|
Senior Member
 |
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: east sussex
Posts: 3,484
|
China Tour 2006
Beijing and Zian
Having gone to China a few years ago and "Done " the sites
I thought some of you might be interested. Therefore I shall endevour to give a bit of a tour with information added to the pictures what I remember.
So here is a bit of a pre-amble first.
We booked with Oriental Travel in London via the internet, not the cheapest but definately well worth the extra money but wish we had gone for the 4* hotel instead of the 3*.
I was worried about sending the passports for the Chinese Visa (£40) in the post but I couldn't have asked for a better service, stamped and returned same week, something I met throughout the trip.
Yes it was a long flight and we flew with KLM so had to change at Skippol Airport. The company now uses a different airline.
Due to it being November the weather was like a summer day here but would recommend late October early November( less crowds around that time of year)
We were met at the airport by a guide and driver with car , yes we had them all to ourselves not only in Beijing but in Zian as well. Taken to the hotel 2 hours rest and we were off to visit the first of many places, boy those Chinese don't hang about.
Food
In Beijing it is very much Chinese, and to be honest you have to guess what food is on offer in the hotel resturant, but in Zian, being a relatively new city, they cater more for western tastes. but the Chinese food is totally different from what we get over here
Hotel
Their 3* is like our 1* so best to go for a 4* hotel if possible .
Transport
Don't even try , we would have stood no chance without our driver and guide, hardly any speak anything other than Chinese, suprisingly, and unless you can read and speak Chinese public transport is a definate no no.
Personal concerns
Yes, the main one was, being in a Communist country, being watched by their secret police, I have to admit here that if we were watched we knew nothing about it, correction, after getting back home and thinking about it, at breakfast in the hotel, a person walked past the dining room entrance, glanced in and walked on. That was it.
Cost
It depends on the tour company, but when we went in 2006 we were advised the average tip for the guide ( who spoke perfect English) was £6 and £3 for the driver per day. Other costs was only for bottled water for obvious reasons @10p a bottle and when we went to the great wall £6 for the ski lift. No way was I going to climb 3,000ft plus . Oh bought a back scratcher for 10p. Something very handy now the wife won't scratch any itch on my back anymore.
Finally before I start posting pictures with a little info where possible, I would highly recommend the country, not only for the sites we visited, but the people were so friendly and polite it was unbelievable. Something you don't get to such a degree in the western world.
Ok here we go. there are about 6million push bikes in Beijing but some of the more wealthy have these enclosed 3 wheel motorbikes. How they get whole families in them I don't know
Aunts- Uncles -Mums- Dads and children
Yes we did the Rickshaw (bicycle) thing In Beijing, apparently they are keeping about a square mile as it was with the narrow old streets. A mentioned in the preamble about how fast the Chinese work. Well the peddle fell off the bike on our Rickshaw, now over here to get another peddle may take days for a shop to get in, not over there no way. No sooner had we come to an exciting stop than out rushed the guy from a shop with a new peddle, not a bicycle shop either, and i swear the new peddle was on in less than a minute.
Sorry about the picture but i didn't take it as you can see.
Typical back street in Beijing, look carefully at the top above the bunting and you will see the birds nest of power cables. That is quite neat compared to some we saw. Not the type of place China wants to promote I am sure, at least you wont find it in any brochures. I sneaked this shot when nobody was about.
You may wonder why take a picture of a door? Well just above where the doors open there are 4 projecting timbers sticking out, you can just see them (look like 4x 6 sided pictures) . The significance is that those posts denote the standing in the community. The more posts the higher they are, in this case the owner would have been at least an Earl in our money. Whatever status a Chinese person was they were not allowed to marry outside their class
Oh yes a typical hired Bike Rickshaw, all licenced by the state as are the tour guides and drivers.
The first picture is of a house who you see the owner of in the doorway. The state pays him an allowance to open up his home for people like us to see inside.
Like all over the world people like to gamble. Those insects are bet on, what they do is get a paint prush and just have a single hair on the end and tickle the insects to make them jump.
the furthest jump is the winner. They are highly prized and live in the home. the house is facing inwards towards a small courtyard with another the same on the other side. This chap is well off compared to others we saw.
