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Friday, 17 May 2013

Ancient Pagoda

A wooden pagoda built during the Liao Dynasty in the year 1056 AD survived the test of time and today becomes a major tourists' attraction in Ying County of Shanxi Province in China. It is the Pagoda of Fogong Temple (佛宫寺释迦塔) built by Emperor Daozong of Liao (Hongji) at the site of his grandmother's family home. The pagoda, which has survived several large earthquakes throughout the centuries and the Sino-Japanese war, has been given the nickname of the "Muta" ( 木塔 "Timber Pagoda") and is the oldest wooden pagoda in existence in China.      

When we visited the Pagoda 2 years ago, we were amazed to find the wooden pagoda still in very good conditions. The pagoda stands on a 4 m  tall stone platform, has a 10 m tall steeple, and reaches a total height of 67.31 m tall. The wooden staircases inside the pagoda remained structurally sound and we were able to climb to the top floor without any imminent danger. Ancient builders of the pagoda really got all their sums and designs right as evident from the fact that the structure remains standing elegantly after so many centuries. Even earthquakes and wars did not harm the integrity and soundness of its structure.
 

The Wooden Pagoda

The pagoda was placed at the centre of the temple ground, which was called Baogong Temple until its name was changed to Fogong in 1315 during the Yuan Dynasty. Although the size of the temple ground was described as being gigantic during the Jurchen-led Jin Dynasty (1115–1234), the temple began to decline during the Ming Dynasty.






Complicated joints
One amazing thing about the pagoda is that many different kinds of joints are used in its construction. Between each outer story of the pagoda is a mezzanine layer where the joints are located on the exterior. The pagoda is able to survive so long is because of these unique joints that held the structure together. The tour guide told us that even today carpenters are not able to figure out how this complicated joints work. A ring of columns support the lowest outstretching eaved roof on the base floor, while the pagoda also features interior support columns. A statue of the Buddha Sakyamuni sits prominently in the centre of the first floor of the pagoda. The windows on the eight sides of the pagoda provide views of the countryside, including Mount Heng and the Songgan River. On a clear day, the pagoda can be seen from a distance of 30 km.
Statues inside the pagoda



Top of Pagoda

The Temple Ground









Front View of Pagoda

Wednesday, 15 May 2013

Bridge Over Trouble Yangtze

There is a famous bridge across the Yangtze River built in the 1960s. This bridge is unique in a way as it was built entirely by the effort of Chinese engineers with the help of local people using own resources at the time when technology was still not advance compared to the western nations and the nation was experiencing a revolution of a different kind, the Cultural Revolution.

During our tour to Shanghai, Hangzhou and Nanjing in 2006, we visited this old bridge which is known as the Nanjing Changjiang Great Bridge ( 南京长江大桥), a double-deck road and rail bridge across the Yangtze River in Central China. The bridge was built during the Chinese Cultural Revolution entirely by Chinese engineers and peasants, after the Russians withdrew support and took away the design plans in 1960. The construction of the bridge was completed in 1968. On the sides of the top deck there are statues of soldiers crossing the river. It is the second bridge ever to span the Yangtze River. A highway bridge on the upper floor is 4,589 meters long, 15 meters wide. Four big cars can run shoulder by shoulder on this highway. In addition there is a more than 2-mete wide footway on both sides of the highway. A railway bridge on the lower floor is 6,772 meters long, 14 meters wide. This railway is double-tracked, which means that two trains can run to the opposite directions at the same time. There are 200 cast iron embossments on the balusters on each side of main bridge of the highway bridge. 150 pairs of elegant and purely white magnolia-flower-shape street lamps stand side by side. Every time when nightfall comes, those street lamps will light up at the same time, the scenery is spectacular. The bridge deck provides a good view of the river. It is possible to walk from one side of the bridge to the other.
The Nanjing Changjiang Bridge
 
Visitors can access the bridge from the Great Bridge Park to the north of Zhongshan Bei Lu. There are elevators taking tourists up to the decks which afford a great view not just of the murky and gargantuan river, but also of the bridge's structure and architecture.
My son in front of the bridge

Monday, 6 May 2013

Glaciers of Hailuoguo

If you live in this part of the world where summer is all year round and the feeling of winter is almost non-existence. Don't worry, if you want to experience the coldness of winter and at the same time enjoy the beautiful scenery of snow-capped mountains and glaciers, there is something here for you. You do not have to endure the long journey to northern Europe or Alaska. You also don't have to climb very high altitude mountains. There is one glacier park not too far from Chendu (4 hours flight from Singapore), in the province of Sichuan in China. It is called Hailuogou National Glacier Forest Park. It is located on the eastern side of Gonggar Mountain in Luding County of Sichuan Province. At a height of below 3000 metres, you are able to view the spectacular view of glaciers and frozen water falls.
 
