Everything is super sized -- the number of people, the size of cities, the buildings, the construction projects -- almost everything. The Chinese are very friendly people who sometimes acted like impatient New Yorkers (they hated not to be first in line). There were tremendous capitalist markets in a communist controlled country. The people showed a great respect and obedience for authority yet there was a palpable desire for freedoms. Beggars and poverty could often be seen but wealth and increasing prosperity for most people was quite evident. There were lots of religions and religious tolerance was in evidence in an officially atheist state. The Chinese society showed great respect for the 16 different officially recognized ethnic minorities in the country while the Han majority clearly rules. Rural farmers were using water buffalo in the rice paddies while Los Angeles style freeway traffic jams were common in the cities. Ancient traditional architecture going back many centuries was next to ultramodern skyscrapers. The Ying and the Yang. The contrasts and juxtapositions were really quite astonishing.
One can only vaguely image what China will be like in another 10 years. All I can say with some certainty is that it will be much different than it is today.
What follows is a day-by-day blog of what we did. Each day correlates with the pictures in our Picassa photo online account. Just (Click here for pictures) to view all of the pictures for that day.
17 - 18 -19 May (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday) LA, Beijing and Shanghai
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We left home in Tempe around 6 p.m. Monday to head to the airport and catch a Southwest flight to LAX. Then we boarded a China Airlines 747 for the 13 hour flight to Beijing. The Beijing airport was very modern, clean and impressive. It was just the first of many sights we would see and be surprised by in China. After arriving in Beijing we took another flight to Shanghai. We arrived in Shanghai around 7 p.m. Tuesday Arizona time and 10 a.m. Wednesday China time. Twenty-five hours from our front door in Tempe to the Shanghai airport. Our bodies didn't quite know what to make of it! The Shanghai airport was also very modern, clean and impressive. Both airports were very large having been built and renewed for the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2010 Shanghai World's Fair.
Here the twenty of us traveling together -- an interesting group of strangers who will become close over the next 23 days -- got to meet our tour director and guide, Lucky Wang, for the first time. We also met our local guide, Sunny. (Every place that we went we got a government employed local guide.) Even though we were very tired from our long journey across the seas, we were excited and eager to begin our tour.
The Shanghai sky was overcast with haze/smog/fog -- hard to tell. This was going to be the story throughout China. The air pollution was unbelievable all over the country. The weather was pleasant -- warm (high 70's) and humid.
We took a motor coach (i.e. bus) tour of the city. We would spend a LOT of time riding in buses during our tour of China. Shanghai reminded me a lot of Los Angeles. Traffic was
jammed. Population density at 19.2 million was impressive. Modern Architecture was juxtaposed with the old. We visited The Bund located along the Shanghai river. The Bund, a popular tourist destination in Shanghai, was a financial center for Western powers before the Communists took power. The former banks, trading houses, and consulates that still stand there testify to past Western involvement in China. Then we went to visit a temple. In order to get to the temple we walked through an area filled with many shops eager to sell us whatever we might want. Capitalism is alive and thriving in this Communist country! All prices were negotiable with generally three different prices -- tourist prices, "best" price (usually about half) and Chinese prices (even lower). We generally were only able to get the best prices.
We had a traditional Chinese lunch -- a large table (10 people each) with a center turntable and many, many dishes. Our plates were quite small and we ate just a small sample of each dish. At each meal we were offered a free small glass of beer, water, coke, sprite or tea. If you wanted more of of anything except tea, you could buy it. You could have all the tea you wanted. At the end of the meal, we were quite full.
Dinner was much the same but we shared a bottle of wine as we frequently did throughout the trip.
20 May (Thursday) Shanghai, Hangzhou
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We wake up and have breakfast at the hotel. It is American style (eggs, bacon, toast, cereal, etc.) with Chinese additions (rice, noodles, a kind of rice porridge stuff) and fresh fruit such as watermelon, melon, oranges, and other different fruits.
We leave the hotel in our bus and head to the Shanghai Yu Yuan Garden. It is impressive in the serene oriental style with water, rocks, and falls. Balance and serenity seem to the themes. It is a very popular tourist attraction with Chinese tourists. All of the places we visited during our tour of China are filled with Chinese tourists. They do like to travel and visit places in their country. A highlight was a western tourist falling in the water while trying to take a picture. She wasn't hurt but she scared a lot of people.
