It's been awhile. I hope you've been well. I've spent the better part of March at home, therefore I spend as much time with the ones that I love as possible. I'll have another post to talk about a short trip to hell that I endured in the middle of March. I am now writing to you from the city of Qingdao, China. I've spent the past week working on the power plant in Rizhao, China upgrading the system. Nothing really exciting has happened so far this trip. I've managed to put a nice dent in the 600 page novel that I am reading. Kind of relaxing, but I still am suffering the sleepness nights when I miss my wife the most. One would think that after nearly two years of this job I'd be used to the routine, but alas no. Airports and general navigation to each destination is easier and the airline perks are nice... but still.
So, Inner Mongolia. At the end of Feb. this year I was sent to Mongolia for a potential installation site. Cool a new country to visit/explore. Turns out that the town I was sent to, Hohhot, is in a province of China called Inner Mongolia. True to the Mongolian nomenclature, the town of Hohhot was founded Genghis Khan's grandson (18th generation, nonetheless). Here is the statue of the dude:
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| He's the one not playing pocket pool |
His throne has a dais made of human skulls, royal Indian elephants, and lots of horses. Not too sure if this was a statue or a tomb. It is sacred to the locals at any rate. The statue was the only structure in this gigantic square.
This square is adjacent to a large and old Bhuddist Temple. Follow me inside, if you will:
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| Major Bhuddist Symbol (Harmony): Bird on a rabbit, on a monkey, on an elephant. |
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| Entrance to the West Gate, Protected by god of winds |
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| Bhuddist god of Winds. I wonder if we are related??? |
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| Pagoda |
Please keep in mind: all ornate art work and architecture was hand crafted about 400 years ago.
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| A typical, awe-inspiring ceiling of the many rooms of the temple |
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| Can you spot the first white elephant gift? Good luck!!! |
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| The outside walls were ornate as well. Swastikas are supposed to be for good luck. Still are in Asia. |
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| Remember Eddie Murphy in "The Golden Child,"? I do. I did. |
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| One of the many statues of a goddess. Offerings on table in front. |
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| A bit of history of the place |
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| This was cool: an original tablet brought over from Tibet to Mongolia well over 500 years ago. |
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| Outside the main temple. No pix inside, but WOW!!! |
Gary Wang, our sales contact and guide, and I spent the entire day at this temple and at the one across the street. I was amazed by the beauty of both of the places, and kinda made the trip worth while. Sounds like Zolo will be doing an install there later this year. I'll try to get more pictures. The unfortunate thing about this region is that there not much for sightseeing, aside from these temples. I guess they are similar, so I'd hate to go to one and have a "ho-hum," experience. Until next time.
Thank you for reading and viewing,
Kevin
