6/17/13

6/17/13, 9:00pm, Taiyuan

This morning we went to a coal museum in Taiyuan. We had a guided tour around the museum and we learned about all the different uses for coal. There were a lot of figurines carved out of coal! I also learned about how there are different grades of coal. They rank them using percentages. The plaques next to the exhibits showed percentages of outputs (pollutants) as well as how much energy is produces. So you want a type of coal that has low percentages of pollutants and a high percentage of energy output. We also took a simulation coal cart through a fake coalmine to get an idea of what the coalmines looked like. I know coalmines are extremely dangerous though, so hopefully that exhibit doesn’t give people the idea that it is safe.

After the coal museum we drove to Hougou Village. This village had similarities to Wangwenling, but was slightly different. The architecture of the buildings was obviously very different. Many of the buildings were very old with what I think of when I think of traditional Chinese architecture. They showed us that their drainage system goes below ground and they have tunnels for it. This is so when you walk through the village you do not see the drainage system. Some of the roofs in this village had the same water funneling system that we saw in Wangwenling. The layout of the village was really interesting because there is a front gate you have to go through and then you can’t see the rest of the village from the front because of a mountain. In order to see the rest of the city, you have to go through the gate and up around a hill. It was really pretty because the houses are all on different levels so there are stone paths weaving in between buildings. A lot of the buildings were also very cool inside because the material regulates temperature. We went into a cave that was in one of the homes and it felt like it was air-conditioned. This seems like a great way to save energy!