Qianling Mausoleum

The Qianling Mausoleum was built in 684AD during the Tang dynasty and houses various members of the royal Li family which included the Emporer Gaozong and Empress Wu Zetian. There are 17 tombs in total. The empress was and still is the only women to ever rule China. She started off as one of the emperors concubines. She was not his favorite however and she had to fight for his affection from another concubine and the then Empress Wang. In the end, she won his affection and had the other two killed, whereas she became Empress. She slowly gained more and more influence over governing an empire and by the time Emperor Gaozong died, she was making most of the decisions. She was ruthless when it came to power! She had her own son and daughter killed and two another sons deposed and exiled so she could remain in power. She put her youngest son on the throne making him Emperor but she ruled the kingdom through him. She even started her own dynasty; the Zhou Dynasty from 690 to 705 which interrupted the Tang Dynasty. She died in 705 and the Tang Dynasty started again.

The mausoleum rests on top of Mount Liang. Believe it or not, in the picture above, the two hills are called Nipple Hills! The thought process here is that the mountain where her tomb is is her head and this section forms her breasts. They also act as an entrance into Spirt Way(the name of the brick road above) and her tomb.

Flanking Spirt Way on both sides are guardian statues. The statues are slowly deteriorating due to time and nature.

Several countries, the US included, helped to try and clean the statues and preserve them. It's currently in a trial process. If it works, China may allow the remaining statues to be cleaned. The Chinese are a very proud people and don't like to ask for help from other countries. They see this as "losing face." The Empress Zetian's tomb has never been opened because China lacks the technology to preserve what is inside once they open it.

Stone guard tower.

The 61 statues of foreign diplomats. They where sculpted in the 680's and represent the actual 61 diplomats that attended Emperor Gaozong's funeral. Why they are headless and where the heads went remains a mystery.

Another spot we went to was the Tomb of Princess Yongtai. She was the granddaughter of the Empress Zetian and Emperor Gaozong. She died when she was 17, her death still somewhat of a mystery. She may have died from nature causes but it's more likely that the Empress had her killed along with her husband. I couldn't take any photo's of the tomb but I found the two above online. The tomb is like something out of Indiana Jones! You walk down are very steep rocky path with carvings on both sides. At the bottom is a long hallway that had several doors you had to go through before coming upon her tomb. Grave robbers even broke in at a side wall and stole many relics from the tomb. It was a really cool place and I wish I could have gotten photo's of it.

Zzzzzzzzz Part 9

Narcolepsy: a chronic sleep disorder characterized by an excessive urge to sleep at inappropriate times!

Da Yan Pagoda

Da Yan Pagoda is also called the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda(see this link to understand why). It is home to many texts and figurines of Buddha that were brought from India. The pagoda has been rebuilt three times. The first time is was built in 652AD but collapsed due to poor construction. It was rebuilt in 704AD but was heavily damaged in 1554AD by an earthquake. It was then reconstructed and now stands seven stories tall.

Just outside of the pagoda is a temple for prayer.

All around the pagoda is a garden that is home to many different bells and sculptures.

I have seen these rocks with writing on them at almost every temple or pagoda we go to. They always sound so smart and enlightening but I think they really say
"Keep of the grass!!"

Just outside the pagoda is a small park that has many monk and warrior statues.

Stone dragon spitting water.

The last picture above doesn't have much to look at but there is one thing noticeable. Look behind the bridge and you'll see a little over half a dozen apartment buildings being constructed. This is a very common site here in China as the construction business is booming. In China, the concept of a single family home is almost unheard of(unless your a rich movie star or super high government official). You can't "spread out" like you can in the US, so the only way is up! The way it works is, the government will take your apartment once the entire building has become old and give you two new apartments in it's place, usually inconveniently placed outside of town. They then destroy the old property and build these new skyscraper like apartment towers which are quite expensive. Sometimes they don't even get rented and stay vacant because of the price. Getting an apartment here is very, very important! Almost all families(the parents) will not allow a couple to get married until the male has an apartment. The parents may help them to put down the installment for a place or you might just have to live with your parents until you have enough money.

Famen Temple

Famen Temple is another Buddhist temple, this one located in Xi'An. At this point in my trip here in China, I have been to at least half a dozen of these Buddhist temples. I myself am not religious. I was not raised on religion and have never given it much thought. These temples we visit don't do much for me but I do find the statues, architecture, and history interesting.

This is the original temple which has been reconstructed many times due again to war and nature. However, the location of the temple has always remained the same since it was built in 25AD.

In 2009 an entire new complex was built. When people come to pray at these temples, they usually offer money to Buddha(same idea as a collection plate in the US, I think). The new complex was built off of these funds. The picture above is the beginning of a long walk down to the new diamond shaped complex.

The structures at the beginning are huge!!

They are home to an ancient bell and a large drum.

As you walk down the path toward the new temple, ten huge golden statues are placed on both sides. Each one represents a different Buddha god to pray to depending on what you want.

Each one of these statues are quite impressive to see due to their great size. They all have Indian names with vowels and consonants that just don't seem to go together! :P

Along the path to the temple, mixed in along with the large golden statues, are small gardens. In these small gardens are little ponds or steams and different statues depicting scenes from Buddhist scriptures or of various monks praying. All along the walkway to the new temple, subtle soothing music plays of monks chatting. It makes for an extremely peaceful journey toward the temple.

I love the detail on this guy.

Some of the statues....

...come atomically correct!

The temple is the home to a small finger bone of Sakyamuni, the primary figure in Buddhism and whose teachings founded it. The bone was found in a tomb underneath the original temple when they were restoring it in 1987. Today it is kept inside of the temple in an underground vault.

Unfortunalty, once inside, you can't take any photos. I was sneaky and crept over to one side of the building where no one was and snapped the two photos above.