Chinese New Year and Spring Festival

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What’s up fellow Steemians! For some of you out there, the coming big day might be Valentine’s Day, while for Chinese people worldwide, the fast approaching important holiday is the Chinese New Year. February 16th is the day Chinese New Year falls on in 2018. And the Spring Festival will last to March 2nd, about 15 days in total.

In China, most working people will have a week holiday around the New Year, starting from New Year’s Eve or a bit earlier. This holiday is normally called Golden Week Holiday of Spring Festival. Just like the Christmas holiday for westerners, Spring Festival is of great importance for Chinese family reunions.

The Lunar Calendar

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So why does the 2018 Chinese New Year land on February 16th instead of January 1st? It is because the Spring Festival in China is based on the lunar calendar, which is decided by the monthly cycles of the Moon’s phases, also known as synodic months. As a result, the Chinese New Year has no exact date each year, but it mostly falls on a day in January or February in Gregorian calendar, roughly the same dates of Aquarius sign in the Western Zodiac.

Actually, there’s also a Chinese Valentine’s Day(Qixi/Qiqiao Festival) originated from a beautiful romantic legend, which falls on the 7th day of the 7th month on the Chinese lunar calendar, so it’s usually some day in July or August in Gregorian Calendar.

And a fun fact here: my birthday is February 7th, which fell on the Chinese New Year’s Eve of my birth year. Imagine when other Chinese were wolfing down the grand meal on New Year’s Eve, my mom was struggling hard to give birth to me. What a great mom! :D Last week on my birthday, I got birthday wishes from some friends, but not from my mom. After I told her about this “news”, she was quite surprised, saying “Oh really? I only remember it’s on New Year’s Eve, so it will be on February 15th this year.” I guess I can’t blame her, since some older generations in China are more used to the dates on traditional lunar calendar.

㊗️各位同胞春节快乐，狗年大吉！因为这些年客居海外，最近几年是在南美和澳洲过的春节，周围没有喜庆年味的拍照内容，所以下面是我用最近在澳洲拍的一张照片做的贺卡，希望你们喜欢！=)

照片上的景点是澳大利亚大洋路上有名的十二门徒岩，由于长期的海水海风侵蚀，现在只剩八根石灰岩柱了。这里通常风大浪急，雾气弥漫，我在冷风中凭栏远眺了一会儿，正好看到这群黑色的海鸟飞过，于是定格瞬间。

The Twelve Apostles in Australia

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Since I haven’t lived in China for years, I don’t have any new-year themed pictures at hand for my blog images. I can imagine all the red dog-themed decorations all over China now. In fact, I spent the Chinese New Year in hot summers of the Southern Hemisphere (South America and Australia) for the past few years. So please excuse me and enjoy this view of The Twelve Apostles from Victoria, Australia. I made 2 greeting cards out of the photo that I took last month.

This is the star sight on the star route - the Great Ocean Road. What makes my shot a bit special is the flock of black birds flying by. =) Originally there were twelve limestone stacks off the shore, but due to the gradual erosion caused by the sea and wind, now only eight Apostles left.

Have you been to the eight apostles on the Great Ocean Road? And which greeting card do you prefer? The first portrait one or the second landscape one? :D

I mentioned above red dog-themed decorations, since 2018 is the Year of the Dog according to the ancient zodiac animal signs in Chinese culture. I will talk about this old tradition in my next post about Chinese New Year. =)

What do you know about the Spring Festival in China? Tell me your thoughts and experiences in the comments below! Stay tuned and see you soon!

Thank you for reading. Check out my recent posts , and follow me for more! =)

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Follow Me to Grey Glacier (2) 格雷冰川初探（二）

Follow Me to Grey Glacier (1) 格雷冰川初探（一）

The Story of Dirty Duck Restaurant 脏鸭馆的美食故事

Explore Easter Island with Me (2) - Best Sunset Spot Ahu Akivi 复活节岛摩托之旅（二）

Visit the Rotterdam Market Hall with Me 全球颜值最高的菜市场究竟长什么样?

@ItchyfeetDonica is my only account here and I’m 200% real ;) → Introduce Cross-culture Me on This Cross-over Platform 处女贴-自我介绍

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Here are some screenshots from my Instagram. Follow @ItchyfeetDonica for more shots around the globe !