We did just that in 2007. We visited Hailuoguo glacier park in Sichuan. Altough it was in mid March, there was still plenty of snow and the ground was still very icy. Glaciers in Hailuogou are typical modern marine glaciers, which are rarely found either in low-latitude places or at low altitude. Its lowest point is only 2,850 meters above sea level. Glaciers cover 31 square kilometres of the Gully. Classified as Modern Glacier, they came into being 16 million years ago. The Grand Glacier Cascade -- 1,000 meters in height and 1,000 meters in width -- is the only one in the world. Its 6 km glacier tongue penetrates into the virgin forest, forming a rare natural landscape with the blend of glacier and forest.
The spectacular view of glacier of Hailuoguo
The park boasts many geographic attractions, including ancient glaciers, grand glacier cascade, virgin forests, wild animals and hot springs, etc.
In front of glacier
Hailuoguo
When we reached the destination, we had to take a cable car up the eastern side of Mount Gonggar. From there we walked for quite a distance on a snow filled mountain track to a confined area where tourists gathered to view Mount Gonggar and its glaciers. The children in the group could not resist the fun of throwing snow balls at  each other. Initially the sky was cloudy and misty and the view became very hasty. We thought that we could have come at a wrong time as the whole place was so foggy that could hardly see anything. As we waited in anxiety, suddenly the mist began to clear. After a couple of minutes, the full view of the snow-capped mountain appeared before our eyes. And then amidst the snow-filled mountain, the long anticipated glacier finally appeared. We could hear the crowd roared at the view of the glacier. We were all stunned at such awesome view. Without delay, you could see tourists running here and there, busily clicking away on their cameras to capture the scenery. This time lady luck was really on our side, we could see the full view of the glacier and it was so close to us that we felt we could almost touch it.
The Grand Glacier Cascade, with a drop of 1,080 meters, is made up of numerous ice cubes. Looking like the milky way descending from heaven, it sends out brilliant rays in the sunshine.

Outdoor hot springs
Snow-capped mountain
Beyond the cascade there is a snow basin -- the source of the glacier. When the frozen water accumulates to a certain amount and the surplus ice and snow need to find a way out, there will be an avalanche. So, for safety’s case, the snow basin can only be seen from afar, which is a pity for such a unique attraction. Moreover, the glacier fall may collapse at any time, too. During spring and summer, the dynamic seasons for glaciers, over 1,000 avalanches may happen in a day. In one such collapse, the falling ice can reach 1 million cubic meters. 
The mist slowly clearing
Initially, the view is misty
Since the vista is several kilometres from the Grand Glacier Cascade, tourists do not need to worry about harms from even the biggest avalanche.

 
Another special attraction of Hailuoguo is its hot springs hidden either in virgin forests or under the cover of snow and ice. The most noted ones are at No.1 and No. 2 campsites.

In No.2 Campsite, hot springs gush out from rock cracks year round, with a daily flow of 8,900 tons. Water temperature at the mouth can reach a temperature of 90 °C. The hot springs gush into a small pond, from where they drop down along a cliff to form a waterfall of eight meters wide and 10 meters high. The spring water is believed to be effective in curing diabetes, neuralgia, arthritis and gastroenteritis. Nearby, a swimming pool has been built in the open air for tourists’ convenience.  There are also a big swimming pool and small-scale bathrooms in No.1 Campsite. The famous Gonggar Miraculous Fount is located at 1,600 meters above sea level, where travellers don’t need to worry about altitude sickness. Still, most of the visitors favour hot springs in No.2 Campsite because they are rustic, with more natural taste.