Right at the other end of the scale is this. Now I have to admit that I was overawed by this place, and wish I had taken more pictures. Let me explain, this is one of the palaces of the Emperors, right in the middle of a beautiful oriental park and lake. A long walk up to it and young ladies in full original costumes at the entrance, absolutely stunning never seen anything so beautiful. The room is all gold leaf as you can see. Yes we did eat there, 16 course meal. It wasn't until around 1920 that this and the Forbidden city as well as other palaces were opened up to the public.
Maybe now you are getting a flavour of why I am so happy to have gone there and would just love to go back
Local Chinese recreation time
The first picture is some of the locals practicing Tai Chi ( think thats how it is spelt)
the second picture shows flag waving which seems to be another hobby I suspect it is a keep fit thing together with kicking a shuttlethingy with the feet and not with a bat as over here.
The third picture is of traditional musical instruments, there were several of these and all for their own satisfaction.
Temple of Heaven.
During the summer months the Emporers spent their time here in prayer. The building is made completely out of wood, not a singlle nail was used. Also people were listened to if they had a grievence within this temple. Yes again all gold leaf.
Outside is the raised stone where they raised up their voices to the heavens, again in prayer.
It was designed so that their voices could easily be heard by those all around.
Interesting to note that the marble sections are done in circles which can be multiplied by 9.
9 being a lucky number in Chinese culture
Still in the same area
Notice the information is in English, all the information signs are this and Chinese only
One of the many gateways and entrances to the Temple of heaven. Why show this one particularly? Well all the gateways were in 3 arches, the centre arch was for the Emporer and Empress, the 2 outside ones for their attendants. Notice that there is also two stone lines leading from the middle arch, if any of the attendants crossed those lines into the path of the Emporer, I am sorry to say they lost their lives
Tiananmen Square (I had to look that up to spell it)
Showing the Monument to the warriors and the peoples parliament ( where river dance was held)
Looking towards the forbidden city. I didn't realise it was next to the square.
Approach to the forbidden city over the moat. I got moved on by one of the guards for stopping to try and get a photo of the moat itself. Seems you arn't allowed to stop
Next lot of photos are in the Forbidden city itself. Bit disappointed, not for the place but they were getting ready for the Olymplc Games and the main building in the centre was covered in scaffolding which you will see. Apparently there are 999 rooms within the city itself.
The city was designed in quadrangles with high walls , the reason being if one entrance was breached the invaders were trapped in the next section. Needless to say it was never got into.
Entrance to Forbidden City
First courtyard
Second courtyard
Centre of forbidden city, as i said earlier the main palace was covered in scaffolding, very disappointed. Last picture has outline of lens hood on the edge, could remove but havn't bothered.
300 tons of carved marble of animals.
This is where my sense of humour kicked in. I told the tour guide just as they were finishing it they chipped of the wrong bit and had to start over again.
At first she believed me then realised I was pulling her leg (smack)
I have left out some of the rooms here to head for the South entrance of the city
The two Juniper trees you see entwined are supposed to represent the Emperor and Empress forever being together
One of only two of the largest incense working burners in the world, the other being in Tibet.
The young lady in black on the right is our tour guide
[[IMG]http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u217/bazza104/DSC_3392
Medium.jpg[/IMG]IMG]
[
IMG]
Just to add that after the Empress was married, this was the only place she could look out onto the outside world. The scaffolding is part of the olympic granstand being built
Note. Some of the less expensive tour companies only take you to the more popular parts of the wall without the mountains. To me stepping off a bus or coach straight onto the wall doesn't give any idea of what the Chinese labourers went through to construct such a feat of engineering
First proper view of a sentry tower taken from the cable car. All the pictures are at an altitude of 3000ft + so some may be a bit hazy.
[IMG]
Great wall
/i169.photobucket.com/albums/u217/bazza104/DSC_3410Medium.jpg[/IMG]
This is as far as one can go, past this point is under repair. The right hand side of the pictures is Mongolia
notice the small wall inside the walkway along the top. This was the escape route for the army manning the wall. Below some idea of how stepp the walk was in places.
Having gone to China a few years ago and "Done " the sites
I thought some of you might be interested. Therefore I shall endevour to give a bit of a tour with information added to the pictures what I remember.
So here is a bit of a pre-amble first.
We booked with Oriental Travel in London via the internet, not the cheapest but definately well worth the extra money but wish we had gone for the 4* hotel instead of the 3*.
