Slide shows on China

Opening slide on Buddhist cave art

One of the things I like about my new Cheryl's China website is the ability to easily add slide shows. So far, I've done one on sites I've visited on the Great Wall of China and another on snack foods that can be found at the Wangfujing night food market in Beijing.

I'm working on another right now called Buddhist cave art. It's primarily about the Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang, but does have a few photos of Thousand Buddha Hill outside of Jinan which I visited on my first trip to China in 1984.

Buddhist cave art is fascinating, with carvings of statues ranging from a couple of inches tall to tens of feet high. Cave art may be a slight misnomer as the unique statues are carved into a hillside in such a manner they look like they are in caves. Cave art flourished in the 5th and 6th centuries. Much of the cave art is deteriorating from being exposed to the elements for so long, but what remains is quite impressive and worth a visit.

While Thousand Buddha Hill has only a thousand Buddhas carved into a hillside, Longmen has more than 100,000 statues of Buddha and his disciples. It is a particularly scenic setting alongside the Yi River about nine kilometers from central Luoyang.

More slide shows are on the drawing board, so check my website frequently. I have around 25,000 photos of China, so I've got a lot to choose from.

Are you going to China?

If you're planning a trip to China, be sure to check out my website, Cheryl's China. If you have questions about traveling in China, especially Beijing, feel free to email me.