The Golden Man the father of Taoism

From the panda reserve in the distance you could see a golden man , all the volunteers were keen to get up close and see this dominant figure.

We had to have lunch at 11 so we had time to walk up the mountain and be back for our afternoon shift. He was always referred to as the Golden man by us and by Tiger who looked after us at the base but this was Lao Tsu or Tzu. Lao Tsu  was a generation before Confucius about 600 BC.  Lao Tzu is the father of the Chinese spiritual tradition Taoism, mainly because of his text called Tao te Ching (Tao: the way of all life, te: the fit use of life by men, ching: text or classic). Lao Tsu believed that the way to happiness was for people to learn to "go with the flow." During my time in in China, going with the flow was very relaxing. Lao Tzu was not his real name, but an honorific given to the sage, meaning “Old Master.”

Once again we made our way up the beautiful mountain.  We passed a group of school children who seeing us began to chant.  When we inquired what they were chanting it turns out it was 'foreigner' . Once we smiled they all wanted to wave and say "hello". 

 The views from the platform were beautiful we were so high up and the statue was huge.

 We climbed back down a different way, passing lovely art work and very colourful buildings.  We also bumped into another group of excited children.

Old housing on way back down mountain 

Nestled under the Qin Lin mountains this important cultural area is a peaceful and beautiful place to be.  There were trees strewn with red ribbons and prayer requests.  The area is changing rapidly, they are investing in new eco  buildings to rehouse many of the people still living in the mountains.  The area has become a ecological conservation area and by moving people out of the mountains they are hoping to re -green the mountain and allow a better habitat for biodiversity. Just down the road from this wonderful place in the mountains there are new buildings and shops rapidly being built. Right next to the Panda base a brand new Daoist Spa opened while we were there.

Daoist Spa, all heated with solar and natural gas with low carbon emissions.

We made it back for 2pm afternoon shift, more carrying of great bundles of bamboo, a little sweeping of poo and leaves , making sure the pandas were happy for another two hours before the next feeding time.