The experience of immersing yourself in hot springs during winter was beyond imagination. On one hand your upper body was feeling the freezing cold temperature of the open. On the other hand your lower body was feeling the heat of over 40 °C of the pool temperature from the hot springs. As long as you were in the pool, it was sheer relaxation as the heat from the water kept you wanting for more. But when you got up and left the pool, the extreme coldness of the winter air would make you shiver from inside. Hence, once we had enough of  the hot springs, we had to rush to the changing room before catching the cold.

Apart from snow-capped mountains, glaciers and hot springs, this region has huge virgin forests covering an area of 70 square km. The forests boast 4,800 species of plant, including fir, wild sweet-scented osmanthu, wild rhododendron, ginkgo, algum, magnolia, single-leafed grass, and such medicinal herbs as Chinese caterpillar fungus, caladium, pseudo-ginseng and tuber of elevated gastrodis. The legendary place is also home to over 400 kinds of wild animals, including 28 endangered species under state protection. While roaming through the area, tourists may luckily encounter animals such as blue sheep, macaques, or even pandas and sunbirds.

Saturday, 4 May 2013

Villas of Lushan

Fancy owning a villa in the Lushan 庐山 region of Jiangxi Province in China?
If you live in this region in the late 1800s, the answer is probably yes; if you have enough cash.

In 1895 a European missionary and opportunist businessman, Edward Selby Little, secured the lease of a big parcel of land along the valley of Mount Lushan from the Qing government for a period of 999 years through a combination of bluff, bribery and persuasion. He then divided this huge land parcel into smaller plots of land and sold them to prospectice buyers at a price of 300 yuan per plot. These plots of land were subsequently snapped up by wealthy Westerners who then built villas for residence purposes. Edward Selby Little gave this new place a name Kuling with an implication of "cooling" for the Western settlers. He also built a 12 mile track up the mountain that wound through tea plantations. A British family ran the general store and the Fairy Glen Hotel.
 
There were reasons behind the popularity of this site for building villas among the rich. A great number of Westerners came to the Mt.Lushan area during the period from the reign of Qing Emperor Kangxi (1662-1722) to the reign of Emperor Guangxu (1875-1908). There they engaged in business, missionary work, cultural and educational work, scientific research, and the operation of hospitals.  Mt Lushan is an ideal retreat from the heat of summer for the western expatriates based there. The middle and lower portions of the Yangtze river plains get extremely hot in summer and European settlers from Shanghai to Nanjing were literally getting hot under the collar.  Because of its mild summers, the mountain town of Lushan is often referred to as 'Nature's Air Cooler'. Many Westereners used to spend the summer months in the mountains to avoid the heat of nearby cities. This explained why when the plots of land offered by Edward Selby Little were quickly snapped up by the rich for building summer villas. The opportunist busnessman made a huge fortune from the land he leased from the Qing government.     
Splendid architecture of a villa in Kuling
Western style architecture

 The son of a London banker opened the Journey's End Inn on the lower slopes and is reputed to have equipped the rooms with both bibles and volumes of French pornography.

By the 1920s, Lushan was already home to more than 800 villas representing the architectural styles of 20 nations, including the United States, Great Britain, Germany, Italy, and Sweden. The western-style villas left by Edward Selby Little and his followers used to be Lushan's most precious attractions. 
European Villa
The most famous of the houses built there is Meilu Villa, which in its time was the residence of both Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-shek, the former leader of Kuomintang and later 'founder' of Taiwan.

“Meilu” was constructed in 1903 by a British madame, and later presented by her as a gift, to her friend Soong Mei-ling, wife of Chiang Kai-shek, leader of the then central government.

Kuling was handed back to China by the British in 1935 but by then Edward Selby Little had long since departed. 
Inside a church in Kuling
Lushan ( 庐山) situated in the northern part of Jiangxi province in southeastern China, and is one of the most renowned mountains in the country. The oval-shaped mountains are about 25 km long and 10 km wide, and neighbours Jiujiang city and the Yangtze River to the north, Nanchang city to the south, and Poyang Lake to the east. Its highest point is Dahanyang Peak (大汉阳峰), reaching 1,474 metres above sea level, and is one of the hundreds of steep peaks that towers above a sea of clouds that encompass the mountains for almost 200 days out of the year. Mount Lu is known for its grandeur, steepness, and beauty, and is part of Lushan National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996, and a prominent tourist attraction, especially during the summer months when the weather is cooler.
The small peaks of the mountain range can be climbed by visitors.
Lushan
Prior to 1949, Lushan was a frequent training area for the nationalist Kuomintang army. The then President of China, Chiang Kai-Shek often visited Lushan whilst on vacation. It was here that in 1946 the U.S. special diplomatic mission representing the President of the United States led by General George C. Marshall met with Chiang Kai-Shek to discuss the role of post-WWII China. After the communist revolution in China in 1949, it became famous as a favoured meeting place for the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.