I was worried about sending the passports for the Chinese Visa (£40) in the post but I couldn't have asked for a better service, stamped and returned same week, something I met throughout the trip.
Yes it was a long flight and we flew with KLM so had to change at Skippol Airport. The company now uses a different airline.
Due to it being November the weather was like a summer day here but would recommend late October early November( less crowds around that time of year)
We were met at the airport by a guide and driver with car , yes we had them all to ourselves not only in Beijing but in Zian as well. Taken to the hotel 2 hours rest and we were off to visit the first of many places, boy those Chinese don't hang about.
Food
In Beijing it is very much Chinese, and to be honest you have to guess what food is on offer in the hotel resturant, but in Zian, being a relatively new city, they cater more for western tastes. but the Chinese food is totally different from what we get over here
Hotel
Their 3* is like our 1* so best to go for a 4* hotel if possible .
Transport
Don't even try , we would have stood no chance without our driver and guide, hardly any speak anything other than Chinese, suprisingly, and unless you can read and speak Chinese public transport is a definate no no.
Personal concerns
Yes, the main one was, being in a Communist country, being watched by their secret police, I have to admit here that if we were watched we knew nothing about it, correction, after getting back home and thinking about it, at breakfast in the hotel, a person walked past the dining room entrance, glanced in and walked on. That was it.
Cost
It depends on the tour company, but when we went in 2006 we were advised the average tip for the guide ( who spoke perfect English) was £6 and £3 for the driver per day. Other costs was only for bottled water for obvious reasons @10p a bottle and when we went to the great wall £6 for the ski lift. No way was I going to climb 3,000ft plus . Oh bought a back scratcher for 10p. Something very handy now the wife won't scratch any itch on my back anymore.
Finally before I start posting pictures with a little info where possible, I would highly recommend the country, not only for the sites we visited, but the people were so friendly and polite it was unbelievable. Something you don't get to such a degree in the western world.
Ok here we go. there are about 6million push bikes in Beijing but some of the more wealthy have these enclosed 3 wheel motorbikes. How they get whole families in them I don't know
Aunts- Uncles -Mums- Dads and children
Yes we did the Rickshaw (bicycle) thing In Beijing, apparently they are keeping about a square mile as it was with the narrow old streets. A mentioned in the preamble about how fast the Chinese work. Well the peddle fell off the bike on our Rickshaw, now over here to get another peddle may take days for a shop to get in, not over there no way. No sooner had we come to an exciting stop than out rushed the guy from a shop with a new peddle, not a bicycle shop either, and i swear the new peddle was on in less than a minute.
Sorry about the picture but i didn't take it as you can see.
Typical back street in Beijing, look carefully at the top above the bunting and you will see the birds nest of power cables. That is quite neat compared to some we saw. Not the type of place China wants to promote I am sure, at least you wont find it in any brochures. I sneaked this shot when nobody was about.
You may wonder why take a picture of a door? Well just above where the doors open there are 4 projecting timbers sticking out, you can just see them (look like 4x 6 sided pictures) . The significance is that those posts denote the standing in the community. The more posts the higher they are, in this case the owner would have been at least an Earl in our money. Whatever status a Chinese person was they were not allowed to marry outside their class
Oh yes a typical hired Bike Rickshaw, all licenced by the state as are the tour guides and drivers.
The first picture is of a house who you see the owner of in the doorway. The state pays him an allowance to open up his home for people like us to see inside.
Like all over the world people like to gamble. Those insects are bet on, what they do is get a paint prush and just have a single hair on the end and tickle the insects to make them jump.
the furthest jump is the winner. They are highly prized and live in the home. the house is facing inwards towards a small courtyard with another the same on the other side. This chap is well off compared to others we saw.
Right at the other end of the scale is this. Now I have to admit that I was overawed by this place, and wish I had taken more pictures. Let me explain, this is one of the palaces of the Emperors, right in the middle of a beautiful oriental park and lake. A long walk up to it and young ladies in full original costumes at the entrance, absolutely stunning never seen anything so beautiful. The room is all gold leaf as you can see. Yes we did eat there, 16 course meal. It wasn't until around 1920 that this and the Forbidden city as well as other palaces were opened up to the public.
