9 September – Shenyang, China
This city was the original seat of power of the Qing Dynasty, founded by an upstart Manchu leader in the early 17th century, around the end of Queen Elizabeth I’s rule in England. The Qing Dynasty gets credit for unifying a number of warring fiefdoms into ancient China. We visited the Qing Imperial Palace yesterday, which is second in size and historical import only to the Forbidden City in Beijing.
Lots of Chinese folk were there learning about their heritage, but very few Westerners, if any, other than ourselves.
Zeng then introduced us to another friend from his university days – Tong, a professor at Shenyang University. Tong will be taking us to visit Manchuria and Inner Mongolia, an undertaking for which he is uniquely qualified, as his father is Manchu and his mother Mongol. He took us for a short walk to a Buddhist monastery right in the heart of the city.
The lama gave us some blessed prayer flags, which will ultimately festoon some part of Henry’s homestead in East Texas, hopefully bringing us good fortune and peace.
The monastery was a splendid, colorful oasis of tranquility and beauty.
Quite a treat both esthetically and spiritually!
Tong will be picking us up tomorrow, along with his wife Ooh, and perhaps one of his students – and we will be heading by car further into Manchuria and the countryside.
Unfortunately, we had to bid farewell here to Zeng, who must return to his responsibilities with Nanjing University’s agricultural extension service. We hope to catch up with him and his wife Lisa again soon, either on this trip or when he can manage a trip to our country.
Emerald Isle to the Norse Lands 
Thank you Robbie for keeping up with your blog. I have loved reading each entry. I got behind due to Harvey’s visit and long work hours. But we were blessed….no damage. It’s so exciting to see Henry and you having a great time. What an adventure! I would like to think I could do such a trip, but then reality hits me. So to see all the great photos you’ve posted has been wonderful. Be safe and enjoy more sunsets!
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Thanks Ellen. But of course you could do this. All it takes is time and the “want-to”! Time the big factor for most…..
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