Suzette and I travelled to the city of Tai Erzhuang. This is a beautiful,
yet small city in the southern part of Shan Dong province. The city is about
250 miles from Qingdao.
Tai Erzhuang is known best by the Battle of Tai'erzhuang battle that involved a Japanese plan to
conquer Xuzhou, a major city in the East. However, the Japanese failed. Why?
The did not consider the skill of the Chinese generals Li Zongren and Bai
Chongxi or the thousands of inconspicuous "farmers" in the area, who
were affiliated with Li Zongren and cut communication lines and supplies,
diverted streams, and ruined rail lines.
In addition, I
was surprised to learn a "dare to die corps" was effectively
used against Japanese units. Chinese troops strapped explosives like grenade
packs or dynamite to their bodies and threw themselves under Japanese tanks to
blow them up.
The Chinese
achieved a major victory, the first of the Nationalist alliance in the war. The
battle broke the myth of Japanese military invincibility and improved Chinese morale.
Sadly, the conflict
left a once beautiful and ancient city in ruin. A few years, a major effort to
has be launched to restore the city. I believe they have accomplished what they
set out to do. The following pictures demonstrate this.
Here are a few colleagues and exchange students from Korea.
There are some re;ieliefs up the middle of the stairs
Both the above and below pictures ate of the hotel we stayed at.
Suzette in the lobby of the hotel.
Tai Erzhuang is a city of canals. It is really interesting because the city is not along the coast, it is a lot like Venice
I hoped to get a nice night shoy of the many canals.
This is a restored Buddhist tTemple. There are several in the old city///
Standing in front of a merchant's building
The practice of foot binding was prevalent up until the the emperor and monarchy ended in the early part of the 1900s/ Note the length of the shoe.; a mere 3 inches. I did not take a picture, but there were x-rays in this exhibition showing yhe result of binding the feet/ It as a
Yes, it is a Catholic Church. There were many missionaries from many denominations proselyting in China over the past couple hundred years.
t
We are not sure if this was a monastery, but it was next to the Catholic Church and the architecture is European.
Not sure what the ceremony was for, but it was interesting.
This is a statue of the Great Man. His name is Dr. Sun Yat Sen, simply know as the "Great Man." He is the father of Chinese thought and was the first President and founding father of the Republic of China; their George Washington.
Venice has their gondola's. This city has their version as well.
This statue is supposed to give you long life. I thought it looked more like my brother, Mike.
These are staff members with the Foreign Affairs Office. They are all eating hot peppers. I cold not believe Suzette joined them. I was a coward.
The sign is in ancient Chinese. It is the name of the city.
This is our train.
It was a great trip. Thank you, Qingdao University.
No comments:
Post a Comment