Maybe now you are getting a flavour of why I am so happy to have gone there and would just love to go back
Local Chinese recreation time
The first picture is some of the locals practicing Tai Chi ( think thats how it is spelt)
the second picture shows flag waving which seems to be another hobby I suspect it is a keep fit thing together with kicking a shuttlethingy with the feet and not with a bat as over here.
The third picture is of traditional musical instruments, there were several of these and all for their own satisfaction.
Temple of Heaven.
During the summer months the Emporers spent their time here in prayer. The building is made completely out of wood, not a singlle nail was used. Also people were listened to if they had a grievence within this temple. Yes again all gold leaf.
Outside is the raised stone where they raised up their voices to the heavens, again in prayer.
It was designed so that their voices could easily be heard by those all around.
Interesting to note that the marble sections are done in circles which can be multiplied by 9.
9 being a lucky number in Chinese culture
Still in the same area
Notice the information is in English, all the information signs are this and Chinese only
One of the many gateways and entrances to the Temple of heaven. Why show this one particularly? Well all the gateways were in 3 arches, the centre arch was for the Emporer and Empress, the 2 outside ones for their attendants. Notice that there is also two stone lines leading from the middle arch, if any of the attendants crossed those lines into the path of the Emporer, I am sorry to say they lost their lives
Tiananmen Square (I had to look that up to spell it)
Showing the Monument to the warriors and the peoples parliament ( where river dance was held)
Looking towards the forbidden city. I didn't realise it was next to the square.
Approach to the forbidden city over the moat. I got moved on by one of the guards for stopping to try and get a photo of the moat itself. Seems you arn't allowed to stop
Next lot of photos are in the Forbidden city itself. Bit disappointed, not for the place but they were getting ready for the Olymplc Games and the main building in the centre was covered in scaffolding which you will see. Apparently there are 999 rooms within the city itself.
The city was designed in quadrangles with high walls , the reason being if one entrance was breached the invaders were trapped in the next section. Needless to say it was never got into.
Entrance to Forbidden City
First courtyard
Second courtyard
Centre of forbidden city, as i said earlier the main palace was covered in scaffolding, very disappointed. Last picture has outline of lens hood on the edge, could remove but havn't bothered.
300 tons of carved marble of animals.
This is where my sense of humour kicked in. I told the tour guide just as they were finishing it they chipped of the wrong bit and had to start over again.
At first she believed me then realised I was pulling her leg (smack)
I have left out some of the rooms here to head for the South entrance of the city
The two Juniper trees you see entwined are supposed to represent the Emperor and Empress forever being together
One of only two of the largest incense working burners in the world, the other being in Tibet.
The young lady in black on the right is our tour guide
[[IMG]http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u217/bazza104/DSC_3392
Medium.jpg[/IMG]IMG]
[
Just to add that after the Empress was married, this was the only place she could look out onto the outside world. The scaffolding is part of the olympic granstand being built
Note. Some of the less expensive tour companies only take you to the more popular parts of the wall without the mountains. To me stepping off a bus or coach straight onto the wall doesn't give any idea of what the Chinese labourers went through to construct such a feat of engineering
First proper view of a sentry tower taken from the cable car. All the pictures are at an altitude of 3000ft + so some may be a bit hazy.
[IMG]
Great wall
/i169.photobucket.com/albums/u217/bazza104/DSC_3410Medium.jpg[/IMG]
This is as far as one can go, past this point is under repair. The right hand side of the pictures is Mongolia
notice the small wall inside the walkway along the top. This was the escape route for the army manning the wall. Below some idea of how stepp the walk was in places.
|
Senior Member
|
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: east sussex
Posts: 3,484
|
Jade factory
We were invited to have a look around a Jade factory on the way back from the wall.
This piece and the one below is made out of one lump of Jade
Both are in the factory main entrance. Out of interest with the horses if you stroke the head, it was supposed to bring good luck and the tail , bad luck. I wonder why? Also pink Jade is rare
Armour made out of Jade for a General who died in battle before he could collect it.
Start of decorating enamelled pots, each of the bits of wire in the tray are hand cut and bent before applying to the pots.
Pots have been fired, next stage is to hand polish on a spinning spinal. I think you will agree the finish pots are something else.
