Leshan Buddha

China is home to a couple giant Buddha's. And when I say giant, I mean giant. I guess to be sure that the Buddha will look kindly upon your mortal soul, you better build (or carve) him big enough to be spotted from space. There are for example some huge Buddha carvings in Datong (near Beijing (hint hint), Luoyang, and in Leshan.

Just south of Chengdu (meaning a two and a half hour drive), visiting Leshan was a perfect day-trip on our recent visit to Sichuan Province and Chengdu, and of course we went to see the famous and humongous "Leshan Buddha." 

What I loved about this place was actually the story surrounding it. The version that I was told--as we were climbing down on the right side of his body--is that a monk, Mr. Haitong, with great energy and inspiration started raising funds in 713 AD for his idea to build a Buddha, which he thought would bring calm and safety to the wild and crazy water currents of the convergence of the Ming, Dadu, and Qingyi rivers in front of it. 

Lo and behold, after many years of work and 71 meters of carvings, a benign and rock-solid Buddha appeared on the shore. And as the works had progressed, the rivers had actually calmed down because of all the rocks and sands sliding into the river from the construction. A miracle! The Buddha didn't even have to use his build-in safety features; the mere construction of him already had brought peace to the river.

What a great story. However, when I just read this other version, A Short History of the Leshan Giant Buddha, I realized that Mr. Haitong might have started the whole project knowing very well that the construction of it would slow down the river. Or as the article says, it was a "half-flood control, half-religious project." I suppose that takes a little bit away from the miracle of the Buddha, but it does show incredible foresight by the monk (not to mention an apt for marketing techniques, if you read the article) to be able to solve a flood-control problem and at the same time use it as a way of funding his desire to honor the Buddha!

The monk didn't live to see the final result, but exactly 90 years after the project was started, the statue was finished in 803 AD. In 2012 AD, a bunch of Dutch tourists came see it with their own eyes.

The three Buddha's.

For a sense of scale. The boat in the foreground is not a toy.

Captain Haddock and the Buddha.

Buddha and Goofball.

In het Nederlands: Van de zomer waren we op bezoek bij de Grote Boeddha van Leshan, in de provincie Sichuan in het mid-westen van China. Wat een monster! Samen met nog zo'n duizend andere toeristen daal je een smal trapje af, van het rechteroor van de Boeddha naar z'n teen, en dan weer omhoog. Maar mooi is het wel. Ook leuk is het dat door de constructie van de Boeddha, en dan met name door alle stenen die in het water vielen, de rivier een stuk rustiger werd en er dus minder schepen vergingen dan voorheen. Dat is nog eens een effectief beeld!

There and Back Again

Friends,

It has been a long time since my last post. I know that you have been craving news from Beijing. This time though, I think the international media already informed you of our recent happenings: air quality in Beijing has been at an all-time low the last few weeks. (Can those Olympic Games perhaps come back again?)

Having been here two years, I don't really look up from an index that is 200-300 (considered "very unhealthy" by the U.S. EPA air quality index) or even 300-400 (already in the "hazardous" zone), but when last week Saturday the index rocketed to a 682 "beyond index" score, even I had to do a double-take.

"Beyond Index" !  (This is a screenshot from my iPhone.) 

Luckily, today is already so much better. Only 435, so at least we are back on the index:

And here is a picture of what this kind of pollution looks like. The photo below is Beijing Riviera around 11:30 am today. Despite the nice Chinese New Year decorations (the year of the snake is about to start in two weeks) our neighborhood looks kind of dreary.

Even though this very informative article by the World Resources Institute explains that Beijing's air pollution isn't so much a result of the rapid increase in cars on the Beijing roads, I would like to report that I saw a very suspicious driver on the streets this week. (Child protection services: I don't know who the boy is, but I think his parents are otherwise very responsible.)

In het Nederlands: Het nieuws had Nederland ook al wel bereikt denk ik: de afgelopen weken hebben we weer een goede hoeveelheid smog mogen inademen. (Zie bijvoorbeeld dit artikel: "Beijing, lucht meer vervuild dan meetbaar". Ik kan niet genoeg zeggen dat we in een jaar toch ook wel ontzettend veel mooie dagen hebben, maar deze vuile nevel is natuurlijk geen pleziertje. Onze wijk is mooi versierd voor het Chinese Nieuwjaar dat binnenkort begint, maar door de luchtverontreiniging ziet het er allemaal toch wat troosteloos uit!

Mr. Kim's visit to China

This week World Bank president Jim Yong Kim is in China to meet with high-level Chinese officials, visit Bank projects, and also launch some new initiatives and collaborations. Here's a report of Mr. Kim's visit. The World Bank also posted a few pictures.