!steemitworldmap -38.665139 lat 143.095379 long 12 Apostles Australia d3scr

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I feel almost surreal enjoying this hot Aussie summer when 2018 Winter Olympics is opening in South Korea. Seems it’s a good “colder” choice that I’m now writing on about the Grey Glacier in Chile following my last post. =)

在南半球澳洲的盛夏里，看着在韩国举办的2018冬奥会拉开帷幕，还真有那么点超现实的感觉。我现在接着上次继续写智利南部的冰川，倒是更加应这冬天的景。=)

As mentioned in my last post - the Patagonian Icecap is the world’s 3rd largest mass of ice after the 2 poles. This icecap has 2 parts: the Northern and the Southern Patagonian Ice Fields. Grey Glacier is part of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field.

As a map maniac 🗺 , I just sketched a map to show you the rough locations of the 2 ice fields and the Grey Glacier I’m talking about here(Please ignore the distortion of my map ;) anyway, accurate world map is mathematically impossible to make :p):

The Southern Ice field remains a border issue between Chile and Argentina. It stretches over 3 National Parks including Los Glaciares Park of Argentina, Bernado O’Higgins Park and Torres del Paine Park in Chile.

First, let’s take a look at these 3 amazing national parks covered by The Southern Ice field:

Los Glaciares National Park boasts the world-famous glacier Perito Moreno, best known for the dramatic icefalls from its front wall, and the breathtaking mountain Fitz Roy near El Chaltén which I wrote about in this post.

Parque Nacional Bernardo O’Higgins is a remote region less explored in southern Chile, which I accessed on the way to Torres del Paine(I also had a post about it). It’s an absolute gem I discovered by accident, and I was amazed by its fjords, icebergs, glaciers and diverse wildlife in a tranquil setting. The indigenous Kawéskar people call the village of Puerto Edén their home.

Last but the most famous Torres del Paine National Park - it’s located in Chile’s Patagonia region, and takes its name from the 3 iconic granite towers( Tres Torres) and the horn-shaped peaks called Cuernos del Paine. Here you can see rare wildlife such as guanacos, pumas, huemul deers and the Andean condos. The glaciers in these 2 posts are also located in the Park.

直到今天，智利和阿根廷还在为这块倾国倾城的南冰原起争端。从上面我手绘的地图上可以看出: 上方那一小块阴影是北冰原，下方较长的阴影是南冰原，这也是两国存在领土纠纷的地方。

先来科普一下 —— 南冰原覆盖三大国家公园：位于阿根廷的冰川国家公园，归属智利的伯纳多奥希金斯国家公园和百内塔国家公园。

这几个公园都是自然风光美不胜收的地方，其中百内塔国家公园和冰川国家公园比较知名，而伯纳多奥希金斯国家公园相比之下更鲜为人知，自然也是更具野趣。我在经由水路坐船去百内国家公园的途中，去这里走了一圈，意外地发现这个藏在深闺的秘境：美丽壮观的峡湾、冰山和冰川湖，独特的植被和野生动物，还有附近的土著居民，这一切都在宁静中和谐共生，犹如一片世外桃源。

。。。

这两篇文章里的格雷冰川就位于百内国家公园内。

Apart from the Southern Ice Field you see from my sketched map, the Northern Patagonia Ice Field forms the smaller part of the Patagonian Icecap. The sparsely populated area - Aysen region of Chile is defined partly by this ice field.

After traveling through Chile, I found this region one of my favorites for its breathtaking wild beauty. If I’m going back to Chile in future, I would love to trek the Aysen Glacier Trail (AGT) , where I can get up close to the glaciers of the Northern Ice Cap, and enjoy a great variety of landscapes.

I talked about why the glacier ice appears blue to the naked eye in my last post - in short, it’s because of the short wavelengths blue light is transmitted and scattered, when squeezed out air in compressed snow leaves little reflective surface on a glacier for the sunlight.

Since the weather was constantly changing, the mountains, glacier and icebergs were coated in different hues as the lighting changed, and a rainbow showed up:

For more photos of the landscape, please check out my previous post. : )

The crew is collecting some thousand-year-old glacier ice to serve with the Pisco Sour, the South American cocktail classic, claimed as a creation by both Peru 🇵🇪 and Chile 🇨🇱 . Pisco is a kind of grape brandy, made by distilling fermented grape juice into a high-proof spirit. The essential mix of a Pisco Sour is 3 parts Pisco to 1 part lime juice and 1 part sugar syrup, with fresh egg white as well. In future I will write about my experience of visiting a Pisco distillery in the Elqui Valley in Chile.

