Travels Through China, 1987

I attended the XI International Carboniferous Congress in Beijing, China in 1987. The congress meets every four years somewhere around the globe and is partly sponsored by UNESCO. It is a meeting to gather the world's scientists who investigate the geology and paleontology of the Carboniferous Period. I was accompanied by my wife and by my parents. My father (Don Sr.) had been stationed in China at the end of World War II and loved the Chinese people (see his photographs). I thought it would be interesting to see China through my father's eyes. In preparation I studied Mandarin for two years at my university. The following is our account of the trip. The photographs were taken by me and my father. Some of the slides are out of order because they were not numbered.

18 August 1987, Tuesday

We drove from London to Erlanger, Kentucky together and stayed at the Howard Johnson's Airport Hotel.

19 August, Wednesday

We caught the hotel shuttle to the Cincinnati International Airport and took Northwestern flight NW-1207 to Memphis. From Memphis we took the NW-991 flight to Seattle and stayed at the Nendel's Motor Inn.

20 August, Thursday

Mid-day we caught NW-7 flight to Tokyo. Our plans went awry from there. After several hours of flying we heard some screaming and crying. It was coming from a young lady about 14 in age. She was with a group of other young teenagers. The stewards were attending to her but she kept screaming. It appeared to be some sort of medical condition. After several minutes of this, the captain announced that we had a change in plan and were making an emergency landing in Anchorage, Alaska. We were too heavy with fuel to land so the captain released most of our fuel over the ocean, which took awhile. Meanwhile, it was determined that the young lady was having a panic attack, she had never flown before. However, at that point, we didn't have enought fuel to make it to Tokyo so we landed at Anchorage. There, we refueled and took off for Tokyo again.

21 August, Friday

We arrived at Tokyo many hours later than we were supposed to. We missed our connection to Beijing. At evening we were taken by bus to a nice hotel in Narita. Our rooms and meals were provided by the airlines. We all had lots of sushi.

22 August, Saturday

We were taken back to the airport and caught a plane to Beijing. By the time we arrived, the field trip that we were supposed to take had already left for Taiyuan, Shānxi Province. As it turned out, there were several geologists on this flight that had been on the same Northwestern flight from Seattle and we had all missed the start of our field trip.

• waiting at the airport in Beijing

Eventually, we were taken to the train station and boarded the train to Taiyuan. We were accompanied by a Chinese university student, Li, who helped us along the way. It turned out to be a very scenic journey.

• we drove past Tian An Men Square
• train station in Beijing
• on the train to Taiyuan, dining car, closer, friends at next table, our soft-class cabin, it was hot when we stopped, another, aisleway view, another view, yet another, 
• view from train: green locomotive, rock load, rail bed, another view, mountain, terraces and dipping strata, another view, kiln, rail bridge, another view, green hills, river bend, steam locomotive, another view, bicyclists waiting to cross, hillside village, another view, yet another, steam locomotive, terraces and corn, railroad bridge, father and child, village, cultivated fields, another field, sheep, more sheep, yet more, cultivated field, haystacks, mother with children, mother and children, hazy hills, green hills, distant bridge, dipping strata in quarry, workers on break, village, distant cliff, another view, distant hills, green hills, hills and river, village, river, waiting at wall, bridge over creek,

Upon arrival at Taiyuan (Wikipedia entry), we were taken to the Yingze Hotel where we met with the other participants of the field trip. We had only missed the introductory briefing about the trip. [Note: Taiyuan and most of this field trip are in Shānxi Province (Wikipedia entry), whereas Xian and the last of the field trip are in Shănxi Province (Wikipedia entry). The words are spelled the same in Romance languages (i.e. in Pinyin romanization), but their tones are different, Shānxi has a high pitch, whereas Shănxi has a dipping pitch.]

• Yingze Hotel in Taiyuan, closer view, our leaders on the steps, waiting to check in, welcome sign across street, market building, another view, yet another, closer view, old building, street view, archway, through another arch, another view, old building,

That night we all ate together at the hotel banquet room. The Chinese leaders and graduate students couldn't believe that I could speak Mandarin (although, not well). For the rest of the trip, they asked me to sit at their table, which I did. I often got to sit next to local dignitaries as well. My two-year struggle to learn Mandarin paid off.