Then back to the bus and we
were off to visit the Jade Buddhist Temple. As usual it was very crowded. Lots of different Buddha statues, people lighting incense, and praying. Jade Buddha figures were VERY beautiful. The Jade Buddha (which is made of white jade) appears to be a reclining female to our western eyes but we found out later that their are NO female Buddhas.
Lunch was much like yesterday -- a big Chinese meal -- at the Wu Zhen Water Village. We spent the afternoon walking around the water village (old town on the banks of river) with LOTS of shops. Several Chinese wanted to take our pictures and pose with us. They seemed fascinated by Gary's beard. Throughout this trip we (our group of 20 Westerners) stood out. Sometimes we were the only non-Chinese around and the Chinese people really were interested in these strange looking foreigners and wanted to talk English with us and get their pictures taken with us. This gave us a better understanding of what it must feel like to be a minority in a group.
We left the water village around 4:30 p.m. and drove the three hours plus to Hangzhou (pronounced something like "hung joe" to this westerner's ear), where we had a traditional Chinese dinner in a huge restaurant/dining hall. We then checked into the Hangzhou Ramada for a pleasant night.
21 May (Friday) Hangzhou
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We were up at 6 a.m. Hangzhou,(Zhe Jiang Provence) is a city famous for its natural beauty and historical and cultural heritage. It is one of the seven ancient capital cities in China. It is a large city by our standards but only a medium size city for the Chinese -- about 7 million people! Tourism is the main industry. The drive here reminded me a little bit of California delta country (Stockton, Sacramento). Lots of bodies of water. We saw high speed rail under construction. Seems like EVERYTHING in China is under construction! The scale of the rail project is immense and difficult to adequately describe.
A few words on Chinese toilets. We encountered two kinds: Sitters (like westerners are used to) and Squatters. Squatters are basically flushable porcelain holes in the ground - no bowl. They tended to smell quite bad. The squatters are what the Chinese are accustomed to using. They presented more of a challenge to the women than to the men. A woman needs to squat to use these - very hard on the knees and potentially quite messy. We needed to carry our own toilet tissue because there was often none available.
One of the most famous scenic spots in Hangzhou is the West Lake. Most of the thousands of tourists were Chinese. They liked to take our pictures -- "See the foreigners." We took a cruise on West Lake and enjoyed the natural beauty and saw the man made Lei Feng Tower.
We then visited Ling Yin Temple (Monastery of the Hidden Souls). It is one of the most famous ancient Buddhist Temples in China and houses a variety of Buddhist literature and treasures. Religion is alive and well in China -- particularly with the older population. On the drive to the temple we saw some Christian churches as well. It was very interesting to watch the Buddhist faithful burn incense, bow and kneel and pray. The Buddhist monks chanted during all of this. The altars were magnificent works of art. Just as with other religions, collection boxes were always present.
We then headed off to a tea plantation where we got a tour, tasted some tea and then they tried to sell us some tea. It was a lot like visiting a winery in Napa Valley. We learned about different kinds of tea and qualities of teas. We didn't buy any (didn't want to lug it all across China). Gary did like the green tea. It swelled and tasted like cooked spinach to Vina.
Breakfast today was American style (sort of), lunch and dinner were Chinese style. We enjoyed the food.
We have a long (1,200 miles) train ride lasting overnight starting tomorrow afternoon.
22 May (Saturday) Hangzhou - Train trip to Yi Chang
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We checked out of the hotel with our backpacks prepared for overnight on the train (we would have no access to our packed luggage). We headed out toward the train station. We stopped by the Hangzhou stadium where there was a Chinese Wal-Mart to purchase supplies (dinner, wine, etc.) for the train ride. We were advised not to eat the food served on the train. The Wal Mart was HUGE. We saw big green frogs, eels, fish, turtles and many very different things for sale. We bought food (ramen, "France" bread, peanut butter, wine and other things) to sustain us for our hours on the train. Vina tried to find cheese by pantomiming a cow to a helpful Chinese person. We finally found someone who spoke a little English and found some very processed white cheese. The Chinese don't seem to eat a lot of dairy products.