This kind of dramatic lenticular cloud formation is pretty common here. As the lens clouds look like flying saucers, they have been mistaken by some people as UFOs🛸 .

Patagonia is known for its blustery winds. I was almost blown away in places like Punta Arenas, and here it’s even more windy 💨 . I definitely caught the strongest wind in my life in the area of Lago Grey - I could barely stand still, not to say walk against the incredibly heavy wind. On my way back, I had to struggle each and every step trying not to be dragged into the lake:

So that’s it for today’s sharing about my trip to Grey Glacier. Hope you enjoyed it as I did! Have you ever been to a glacier? Tell me what you think in the comments below. :D See you next time!

Thank you for reading. Check out my recent posts , and follow me for more! =)

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#43 Follow Me to Grey Glacier (1) 格雷冰川初探(一)

#42 The Story of Dirty Duck Restaurant 脏鸭馆的美食故事

#41 Explore Easter Island with Me (2) - Best Sunset Spot Ahu Akivi 复活节岛摩托之旅（二）

#40 Monomad Macro Photography ~ Friday Flowers 单色微距摄影

#39 B&W Photo Contest ~ Windmill Reflection 黑白摄影 - 荷兰风车倒影

#38 Visit the Rotterdam Market Hall with Me 全球颜值最高的菜市场究竟长什么样?

@ItchyfeetDonica is my only account here and I’m 200% real ;) → Introduce Cross-culture Me on This Cross-over Platform 处女贴-自我介绍

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Here are some screenshots from my Instagram. Follow @ItchyfeetDonica for more shots around the globe !

!steemitworldmap -50.988692 lat -73.230743 long Glaciar Grey d3scr

This page is synchronized from the post: ‘#44 Follow Me to Grey Glacier (2) 🇨🇱 格雷冰川初探（二）’

I took these photos during a trip to Grey Glacier in southern Chile. Located in the Torres del Paine National Park, Grey Glacier flows southward into a lake called Lago Grey. This glacier is part of the Southern Patagonian Ice Field. Together with the Northern Patagonian Ice Field, the ice cap is the world’s 3rd largest mass of ice after Antarctica and Greenland. Since I haven’t yet got time and budget to either of the two poles, it’s pretty awesome as well to explore this more accessible glacier at first. So let’s get started to have a glance at this more approachable beauty! =)

我住在智利的时候，有幸去南部的格雷冰川一探究竟，拍下了帖子里的这些照片。格雷冰川位于百内国家公园内，向南流向格雷湖。格雷冰川是南巴塔哥尼亚冰原的一部分，而南北冰原则构成了继南极大陆和格陵兰岛之后的世界第三大面积的冰盖。在有闲有钱去到那两块神秘高冷的大陆烧银子之前，先让我带着各位瞅瞅格雷冰川这位比较平易近人的邻家冰美人吧。;)

If you follow the famous big circuit of Paine Mountain Range at John Garner Pass, you will see the glacier and the lake surface. Since we had limited time and didn’t feel very hardcore anymore after a long trip in southern Chile, we just walked to Lago Grey to take a boat to see this natural wonder. Even walking to Lago Grey was not so easy as imagined - I will describe it with photos in my next post. =)

When I was there in 2016, the glacier was 6km wide and more than 30m high. And according to the officials at Torres del Paine National Park, a large iceberg broke off the Grey glacier in November of 2017:

If you are an annoying curious kid like me when I was little(doesn’t change much today), you may wonder why the ice here looks blue? (Clearing throat… ready for the science lesson? I learnt the following in Chinese when I was in school, so it’s interesting for me to write it down now in English ;p) Because the red (long wavelengths) part of white light is absorbed by ice, and the blue (short wavelengths) light is transmitted and scattered. Snow is compressed when falling on a glacier, and over years of pressure, the compressed snow develops into part of the glacier. During the process, the air caught in the ice is squeezed out, leaving little reflective surface for the sunlight. Without the scattering effect of air bubbles, light can penetrate ice undisturbed.

