TAI'AN, CHINA
Having conquered The Mountain yesterday, I was ready to head back to Beijing, so this morning I checked out of my hotel and took a cab to the train station. Not surprisingly, when I tried to buy a ticket on the spot, there wasn't anything available until 11 pm tonight (and a hard seat, at that--ugh), so I was left with a full day to spend in the town of Tai'an.
So after checking my big backpack at the station, I caught another taxi downtown. This proved to be a little more challenging (and comical) than my first cab ride today, because at first the driver couldn't understand where I wanted to go, and then he kept asking me questions in Mandarin, even though he knew I had no idea what he was saying. I kept answering him in English, even though I had no idea what he was asking me. It was completely ridiculous, and in the end we just had to sit and laugh at each other.
But eventually got me to more or less where I wanted to be, so I hopped out and walked down the street, where I promptly ran into Justin from yesterday, having a beer (at 10 am) with a British guy he met on the mountain. They had stayed overnight at the top to watch the sunrise, which turned out to be a no-show (more clouds and fog), and today they're leaving for Qufu (Confucius' hometown, where there's a big celebration, as tomorrow is his birthday).
I wished I could have come along, but I already had my ticket to Beijing, so I walked on a few blocks to Tai'an's main attraction (besides the mountain), Dai Temple. It's a huge complex of temple halls, courtyards, koi ponds, and gardens where pilgrims traditionally offered sacrifices to the gods before climbing Tai Shan. There are a number of gnarled ancient cypress trees growing in the courtyards and several towering stone steles, each resting on a base that looks like a giant turtle. It was a nice place to wander around for a few hours, as the atmosphere here is very serene and meditative.
Having conquered The Mountain yesterday, I was ready to head back to Beijing, so this morning I checked out of my hotel and took a cab to the train station. Not surprisingly, when I tried to buy a ticket on the spot, there wasn't anything available until 11 pm tonight (and a hard seat, at that--ugh), so I was left with a full day to spend in the town of Tai'an.
So after checking my big backpack at the station, I caught another taxi downtown. This proved to be a little more challenging (and comical) than my first cab ride today, because at first the driver couldn't understand where I wanted to go, and then he kept asking me questions in Mandarin, even though he knew I had no idea what he was saying. I kept answering him in English, even though I had no idea what he was asking me. It was completely ridiculous, and in the end we just had to sit and laugh at each other.
But eventually got me to more or less where I wanted to be, so I hopped out and walked down the street, where I promptly ran into Justin from yesterday, having a beer (at 10 am) with a British guy he met on the mountain. They had stayed overnight at the top to watch the sunrise, which turned out to be a no-show (more clouds and fog), and today they're leaving for Qufu (Confucius' hometown, where there's a big celebration, as tomorrow is his birthday).
I wished I could have come along, but I already had my ticket to Beijing, so I walked on a few blocks to Tai'an's main attraction (besides the mountain), Dai Temple. It's a huge complex of temple halls, courtyards, koi ponds, and gardens where pilgrims traditionally offered sacrifices to the gods before climbing Tai Shan. There are a number of gnarled ancient cypress trees growing in the courtyards and several towering stone steles, each resting on a base that looks like a giant turtle. It was a nice place to wander around for a few hours, as the atmosphere here is very serene and meditative.
posted by John Kuge at 8:30 PM
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