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November 8, 2006 - Guyuan, China

Dong Shan Ho!

Red Army

Sunday decided to live up to its name. I hear from many that Guyuan is experiencing the best Fall they have had in years. Must coincide with my stay.

I got a call early - 8AM - from a friend that wanted to climb the nearby Dong Shan. I think I’m missing part of the name - but its a small mountain just east of town. We met and got started. Surprisingly there were already people coming down the steep path.

The mountain itself is barely that, but the walk is beautiful. You climb out of the valley that Guyuan is situated in and slowly begin to see the surrounding mountain ranges. The steep path switchbacks past a number of smallish temples.

We stopped at the first temple to light some incense for the old teacher Confucius. I asked about the placement of the temples and got an interesting story and a small drawing.

It seems the mountain is divided into 3 “zones” of beliefs. The base of the mountain is reserved for Confucius, the middle for Fo (Buddhism) and the peak for Dao.

I wasn’t able to dig up anything on Google about belief zoning codes - I’m not sure that it applies to any other mountain that this one, if I got accurate information or this really is a phenomenon.

Sounds like it’s time to do some research.

» Link lovin’

This is a special Link Lovin’ edition devoted to November pleasures.

Katherine Harris

Rick Santorum

Mike DeWine

» The Jetsam of Note

Web logs are fun to dig through. How else would I know that this site is currently #2 on Google for the phrase “mei you.” That’s right, “mei you.” Mandarin for “don’t have”.

Even better, somebody came upon this site while searching for:

chairman mao mole school lesson

ktv nanjing

And, best for last:

how to clean a guinea pig s butt the tutorial

Getting man-hugs from wax dudes now, huh? Maybe they're called the Red Army cuz they can make a guy blush.

Great pic. ;o)

- Siobhan on a Saturday

I try my best!

- Allister on a Saturday
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