pear (Opuntia spp.), Claret Cup (Echinocereus coccineus) and Pitaya (E. enneacanthus). In the spring, the wildflowers are in full bloom and the yucca flowers display bright colors. Bluebonnets (Lupinus spp.) are prevalent in Big Bend, and white and pink bluebonnets are sometimes visible by the road. Other flowering plants such as the Desert Marigold (Baileya multiradiata), Desert Willow (Chilopsis linearis), Ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens), Rock Nettle (Eucnide urens) and Lechuguilla (Agave lechuguilla) abound in Big Bend.
Completely immersed in nature
Video on Santa Elena Trail
Video onBoquillas Canyon Trail
When we hiked on the Boquillas Canyon Trail, we reached a point where a river separate the nations of United States from Mexico. We heard some guy singing Spanish song from a mountain at the other side of the river. He had a very good voice (at least I thought so) and his singing reached us from afar. Later we found out that he was the singing Mexican and he used his song to greet the visitors. Actually his aim was to attract visitors' attention. He has become so famous that he appeared in U tube as the Singing Mexican, a local icon, in this part of the world (you will hear his singing towards the end of the second video clip). His father used to sell home made souvenirs and hiking sticks to visitors. Beside the goods he was selling, he also placed a tin near his goods to collect donation money. It seems that everyday, the Mexicans would cross over the river to the American side to solicit business from visitors.
Do you know how Texas gained its Independence and subsequently joined America as its 28th state? We heard the story when we visited the San Jacinto Battleground in Texas.
In San Jacinto Battleground in Texas, there stood a monument, the San Jacinto Monument, rising 570 feet above the battleground. This monument is a memorial to the men who fought for Texas's independence. Built to commemorate the centennial of the battle, it is the tallest masonry structure in the world. The San Jacinto Museum of History is at the base of the tower. Its exhibits provide an overview of 400 years of Texas history.
The San Jacinto Monument at the far ground
The battle of San Jacinto is considered to be one of the decisive battles in American history. Texas won its independence and became the 28th state in the America union. Annexation led to the Mexican War of 1846-1848, which resulted in the acquisition by the United States of California, Arizona, New Mexico and parts of Nevada, Colorado and Utah.
Statue of Sam Houston
By the fall of 1835, many Anglo-Americans and Tejanos in Texas had despaired of receiving just and equitable treatment from the regime of President Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. Santa Anna had abolished the liberal Constitution of 1824 and established a dictatorship. Texans resisted, and by December armed revolutionaries had driven the Mexican army away from Texas.
Undaunted, General Santa Anna marched his 6000 strong army north. His strategy was to attack and destroy the rebels' strongholds, treating them as pirates who deserved no mercy. By mid-March, he seemed close to success. The Alamo fell on March 6, Texas troops at Goliad surrendered two weeks later (they were all killed by the Mexican army). The Texan army under General Sam Houston retreated before the Mexican army's advance.
A confident Santa Anna divided his army into three columns to pursue Houston's army and the Texan government, which was in flight toward Galveston. Houston the Texan leader saw an opportunity to attack the divided Mexican army. Houston chose a point of land where Buffalo Bayou met the San Jacinto River, as a place to launch the attack. He and his troops arrived on April 20, just hours before Santa Anna.
Early on April 21, Mexican General Martin Perfecto de Cos arrived with 500 troops to join his leader. To prevent more Mexican reinforcements, Houston ordered the bridge Cos used to be destroyed. Both armies were now isolated. The battle to come would be fought to win or lose by those soldiers facing one another across that mile-wide tall grass prairie.
After a mid-day council of war, Houston decided to attack that afternoon. At 3.30pm, he gave the order and Texans advanced, screened by trees and the rising ground between the two armies. Most Texans marched across the the prairie, while Colonel Sidney Sherman's regiment advanced through the trees lining the marsh near Santa Anna's northern flank. The Mexicans had been told to expect an attack the next days. They posted no sentries and were unaware of the assault until it was too late. At about 4.30 pm Texan infantry, supported by artillery and cavalry, swamped into the Mexican camp. Sherman's men came out of the woods screaming, "Remember Alamo" and "Remember Goliad".