So, here I captured all these photos of the “blue” ice to the naked eye. Following the changes of the sunlight and clouds, the glacier and icebergs appeared in different hues - light blue, blue-green, deep blue, blue with a warm glow… all look so brilliant.

如果你跟我一样是个惹人烦的对什么都充满好奇的人，你可能会问为什么这些冰川冰山看上去都是蓝色的呢？嘿嘿，根据《十万个为什么》，这是因为……请先看上面的英文吧，有空我会翻译的。;)

Floating icebergs calved from the glacier:

For more details and images, check out my following post!

👋 Thank you for reading. 😃 Check out my recent posts 👇, and follow me for more! ☝️

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#44 Follow Me to Grey Glacier (2) 格雷冰川初探(二）

#42 The Story of Dirty Duck Restaurant 🦆 脏鸭馆的美食故事

#41 Explore Easter Island with Me (2) - Best Sunset Spot Ahu Akivi 🗿🇨🇱 复活节岛摩托之旅（二）

#40 Monomad Macro Photography ~ Friday Flowers 🌺 🇩🇰 单色微距摄影

#39 B&W Photo Contest ~ Windmill Reflection 🇳🇱 黑白摄影 - 荷兰风车倒影

#38 Visit the Rotterdam Market Hall with Me 🧀 🥘 🌽 🇳🇱 全球颜值最高的菜市场究竟长什么样?

#37 Cube Houses in Rotterdam🏠🇳🇱 探秘鹿特丹的魔方房

@ItchyfeetDonica is my only account here and I’m 200% real ;) → Introduce Cross-culture Me on This Cross-over Platform 处女贴-自我介绍

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Here are some screenshots from my Instagram. Follow @ItchyfeetDonica for more shots around the globe 🌏!

!steemitworldmap -51.022394 lat -73.185425 long Lago Grey d3scr

This page is synchronized from the post: ‘#43 Follow Me to Grey Glacier (1) 🇨🇱 格雷冰川初探（一）’

All content by @ItchyfeetDonica , images of food by Canon Kiss X3, others by iphone 7

What’s up Steemians! Today I would like to introduce you a restaurant in Bali, Indonesia, which doesn’t only boast traditional duck dishes and idyllic tropical setting, but also has an interesting story to tell. This restaurant is called Bebek Bengil, best known for its authentic crispy duck dishes since 1990. Just like QuanJude Peking Duck Restaurant in Beijing, Bebek Bengil is a big draw for visitors to Bali island.

大家好！今天我要给各位介绍一家印尼巴厘岛上的餐馆—— 脏鸭馆。这家餐馆不仅有久负盛名的特色鸭肉菜肴和热带风情满满的庭园，还有跟脏鸭有关的有趣故事。就像全聚德烤鸭之于北京，很多人来到巴厘岛也会尝尝这家颇具特色的脏鸭餐。

When I lived in Bali, I went to eat regularly in this Dirty Duck restaurant located near my homestay in Ubud. There’s also a branch in Nusa Dua by beach. Now it has expanded to outlets outside Bali in Jakarta, including the main restaurant in Menteng.

As you can see from the photo above, its gate is not so big, while there’s a whole new world inside. After you pass through the main dining hall, the winding path leads you through the lush green garden to an open field of rice. You can also choose to enjoy your meal in the traditional Balinese cottage here, in this well manicured garden or by the lovely rice field. At the same time, there are a flock of ducks enjoying their meals in the mud of the field.

I heard about the story of these ducks from the owner of my homestay in Ubud, and now I see them in person(duck). But of course these ducks are not really the same ducks in the story of 1990, since a duck can normally live a few years up to 15 or 20 maybe(sorry that I don’t have any experience with old ducks) . So it comes to the name Dirty Duck restaurant. Why is it so? When I opened the menu on the table, the story was also printed on the first page:

When we were building the restaurant, we thought long and hard of a name. Many suggestions came from our friends, but none seemed just right. We knew we wanted a Balinese name that translated well into English.

One tropical monsoon morning, when the original restaurant was almost finished, a flock of ducks from rice fields across the road ran quacking and squawking into the restaurant, and across the floor and tables. They left their muddy, webbed footprints all over the place. They were our first guests, these ‘Dirty Ducks’.

It’s said that another reason the restaurant is called Dirty Duck is: when the ducks are fried and grilled, their skins turn darker and look dirty.

