Goji Trip Picture Page 16

Kelly - 108 Dagobas (Yibailingba Ta).

Lying on the eastern slope of the Jiakou Mountain, stand the impressive 108 Dagobas (Yibailingba Ta). This group of buildings were originally built in the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368 AD), and are arranged in twelve rows, tapering from one to nineteen, in the shape of a large equilateral triangle. The largest dagoba by far sits at one corners, and all are pure white in color, contrasting nicely with the yellow desert environment, and Tibetan in style.

This dagoba complex is a cenotaph (monument) for Buddhism. The number 108 is a Buddhist number that is meant to represent all of the mistakes that even the most humble of worshippers are liable to fall prey to. A devout Buddhist is to wear a rosary with 108 beads and say prayers 108 times in acknowledgement of man's sins and to stave off such unlucky occurrences.

Kelly stoked to begin his "flight", that's what they call it. We were stupid tourists and paid an extra five bucks to sit in first class, we had the whole car to ourselves.

Maglev, the world's fastest train.

Overhead, like a giant scoreboard, an LED blinks out our record-breaking progress till we top 431 Kilometers per hour.

More beautiful fruit. This one tiny market rivals most USA super-market produce sections. Another crate of ripe mangosteen fruit can be seen in the front row

Previous

Next