After we had stocked up, we went to visit a Chinese open air marketplace. It reminded me of Los Ramblas in Barcelona, Spain. We toured a herbal medicine "pharmacy." We were still resisting buying things.
Then we headed to the train station. We get there and the luggage was immediately screened. We went into a very large waiting room with about 700 - 800 people. There are no seats so we go stand against a wall with all of our luggage piled up. Everyone looks at us because we are Westerners. Then we are told we can move to an almost private waiting room where Chinese people had been asked to move so we Americans could sit down. We had an adventure hauling our luggage and getting everything aboard the train. When our train was about to arrive we had go under the first set of tracks to get to our train on the second set of tracks by going down some stairs, walking under the tracks and then back up hauling our suitcases and bags up the stairs. We had to do this in a very short period of time. We proved to be up to the extraordinary task. We left Hangzhou around 6:20 p.m. and we would arrive around 10 a.m. the next morning in Yi Chang.
We were in first class and shared a small compartment with 4 bunk beds with Dave and Karen Schwalm. The Chinese not in first class were in bunk beds three high and not in private rooms but all in one coach. We enjoyed our "camping" adventure and the ramin, wine and cheese as we traveled 1,200 miles west in China. We passed through many cities and towns ( 7 million, 5 million, etc.) and lots of agricultural areas. We saw many rice paddies with farmers using water buffalo and lots of manual labor but no large machines. They did have some small tricycle type of
small trucks which seemed to be powered by a lawn mower type of engine.
The bunk beds on board the train were very stiff -- like boards with little padding. There were communal toilets one at each end of the train car -- at one end a traditional Chinese squat toilet and at the other end, a more modern sit down western style toilet. No showers.
23 May (Sunday) Yi Chang to Cruise Ship
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Yichang City is located in western Hubei Province, where the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River are divided. Yichang is a distributing center, an important trading port and a transportation hub along the Yangtze River linking west Hubei and east Sichuan since ancient times. For a very long time, it has been renowned as the "Gateway to the Three Gorges". Today, as well as a cultural and tourist city, Yichang remains a brisk river port of China, controlling access to Chongqing City to its southwest.
After we arrived in Yi Chang we went to another market and bought necessities to take with us on the river cruise ship. Then we headed to a buffet dinner at a hotel (different than the traditional Chinese lazy susan dinners) which was very good. Hotels seemed to provide a greater smattering of Western style food. The buffet included pizza, chicken wings and ice cream in addition to traditional Chinese food. As usual, one small glass of Coke, Sprite, water or beer was included with the meal.
Then we went back to the bus and on to the cruise ship. Once we got on to the ship, we were able to finally take a shower. We will spend the next three days cruising the Yangtze River. Once we got settled on the ship, we shared a bottle of wine with Dave and Karen, listened to a briefing on commercial services available on board the ship and then sleep! We were very tired since we slept little/lightly last night on the train. The beds were much better than the train. The ship's cabins were not large but comfortable and had their own bathrooms.
24 May (Monday) Three Gorges Dam and cruising the Yangtze River
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The ship stayed in port overnight. We left the ship and took a tour of the immense Three Gorges
Dam. It is an engineering and social marvel. Hundreds of thousands of people were displaced by the dam and moved by the government to new locations. There is something about a dictatorship which allows that to happen. Although it is mostly complete, construction on the dam is still going on.
We returned to the ship and then our ship went through the dam locks we were previously viewing. It was pretty amazing to see the size of the lock doors and the speed with which the water was moved around. We went through four locks raising the ship to the height of the river behind the dam. Fascinating to watch and to be part of the process.
We enjoyed a relaxing dinner aboard the ship followed by a Chinese fashion show. We stopped 
and docked overnight at Badong where there was a remarkable lighted suspension bridge over the river. It was something to see all lit up at night.
We enjoyed a relaxing dinner aboard the ship followed by a Chinese fashion show. We stopped 
and docked overnight at Badong where there was a remarkable lighted suspension bridge over the river. It was something to see all lit up at night.
25 May (Tuesday) Shennong Stream and cruising Yangtze River
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The highlight for the day was a side trip on small "pea pod boats" up the Shennong Stream -- a tributary of the Yangtze. We left our ship around 8:30 a.m. on a smaller boat for the S
hennong Stream. We arrived at the Stream and got into much smaller boats (10 people each) powered by oarsmen. They paddled our way upstream. Views were spectacular -- much like the Grand Canyon or Canyon de Chelly but way lots more vegetation.