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我住在巴厘岛时，这家脏鸭餐厅的乌布店离住处不远，所以常常去大快朵颐。岛上的另一家分店在努沙杜瓦的海滩边。现在脏鸭馆已经走出巴厘岛，在首都雅加达也开设了分店。

从上图可以看出，餐厅门脸不大，而进去后其实别有洞天。穿过食客云集，人头攒动的前厅大堂，再沿着曲折的小径绕过绿意葱茏的热带花园，便来到一片广阔的稻田。花园里和稻田边的亭台中也摆设了传统巴厘岛式的餐桌和软垫，供食客盘腿用餐。稻田里，几只鸭子🦆在泥水中悠闲自在地觅食。

去之前就听乌布民宿的主人讲到这些鸭子的故事，来到饭店后，打开菜单，第一页就印着脏鸭馆名字的由来，主角自然是这些鸭子们🦆，或者更确切地说，是这些鸭子的前辈们 ; )。（我好奇地随手查了一下，据说鸭子的平均寿命为5到15年。掐指一算，就算是这些鸭子中的老寿星，可能也很难从餐馆开业的1990年活到现在吧。所以说此鸭非彼鸭。）回到故事的主题来，那么为什么叫“脏鸭馆” 呢？

当初餐馆在建时，我们就为起名而苦思冥想，很多朋友也给出建议，却没有一个合适的。我们一直想起个传统的巴厘名字，同时译成英语也要很恰当。

一个刮着热带季风的清晨，餐厅就要完工之时，一群鸭子从马路对面的稻田里呱呱呱地奔过来，穿过地板和桌子，一时间，到处都留下泥泞的蹼状脚印。这些脏兮兮的鸭子们也成了我们餐厅里的第一批客人。

其次，鸭子在油炸、烧烤的烹制过程中，表皮颜色变深，看上去脏脏的，也成了被称为“脏鸭”的一个原因。

One time when I was waiting to be served, I spotted a lizard in the garden:
有一次在等上菜间歇，我在花园里还看到一只黄腹蜥蜴：

What you see in the photo below is the renowned signature Dirty Duck dish. It is half a duck steamed in Indonesian spices, deep fried for a crispy finish. It is served with sautéed potatoes or rice, and Balinese vegetable salad.

下图第一张就是有名的原味脏鸭。这些鸭肉先由印尼的特色香料腌制，再通过油炸制成。鸭肉鲜美，表皮脆嫩有弹性，脂肪含量低，搭配微煎的土豆或米饭，就着新鲜的辣椒酱料和巴厘岛蔬菜沙拉，别有一番风味。

What I like the most is the Bebek Bakar Sambal Hijau(Grilled Duck with Green Chili Sauce) in the head image and the last photo below. Comparing to the dry original Dirty Duck, I prefer the more succulent meat when it’s grilled. So I usually ordered this one when I came to Bebek Bengil. The different sorts of sambal(Southeast Asian sauce made from chili peppers or/and other ingredients) aside are awesome as well. I will write a post about making these fresh sambals in future.

On their menu, you can also find other duck dishes such as Duck Breast with Wine Sauce, which is more western like. But whatever I ordered there, it’s always served a big portion, along with great service.

而题图和下面的这张图里是我最喜欢的烤鸭配青椒酱和土豆饭，个人觉得这烤出来的鸭肉相比口感很干的油炸原味脏鸭更加可口多汁。所以我去脏鸭馆总是点这道菜，还会特意要求加上旁边的几种辣酱。这些鲜辣的酱料对我这个无辣不欢的人来说自然是必不可少，将来我会写写怎么制作这些辣酱。

菜单上还看到有西式的红酒鸭胸和其他鸭肉做成的佳肴，足以满足各种口味的需要。值得一提的是，这家脏鸭的口味并不是次次如一，去过的几次，同样的鸭肉菜品，有时候吃起来很赞，有时候吃起来却有些腥味，不知道是鸭子本身的缘故还是烹饪的问题。对我来说，这家餐厅的优点主要在于其传统特色，食物分量，服务质量和用餐环境。

However, the best flavors, in my opinion, are usually found in local markets, on street stands or at locals’ home kitchens, but not in this kind of famous restaurants among tourists. So, next time I’m going to bring you to a local market in Bali and learn from a local chef how to cook the authentic cuisine. Stay tuned and until next time! =)

