day 69: 临汾(linfen) – 临汾(linfen) = 10,5km

My friends know: I’m a lazy pig.

But I left my hotel this morning:

My friend who works for a local news station was going to shoot a tiny feature about me.

So we went around and I did what I do: walking and taking pictures and asking for the way.

We also tried to figure out the mysterious “molehill” with a couple of friends:

They say it might be a mountain.

I say I’ll go check it out then.

Well, I didn’t get too far today. Basically only moved within the city limits.

There’s a place in the south part of town that’s called 尧庙 (yao temple):

This is a huge complex originally built during the Tang-dynasty (唐 618-907), although most of what can be seen today is either from later dynasties or has been completely rebuilt a couple of years ago.

It’s all dedicated to the mythical 尧帝:

…one of the five legendary forefathers of Chinese civilization.

Another one of those five is 伏羲 (fuxi – faces and the birth of man), by the way.

The whole site is still surprisingly large today.

It used to be at least three times as big, though.

Running around with my friend, I had some fun putting up my tripod here and there in the blistering cold and taking night shots of things:

A pillar.

A gate (built only a few years ago).

For this one, some friendly dudes agreed to backlight the tree with the headlights of their truck:

It’s still snowing, by the way.

I’ll put the gaiters back on tomorrow.

And get back on the highway.

Soundtrack: Descendents – “When I Get Old”

—total: 974,3km