In the confusing skirmish the Mexican army was unable to implement its battle plan. The fight was over in less than 20 minutes. The Texans killed over 600 Mexican troops and captured most of the rest. Nine Texans died in the battle. General Santa Anna was captured the next day and forced to sign a treaty that recognised Texas' independence and opened the gateways for America's continuing westward expansion. The aftermath of the Mexican War of 1846-1848, resulted in the acquisition by the United States of California, Arizona, New Mexico and parts of Nevada, Colorado and Utah.
When my family and I were in San Antonio in the US, we visited the Alamo and heard a story about the "Thirteen fateful days in 1836 ". Here is an account of what actually happened in 1836 in Alamo.
Originally named Mission San Antonio the Alamo served as home to missionaries and their Indian converts for nearly seventy years. In 1793, Spanish officials secularised San Antonio's five missions and distributed their lands to the remaining Indian residents. Theses men and women continued to farm the fields - once the Mission's but now their own - and participated in the growing community of San Antonio.
The Alamo in San Antonio
In the early 1800s, the Spanish military stationed a cavalry unit at the former mission. The soldiers referred to the old mission as the Alamo in honour of their hometown Alamo
The Five Spanish Missions
de Parras, Coahuila. The post's commander established the first hospital in Texas in the Long Barrack. The Alamo was home to both Revolutionaries and Royalists during Mexico's ten-years struggle for independence. The military - Spanish, Rebels, and then Mexican - continued to occupy he Alamo until the Texas Revolution.
San Antonio and the Alamo played a role in the Texas Revolution. In December 1835, Ben Milam led Texian and Tejano volunteers against Mexican troops quartered in the city. After five days of intense fighting, they forced General Martin Perfecto de Cos and his soldiers to surrender. The victorious volunteers then occupied the Alamo and strengtened its defences. On February 23, 1836, the arrival of General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna's army outside San Antonio nearly caught them by surprise. Undaunted the Texians and Tejanos prepared to defend the Alamo together. The defenders held out for 13 days against Santa Anna's army. William B Travis, the commander of the Alamo, sent forth couriers carrying pleas for help to communities in Texas. On the eight day of the siege, a band of 32 volunteers from Gonzales arrived, bringing the number of defenders to nearly two hundred. Legend holds that with the possibility of additional help fading, Colonel Travis drew a line on the ground and asked any man willing to stay and fight to step over - all except one did. As the defenders saw it, the Alamo was the key to the defence of Texas, and they were ready to give their lives rather than surrender their position to General Santa Anna. Among the Alamo's garrison were Jim Bowie, renowned knife fighter, and David Crockett, famed frontiersman and former congressman from Tennessee.
The final assault came before daybreak on the morning of March 6 1836, as columns of Mexican soldiers emerged from the predawn darkness and headed for the Alamo's walls. Cannon and small arms fire from inside the Alamo beat back several attacks. Regrouping, the Mexicans scaled the walls and rushed into the compound. Once inside, they turned the captured cannon on the Ling Barrack and church, blasting open the barricaded doors. The desperate struggle continued until the defenders were overwhelmed. By sunrise the battle had ended and Santa Anna entered the Alamo compound to survey the scene of victory.
While the facts surrounding the siege f the Alamo continue to be debated, there is no doubt about what the battle has come to symbolise. People worldwide continue to remember the Alamo as heroic struggle against overwhelming odds - a place where men made the ultimate sacrifice for freedom. For this reason remain hallowed ground and the shrine of Texas Liberty.
"If we succeed, the Country is ours. It is immense in extent, and fertile in its soil and will amply reward all our toil. If we fail, death in the cause of liberty and humanity is not cause for shuddering. Our rifles are by ourside, and the choice guns they are, we know what awaits us, and are prepared to meet it." ------ Daniel Cloud (one of the defenders), December 26, 1835.
Artist's impression of the battle at Alamo
Artist's impression of the Final Assault of the Alamo
Have you seen the only surviving battleship that served in both World Wars?
I had the opportunity to go on board this battleship in 2010 when I visited the US. It is the BattleshipTEXAS now at San Jacinto in Texas. It is also the nation's first permanent memorial battleship and designated a National Historic Engineering Landmark.