• at the table,

23 August, Sunday

This field trip, Excursion 1: Taiyuan-Lingchuan is one of many field trips offered before the actual Congress. The guidebook is "Carboniferous and Permian Stratigraphy in Shanxi," by Hu et al, 1987, Beijing. We will be looking at two basins, the first was the West Hill (Xishan) basin west of Taiyuan, the second will be Laojingou basin in Lingchuan County in southern Shānxi Province.

After breakfast we loaded onto the fieldtrip bus and headed to the Qiligou section in the Xishan basin.

• children, 
• view of countryside, horizontal strata, view from bus, drift coal mine, looking at Pennsylvanian and Lower Permian strata on ridge, shaley outcrop (probably Penchi Fm.), another view, closer view, yet another, fining-upward sequence of channel fill (probably the Chilikou Ss. of Taiyuan Fm.), another view, closer view, discussion, another view, locals watching us, man with carrying pole, another view, 

For lunch we had a picnic in the field.

After lunch we continued our look at the Qiligou section and then the Xiedaogou section.

In late afternoon, we headed back to our hotel in Taiyuan and had another banquet dinner in the hotel.

24 August, Monday

After breakfast we headed for the Xishan basin again to look at the Shihhotse and Shihchienfeng formations.

We returned to the hotel for lunch. After lunch we boarded our field trip bus and went to Jinci Park (Wikipedia entry), an old temple complex centered around the Jin Springs. We toured the park and took lots of photographs.

• entrance arches for Jinci Park, another arch, bridge to Hall of the Mother Goddess (Shèngmǔdiàn, 1023-1032 AD), closer view, at entrance, local guide, cast iron lion, iron temple guardian, closer view, another guardian, well?, another view, pond, 3,000-year-old cypress, ceramic temple guardian, closer view, another view, Jinci Temple, another view, closer view, another, pond with stone animals, another view, man in doorway, circular archway, closer view, market area, park, children, more children, another view, yet another, market area, another view, cooking area, another view, group of friendly students, closer view, curious locals, 

In the evening we had a banquet dinner at the hotel.

25 August, Tuesday

After an early breakfast, we boarded our field trip bus and headed for Lingchuan in southern Shānxi Province.

• busy street, another view, curvy road, another view, roadside food stall, bicycle repair shop, another view, green hills, terraces, more terraces, another view, loess deposit, loess and corn, Cannabis, close-up, honey wagon, wedding ornaments, lime kiln, roadside market, market, locals, watermelon delivery, another view, family-planning poster, another view, busy street, locals, 

We had lunch with the 114th Team of Shanxi Coal Geology and Exploration and spent the early afternoon meeting with the team.

• group photo, another view, leader with children, children of the team, another view, yet another, stone centerpiece,

We checked into the Lingchuan Hotel and saw crowds of people waiting to see us on the other side of the compound fence.

• hotel compound with crowd of locals, closer view, another view, even closer view, hotel staff,

Later in the afternoon we were escorted to a temple complex in downtown Lingchuan. We were not allowed to take photographs. Thousands of people were cordoned off, they were all there to see us foreigners. This was not a tourist destination and we were probably the first "outside-country people" they had seen. It was a little uncomfortable at first, but we felt like rock stars. Everywhere we went in China, we had crowds that would form around us. It was unnerving at first, but all you would have to say is Ni hao and they would all smile and show friendly faces.

After the tour we went back to the hotel and had a dinner banquet.

26 August, Wednesday

After our breakfast we boarded out field trip bus and drove into the countryside to the Laojingou section. We spent the morning looking at the outcrops in this area.

• locals at intersection waiting to see us, 
• drift mine at study area, another view, overview of study area, mine tailings, curious workers, mine, mine tailings, brick building, another view, discussion, another view, yet another, more discussions, view of study area, another view, walk to outcrops, elaborate signs, Stop 1--unconformable contact between Pennsylvanian-age Penchi Fm. and underlying Ordovician Fengfeng Fm., sulfur ovens, closer view, yet another (also view of Stop 3--Songyaogou Ls and underlying coal), Stop 2--contact between Penchi and overlying Taiyuan Fm. (also Pennsylvanian), Stop 3--Songyaogou Limestone (Taiyuan Fm.), Stop 4--Laojingou Ls. (Taiyuan Fm.) overlying No. 13 coal bed, Stop 5--Hongfangou Ls. (Taiyuan Fm.) and underlying No. 11 coal bed, another view, plant fossil Compsopteris wongii?,

We went back to the hotel for lunch.