Town of Kuling
A villa in Kuling


                                                       Video: American Love for Lushan


Friday, 3 May 2013

Residence of Heshen

Have you been to the residence of the world's most corrupt official?

In Beijing, you will find one such residence. We had seen how grand and spacious the palace-like residence was when we were at Beijing a few years ago. The residence with its interior decor was built according to imperial designs. This residence belongs to Heshen 和珅, a high ranking official of the Qing Dynasty during the reign of Qianlong Emperor. The residence was later given to Prince Gong after Heshen was found guilty and executed for crimes against the Emperor. If you know the wealth this man had amassed while in power, you would agree that he was the world's most corrupt official. His total property was estimated at around 1,100 million taels of silver, an amount equivalent to the revenue of the Qing government for 15 years. Even his chief butler, Liu Quan, amassed treasures of 240,000 taels of silver, land and properties.

The residence of Heshen
Heshen 和珅 was born the son of a Manchu military officer and was selected to go to the most privileged school for Manchu aristocratic boys. He was an excellent student, knowing several languages besides Mandarin and Manchu. In 1772, he began working in the Imperial Palace as a bodyguard stationed at the gates to the Forbidden City. At the age of 25, Heshen found favour in the eyes of Qianlong Emperor. Within a year, he was promoted to vice-president of the Ministry of Revenue, and two months later was made a Grand Councillor. As Emperor Qianlong liked him very much, within three months, he was promoted even further to a minister of the Imperial Household Department, a post usually filled with the most meritorious officials. In 1777, at the age of 27, Heshen was given the privilege of riding a horse within the Forbidden City, a prestigious privilege given only to high-ranking officials of elderly age. It was not long before Heshen was given control of both the Ministry of Revenue and the Civil Council, allowing him to control the revenue of the entire empire, and appoint his own henchmen to important posts within the officials. Heshen's relation to Qianlong Emperor was further strengthened when his son was married to the emperor's tenth and favourite daughter in 1790 .

On securing Qianlong Emperor's favour, Heshen enjoyed almost complete freedom of his actions. He became openly corrupt and practiced extortion on a grand scale. His supporters within the imperial court followed his lead, and his military associates prolonged military campaigns just to receive additional state funds. He regularly stole public funds, taxes and even tributes meant for the emperor.  It was not until Qianlong's death on 7 February 1799 that his successor, the Jiaqing Emperor, was able to hatch a plot to arrest and prosecute Heshen. On February 12 (5 days after the death of Emperor Qianlong), Heshen was arrested along with military officer Fuchang'an (福長安) while conducting funeral rituals for Qianlong Emperor. Declared guilty by an imperial edict, he was condemned to death by slow slicing (a punishment by slowly slicing off fresh from the body of the condemned prisoner in public until he died). As he was connected to the imperial family through marriage, Jiaqing Emperor eventually spared Heshen this horrible death, and instead ordered him to commit suicide (by hanging himself with a rope of golden silk) in his home on 22 February, sparing his family members.
The building that Heshen kept his treassures
The scale of Heshen's corruption came to light when Qianlong Emperor abdicated in February 1796 with the full damage of the corruption finally realised. However, Qianlong continued to rule China behind the scenes under the grand title of Taishang Huang (Retired Emperor) and Jiaqing Emperor was unable to bring Heshen to justice. From the 24 years that Heshen caught the Qianlong Emperor's attention and favour, he had amassed an incredible fortune.

