Once again I have been sent to China. As you know, I cannot spend one weekend without going somewhere. Today wasn't the best weather but for Paul, Diana and Kiki that didn't matter
Paul, Diana and Kiki (fearless tourists)
We drove to the nearby town of Lushun. As an important military port in China, Lushun is not completely open to foreign tourists. Foreign tourists are required to obtain special permission from the local Lushun Police Bureau for entry to Lushun in advance of their visit, otherwise they may be refused.
That precisely happened on our first stop, Lushun Japan-Russia Prison. The prison was build by the Russians invaders in 1902. After the Japan-Russian war, the Japanese took over and began to use this prison in 1907 with some additional expansions. It covers an area of 226,000 square meters and consists of 253 wards with a 2,000 capacity, 15 corvee workshops and a secret hanging room. The Prison is now used as a memorial exhibition against the crimes during the war. It's also one of the major national historical relics.
Lushun Japan-Russia Prison
Our next stop, the Victory Tower. It was built in March 1955 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the victory by the former USSR Red Army against the Japanese Guandong Army in 1945
The upper part of the tower is gold-plated and 15m high and topped with the Red Start that simbolizes victory
The Victory Tower
Walking up the spiral stairs in the tower, we reached the 2nd floor and the Sightseeing Platform on the top floor. The tower is 45m high.
In good weather you can see Lushunkou (the place of a major land battle of the First Sino-Japanese War in November 21, 1894), the Tiger Tail Peninsula and Lushun Navy Port.
Lushun Navy Port
Other views are Baiyushan Mountain, Huangjinshan Mountain, the seashores of Lushun and Taiyanggou Garden.
This place in Western diplomatic, news, and historical writings, was known as Port Arthur, and also called Ryojun during the time the Japanese controlled and administered the Liaodong peninsula.
Next stop, the Snake Museum. There is an island nearby better know as Snake Island. It is the kingdom of Pallas Pit Viper, a rare breed serpent only existing on this island. Altogether there are about 18, 000 vipers living among the trees, bushes and rocks of the island. The island is closed to the public, this is the reason of the Snake Museum
We saw some money in one of the exhibitions, I was tempted to grab some yuan for lunch.
This is the largest snake museum in Asia, but besides snakes you can see other reptiles such as cocodriles.
I haven't seen a chameleon for a while. They are known for their ability to change their color, their elongated sticky tongue, and for their eyes which can be moved independently of each other. The name "chameleon" means, "Earth lion" and is derived from the Greek words "chamai" (on the ground, on the earth) and "leon" (lion).
Chameleon
Other reptile that caught my attention was the green iguana. They are common as pets, specially in the United States and Canada. These lizards are originary from Central and South America.
Green Iguana
The lizards are reptiles of the order Squamata, which they share with the snakes (Ophidians).
Like all snakes, Burmese Pythons are carnivorous. They will consume a wide variety of prey items, their diet consisting primarily of appropriately sized birds and mammals which they subdue via constriction. They are often found near human habitations due to the presence of rats and other vermin as a food source
Pythons are sometimes classified as a subfamily of Boidae, but are frequently listed under their own family, Pythonidae.
Burmese Python (Python molurus bivittatus)
Pythons are distinguishable from boas in that they have teeth on the premaxilla, a small bone at the very front and center of the upper jaw.
Boas are named after cows (Latin: bos) because of the old myth that boa snakes pursue cows and suckle them until they are drained to death.
Boa
Our visit ended on the second level, where we were able to see some stuffed cocodriles, skeletons of snakes, instructive material, among other things. On the shopping area we saw snake oil. Snake oil is a traditional Chinese medicine used for joint pain. However, in the United States and Canada the most common usage of the word is to describe a product sold as part of a hoax.