In the afternoon we went back to another area of the Laojingou section.

• overview of afternoon study area, another view, closer view, similar view, yet another, horse cart, Stop 9--upper part of Taiyuan Fm., Stop 10--No. 3 coal bed and plant-fossil bearing strata (all Shansi Fm., Pennsylvanian age)(contact with overlying Lower Permian Shihhotse Fm. is covered, field-trip leaders at Stop 10, closer view, Stop 12--Lower Shihhotse (Lower Permian) leader with plant fossil, another view, plant fossil Compsopteris wongii? from same stop, Lobatannularia sinensis (same stop), other plant fossils, curious locals in background, another, another view, 

We went back to the hotel and had a very fancy banquet. They had intricately carved turnips(?) and they gave one to my Mom (she left it in her room).

• carved turnip or radish,

27 August, Thursday

After an early-morning breakfast we boarded our field trip bus and headed for the city of Luoyang, the City of Peonies (Wikipedia entry), in Henan Province.

• morning break while travelling, another view, 
• crossing the Yellow River (Huang He), another view, yet another, one more,

We checked in to the Luoyang Hotel and had lunch there.

• mural at hotel, another view,

After lunch, we went to see the famous stone carvings at Longmen Grottoes (Dragon Gate grottoes, Wikipedia entry).

• the Yi River, fishing on the Yi at entrance to grottoes, illegal souvenir stands carry their items to the other side when authorities approach, child at ticket booth, walkway past grottoes, carvings at many levels, large and small, niche, several niches, niche entrance, inside niche, niche guards, two guards, another view, grotto with niches, painted niches, large statue, another view, another large statue, another view, closer view, another view, locals posing, field trip leaders, large statues, close up, leader with statue, leaders and participants, another view, close up, two large statues, upper niches,

Then we had dinner at the hotel, cleaned up a bit and the boarded our overnight train to Xian, Shănxi Province (not Shānxi Province).

28 August, Friday

In the morning we arrived in Xian. We had breakfast at Northwest University. That morning we visited the famous Terracotta Army (Wikipedia entry) of emperor Qin Shi Huang (Wikipedia entry)(Qin Shi Huang Bing Ma Yong Bo Wu Guan). Photographs were not permitted in the pits—one German lady found out the hard way, her film was ripped out of her camera by guards—so we didn't take photographs. We did take photographs in the museum.

• locals, bicycles, Xian city wall and guard post, another view, 
• at the entrance to the terracotta army museum, another view with handmade parasol, 
• terracotta horse and man, horse and soldier, kneeling soldier, close-up of another, painted head, diorama,

We had lunch at Lingtong. After lunch our group visited the Banpo Museum (Wikipedia entry) and the Shănxi Provincial Museum (Wikipedia entry), but my father was not feeling well, so he visited a local doctor. He felt better the next day.

• flat-pebble conglomerate, Cambrian algal coal,

We had a banquet dinner at Northwest University.

• banquet, similar view, yet another, another view, another table, yet another, waitress, waitresses, a toast, second view, another, and another,

29 August, Saturday

After breakfast we visited the Institute of Geology and Exploration CCMRI, Ministry of Coal Industry, and had discussions. We also did some sightseeing around Xian including Huaqing Hot Springs (Wikipedia entry) where Chiang Kai Shek was captured by Maoist troops.

• Huaqing hot springs buildings, roof decoration, lake, across lake, similar view, another view, local at lake, two locals, building with tree, small pavillion, another view, yet another, similar view, leaders, hill-side steps, another view, yet another, participant, participants, red columns, with blue pot, close up, even closer, buildings, roof, 
• carpet and tapestry shop, examining carpets, another view,

For lunch we visited the famous Jiao Zi Restaurant on Jiefang Road. This restaurant makes jiaozi (Wikipedia entry) also known as dianxin (or dimsum, Wikipedia entry) and here, we were offered 35 different types. I ate one of each type and I was stuffed. They were delicious and worth it.