Another day and yet more to see
We havn't ever been asked to board one of these yet thank goodness
Seems a bit pointless exercise to me
Ok now for a Bhuddist Temple, yep we even manage to lookat one as well. Here we happened to be very lucky the monks were actually in prayer. Our guide informed us that with all the tours she has done this is only the second time she has seen them in prayer. Oh yes females are allowed to become monks as well as children and their not called little monkeys ( oh I don't know so much they could be )
The next lot of pictures were on some of the side prayer rooms Apart from the jade figures the pictures denote some of the journeys the Emperors did etc.
Well how was i to know I wasn't supposed to take the pictures. The woman kneeling was hiding the sign saying no pictures to be taken. She informed me after her praying. (He He, to late darling I had got the potos)
All the above are among the earliest saved items of their type going back hundreds of years
Moving on, if your not bored already, to the site of the Terra Cotta Army with first a vist to the shop. All the items were for sale, excpt for our tour guide here in Zian, who is seen standing infront of the warrior models, to give some idea of the actual size of them as in the pits. Oh if you feel exhausted just looking at the pictures, think how we felt going around everywhere
Quick general rundown of the place. A farmer in 1974 was digging a well on his land and found some pottery fragments. On informing the authorities they took the land off him and discovered the warriors.
Yes we did meet the farmer who was busy signing books
The building above hold the excavation site but is about a quarter of a mile from the car park right in the middle of a laid out open area. Don't panic they do lay on a road train for those that need.
Our tour guide with replica warriors actual size for sale. Just out of interest she is Mongolian not Chinese. She is not restricted to only one child like the Chinese are.
She was very excited because her boyfriend had landed a job at the new starbuck coffee bar which was about to open that night. She had an invite to the opening. Now I know you didn't wish to know that but the competition for a job there was fierce.
And now for the ladies here who can no longer manage a man of that size, why not try this size instead
Terra Cotta army Zian, (pronounced see-an) China. the ones at the back were broken by the following Emporers army. It takes about 9 months to restore each one
Restoration
[
AS found (about 15/20 ft below ground level)
Restored ready for exhibitions etc
We also took in a show at the top theatre in Zian together with a help yourself meal.
Just to finish up a few bits and pieces left out
an Emporers bed above and seat below taken thru glass
Boats hired on lake
A couple of bridges and below a typical arch with a high step to stop demons etc passing through.
Water Jugs found in Terra Cotta pits
.
Additional pictures
At the theatre in Zian
As far as you can go on this section of the great wall
We were invited to have a look around a Jade factory on the way back from the wall.
This piece and the one below is made out of one lump of Jade
Both are in the factory main entrance. Out of interest with the horses if you stroke the head, it was supposed to bring good luck and the tail , bad luck. I wonder why? Also pink Jade is rare
Armour made out of Jade for a General who died in battle before he could collect it.
Start of decorating enamelled pots, each of the bits of wire in the tray are hand cut and bent before applying to the pots.
Pots have been fired, next stage is to hand polish on a spinning spinal. I think you will agree the finish pots are something else.
Another day and yet more to see
We havn't ever been asked to board one of these yet thank goodness
Seems a bit pointless exercise to me
Ok now for a Bhuddist Temple, yep we even manage to lookat one as well. Here we happened to be very lucky the monks were actually in prayer. Our guide informed us that with all the tours she has done this is only the second time she has seen them in prayer. Oh yes females are allowed to become monks as well as children and their not called little monkeys ( oh I don't know so much they could be )
The next lot of pictures were on some of the side prayer rooms Apart from the jade figures the pictures denote some of the journeys the Emperors did etc.
Well how was i to know I wasn't supposed to take the pictures. The woman kneeling was hiding the sign saying no pictures to be taken. She informed me after her praying. (He He, to late darling I had got the potos)
All the above are among the earliest saved items of their type going back hundreds of years
Moving on, if your not bored already, to the site of the Terra Cotta Army with first a vist to the shop. All the items were for sale, excpt for our tour guide here in Zian, who is seen standing infront of the warrior models, to give some idea of the actual size of them as in the pits. Oh if you feel exhausted just looking at the pictures, think how we felt going around everywhere
Quick general rundown of the place. A farmer in 1974 was digging a well on his land and found some pottery fragments. On informing the authorities they took the land off him and discovered the warriors.
