Zhang Jia Jie, China 張家界 (Mar/Apr 2002)

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More drive-by shooting with small and quiet Contax T3. This time we passed a hospital. Kind of lay back here.

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Yet more drive-by shooting from the passenger side window.

We were told that these were offerings for the Ching Ming festival. People would bring the little lanterns to the ancestors graves.

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When we were near the airport, our driver told us about an air show here in 1999, and that airplanes fly-through the hole here. Below is a description of the area from the air show organizer's web site.

"Eight kilometres south of Zhang Jia Jie City proper stands a solitary mountain 1'518 meters above the sea level. It looks like a huge platform, with precipitous sides. On the Eastern side there is a huge cavern that runs south and north like a gate, hence its name Tianmen (the Gate to Heaven). The gate is 132 meters high, 37 meters wide and 70 meters deep. At the foot of the Mountain lies the Zhang Jia Jie airport."

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See the incredible cloud of smoke made by the impact of the landing aircraft.

At this rate, each new tire won't last too many landings. No wonder aircraft tires are considered strategic material, and among first in any embargo.

(Few months later at an air museum I found out that tires for military jets last only 15 landings or so.)