We started out on Saturday morning for our Private Tour. We left home at around 8.30 for the bus station, we followed the advice of the rough guide for our bus travel. We arrived at the bus station to find that the buses don't go to Keifeng from that bus station. So after much inquiry from my China Tour advisor I'm getting quite proud of my Chinese, we found out which bus to take and it is really smoothly. On reflection perhaps travelling on the 1st May was not the best idea. We arrived in Keifeng at around 12 noon. So we haggled a price for a rickshaw, these are now like electic scooters. And off we went to the hotel. The local Guide from Top China Trip was right about the hotel. It was ideal, a good price and smack in the middle of the city. The city on first impressions was breath taking. Some of the city seem untouched by time.
Anyway we dropped off our bags and the rickshaw driver took us on a tour of the city. Our first stop was the iron pagoda, a tall buddist pagoda built in 974 AD. After a stroll around the park we decided to go back to the hotel for a nap.
That evening we ventured out into the city to be greeted with an incredible sight. There was a very large and boisterous night market right outside our hotel. The sights and scenes at the market were incredible from the Beijing opera being blared over loud speakers to the stalls selling all kind of food. In either direction the food stall lead into an ordinary market selling goods of all types. We had great evening just people watching was great fun.
The next day we started off by visiting a mosque, which is very different to an Arabian mosque. It's very tucked away but some old ladies pointed us in the right direction. We also met some other foreigners in the mosque. After the mosque we had a pleasant stroll to the Temple of the Chief Minister. This is a living and breathing buddist monastary. It is really breathtakingly beautiful inside. Here I've never had my photo taken so much every 5 minutes someone asked to have their photo taken with me. As I said in a blog before I can feel a business opportunity idea here. I have never seen so many buddhas in my life. My personal favorite was the buddha with the exceedingly log eyebrows, dunno what that's all about.
In the afternoon we went to the Shanshangan Guild Hall. A hall built in the 17th century as a meeting place for local merchants. Again a beautiful building with an opera stage inside very much like the temple here in Zhengzhou. There was a very kind old man who sold us some guide cards for the all the attractions in Keifeng. He also had a collection of caged birds including two miner birds that could say "Nihao". Some of the song birds sang like angels. It was lovely just to sit in the shade of a tree and listen to the songbirds going over their repetoire. We found a model of the city in the main hall and from this we decided to visit the site of the imperial palace which was only just around the corner.
The site of the former Imperial Palace is a huge park now with lakes and in the centre is the Dragon pavillion which is built on the foundations of the former palace. We even went on a Dragon Boat. I loved the rowing men's costumes, gold kung-fu pyjamas. I think I may look good in a pair of them.
We've had a great time in Kaifeng. This is a place that if you travel China you must go here it can seem at times as though you have stepped back in time.
Well people enjoy the photos and until the next time.
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