A snippet from the World Bank news flash:

BEIJING, November 27, 2012 – The World Bank Group and China today launched a new knowledge hub to improve development outcomes, aiming to spread practical knowledge from China’s successes in reducing poverty both within China as well as to other countries. Initially, the knowledge hub will help find environmentally friendly solutions to expand urban transport in China’s cities.

And if you are wondering why this focus on urban transport is important:

Managing urbanization is a priority for China, with about 75 percent of its gross domestic product generated in the largest 120 cities, and 350 million rural residents expected to move into its cities over the next 20 years. The Bank is helping China introduce transport improvements in about 30 cities, focusing on low-carbon emission options such as public transportation, walking and cycling.

The new knowledge hub will speed up the process of analyzing the successes and lessons learned in implementing solutions to urban challenges. [....] The knowledge hub will also help Chinese cities learn from each other. An integrated corridor management approach was introduced in an urban transport project in several cities in Liaoning Province to improve people’s travel speed, reliability, safety, and security in a comprehensive manner, based on successful examples in London and New York. It is now making public transport more attractive in other cities including Taiyuan, Wuhan, Changzhi, Xiangyang, and Xining.

Excerpts from China and World Bank Group Launch New Knowledge Hub to Provide Solutions for Reducing Poverty

A Wet Wild Wall

I heard some rumors that people were getting tired of looking at the red doors in my last blog post. True, both China and the U.S. have since moved on, with a new fearless leader, Mr. Xi Jinping, in charge of the world's second largest economy and most numerous population. (By the way, I love the story about him visiting Iowa in his late twenties.)

While I don't have any pictures of Mr. Xi, I do have a few photos of Paul and I and some friends at the Great Wall on a very rainy day recently. It's not much of a story, but at least it is something else to look at than those red doors...


It so rarely rains in Beijing, that we hadn't even prepared with the right clothing.

It's hard to even see the beautiful landscape.

A bit of "wild wall" near Mutianyu. The "wild" refers to the fact that this part has not been restored. You can see the tree growing in the middle of the wall!

The eighties' wet look is back.

This is the path we came through :-). The wild wall is not for the average tourist.

Slippery when wet.

One of the watch towers.

A final peak at the Fall colors, before we headed back down....by cable car. It was the end of a wet adventure!

In het Nederlands: We hadden lekker "Hollands weer" toen we laatst met vrienden naar de Chinese Muur gingen. Het regent hier niet vaak, dus we waren niet echt goed voorbereid!

Leadership change

This week is a big week around the globe. Coming off the back of super storm Sandy, America is preparing itself for the final showdown in the fistfight that is called the U.S. General Elections.

Today, in the Netherlands, the new coalition government--Kabinet-Rutte II--was installed by Queen Beatrix.

And in China, my Internet is coming to a grinding halt because of the enhanced security related to the top Communist Party meetings in Beijing this week, at which the CCP (Communist Party of China) will reveal its new leadership.

What will the future hold for us?

In het Nederlands: Het zijn nogal wat wisselingen van de wacht deze week! Het kabinet Rutte II is geinstalleerd. In America gaat Obama kijken of hij nog vier jaar door mag. En in Beijing zijn de top vergaderingen van de communistische partij van China begonnen. Volgende week weten we ook hier wie de nieuwe leider wordt!

"Dancing in the Park"

There's something super endearing about all the activity in the public parks in Beijing. In the Netherlands, if you put out a volleyball net, chances are it will be used for anything but volleyball. Put out a table, and some vandal will carve his name in it. Here? People exercise using bright yellow and blue equipment, they dance on their own or in a group, and they play Mahjong or cards at designated little tables.

Pay attention and join in with the steps!

Here are some more pictures of the hutongs around this park:

 

 

 

This women could use a little dance in the park!
 

In het Nederlands: Het is altijd gezellig in de parken in Beijing. Er wordt gedanst en gezongen, er wordt gekaart, en de ledematen worden goed gestrekt.  

 

 

 

Shopping spree

Recently Paul and I went on a shopping spree. That is: We bought a random tie, some Halloween items, and a plate of noodles. I am sure you can't wait to see the pictures of our eventful half-day near the Hongqiao Pearl Market.

 

Size matters.

 

Chinese style tea cups.

 

Noodle man.

 

Super noodle soup.

 

Noodle woman.

 

Looking for a tie for Paul's Halloween outfit. I guess he only wears ties with Halloween!

 

Hongqiao, one of Beijing's indoor markets with a million stalls with clothes, accessories, (fake) pearls, and other miscellaneous items you are sure you don't need but can't resist to buy.

 

Street view in front of the Hongqiao market.

 

An important photo taken by Thomas.