Because of the dam, the width and depth of the river was rising. Many, many were displaced by these changes and had been relocated by the government.
Then we headed back to cruise ship for lunch. After lunch, Gary enjoyed a full body massage and Vina a foot massage (which was really whole body). These were not the mild relaxing kind of massage but hard tugging and pulling and kneading of the muscles. Felt great when it was done and over. :-)
We spent the rest of the day enjoying the scenery as we made our way up the Yangtze. Lucky, our tour guide, gave us a lecture on things we have seen and what we will see in the next few days. Always interesting to hear a Chinese perspective on things.
26 May (Wednesday) Cruising Yangtze River and Fengdu -- The City of Ghosts
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Spent the morning on an excursion to Fengdu - The City of Ghosts (including a trip to Hell) high up on a hill. It was a long walk up -- more than 600 steps. It was hot, humid and drizzling but it was worth the
effort. Buddhism and Taoism are the the two biggest influences on the Chinese people here. Colors are significant. Red is for heaven and good. Blue is for hell. They believe that all people
when they die, their spirits come to Fengdu and then to heaven or hell. If we behave well in this life then we don't have to go to hell in the next. We visit hell (temple) to learn what it is like. The Taoists believe in reincarnation. The Buddhists seek nirvana -- a state of heavenly bliss.
There were LOTS of vendors outside the gates of the City of Ghosts. Capitalism is doing well in China. Gary bought a 2GB memory card for his camera for 80 Yuan -- about $12. Probably could have gotten a better price if his bargaining skills were better.
The old city of Fengdu was destroyed by flooding caused by the Three Gorges dam. A totally new city for 7,100,000 people was built across the river on the other bank. The government provided a new apartment and cash to people to resettle. Young people tended to like it but the older people did not. The same was true with the one child policy. Young women saw it as an opportunity to explore careers. The single child is doted upon by all.
This was our last night on the ship and we had a very nice farewell banquet. That evening after dinner our group did a singing presentation of "Home on the Range" and "You Are My Sunshine" for a talent show on the ship. Gary faked it! The group did a great job. We had a wonderful choir director in Cathleen and several in our group do sing with local Arizona groups.
This was our last night on the ship and we had a very nice farewell banquet. We were reminded again of why we enjoy cruising. It was very relaxing and enjoyable while we were able to see many sites.
27 May (Thursday) Chongqing and flight to Kunming
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Thursday morning the ship arrived in Chongqing which is built on a peninsula at the confluence of the Yangtze and the Jialing rivers. It is nicknamed "Mountain City". Chongqing is the fourth central municipal city (which means that it is run by the Federal (Beijing) government) in China.
We leave the ship and head to the airport. When we get to the airport, we go to our gate in the terminal where a bus (over)filled with all the passengers takes us to our plane on the tarmac. We fly an hour and ten minutes from Chongqing to Kunming. Kunming is the capital of southwest China’s Yunnan Province, a primarily agricultural province of 45 million. Kunming has a population of five million and is located in one of the world’s most geographically, ethnically, biologically and linguistically diverse regions. Situated at 6,233 feet (1,900 meters) above sea level and 25° north of the Equator it has a rather unique and pleasant climate for a Chinese city. Because of its high altitude Kunming weather is typically characterized by intense sunlight during the daytime and a slight chill at night. When the rest of China is hot, Kunming is one of the country’s coolest cities. When the northern half of the country is frozen and covered with snow, flowers are blooming. Hence, Kunming’s nickname in Chinese is ‘Spring City’.
We visit the “Stone Forest” in the afternoon. It is aptly named. It was a very beautiful and serene place (see the pictures). We walked and climbed a LOT.
The hotel in Kunming was very nice with a revolving restaurant on the 25th floor, where we had a buffet dinner.
28 May (Friday) Kunming flight to LiJiang and Old Town
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So much to see, it was hard to keep track of it all. After getting up early (4 a.m.), it was about an hours flight to LiJiang, where the NaXi (pronounced "Nashi") people live. The NaXi are one of the 16 minorities officially recognized by the Chinese government. The NaXi Dongba Culture is famous in China. The Dongba religion worships the spirit of the nature. Dongba means the wise. Dongba also refers to the person that holds sacrificial rites. The Dongba Pictograph (as a form of written language) was widely used among the NaXi people in the 11th century. It is the only living hieroglyphic still in use in the world today.