The Battleship TEXAS
Battleship TEXAS is the last of the world's 'dreadnoughts', the big-gun battleships designed and built at the beginning of the 20th century. When she was commissioned in 1914, TEXAS was the most powerful weapon on earth and the most complex product of an industrial nation that was becoming a force in global events. It is the world's only surviving battleship that served in both the World Wars.
TEXAS served in World War I as part of the Battleship Force of the Atlantic Fleet. It participated with the American squadron in manoeuvres in the North Sea against threats from.. the German High Seas Fleet. Although TEXAS did not involve in combat action in World War I, it sailed with the Grand Fleet in November 11, 1918 escorting the German Fleet to Scotland for surrender.
Testing the gun
My Family in front of the ship
In 1925, TEXAS underwent major modifications with new boilers, stronger tripod masts and torpedo blisters for protection against torpedo attack. It emerged from the Norfolk Navy Yard in 1927 as the flagship of the American Fleet. For the next 12 years it streamed the Atlantic and Pacific, representing American Naval Power.
During World War II, TEXAS was an ageing ship, but she remained up-to-date with the addition of radar, fire-control and communication equipment, and new anti-aircraft batteries between 1941 and 1945. The Battleship participated in the invasions of North Africa (November 1942), Normandy (June 1944) and Southern France (August 1944).
During the attack on the port of Cherbourg in France, TEXAS was truck twice by large-calibre enemy's defence guns, the only known casualties in action during the ship's long service. In late 1944, TEXAS provided support for the landing at Iwo Jima and the invasion of Okinawa where for six weeks it bombarded the coast and fired over 2000 rounds of 14-inch ammunition. When it withdrew from Okinawa, it was untouched by the attacks from enemy guns and swarms of suicide planes.
Barber's cabin
At the end of the war, TEXAS carried many prisoners of war from the Philippines to Pearl Harbour, and made three voyages form from Pearl Harbour to California, bringing nearly 5000 troops home from the Pacific.
After her service, Battleship TEXAS was retired to Hawkins Point, Baltimore. The ship was scheduled to be used as a bombing target, but Texas citizens launched a successful statewide fund drive to save her. The US Navy then towed her to Texas to become the nation's first permanent memorial battleship, and she was officially transferred to the state in ceremonies at San Jacinto Battleground on April 21, 1948.
For first timers to the Province of Yunnan in China, the tour itinerary always include cities like Kunming, Dali and Lijiang. At Lijiang, the highlight of the tour is always a visit to the ancient town of Lijiang. This old town is famous for a system of waterways that blend well with the architecture of the township and the surroundings. The ancient town of Lijiang has retained a historic townscape of beautiful houses, waterways and cultures that have come together over many centuries. It is indeed a pleasure to stroll along the streets of Lijiang old town and admire its peaceful and tranquil surroundings.
Waterways of Lijiang
In the 13th century AD the ancestors of the ruling Mu family moved to a new town known as Dayechang (later Dayan), where they began building houses surrounded by a city wall and moat. In the 1250s under the Yuan Emperor Hubilie, Dayechang became an administrative centre. The Lijiang Junmin prefecture was established when the region came under Ming rule in 1382.
Panorama View of Old Town
Streets of Lijiang
The old town of Lijiang is built on a mountain slope running from north-west to south-east, facing a deep river. The northern part of the city was a commercial district. The main streets in this part of the old town radiate from the broad street known as Sifangjie, which has traditionally been the commercial and trading centre of the north-western part of Yunnan Province. On the west side of the Sifangjie is the imposing three-storied Kegongfang (Imperial Examination Archway), which is flanked by the Western and Central rivers.
Lijiang Old Town
The streets in this ancient town are paved with slabs of a fine-grained stones. Water flows from here to the Shuangshi Bridge, where it branches into three tributaries. These subdivide into a network of channels and culverts to supply every house in the town. This water supply is supplemented by many springs and wells within the town itself. A system of waterways of this complexity necessitates a large number of bridges of varying sizes. There are 354 bridges altogether; they take several forms. It is from these structures that Lijiang derives its name, the 'City of Bridges'.
Naxi Minority Dance
Special attention is paid to the decoration of the houses, especially in the arches over gateways, the screen walls, the external corridors, the doors and windows, the courtyards and the roof beams. Wooden elements are elaborately carved with domestic and cultural elements - pottery, musical instruments, flowers, birds, etc. - and gate arches take several elegant forms.
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