当然，最好吃的本地菜通常都在某街边小巷里，而不是在这种驰名游客的大餐馆。下一次我会带大家去一家当地的菜市场看看，跟着本地厨师学做印尼菜。敬请期待！=)

👋 Thank you for reading. 😃 Check out my recent posts 👇, and follow me for more! ☝️

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#41 Explore Easter Island with Me (2) - Best Sunset Spot Ahu Akivi 🗿🇨🇱 复活节岛摩托之旅（二）

#40 Monomad Macro Photography ~ Friday Flowers 🌺 🇩🇰 单色微距摄影

#39 B&W Photo Contest ~ Windmill Reflection 🇳🇱 黑白摄影 - 荷兰风车倒影

#38 Visit the Rotterdam Market Hall with Me 🧀 🥘 🌽 🇳🇱 全球颜值最高的菜市场究竟长什么样?

#37 Cube Houses in Rotterdam🏠🇳🇱 探秘鹿特丹的魔方房

#36 金色布拉格随想 🏰 🇨🇿 Golden Prague

#35 Hong Kong Star Ferry Crossing at Sunset 🛥🌅暮色中的维港和天星小轮

@ItchyfeetDonica is my only account here and I’m 200% real ;) → Introduce Cross-culture Me on This Cross-over Platform 处女贴-自我介绍

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Here are some screenshots from my Instagram. Follow @ItchyfeetDonica for more shots around the globe 🌏!

!steemitworldmap -8.517834 lat 115.263708 long Bebek Bengil Ubud Bali d3scr

This page is synchronized from the post: ‘#42 A City A Story Photo Weekly Contest #12 Dirty Duck Restaurant 🦆 🇮🇩 脏鸭馆的美食故事’

Hello fellow Steemians, how’s your weekend? In my previous post about Easter Island, I made a brief introduction about the Polynesian Culture Triangle, the Rapa Nui history and traveling to Easter Island. I also shared my experience of visiting the only tropical beach Anakena. Today I’m going to show you the best spot on the island for watching sunset - Ahu Akivi.

From the picture below(shot from my DK travel book of Chile, also shown in my previous post), you can see that the overall shape of Easter Island is triangular. The main and only village Hanga Roa is located at the southwest. The photos in this post were all taken at the site number 3 - Ahu Akivi, which was a short motor scooter ride from our homestay in Hanga Roa.

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大家好！我在上篇关于复活节岛的第一篇文章里简要介绍了波利尼西亚文化大三角的历史地理、复活节岛的社会发展和旅游概况，也带各位去看了岛上唯一的热带珊瑚沙滩 — 阿纳凯纳。今天这篇，请跟我一起来探索岛上观日落的最佳地点 — 阿基围。

从下面的地图（拍于我的DK智利旅游指南书）上可以看出，复活节岛大致呈三角形。主要的人口聚居地汉加努阿处于岛的西南。这篇文章里所有的照片都拍摄于下图中的景点三 — 阿基围。从这里到汉加努阿我们住的民宿，骑踏板摩托车很快就可以到达。

Ahu(ceremonial platform) Akivi was set up around the 16th century and it’s aligned in an east–west direction with 7 Moais(the giant monolithic stone statue) of equal size and shape, which are all 4.9m tall and 18 tons of weight. It is surrounded by agricultural land and rolling hills, as you can see from my photos here:

Ahu Akivi is quite unique on Easter Island, since the 7 identical statues here all face towards the sea, while almost all other Moai statues on the island face the village as a protective mana. Mana is believed to be the supernatural power in Polynesian culture and is part of contemporary Pacific Islander culture. The early Rapa Nui people consider Moai statues as their ancestors or Tupuna. Tupuna were seen as the reincarnation of their clan leaders or prestigious kings. The Moais were erected to protect the Rapa Nui people and to bring prosperity to their clan and village.

Legend has it that the Rapa Nui people positioned the 7 Ahu Akivi statues towards the Pacific Ocean to propitiate the sea to help the navigators. According to Wikipedia:

However, according to an oral tradition, Hotu Matu’s priest had a dream in which the King’s soul flew across the ocean when the Rapa Nui island was seen by him. He then sent scouts navigating across the sea to locate the island and to find people to settle there. Seven of these scouts stayed back on the island waiting for the king to arrive. These seven are represented by the seven stone statues erected in their honour.

