Katie and Tyler at Em's apartment. Katie is reading her diary entry from their train ride from Shanghai to Beijing.
Beijing rainstorm #1
Dinner with Zhou Bin, Miriam, Mandy, Katie and Tyler at Passby cafe, Beijing
Em's best girlfriends from Michigan, Berkeley, and Beijing all in one place!
nighttime at Houhai
watching a calligrapher at Beihai Park in Beijing
Han-Tang classical Chinese dance class
plaque at the Lama Temple in Beijing
Imperial College Street in Beijing
Em and teacher Meng outside Beijing University
crazy bike-riding
bike-riding outside Tsinghua University
Em and Miriam celebrating arrival at our yurt in Inner Mongolia
our yurt village
Mongolian grasslands in the rain
Mongolian wrestling
Tyler enters the ring
horse-riding on the Inner Mongolian grasslands
a wish scarf and tied to the aobao prayer mound. The scarf says "may my daughter grow up happy"
the aobao prayer mound
horses on the Inner Mongolian grasslands
Mongolian ethnic dance
the hose-headed zither, one of my favorite instruments
one of the performers I hung out with later than night
Tibetan Buddhist prayer wheels, outside the aobao festival
monks at the aobao festival
offerings at the aobao festival
a Mongolian family who asked for our photo
performances at the aobao festival
horse races at the aobao festival
wrestling match at the aobao festival
the champion of he match, also an Olympic judo athlete
Inner Mongolian license plate
the Muslim quarter in Hohhot
Hui minority mosque in Hohhot
another Hui minority mosque
all of the signs were in Chinese and Mongolian
driving into the desert in Western Inner Mongolian (the start of our failed attempt to get to Eji Naqi, site of the movie _Hero_)
camels spotted during the 5 hour bus ride
goats spotted on the bus ride
detained by the Inner Mongolian border patrol
Katie braving a sandstorm with contact lenses
the line we weren't allowed to cross without our travel visas
One of the officers we chatted with while being detained
leaving the desert border patrol after 5 more hours of waiting (no cars were coming through because everyone was attending the aobao festival)
the desolate desert town where we almost had to stay the night
the road back
rocks made to look like food in Ala Shanzuoqi, a small town in Inner Mongolian famous for "strange rocks"
more strange rocks
rock market
on the road to the South Temple, a Tibetan Buddhist temple outside Ala Shanzuoqi
Tibetan writing
South temple, outside Ala Shanzuoqi in Inner Mongolia
a monk who has lived at the temple for decades
lighting candles inside a cave at the Tibetan Buddhist South Temple outside Ala Shanzuoqi in Inner Mongolia
Genghis Khan's seal
_Journey to the West_ in mural form
wish scarves hanging on the wall outside the temple
The super sweet driver who saved us from the desert and then drove us around all day, standing in front of the place he used to play soccer as a kid
same temple complex, another part
The symbol for Genghis Khan, on the door of the Tibetan South Temple in Inner Mongolian
On the road to Ningxia, a province south of Inner Mongolia
Moon Lake, the crystal blue sky in the middle of desert sand dunes. If we had more time and weren't sick of deserts we would have gone
The road to Ningxia, leaving Inner Mongolia
tombs from the Western Xia dynasty
Western Xia ruins outside Yinchuan in northern Ningxia province
hiking Kongtong Taoist Mountain in Pingliang, eastern Gansu province
a temple along the hike
an 800-year old tree
from atop Kangtong Mountain
still atop Kongtong Mountain in eastern Gansu
thousand-hand Guanyin
atop Kongtong Mountain
the final stretch to the peak of Kongtong
a Taoist monk who gives directions
Katie hanging her red wish ribbon
pheonix, a symbol of feminine strength
mural of an orchestra
heading down from Kontong Mountain
downtown Pingliang, a small (400,000 person) town eastern Gansu province
Shuyuan hostel -- our amazing home base in Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi province and former capital city of China
downtown Xi'an, looking south toward South Gate from the Bell Tower
atop the Bell Tower in Xi'an
the blue and white ceramic floral design became popular during the Tang Dynasty, the height of Xi'an's prosperity as capital of the kingdom
the eight immortals on a vase
Tang Dynasty musical performance featuring bells from several centuries B.C.E.
Em and Katie in front of the Drum Tower in Xi'an
inside the Great Mosque in the Hui quarter of Xi'an
prayer room in the Great Mosque
shopping in the Hui quarter of Xi'an
Tang Dynasty song and dance performance
sleeve dancing
<Ta Ge> I learned part of this in my classical Chinese dance class last summer!
an amazing percussion group
bar night!
Qin Bar "the only bar in China with a terracotta warrior theme"
Xi'an Music Conservatory
graduation day at Xi'an Music Conservatory