That afternoon we flew from Xian to Beijing on CACC-1202, ending our field trip. We checked into the Friendship Hotel in Beijing, the Congress hotel.

30 August, Sunday

After breakfast we went to the Beijing Science Hall for registration for the congress. Here, we got all of our tickets for excursions and invitations for banquests, etc. After registration, we toured the Forbidden City (Wikipedia entry). Dad remembers the Forbidden City after WWII and said that it was empty of people and completely run down then. He also remembered large walls that ran down the street; now they are all gone.

• entrance to Forbidden City, view through arch, compound before next wall, closer view, next compound, pavillion, arched walkways, view through arch, walkway, platform, steps, brass pots, tiled wall, bronze lion, carved slope, bronze burner, brass lion, roof ornaments, closer view, another view, elaborate tiled wall, closer view, yet another, side compound, pavillion, large pavillion, large stone, park in background, brass pot, pavillion, another compound, carved slope, tree, brass lion, trees and lions, dragon corner stones, local at sundial, resting in the shade, round roof, another view, red building, another view, along the wall, fine for smoking, 

After the Forbidden City, we went to the Temple of Heaven (Wikipedia entry).

• entrance to Temple of Heaven, second entrance, Temple of Heaven through arch, another view, yet another, closer view, closer still, steps to temple, on the platform, view from platform, doorway to temple, inside, ceiling, 
• picnic area, children, closer view, split-bottom outfit, carved wall, mother with stroller, another view, yet another, baby, 
• three arch gate, three more arched gates with blue roofs, another view, closer view,
• Circular Mound Altar (Wikipedia entry), view from platform, view of entrance temple,

31 August, Monday

At 8:30 we went to the Opening Ceremony of the Congress in the Great Hall of the People (Wikipedia entry).

• going to opening ceremony, another view, closer view, entrance to Tian An Men square, another view, 
• opening ceremony, another view,

That afternoon, I attended the academic sessions, while Anne and my parents went on a tour of the Fragrent Hills and other sights.

• map, pottery shop, circular archway, bamboo scaffolding, another view, small pavillion, another view, three-way gate, carved ivory at Friendship store, duck master, another building, tour group, carved bridge,

That evening we attended the Buffet Reception at the Northeast Dining Hall of the Friendship Hotel.

1 September, Tuesday

After breakfast, I once again attended academic sessions and my family toured a Children's Center, Tian An Men Square (Wikipedia entry), and other sights.

• children, some more, at play table, discussion group,

2 September, Wednesday

Today, there were no academic sessions, so we visited the Great Wall (Wikipedia entry) at Badaling (Wikipedia entry), the Summer Palace (Wikipedia entry), and then the Ming Tombs (Wikipedia entry).

• distant ridge, another view, another, bridge, 
• Great Wall at Badaling, sign, Cosmos flowers, another view, the wall, similar, closer view, another, yet another, similar, another view, climbing the wall, on the wall, distant wall, on the wall, another view, yet another, going down, another view, 
• Summer Palace: bronze dragon, another view, lake at palace, another view, boat in lake, father and child, photographer, covered walkway, another view, yet another, another, similar, bridge at lake, steady tree, Marble Boat, another view, yet another, and another, one more, yet another, pond, steps to building, hillside buildings, another view, another, distant buildings, another view, hill-top pavillion, lake and sky, another view, yet another, lakeview, rock garden, hillside building, another view, red building, tiled roofs, more roofs, green roofs, another view, yet another, large building, rock centerpiece, tourists, painted building, locals, in costume, another view, red building, roof figures, covered walkway, yellow roofs, red building and arch, painted building, complex roof, building on rocks, another view, 
• Ming Tombs: guard animals along the processional way, souvenir stands, another view, yet another, another stand, girl at stand, closer view, red building, closer view, walkway, wall, corner of building and wall, entrance to tomb, exit, corner dragon, white stone stela, red building, costumes for photographs, another view, Shuko in costume, another view, stone centerpiece,

That evening we all attended the Cultural Performances.

