Jianshui County

The restored Chaoyang Gate overlooks the center of town.  Nice place to go up, hang out and have some tea while watching the sunset!

A walk through town....the four hole well!

One of the big attractions in town is the Zhu family garden.  I chose not to go inside.  In addition, Jianshui has the second largest Confucian temple in China.  After just having visited the largest in Qufu....no need to repeat that experience.

Instead, I took a bunch of students to the Swallow's Cavern about 30 km out of town.

The famed swallows arrive in mid-March so we didn't experience the swallows, but the cave was awesome!

The tour is about a 1.5km walk into the cave (up and down the sides as well, it was quite an impressive tour) and then a boat ride back out!

A stop at a local pottery house.  I just love the cigarette in hand while working his craft.

And AGAIN!  Look at the motor that spins the wheel!

The finishing details!

According to our guide, the Shuanglong (Twin Dragon) Bridge is one of the dozen or so covered bridges in China.  Or something like that.  It's famous and significant. I just think it's cool looking and it looks even better as it crosses a dry riverbed.

Jianshui has many well preserved hutongs and this one was turned into a restaurant!

During the trip, we celebrated the 60th birthday of colleague Mr. P-C.  Here's our director giving a toast.  Since he was the eldest at the table, the custom is for him to drink with each person younger than him.  Mr. P-C was in for a long evening!