The hotel we stay at is in Old Town. LiJiang Old Town is listed as a World Culture Heritage site
by UNESCO. The hotel is modern but old. By that I mean that it has modern bathrooms (no squat toilets!) but old traditional style rooms arranged around courtyards. A really delightful place to stay.
Old Town LiJiang is a fascinating collection of shops and restaurants. The streets reminded us of the streets in parts of Europe -- narrow and wandering with something new around each bend.
We visited the Mu Residence -- a palace built by a family named Mu. It was styled much like the Forbidden City (Emperor's Palace) in Beijing. It was a wonderful peek at W.R. Hearst style living - Chinese style.
We also visited the “Black Dragon Pool” a beautiful park where the Dong Ba Cultural Museum is located.
We walked more than 15,000 steps this day (some folks were wearing pedometers) before dinner!
29 May (Saturday) LiJiang
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Gary woke up Saturday morning with a case of diarrhea and decided to skip the tour for the day. He went to an Internet cafe and caught up on email and then went shopping on those winding streets. While many Chinese do speak some limited English many do not. It can be a challenge to communicate. Airport security in Kunming took Gary's deodorant spray can and he had been unsuccessfully trying to buy some deodorant for several days. Seems the Chinese are not too big on deodorant -- could not find it anywhere. Gary did manage to find a pair of flip flops for 1o Yuan ($1.50 U.S.).
Vina took the camera and will need to write about what she saw and photographed HERE.
After dinner we went to the “Beautiful Water and Golden River Singing and Dancing Performance" at the Opera House. Wonderful lighting and stage settings (Las Vegas style) highlighted most of the different Chinese minority nationalities living in Yun Nan Province. Even though everything was in Chinese, it was very enjoyable.
30 May (Sunday) LiJiang flight to Kunming and flight to Guilin
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We spent two-thirds of the day in transit. We were up at 5 a.m. to head to the LiJiang airport. We flew back to Kunming where we killed time and had a nice lunch. Took the flight from Kunming to Guilin. We arrived at Guilin around 4 p.m. and took a bus into the city with scenery changing from farmland to city.
Guilin is one of China’s most spectacular geological sites and most photographed landmarks with interesting mountains around the city. Guilin’s unique scenery is formed by its Karst topography, i.e., landscape shaped by the dissolution of limestone layers, leaving a terrain characterized by sinks, ravines, and underground streams.
Guilin has a population of 670,000 and is situated in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of China, about 350 miles northwest of Hong Kong on the west bank of the Li River. Its name means "forest of sweet osmanthus", owing to the large number of fragrant Sweet Osmanthus trees located in the city.
We went on a tour of Elephant Mountain park. Then we went to dinner at a tea house where
Hillary Clinton visited when Bill was President. We had the "Longevity" dinner and the presentation of the dishes required us to take pictures of each dish before we dived in to eat. Then we headed to the hotel to check in. We got settled in the hotel and then to bed to get ready for tomorrow's adventures.
31 May (Monday) Boat on Li River from Guilin to Yangshuo
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The Li River is more than 250 km in length and 500 meters in width. The journey from Guilin downstream to Yang Shuo was 30 miles of breathtaking scenery. Blue jade hills... green silk water... hidden caves... mysterious rocks... fish men on bamboo-small boats… The weather was hot and humid but the breeze on the boat made it all quite bearable. The scenery was so breathtaking that I took way too many pictures! We enjoyed another typical Chinese lunch on board the boat and arrived in Yang Shuo around 1 p.m.
We walked from the boat to the hotel down a long street filled with shopping booths. After checking into our hotel and resting a short while, we took a walk down the shopping street and enjoyed an ice cream cone. Then back to the hotel for a nap. We could not find any English language station on TV.
We went to dinner and an outdoor show. The open air stadium show was spectacular. I know that
I have probably overused that word but this show was something to behold. There were boats moving through the water and dancers on land and in boats. The actors were spread out over an entire bay on the river with the lighted sandstone Karst mountains as an amazing backdrop. It was literally a cast of 600 hundred. It was a ballet on the lake with an amazing mountain background. Think of the Beijing Olympics opening show on water. The show was directed by Zhang Yimou who was chosen to do the 2008 Beijing Olympics opening show because of this presentation.