• musicians, another view, closer view, another view, and another,

3 September, Thursday

Today I attended the academic sessions. Anne, Mom, and Dad went to the Beijing Zoo and other sights.

• panda, trying to get inside, another view, on a rock,

4 September, Friday

Once again, I attended the academic sessions. I presented several papers, but I don't remember which days I presented them. My family went to the Lama Temple and several other sights.

• ornate building, another view, yet another, more buildings, arches in gate, monk, another view, row of monks, altar, gilded Buddha, another view, tai chi demonstration, marionette, another view, painting, 
• large bronze bells at the bell museum, big bell, bell ringers, water bell, another view, 
• home visit, courtyard, another view, yet another, another courtyard, workers, farmers' market, street view, house,

That night we attended the Closing Banquet at the Kun Lun Hotel.

• my Chinese friends, good food, another view,

5 September, Saturday

Today we start Excursion 5: Carboniferous and Permian Stratigraphy in Guizhou, Wei, et al, Beijing, 1987. However, plans have been changed and instead of starting in Guilin, Guangxi Province, we are running the field trip almost backwards and flying into Guiyang, Guizhou Province. Because our printed materials showed the original plans, I will have to try to reconstruct our actual itinerary from memory. Guizhou Province (Wikipedia entry) is a poor Semi-Autonomous region made up of a variety of minorities.

After landing in Guiyang, we boarded our field trip bus and headed to Anshun (Wikipedia entry). We saw lots of interesting sights along the way. We passed several butcher stands with dogs tied up next to the stands. Half carcasses of dogs could be seen hanging from the stands. Dog, cat, and snake are popular delicacies here.

• boy and ox, wagon-load of students, pinnacle karst and terra rosa, rice paddies, riverside, washing clothes, another view, more wash, washing water ox, stone-slab roof, more stone roofs, threshing, village, pinnacle karst and buckwheat, more buckwheat, distant pinnacles, tea plantation, another view, travel by foot, pinnacles, crops and pinnacles, village well, in town, plants drying, safety poster, limestone quarry, chilies drying, crops drying, stringing chilies, another town, market, cook, pinnacles, quarried pinnacles, carrying poles,  large pinnacles, distant pinnacles, more pinnacles, stone-slab roof, another view, thatch roof, stone roof, arched bridge, karst landscape, tile and thatch, green terraces, pinnacle, village and pinnacle, rough pinnacles, incomplete buildings, another view, terraces and pinnacles, another view, village, carrying pole, house up close, market cart, locals, produce, cemetery marker, another view, red chilies, thatched roofs, timbered building and thatched roof, village and pinnacles, village, oxen, house close-up, 
• lake at Anshun, another view, yet another, another, and another, one more, in town, family planning, at the window, in the garden, children, another,

During the entire field trip, we traveled through karst topography (Wikipedia entry), that is topography influenced by dissolution, usually of limestone. In Kentucky we have large areas of sinkhole plains, a type of karst. Mammoth Cave is in one. Here in Guizhou and Guangxi the karst topography was a type known as pinnacle karst (or Kegelkarst). Furthermore, along the Li River (Lijiang) near Guilin, the karst pinnacles were so extreme that the term, tower karst is used to describe it.

• dinner at the hotel, another view, yet another, and another,

That night at dinner, I mentioned to the medical doctor that accompanied us that I was feeling a little ill. My Mandarin wasn't good enough to elaborate.

