day 212: 武威 (wuwei) = 0km

Again, my pictures need to go home:

This is actually a shot from yesterday, when I was told that I wasn’t allowed to send anything resembling a storage medium.

“No way!” is what they said, and then I left, beaten.

But I went back today:

…spent two hours, showed them my pictures, drinking tea and talking about some of my experiences on the way – and then we finally all agreed: I was allowed to send my DVDs home. So I divided them up into two packages (I had made two copies of each disc anyways), and then I said goodbye, hoping that they would make it.

So I was done here.

Walking home from the post office I noticed a pagoda and a temple:

It’s called 罗什寺 (luoshi temple), and originally dates from the Tang-dynasty (唐 618-907), though it has been rebuilt time and time again, the last time apparently in the 1930s after an earthquake shattered the structure.

As you can see, the remodeling of the temple site is still going on right now:

…and another thing about this particular pagoda is very interesting:

According to the temple keeper, this is a 神 (shen = deity) that has nothing to do with Buddhist belief. Anyways, it has always been proudly occupying its niche in the base of the pagoda, thus making it unique in the whole country.

Interesting, though a bit complicated.

Here’s something completely different and not at all complicated:

…I thought it was very cute.

PS: make sure to check out the Google Earth file – I recompiled the whole thing yesterday. Enjoy!

Soundtrack: Keith Murray – “Oh My Goodness”

—total: 2613,3km