1 June (Tuesday) Xian
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Up at 5:30 a.m. we flew from Guilin in rainy weather (the only bad weather we have experienced on this entire trip) to Xian (pronounced she - an). Xian is capital of Shaanxi Province and lies in the middle of the Guan Zhong Basin with the Weihe River to its north. As one of China's seven ancient national capitals, it served as the capital for 12 dynasties for over 1,000 years. Xi'an has a great number of precious relics and historical sites. Xi'an was the starting point of the Old Silk Road.
We went on a tour of Elephant Park. This was another Chinese park with paid admission that had beautiful scenery. It is called Elephant Park because of a mountain that (sort of) looks like an elephant. I was surprised at the number of parks in Communist China that require a paid admission to visit.
After checking in and resting at the hotel, we went for a foot reflexology massage. It was just wonderful. And it was way more than just the feet. Very relaxing and refreshing. Then we headed
off to dinner and a show at an opera house not unlike the Broadway Palms theater in Mesa, Arizona. It was a nice show but nothing could top the show the previous night.
Another exhausting but enjoyable day.
2 June (Wednesday) Xian
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We had breakfast at the hotel then on to the bus for a tour of the Shaanxi Provincial Museum. This was an excellent museum telling the story of the various dynasties in China with an emphasis on Shaanxi province. Then we were off to the the Terra Cotta factory making many, many different tourist items. Didn't buy anything.
Then to lunch -- typical Chinese style. After lunch we headed to the Terra Cotta Soldiers Museum to see the f
amous archeological digs. Another amazing site/sight. Pictures are good but can't tell the whole story.
The scale of almost everything in China is on a metric hard for anyone who has not seen it to fully understand. The clay soldiers and clay horses are all life size.
On the way back to the hotel our bus found us in a huge traffic jam (because, we think, of an accident on the freeway) and we backed out of the freeway -- with our female guide directing the bus and traffic. We backed up until we were able to turn around and drive the wrong way on the freeway. Finally we got to the cross over to the other lane to drive forward as we should. All the cars and trucks did this. Only we Americans seemed unnerved at the whole process. It was another amazing sight -- we have never seen anything like it!
3 June (Thursday) Xian and train to Luo Yang
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We started the day in Xian with a quick stop at the Wild Goose Pagoda and then to the City Wall
where we spent some time. I know I overuse the word "amazing" but it was amazing to think how they built this wall (it is much more than a simple wall) structure around the city in 1200 or 1300 without modern tools. (See pictures)
Then we went to an early lunch and to the train station to catch the "local" train to Lou Yang. We were the only non-Chinese aboard the train. A six hour train ride with every seat filled and some with two people in one seat and several people with standing only tickets. Upon arrival in Luo Yang we got on our bus, went to dinner and then to a a very nice hotel and bed.
Luo Yang (He Nan Province) is a small city of 1.4 million urban and 6.1 greater area, 25 kilometers to the south of the Yellow River, and is known in China as "The Capital of Nine Dynasties". It was the capital from the Eastern Zhou (770 BC) to the later Tang Dynasty (923-936 AD). For several centuries, Luo Yang was the gravity center of China. In 68, White Horse Temple, the first Buddhist temple in China, was founded here. The temple still exists, albeit the architecture is of later origin, mainly from the 16th century. In 493 the Northern Wei Dynasty moved its capital from Datong to Luo Yang and started the construction of the artificial Long Men Caves. More than 30,000 Buddhist Images from the time of this dynasty have been found in the caves. We tour Luo Yang tomorrow and then train ride overnight to Beijing.
4 June (Friday) Luo Yang
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We went to the Kung Fu (Gong Fu) Center which is a university with >25,000 students next to the Shao Lin Temple. We enjoyed lunch there and watched a Kung Fu exhibition. The students displayed great discipline in learning the martial art.
