Shuāngchóng xìngyùn

[rpcrowe]

Shuāngchóng xìngyùn means "double lucky" in Mandarin. On my trip to China from the last part of March to the first half of April 2010; I was lucky twice.

A week or so before I arrived in Beijing, there was a terrible sand storm which would have halted photography (and just about anything else) totally. Here is a China News Photo of the sandstorm.



The day I arrived in Beijing, it was unusually clear and crisp allowing great imagery of the Great Wall (pun intended). I didn't end up with the smog obscurred Wall images I have seen so many times.



Later, I spent a couple of days in Guilin and Yangshou during the first week of April. There had been a drought at the headwaters of the LI River and I complained that the river was low. Here is a shot of my tour bus in Guilin.



And here is a China News shot of a tour bus in the same general area of that city on 17 April 2010 after immense rainfall caused the Li River to overflow its banks. WOW - I was double lucky on that trip! Lucky on the Wall and lucky that I didn't get my wish that the river had more water.

[David]

Hi - smart shots, nice story.

David

[rick55]

I love the shot of the Great Wall. The people give context and scope, and the section of wall being so steep shows the engineering.

Cheers,
Rick

[rpcrowe]

Thanks rick55,

This section of the Wall is exceptionally steep and the steps are quite uneven, some being quite a bit higher than others. I'm 70-years old, have had a pair of knee replacements and spinal fusion so, although I climbed to the height of the Wall, I did not climb the steep steps up to the other towers. I saw more than one person land on their rumps on the way down. Coming down was actually more difficult than climbing up the steps. That day was quite cold, the stiff Manchrian wind was biting but, at least it was not blowing sand like it was a week before and it was quite clear.

By the way, I learned that the towers were placed two arrow shots apart so that the troops could defend any section of the wall from the towers. They must have been some great archers! However, although the Great Wall was a tremendous feat of engineering, it was (like the French Maginot Line of WW-II vintage) a total failure as a defense.

The countryside looks like my area of Southern California.

My Beijing portfolio is at: http://rpcrowe.smugmug.com/Travel/CH...69239102_7cbvL
Here are a few more of the Wall:
1.


2.


3.


4.

[rick55]

By the way, I learned that the towers were placed two arrow shots apart so that the troops could defend any section of the wall from the towers. They must have been some great archers!

I love these pieces of information that you're bringing to accompany the images, like the jog to avoid ghosts, and the gender of the lions by the paw on the globe or young one. And I'm sure there are plenty more that I can't call to mind at the moment.

Cheers,
Rick