Visiting China for the first time did not make me an expert. But I’m willing to publish my opinions for future discussions with friends. This is purely a text blog with no photos. I hope it spurs thought and further investigation. Comments are welcome!
I’ll begin with a bold statement:
China leads the US in every technical realm except advanced weaponry and some high-tech American cutting-edge research.
Thousands of terracotta warriors were made and buried over two thousand years ago, but they were only discovered in 1974 when some farmers were digging a well. They are buried 2-3 meters deep. They were arranged in a classic large army formation, with the lowest rank soldiers in front, backed by archers and chariots, with the generals in the rear. This is a unique human creation in the world.
The inclusion of Lhasa, Tibet, in Viking's Wonders of China cruise was a big incentive for us to book this trip. Three nights and two full days of tours were only a superficial introduction to this ancient culture. But this was better than nothing. I don't think we otherwise would have ever planned a trip to Tibet. It's simply too isolated, and obtaining the required Chinese visa was expensive.
Chinese opera is a long-established unique Chinese cultural expression. The stage and costumes are over-the-top. The music is stunning...for non-Chinese an acquired taste.
Pandas are China's cultural symbol of its diplomatic efforts to promote peace through cultural exchanges. The US has hosted pandas on loan for many years, as well as pandas loaned to other countries. They are so cute. But we must remember that they are a species of bear. They are not aggressive. But they can be dangerous under certain circumstances.
Flying from Beijing to Shanghai, Susan and I boarded the Viking cruise ship Yi-Dun. We had the pleasure of a Shanghai city tour in which we viewed an ancient garden containing ornate buildings from the Ming and Qing dynasties.
The skyline of Shanghai is impressive, containing the world's third tallest building, the Shanghai Tower with 128 floors, at 2073 feet high. (The world's tallest building is Dubai's Burj Khalifa at 2722 feet high. The second highest is the Merdeka in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, at 2227 feet.)--source Wikipedia
We began our China tour in the capital city of Beijing. Though Beijing is a city of 21 million people, it is very clean and efficient...much above my expectations which were colored by my experience of the crowded cities in India. We toured the famous Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square on our first day, and on the second day we toured a section of the Great Wall of China.
Bali is an island populated by 95% Hindus, but are only 5% of Muslim-majority Indonesia. As early as the first century CE, Indian traders spread Hinduism and Buddhism to East Asia, including what is now Indonesia. Hinduism in Indonesia reached its height by the 7th century. It was during this period that the Buddhist temple of Borobudur was constructed. (Borobudur was featured in my previous Indonesia blog.) By the 13th century, Islam spread through the islands of Sumatra and Java, supplanting Hinduism. However, Bali remained almost exclusively Hindu, despite the rise to dominance of Islam throughout the rest of what is current-day Indonesia. Bali has maintained the ancient Hindu religious practices which are also still practiced in India.
Indonesia is the fourth most populous country in the world, after #1 India, #2 China, & #3 USA, numbering 279 million people (source-Wikipedia). It is the world's most populous Muslim country. It is the world's 14th largest nation by area, and the world's largest archipelagic state consisting of over 17,000 islands.
But beyond these statistics, I was very impressed with the warmth of the Indonesian people. The attached photo gallery illustrates their warmth.
Singapore is a very small country located at the bottom of the Malaysian peninsula. It has no natural resources. Alli its food has to be imported. As a financial center and trading center, Singapore is extremely successful. Its citizens enjoy one of the highest median incomes in the world. Singapore's citizens are 70% of Chinese ancestry. Other ethnic groups include Malays, Indians, Thais, and more. Enjoy the photo gallery of Singapore's rich urban landscape.
Kuala Lumpur is the capital of the country of Malaysia. Known previously as Malaya, the country was colonized first by the Portuguese, then the Dutch, and finally by the British. In World War II, it was occupied by the Japanese. It became independent after WWII. In 1963 Malaya joined with Singapore, changing its name to Malaysia, adding the "si" for Singapore. However, the confederation lasted only two years because of resistance to the potential influence of Singapore's majority Chinese population.