When Jiaqing Emperor confiscated Heshen's property after his execution, his assets included: 3,000 rooms in his estates and mansions, 8,000 acres (32 km²) of land, 42 bank branches, 75 pawnbroker branches, 60,000 taels of copper alloyed gold, 100 large ingots of pure gold, (1,000 taels each), 56,600 medium silver ingots, (100 taels each), 9,000,000 small silver ingots, (10 taels each), 58,000 pounds of foreign currency, 1,500,000 copper coins, 600 lb of top-quality Jilin ginseng, 1,200 jade charms, 230 pearl bracelets (each pearl comparable in size to large cherries or longans), 10 large pearls (each the size of apricots), 10 large ruby crystals, 40 large sapphire crystals, 40 tablefuls of solid-silver eating utensils, (serves 10 per table), 40 tablefuls of solid-gold eating utensils, (serves 10 per table), 11 coral rocks (each over a metre in height), 14,300 bolts of fine silk, 20,000 sheets of fine sheep-fur wool, 550 fox hides, 850 raccoon dog hides, 56,000 sheep and cattle hides of varying thickness, 7,000 sets of fine clothing (for all four seasons), 361,000 bronze and tin vases and vessels, 100,000 porcelain vessels made by famous masters, 24 highly decorative solid-gold beds (each with eight different types of inlaid gemstones), 460 top-quality European clocks, 606 servants, 600 women in his harem. There was a saying among the locals: the downfall of Heshen indeed brought good fortune to Jiaqing.To date there are 2 drama series produced by CCTV of China on the life of Heshen and also many books published on his life story.

The assets he amassed were incredible, no wonder he was considered the world's most corrupt official. What a pity, he was not able to enjoy any of the wealth he accumulated, besides bringing shame to his family and death to himself.

Artificial lake in the compound of the residence
Entrance to the residence

Tuesday, 30 April 2013

Temple of Heaven

In Beijing, the Temple of Heaven, ( 天坛) is another destination tourists must visit before leaving the capital city of China. The temple was magnificently built and its architectural form is unique. This unique circular structure of the temple typified the traditional belief that the heaven (天) is round while the earth is flat. From far, it looks majestic and elegant. Undoubtedly one has to really admire the wisdom and creativity of ancient people to have come up with such a beautiful building. The Temple of Heaven is situated in the southeastern part of central Beijing. In early days of the Ming and Qing dynasties, the temple was frequented by Emperors for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for good harvests. To the rulers of the past era, good harvests meant that the people would have plenty to eat and a comfortable life to live. When people were well fed and lived happily, they would have no desire to create troubles for the authority. Usually when people suffered hardship and there was not enough food to eat, there was a tendency for people to rise up against the rulers. When this happened there would be revolutions and uprisings over the vast land. This is evident through out history in the rise and fall of empires since ancient time. So do not underestimate the importance of this prayer hall in the mind of the rulers. As Emperor of China was regarded as the Son of Heaven, who administered earthly matters on behalf of, and representing heavenly authority. He had to show respect to the source of divine power from heaven  by offering prayer and sacrifices to heaven. At the same time, the Emperor used this opportunity to pray for good fortune as well as good harvests for the nation. This would please the people, so he could continue to reign over them.
 
The Temple of Heaven
Twice a year the Emperor and all his officials would move from the Forbidden city through Beijing to encamp within the complex, wearing special robes and abstaining from eating meat. No ordinary Chinese was allowed to view this procession or the following ceremony. The highpoint of the ceremony at the winter solstice was performed by the Emperor on the Earthly Mount. The ceremony had to be perfectly completed; it was widely held that the smallest of mistakes would constitute a bad omen for the whole nation in the coming year.

The Temple of Heaven was constructed from 1406 to 1420 during the reign of the Yongle Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, who was also responsible for the construction of the Forbidden City in Beijing. The complex was extended and renamed Temple of Heaven during the reign of the Jiajing Emperor in the 16th century. The Jiajing Emperor also built three other prominent temples in Beijing, the Temple of Sun (日壇) in the east, the Temple of Earth (地壇) in the north, and the Temple of Moon (月壇) in the west . The Temple of Heaven was renovated in the 18th century under the reign of Qianlong Emperor. Due to the deterioration of state budget, this became the last large-scale renovation of the temple complex in the imperial time.

The Earthly Mount
The Temple of Heaven was awarded the UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998 and was described as "a masterpiece of architecture and landscape design which simply and graphically illustrates a cosmogony of great importance for the evolution of one of the world’s great civilisations..." as the "symbolic layout and design of the Temple of Heaven had a profound influence on architecture and planning in the Far East over many centuries."
Inside the Temple


Group photo in front of the Temple

Sunday, 28 April 2013

The Great Wall

The Great Wall of China has been an icon of Beijing for centuries. There has even being a saying among the locals that goes like this: If you have not been to the Great Wall, you cannot call yourself a great man (hero)未登长城非好汉 .

