A Chinese style bridge at West Lake (Xi Hu) in Hangzhou. As you can see, it is impossible to have good weather all the time on a 6 month trip. Xi Hu used to be idyllic, but on a cloudy, foggy day combined with smog that is not so special. Below some photos of Xi Hu from Pixabay to show the beauty of West Lake / Hangzhou.

Huangshan or Yellow Mountain is a mountain range in the Anhui province of China. The landscape is known for the many granite rocks that rise from a sea of clouds. The Huangshan mountain range is a popular tourist destination roughly 400 kilometers east of Shanghai.

Chaotic scene at a market in Zhengzhou, China Zhengzhou is a city of more than 10 million inhabitants and the capital of Henan province. It’s located roughly 700 kilometers south of Beijing and 900 kilometers west of Shanghai. The local market was quite chaotic, the weather grey but there was also a lot of smog.

Martial arts students practicing during sunset in the training center near the Shaolin temple (Shaolin Si) in Henan province, China Shaolin Kung Fu or Shaolin Wushu is one of the oldest and most famous styles of wushu. In Shaolin there are thousands of youngsters practicing many hours a day and dreaming of becoming a Kung Fu star. Shaolin is close to the city of Zhengzhou.    

Huge Buddha statue in the Longmen cave-temple complex near Luoyang This impressive temple complex is located 12 kilometres south of Luoyang in Henan province. There are thousands of Buddhist statues which were carved as outside rock reliefs and inside artificial caves excavated from the limestone cliffs. The huge statue of Shakyamuni Buddha is “looking” over the Yi River.

Terracotta Army in Xi’an The Terracotta Army is the name for the archaeological find of about 8,000 terracotta figures that were given as grave goods to the first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huangdi. The terracotta figures are located between Mount Li and the city of Xi’an (Shaanxi province, China). The remains at the tomb of Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The fortifications of Xi’an or Xi’an City Wall This impressive wall is one of the oldest, largest and best preserved Chinese city walls.

The Great Mosque of Xi’an in Shaanxi province. The Great Mosque was first build in 742. It’s located in the Muslim quarter Xi’an and still an active place of worship.