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Route in China
Route in China (CHINA - Wuhan & Hangzhou)
Bec2004-09-19 15:58:09
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Wuhan
I identify Wuhan with this wonderful family that I had met on the internet some months before my trip. It was past midnight when my boat tied-up in Hankou (Wuhan is a seven million conglomeration of Hankou, Hanyang and Wuchang). John Weng picked me up at the pier to help me find an inexpensive hotel. When the first one we tried did not accept foreigners, John spontaneously invited me to his home in Wuchang where I was warmly received without notice by his wife Guo Man and son Kan Kan.
The following day was a Saturday and the Wengs took me on a tour of Wuchang which included the Hubei Provincial Museum, a boat ride on East Lake where this and the next photo were taken and the Wuhan University from which both had graduated in computer science.
Wuhan is a big, busy, modern industrial city with all the noise and pollution this implies. High rise office buildings characterize Hankou and heavy industry marks Hanyang while the more residential Wuchan hosts high tech firms. It also has the University and the Museum on the shores of beautiful East Lake, an oasis of peace and quiet not far from the Weng home.
The Wengs operate their company "Turing Digital Vision" from offices in the University. John provides computer services and Guo Man does computer assisted industrial and marketing design.
On Sunday we visited the Guiyang Temple in Hanyang across the great Yangzi River Bridge and Wuchan's Yellow Crane tower. Many temples were destroyed during the cultural revolution but most have been reconstructed since and funds are made available for their maintenance. Taoist, Confucianist and Buddhist temples look very much alike and are more or less interchangeable as places of worship by those who still indulge in that. It is easy to tell that this one is Buddhist because it features 900 different gilt wood statues of Buddha's disciples.
Very few Chinese worship in temples regularly.
...
See photographs from:
China Gallery
