So after my Baijiu induced nap, my friend, her husband, and another teacher who was visiting relatives nearby went to an underground fall out shelter nearby.
Rural China is very different than similar areas in the USA. The area I drove through had a very different feel than driving through farm land in the USA.
We passed through some small ville's. It seems like towns are different outside of bigger settlements.
After a short drive, we came to what is either a provincial or national historic park. It had big brown and white signs, like those used in the USA to designate a national or state park.
Pulling up to the parking area, I spied a guard post and what I perceived to be a machine gun toting guard. For a second I was a little worried.
The guard was actually made of some kind of plaster. Pictures are below.
I suppose the park designers wanted to impress upon visitors that this area was, in fact, a top secret compound back during the time when it was in regular use.
We bought tickets and proceeded into the 131 Engineering Corp. underground fallout shelter complex.
Entering, you first walk into a round chamber with a huge metal wheel on the floor. The wheel is there so entering trucks can easily be turned around so they wont have to use reverse.
The tunnel went several hundred yards into the rocky hillside. It was lit with light sconces that were somewhat art deco in appearance.
There were several passages that branched off, which were not lit at all. I used the flashlight on my blackberry to illuminate the side chambers. There were huge foot think cast iron doors and various choke points where defenders could make a stand.
Down a couple passages, we started to come upon what appeared to be offices. Some had marble floors. There were larger ones that had wooden floors and spacious bathrooms
There were adjoining offices for Mr. and Mrs. Mao. Mrs. Mao's office batroom was complete with a bidet. Both bathrooms had a full bathtub. In Mrs. Mao's office was a huge picture of her with Richard Nixon.
I wandered off into several side passages and found rather extensive generation and ventilation systems. After a while, the passage stopped being lit and it appeared like the tunnel was not being preserved. At that point we turned around and headed back to the surface.
We went back to my friends house and had dinner. Dinner was also eaten on tables outside. It was kind of cold. For dinner there were only about 15-20 people. There were alot of people coming and going to say hi and eat a plate of food. Alot of grandchildren and nephews showed up and wandered around.
Shortly thereafter, we went to a nearby hot spring. First I bought a new bathing suit for about 2 dollars. One of the teachers I was with also bought a bathing suit.
The hot springs were built on a pretty large scale. We entered a giant building, then changed in the locker room. After a shower, me and my friends brother dashed out to the nearest warm pool.
The others joined us, and we walked around a sort of circuit of different temperature pools. Each pool purported to have different essential oils in it, but I could detect no difference between pools except that some were warmer than others. We were there for an hour or so. It was very relaxing. After we had our fill of soaking, I took a short steam bath which was great.
Then we went back to the house where I pretty quickly fell asleep.
Below are some pictures of the underground bunker.
Engineering Corp. 131 Underground Bunker Complex.
Comrade, I am concerned you have strayed from the path of Lenin!
Great fixtures....
Mrs. Mao's bidet. How French!
Mao's bathtube.
In Mao's underground office.
Secret attack plans they left up on a wall... not!
Mrs. Mao sitting with tricky Dick Nixon.
Mao's portrait above all of his generals.
Long passages into solid rock.
Rural China is very different than similar areas in the USA. The area I drove through had a very different feel than driving through farm land in the USA.
We passed through some small ville's. It seems like towns are different outside of bigger settlements.
After a short drive, we came to what is either a provincial or national historic park. It had big brown and white signs, like those used in the USA to designate a national or state park.
Pulling up to the parking area, I spied a guard post and what I perceived to be a machine gun toting guard. For a second I was a little worried.
The guard was actually made of some kind of plaster. Pictures are below.
I suppose the park designers wanted to impress upon visitors that this area was, in fact, a top secret compound back during the time when it was in regular use.
We bought tickets and proceeded into the 131 Engineering Corp. underground fallout shelter complex.
Entering, you first walk into a round chamber with a huge metal wheel on the floor. The wheel is there so entering trucks can easily be turned around so they wont have to use reverse.
The tunnel went several hundred yards into the rocky hillside. It was lit with light sconces that were somewhat art deco in appearance.
There were several passages that branched off, which were not lit at all. I used the flashlight on my blackberry to illuminate the side chambers. There were huge foot think cast iron doors and various choke points where defenders could make a stand.
Down a couple passages, we started to come upon what appeared to be offices. Some had marble floors. There were larger ones that had wooden floors and spacious bathrooms
There were adjoining offices for Mr. and Mrs. Mao. Mrs. Mao's office batroom was complete with a bidet. Both bathrooms had a full bathtub. In Mrs. Mao's office was a huge picture of her with Richard Nixon.
I wandered off into several side passages and found rather extensive generation and ventilation systems. After a while, the passage stopped being lit and it appeared like the tunnel was not being preserved. At that point we turned around and headed back to the surface.
We went back to my friends house and had dinner. Dinner was also eaten on tables outside. It was kind of cold. For dinner there were only about 15-20 people. There were alot of people coming and going to say hi and eat a plate of food. Alot of grandchildren and nephews showed up and wandered around.
Shortly thereafter, we went to a nearby hot spring. First I bought a new bathing suit for about 2 dollars. One of the teachers I was with also bought a bathing suit.
The hot springs were built on a pretty large scale. We entered a giant building, then changed in the locker room. After a shower, me and my friends brother dashed out to the nearest warm pool.
The others joined us, and we walked around a sort of circuit of different temperature pools. Each pool purported to have different essential oils in it, but I could detect no difference between pools except that some were warmer than others. We were there for an hour or so. It was very relaxing. After we had our fill of soaking, I took a short steam bath which was great.
Then we went back to the house where I pretty quickly fell asleep.
Below are some pictures of the underground bunker.
Engineering Corp. 131 Underground Bunker Complex.
Comrade, I am concerned you have strayed from the path of Lenin!
Great fixtures....
Mrs. Mao's bidet. How French!
Mao's bathtube.
In Mao's underground office.
Mrs. Mao sitting with tricky Dick Nixon.
Mao's portrait above all of his generals.
Long passages into solid rock.
Hehehe!
Thank you Comrade!
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