Shanghai Times

Check out Erik's new blog at http://e1quarnst.travellerspoint.com/

Tonight I went to Hong Ko Football stadium to watch my first FIFA men's game. The teams were North Korea vs South Korea. The game was supposed to be Pyeongyang, but had to be moved because the North refused to allow the South to play their national anthem.

It was nice having Hattie visit from New York. Besides Shanghai, she got a chance to visit Beijing, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Wuxi, Zhouzhang, Nanjing.

The People's National Assembely were meeting while we were in Beijing. There were police and military everywhere. I stopped to take a picture and when I turned around I saw Hattie being questioned by a policemen. I rushed over to translate, but he was just trying to practice his english. There were flags EVERYWHERE:

We also went to the "Underground City," a series of underground tunnels that were built as a bomb shelter during the cold war. They connected all major parts of the city. There were arsenals, libraries, jails, and even a senior rec center down there.

Next we went to the military history museum. It was very interesting. On display were moon rocks that Nixon gave Mao when he visited. And a nuclear missle (dismantled, I assume).

And what trip to Beijing is complete without a trip to the Emperor's summer palace:

Amara and Josie took Hattie to Suzhou during a day I was busy, and they had a good time. Here is a picture of them on a boat.

Today we spent the day in Nanjing. I am surprised that this was only our first visit to the city, being that it has a long and important history as the capital of china. We also have three friends there.

On Purple Mountain, we went to the mausoleum of the Chinese revolutionary and political leader Dr. Sun Yet-Sen. He is known as the "Father of Modern China". Sun played an instrumental role in the eventual collapse of the Qing Dynasty in 1911.

We also went to a memorial to the victims of the Nanjing massacre committed by the Japanese. It was very powerful.

In the evening, we walked around Xuanwu lake, surrounded by Nanjing's massive city walls, built during the Ming Dynasty.

I felt that it was necessary to add another entry dedicated to the time we spent exploring the Temples of Angkor. Besides Angkor Wat, we explored the equally impressive temples in the ancient city of Angkor Thom (the capital of the Khmer empire) as well as some of the smaller temples a bit further away.

At the center of Angkor Thom is Bayon, King Jayavarman’s state temple. Bayon has been restored beautifully, and it was my favorite temple to explore. Throughout the temple are over 200 faces resembling the king (see our Cambodia entry).

Ta Prohm is a temple that has not been restored. Because of its natural state, it is possible to experience at this temple the wonder of the early explorers when they came upon these monuments in the middle of the nineteenth century. At one time, this temple took over 80,000 people to maintain. I felt like Indiana Jones while exploring this one.

The interior of these temples contained a lot of hidden carvings, some of which so small you really have to take your time to notice.

Here are some extra pictures from Ha Long Bay, Vietnam:

And here are some pictures from Thailand:

And two more from Malaysia:

We'll add more pictures from the Temples of Angkor on our next entry.