6 September, Sunday

After breakfast, most of us waited while they loaded the field trip bus with the day's supplies. My family elected to go on a smaller excursion to see the local sights. The doctor came up to me and held my arm and led me onto the bus. I sat down and he took my temperature. Meanwhile the other participants also got on the bus and watched as the doctor dealt with me. Next he felt my pulse and looked at his watch. Then he turned his back to me and started getting out some equipment. I couldn't see what it was, but Walt Manger said, "Chesnut, if I were you, I'd start getting worried now. He's getting out a bunch of needles!" Everone was turned around to look at me and the doctor. Next, the doctor got out two fairly small needles with working ends about a third of an inch long (but with longer handles). He swabbed them with alcohol and then wiped the excess alcohol off with his fingers. He inserted the first one at the lower corner of my nose. I couldn't really feel anything, the needles were so fine. When he got to the place he wanted, he slowly twirled the needles. I could feel sort of an electrical pulse, it was a nerve he had gotten to. He left the needle there and put the next one on the other corner of my nose, doing exactly the same as the first. Then he got out two longer needles, working ends about one inch long (handles about two inches long). He put my hands on my knees, palm down, and put the needle into the joint where my thumb meets my wrist and then twirled the needle just like the others. And he proceeded to do the same with the fourth needle. Then he rolled my pant legs up over my knee and got out two very long needles with working ends about three inches long (not counting the handle). The other participants were wide-eyed. I couldn't imagine where he wanted to put that needle, I thought perhaps my calf muscle had enought flesh for it. But no, the needle went straight into my knee between my knee cap and my lower leg, not where I'd want to put a needle. He went deep with the needle and when he got about where he wanted, he looked up at my eyes for a reaction. When he got to the deep nerve, I nodded my head and he stopped, twirled the needle like the others. He did the same with the sixth needle. He went back to his seat and waited. Meanwhile I had these six antennae sticking out of me while the staff carried supplies through the bus. I was afraid the staff would hit the needles and jam them further into my body, so I tried to protect them with my hands and tried to stand. When I did this, I could feel the needles flex in my leg. After a few minutes he came back to me. He gave each needle another twirl and then took them out in the order that he had put them in. I was finally relieved. He brought me a cup of hot tea and threw in a couple of large pills. For the rest of the day, he observed me like a hawk. A couple of hours later, we had a meeting with some of the local officials and were offered tea. I got my cup and sat down, but before I could take a sip, the doctor came running over and dropped another couple of pills in my cup. He was very attentive. For the entire rest of the trip, no one else got sick. I think it was because of the cure. Decades later, a Japanese colleague of mine, Tetsuo, said he vividly remembered the acupunture on the bus!

Anyway, we proceeded along a very picturesque landscape of pinnacle karst. I took lots of photographs. We stopped to examine the Bianping Section of Pennsylvanian and Early Permian limestones.

• receiving our locally-made batik hats, another view, 
• locals in town, thrashing, more thrashing, local men sitting, ladies talking, stalks drying, stone and brick, rice paddies, courtyard, tile roof,  hay stack, pigs, baby carrier, folding clothes, everything drying, busy street, setting up stalls, market, busy street, child, market, another view, yet another, school kids, 
• field area (Bianping, Stop 7), scenic overlook, another view, pinnacle karst, another view, yet another, and another, another, different view, locals at intersection, candy for the kids, curious locals, watching us, Madonna and child, another view, our field area, another view, different view, walking to outcrop, another view, yet another, similar view, fieldtrip leaders at marker, fusulinid zonation (Houziguan Ls., Late Pennsylvanian-Early Permian), closer view (Triticites schwageriniformis mosquensis), another view,

After a day in the field, we returned to our hotel in Anshun. It was a beautiful setting close to a lake surrounded by pinnacle karst hills. We gathered for our group dinner. We had a variety of dishes, most with a sauce or gravy. The next day I found out that we had eaten dog, cat, snake, and carp. I would never have known if they hadn't told me.

• dinner banquet,

7 September, Monday

After breakfast we headed out for a cave tour at the Longgong Cave (Dragon Palace cave, VisitOurChina website), and then Huangguoshu Falls (Wikipedia entry), one of the largest in China. At the falls, we saw many of the Miao people (Wikipedia entry), a minority group.

• Longgong Cave: sign (Gong Long = Palace Dragon), falls in cave, another view, yet another, different view, another, 
• brick kiln, lime kilns, kiln workers, riverside, another view, carrying water, tall rice, 
• Huangguoshu Falls: the falls, another view with distant karst, similar view, another view, yet another, another, and another, closer view, another close one, yet another, another view, and another, view from trail, closer view, other side, behind falls, another view, base of falls, 
• Miao ladies selling souvenirs, another view, batik and embroidered clothing, enthusiastic salesmen, another view, Miao lady, another view,

8 September, Tuesday

Today we did field studies in the Dushan and Duyun areas.

