任是无情也动人

This morning we headed out for a little sight-seeing of Wuxi. We drove out along the banks of 太湖 (Lake Tai) into the 马山 (Horse Mountain) area.

According to historical records, the land used to belong to a retired general during the Tang Dynasty, who was a good friend of the monk Tripitaka. After Tripitaka returned from his trip to India, he was invited to visit his friend. There, Tripitaka noted that one of the hills there very much resembled the sacred mountain he visited in India (灵山) and expressed interest in buying the land to build a monastery there. His very generous friend instead gifted him with the land to build the monastery.

That monastery was later burned down either during WWII or the 50s (I couldn't hear the tour guide clearly). Then in more recent years, reconstruction was begun on the hill now called 小灵山. The last time I visited this area in Wuxi, only the front gate was done, and the huge statue of buddha was under construction. Now, the front gate had been taken down/changed, the huge statue is complete (along with a lot of other things), and the only part that's still under construction is a school (for studying buddhism) somewhere in the back.

The huge statue supposedly has an elevator inside that goes all the way up to the eye level of the buddha statue. But only VIP visitors are able to get in there and be able to "look out the eyes of Buddha". Most regular visitors can only get up to the level of the lotus flower that the statue is standing on.

The other point of interest there is the huge fountain presentation of the "太子" statue. We got there in time to see one of the presentations and I was able to capture it on video.

Pictures are of course forthcoming once I get access to imageshack.


We left the place early as it started to rain heavier and heavier. For lunch, we just went to a restaurant nearby my aunt/uncle's place. We ordered some pretty tasty stuff: white shrimp (said to be a specialty from 太湖, roast goose (now said to be healthier than duck for anti-cancer properties), sea snail (海螺), crayfish, a multi-fruit & 锅巴 dish... Mm... (Have I made anyone hungry yet? Be glad I didn't include pictures. :-P)


Addendum @ 20:24 - just came back from dinner. My uncle had reservations (through connections) at a local five star restaurant/hotel 太湖饭店. I liked the crab paste (made with real crab instead of the imitation crap we see so often in the US), the crispy fried honey eel, the cuttlefish, and the white...somekindoffish (白鱼), said to be one of the three specialties that 太湖 is known for (白鱼，白虾，银鱼). Also had sea cucumber, which was a first even though I didn't find the taste especially of note. Am stuffed though.

Jiande, Zhejiang, CN

Today is the first day of our travel to where my (maternal) grandfather grew up, in 浙江省,建徳市. Supposedly we're in the boonies, though you wouldn't think it looking at all the modernization in progress in the city. Heck, the place we're staying at (how our hosts are related to us is a little too complicated for me to figure out at the moment; all I could tell is that the eldest male in the house is a brother of my grandfather) is more "modern" than the place my grandparents have in Nanjing. (Of course, that's also partly cuz my grandparents haven't bothered to modernize a lot of their stuff). They've got a TV per bedroom for 3 bedrooms, internet connection (but which can't reach IJ), and hot water.

We arrived here by car. Let me backtrack... Last night, my aunt and uncle (my mom's sister & her husband) drove over to Nanjing from Wuxi. They have have 2 cars, but apparently swapped with a friend's car as it was more comfortable for the trip. This morning at 6 AM, we departed for Zhejiang: my uncle, aunt, grandfather, mom, and myself.

First we spent over an hour trying to figure out how to get onto the freeway from Nanjing. Chinese highways unfortunately lack both prominent road signs and more abundant number of on/off ramps to the highway. Midway, we also spent maybe an hour at a rest stop trying to fill up gas. The problem isnt' that there was a lot of automobiles competing - the problem was that there were also a lot of huge trucks waiting in line for nearby nozzles, thus blocking the way for small cars to get in and out of the single station when trying to fill up gas.

WE passed Hangzhou around noonish, then stopped a little past there at a rest stop for lunch. We ate stuff that we brought with us, though it appears that Chinese rest stops also come equipped with cafeterias, which I'm told actually has decent food as well. The place was certainly clean enough - even the bathrooms, which I daresay is cleaner than the US counterparts (except maybe for the lack of toilet paper).

At any rate, we got to 建德 (Jiande) around early afternoon. Took a small tour of the area, including the banks of the 新安江 (Xinan River) nearby. I took a few photos/videos (which I'll put up after I get back to the US and have a better connection to imageshack).

We had dinner at our host's house. All of it is indigenous foods. I like the various bamboo dishes the most (the bamboo is directly plucked from the wild and grown in the fields, not processed/canned).