Yes we did meet the farmer who was busy signing books
The building above hold the excavation site but is about a quarter of a mile from the car park right in the middle of a laid out open area. Don't panic they do lay on a road train for those that need.
Our tour guide with replica warriors actual size for sale. Just out of interest she is Mongolian not Chinese. She is not restricted to only one child like the Chinese are.
She was very excited because her boyfriend had landed a job at the new starbuck coffee bar which was about to open that night. She had an invite to the opening. Now I know you didn't wish to know that but the competition for a job there was fierce.
And now for the ladies here who can no longer manage a man of that size, why not try this size instead
Terra Cotta army Zian, (pronounced see-an) China. the ones at the back were broken by the following Emporers army. It takes about 9 months to restore each one
Restoration
[
AS found (about 15/20 ft below ground level)
Restored ready for exhibitions etc
We also took in a show at the top theatre in Zian together with a help yourself meal.
Just to finish up a few bits and pieces left out
an Emporers bed above and seat below taken thru glass
Boats hired on lake
A couple of bridges and below a typical arch with a high step to stop demons etc passing through.
Water Jugs found in Terra Cotta pits
Additional pictures
At the theatre in Zian
As far as you can go on this section of the great wall
 Admin Team
|
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: South Wales, UK
Posts: 15,385
 |
Looks like you had a nice time Bazza - definitely lots of photo ops there, would love to go one day!
|
Kit 1 Nikon D300 Nikon 55-200mm VR |
Kit 2 Nikon D40 Nikon 18-55mm |
|
|
My Compact/P&S: Panasonic Lumix TZ7 |
|
Senior Member
|
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: east sussex
Posts: 3,484
|
Ok why show a picture of a glass cabinet? well this one is rather special. it is the only one in the world to have a glass top inlade with jade. To this day nobody can discover how it was achieved. The cabinet is what our indoor aquariums are now
This is a copy in stone of a wooden boat used by the wicked Empress Chi Chi ( pronounced Si Si).
Couple of things to mention about this lady, on the original boat on the top deck she had a huge mirror installed to see what was going on behind her, while if anyone stood infront to block her view they didn't live long. Why called the Wicked Empress ? ooh she was a nasty piece of work. when the Emperors small boys got to maturity, even though she was their nanny, she had them killed so she could rule instead.
The man made lake is hand dug and 7 miles square. Unfortunately it was too misty to get any good photos of the lake itself
A couple of pictures I missed, its a bit out of sequence but i thought interesting anyway
Bazza
 Senior Member
|
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Leicestershire, UK
Posts: 2,133
|
Bazza, xie xie ni. Hen hao! (Thank you Bazza, very good)
I actually speak a few words of Mandarin Chinese. Have been learning on and off for about 3 years but the sum total sounds more like I have been learning 3 hours! I have quite a few Chinese friends and became absorbed into their community when in the Middle East. I was made to feel very welcome and learn't some aspects of the delicate art of being Chinese. Socials skills in their community aren't necessarily what we think to be acceptabe in the West. Won't go on, other than to say I have a massive interest in the country. English is taught in many schools now although there remains a massive percentage of poor rural people and older people who know none of it.
It's great to have you share the pictures. I know it's a tourist route and you see what they want you to in Beijing and Xi'an but nevertheless these are a big interest to me. Happy to see more!
I actually speak a few words of Mandarin Chinese. Have been learning on and off for about 3 years but the sum total sounds more like I have been learning 3 hours! I have quite a few Chinese friends and became absorbed into their community when in the Middle East. I was made to feel very welcome and learn't some aspects of the delicate art of being Chinese. Socials skills in their community aren't necessarily what we think to be acceptabe in the West. Won't go on, other than to say I have a massive interest in the country. English is taught in many schools now although there remains a massive percentage of poor rural people and older people who know none of it.
It's great to have you share the pictures. I know it's a tourist route and you see what they want you to in Beijing and Xi'an but nevertheless these are a big interest to me. Happy to see more!
|
Senior Member
|
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Kolossi, Cyprus
Posts: 1,554
|
wow - what an interesting photojournal of your trip.
Thank you for taking the time to explain what the images are and add your personal anecdotes and experiences.
An enjoyable read.
Thank you for taking the time to explain what the images are and add your personal anecdotes and experiences.
An enjoyable read.