• stone platform, school kids, chilies drying, chilies, graveyard, railroad crossing, another crossing, family, chilies, long pipe, curved pipe, another view, oxen walking, another ox, big hat, stone fence, in town, ladies on roadside, fabric shop, garlic, 
• Limushan (Muhua section, Stop 6): horse cart, woman and children, leader with poster, contact between Upper Devonian and Lower Mississippian (Gedongguan Bed of Wangyou Fm.), another view, cart again with stone, 
• Yashui section (Stop 5)(Late Mississippian): coral biostrom of Shansi Fm., rugose horn corals at same level, collection of corals at biostrom, large rugose horn coral, another view, view along biostrom, corals, wedding furniture carried over mountain, mother with children, another view, 
• picnic lunch: heavy corn, our view, discussions, 
• Baihupo section (Stop 1)(contact between Upper Devonian and Lower Mississipian strata): leader with poster, outcrop, 
• Ercengpo section (Stop 3)(Mississippian and Pennsylvanian age strata): leader with poster (this part is Pennsylvanian)

At night we had our field trip closing banquet. During the banquet a young lady poured very strong miaotai/maotai whiskey (baijiu or white spirits)(Wikipedia entry) down our throats as she sang a high-pitched song as part of a ceremony.

• river bend and tower in Duyun, tower, another view, yet another, bridge, another view, yet another, getting water, another view, closer view, building, mystery tower somewhere else, 
• closing banquet, chicken, the kitchen, waitress, maotai ceremony, another view, another, yet another, and again

We spent the night at our hotel in Duyun.

9 September, Wednesday

We took an overnight train trip from Duyun, Guizhou Province to Guilin, Guangxi Province.

• view from train, long train, dipping strata, corn and rice, hay, karst, ridges, cutting rice, another, pinnacle karst, curious local at depot, distant pinnacles, train and pinnacles, another view, yet another, and another, another, train and pinnacles, terraces, another view, closer view, another view, another view with pinnacle, valley, ridge, another ridge, rice paddies, steep hill, another view, pinnacles and paddies, another view, yet another, sawing, our train, passenger, distant pinnacles, braid plain, valley terraces, village, another, yet another, pinnacles, village, paddies, more paddies, distant hills, pinnacles, paddies, road, terraced paddies, terraces

10 September, Thursday

We took the famous riverboat trip down the Lijiang (Li River, Wikipedia entry) and saw lots of tower karst (see my comments about karst under 5 September above). We took a lot of photographs.

• tour boats, laundry, another boat, ferry, fishing cormorants (Wikipedia entry), bamboo boat, barge, boat for locals, cliff, tower karst, more towers, bamboo on riverbank, pinnacles and towers, tower, towers, more towers, dual towers, humid towers, towers, bamboo boat, towers behind us, bamboo, towers and pinnacles, distant view, three pinnacles, humid towers, tower, vegetation covered pinnacles, village and towers, another view, yet another, sun-lit towers, bamboo, another view, yet another, bridge, boats and towers, another view, yet another, similar view, another, yet another
• Walt and children, another view, yet another

11 September, Friday

We flew from Guilin to Guangzhou (Canton) and stayed at a hotel there.

12 September, Saturday

We took the train from Guangzhou to Hong Kong.

13 September, Sunday

We spent the day taking tours of the Hong Kong-Kowloon areas.

• view from high, skyscrapers, 
• Harbor tour: fish drying, closer view, restaurant boat, wooden boat, variety of boats, Sea Palace restaurant boat, taking photos, boats and bridge, closer view, boat building, another one, house boat, series of boats, house boat, another view, sailing boat, house boat, kids on boat, building boat, fishing boat, Alan taking photo, another view, variety of boats, house boat, building hull, small boat, boats and skyscrapers, nice wooden boat, houseboat with chickens, nice boat

14 September, Monday

We walked around Hong Kong and did some shopping.

• busy street, another street, another view, yet another, and another, one more, Capital Restaurant, duck

15 September, Tuesday

We flew on Northwestern NW-18 to Tokyo, then NW-12 to Detroit (crossing the international dateline and repeating the day), and finally NW-176 to Cincinnati and then back to home.