The Great Wall of China is long fortified wall that was built along an east-to-west line across the northern borders of China  to protect the Empire against intrusions by nomadic groups or military incursions by enemy forces. Some older walls were built during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Era of the Warring States in the early 5th to 8th century BC. The states of Qin, Wei, Zhao, Qi, Yan and Zhongshan all constructed extensive fortifications to defend their own borders. These older walls were later joined together and made bigger, stronger, and unified are now collectively referred to as the Great Wall. Especially famous is the wall built between 220–206 BC by Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China, who unified China in 221 BC and founded the Qin Dynasty. To protect the empire against intrusions by the Xiongnu people from the north, he ordered the building of a new wall to connect the remaining fortifications along the empire's new northern frontier. Little of that wall remains. Since then, the Great Wall has on and off been rebuilt, maintained, and enhanced; the majority of the existing wall was reconstructed during the Ming Dynasty.

Great Wall of Mutianyu
Watch Tower
The Great Wall stretches from Shanhaiguan in the east, to Lop Lake in the west, along an arc that reaches the southern edge of Inner Mongolia. A comprehensive archaeological survey, using advanced technologies, has concluded that the Ming walls measure 8,850 km (5,500 mi).This is made up of 6,259 km (3,889 mi) sections of actual wall, 359 km (223 mi) of trenches and 2,232 km (1,387 mi) of natural defensive barriers such as hills and rivers. In the early days, the Great Wall was also used as border controls, allowing the imposition of duties on goods transported along the Silk Road, regulation of trade and the control of immigration and emigration. However, the main function of the Great Wall was for defence purposes with the construction of watch towers, troop barracks and garrison stations. The watch tower was equipped with signalling capabilities through the use of smoke or fire.

Visitors who come to Beijing have a choice to make, they can see either the section of Great Wall at Badaling or another section at Mutianyu. I was told that the Great Wall at Badaling is a bit tough for tourists to explore as the steps were steep. The slabs of stones used as steps on this section have irregular height, hence the path on the wall is not friendly to seniors. So when we were at Beijing, we visited the Great Wall at Mutianyu. There was a cable car ride that took us nearer to the site, so less walking. This stretch of Great Wall is good for visitors as there are no steep steps and the path on the wall is smooth and even. There is no ending to his hiking on the wall as it depends on how much of the Great Wall you can cover. Usually for tourists, it really depends on how much time the tour guide allows the group to spend on the Great Wall. Don't forget, they have other destinations on their itinerary to visit, the schedule can be quite tight. For us we had about an hour to explore the Great Wall at Mutianyu, with time spent on photo-taking and resting, it was rather short to explore such a great ancient structure. It was reported that there were people from Europe who spent 6 months to explore the whole stretch of the Great Wall, just imagine, certain section of the Great Wall was not accessible, others have even collapsed over the years of erosion and deterioration. It must be very tough to complete the whole journey.
Great Wall at Badaling
Great Wall at Badaling

Outside the Great Wall at Mutianyu
Another stretch of Great Wall we visited when we were on the Silk Road tour by train. This was the stretch of walls that visitors can have a glimpse of the famous pass, Jiayuguan (嘉峪关). The pass is located at the narrowest point of the western section of the Hexi Corridor, 6 kilometres southwest of the city of Jiayuguan in Gansu. The structure lies between two hills, one of which is called Jiayuguan Hill. It was built near an oasis that was then on the extreme western edge of China. Among the passes on the Great Wall, Jiayuguan is the most intact surviving ancient military building.
The entrance to the Pass 

The Pass at Jiayuguan
The pass is also known by the name the "First and Greatest Pass Under Heaven" (天下第一雄关). The pass was a key point of the ancient Silk Road. Jiayuguan has a somewhat fearsome reputation because Chinese people who were banished from their homeland due to criminal offence were ordered to leave through Jiayuguan for the west, most of these criminals were never able to return to their homeland. Amongst those once banished in disgrace was the famous Chinese Opium War Viceroy of Liangguang, Commissioner Lin Zexu who died in Urumqi where a statue in his honour can today be found in a local park.


Immigration Officer at Check Point
Outside Jiayuguan

 
Video on the Great Wall of China