Another unique feature of Ahu Akivi is that it is a sacred celestial observatory. The 7 Moais here face exactly the sunset during the Spring Equinox, and have their backs right to the sunrise during the Autumn Equinox. And that middle point also aligns with the Moon. You can only find such an astronomically precise feature at this particular location on Easter Island. Amazing, isn’t it?

That’s why we rode to this spot in the later afternoon, as we thought to watch the sunset here over the 7 Moais and the Pacific Ocean should be a good choice. And it was! Look at the photos I took during the golden hour. It’s not the most stunning sunset I have ever seen, and these photos are not my best sunset photos neither. But a beautiful sunset on Easter Island, one of the most remote places in the middle of the ocean; in a relatively rainier season; and this special location on the island, all made it pretty epic. =)

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So that’s it for today’s sharing about Ahu Akivi. I hope you like it! =) Please tell me what you think in the comments. I will show you more of my experiences on this enchanting island in my future posts. Stay tuned and see you next time! :D

👋 Thank you for reading. 😃 Check out my recent posts 👇, and follow me for more! ☝️

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#40 Monomad Macro Photography ~ Friday Flowers 🌺 🇩🇰 单色微距摄影

#39 B&W Photo Contest ~ Windmill Reflection 🇳🇱 黑白摄影 - 荷兰风车倒影

#38 Visit the Rotterdam Market Hall with Me 🧀 🥘 🌽 🇳🇱 全球颜值最高的菜市场究竟长什么样?

#37 Cube Houses in Rotterdam🏠🇳🇱 探秘鹿特丹的魔方房

#36 金色布拉格随想 🏰 🇨🇿 Golden Prague

#35 Hong Kong Star Ferry Crossing at Sunset 🛥🌅暮色中的维港和天星小轮

@ItchyfeetDonica is my only account here and I’m 200% real ;) → Introduce Cross-culture Me on This Cross-over Platform 处女贴-自我介绍

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Here are some screenshots from my Instagram. Follow @ItchyfeetDonica for more shots around the globe 🌏!

!steemitworldmap -27.115154 lat -109.395015 long Ahu Akivi Easter Island d3scr

This page is synchronized from the post: ‘#41 Explore Easter Island with Me (2) - Best Sunset Spot Ahu Akivi 🗿🇨🇱 复活节岛摩托之旅（二）’

这张照片是我几年前在丹麦首都哥本哈根的Tivoli游乐园里拍的，用来参加单色摄影比赛。

I clicked this photo inside the Tivoli amusement park in Copenhagen, Denmark, with my old friend - an entry-level camera Canon Kiss X3.

This is my entry for the photo contest #monomad by @brumest, and it’s my first time participating this challenge, since I just discovered it. I would like to say thank you to these amazing hosts who are building an active photography community on #Steemit.

I don’t have extra information for this flower shot. A picture is worth a thousand words as they say. ;) If you want to read longer photo journals about my travels, here are my recent posts:

#38 Visit the Rotterdam Market Hall with Me 🧀 🥘 🌽 🇳🇱 全球颜值最高的菜市场究竟长什么样?

#37 Cube Houses in Rotterdam 探秘鹿特丹的魔方房

#36 金色布拉格随想 Golden Prague

#35 Hong Kong Star Ferry Crossing at Sunset 暮色中的维港和天星小轮

#34 Traditional Clothing in Peru’s Colca Canyon 秘鲁大峡谷山民的传统服装

#33 The Exciting Drive at Gotthard Pass in Swiss Alps 全球最长的隧道山口

#32 Explore Easter Island with Me (1) - Introduction and Anakena 复活节岛摩托之旅（一）

#31 Train Travels in Sri Lanka (1) 斯里兰卡的火车旅行（一）

@ItchyfeetDonica is my only account here and I’m 200% real ;) → Introduce Cross-culture Me on This Cross-over Platform 处女贴-自我介绍

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Here are some screenshots from my Instagram. Follow @ItchyfeetDonica for more shots around the globe !
https://steemitimages.com/DQmWSyM6PcNQJ9LL5UciWHWdZjHvcKQwP63HHMyJzvzvobB/4.jpg

This page is synchronized from the post: ‘#40 Monomad Macro Photography ~ Friday Flowers 🌺 🇩🇰 单色微距摄影’