We visited the Dragon Gate Grotto - a large park with many, many grottoes (holes in the side of mountain) filled with carvings of Buddhas. Many of the Buddhas faces had been damaged during the Cultural Revolution. The largest of the Buddhas was up on top of a mountain. It was worth the climb! (See photos)
After dinner we head to the train station and board the train for the overnight trip to Beijing. Once again we shared a cabin with David and Karen Schwalm.
5 June (Saturday) Beijing
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We've become "old hands" at Chinese train travel and had an uneventful overnight trip to Beijing. As it was night and dark, we could not see much from the train. We arrived early (5:30 a.m.) at the West Beijing train station. It was the nicest train station I have ever seen and it was huge.
We got on a bus and headed into Beijing to get a "typical Chinese" breakfast at a state run (i.e. Communist Party) restaurant. It was the worst meal of the entire trip. They were not ready for us when we arrived although reservations had been made. Lucky and our local tour guide had to act as waiters bringing the food out. Lucky complained openly (in English - not Chinese) about lack of motivation to serve by the communist restaurant manager and workers. It was an experience - not the experience we or our tour leader was expecting but an authentic Chinese experience.
Then we headed off to Tian An Men Square. Even though we have all seen the Square in video images and pictures, it is even larger than the pictures convey -- just huge. And there were thousands - maybe 10 -12 thousand people milling about. We were there just 21 years and one day since the famous protests of June 4, 1989. On our trip throughout China, we saw very little in the way of the military or police force. Tian An Men Square was the exception. The Chinese military were prominent on the Square.
Then we went back to the bus and off to the Temple of Heaven -- a large park with four temples. We spent over two hours exploring and seeing the temples. Again, there were thousands of Chinese out enjoying the park (it was a Saturday) with lots of dancing, singing and music playing. It was really interesting to watch and be with the people in the park.
The smog was less than we thought it might be but it was still smoggy. The temperatures were in the 80's F. (23c).
We checked into the Beijing Traders Hotel - a very nice upscale hotel close to a shopping mall, a Hagen Das ice cream shop and a Starbucks. After an afternoon rest at our hotel, we went for a Chinese dinner and then to the Chinese Acrobat Show at a theater.
6 June (Sunday) Beijing
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Sunday proved to be a very busy day with LOTS and LOTS of walking. After breakfast in the hotel, we boarded our tour bus and visited the Forbidden City. The Forbidden City served as the residence for the Imperial Family and is located on the other side of the gate (with the big picture of Mao) at Tian An Men Square. The crowds were unbelievable. The Forbidden City is very large (the term "city" is appropriate) and very beautiful.
Then back on the bus and we went to lunch. After lunch we visited the Summer Palace which is located next to a man made lake. The Summer Palace was also quite large and spread out. And the Chinese tourist crowds were also quite large. The artwork in the Summer Palace was quite amazing.
Beijing traffic was similar to L.A. or N.Y. during rush hour. We just closed our eyes and trusted in our bus driver to get us where we were going!
7 June (Monday) Beijing
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Monday would prove to be another day of LOTS of walking and testing of our physical strength. June 7th was the date that Chinese high school students took the entrance exam for college -- all 1.6 million of them to qualify for 1.3 million slots. People were asked to give the students priority on the highway to get to their testing centers. Monday morning traffic was a mess.
We started out the day by going to the Jade Factory and we made a few purchases. Then we got back into the bus and we were off to the Ba Da Ling entrance to the Great Wall -- about 1 1/2 hour drive from downtown Beijing. The smog continued to be awful -- we could not see the hills it is so "hazy."
The Great Wall is aptly named. It is hard to imagine how they built such a wall in the mountains without modern construction equipment. Some of the men who died in the construction are buried in the Wall. Vina and I both did our best in the heat and smog and climbed (another apt term) the Wall sometimes leaning forward seemingly at a 45 degree angle . Glad we did it!
Then we headed to lunch and a visit to the cloisonne factory. Interesting but we didn't buy anything. Then we drove another 40 minutes or so to visit Ming Tomb and the Underground Palace. I have seen it but I don't understand how they were able to build such a structure 800 years ago.
For dinner we had Mongolian Hot Pot dinner with mutton. Our National Guide, Lucky, is Mongolian and he was very eager for us to taste food from his region of China. It was different but good.
8 June (Tuesday) Beijing
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Tuesday was Gary's 65th birthday and a shopping day for the group. We went to this huge multi-story shopping mall. The higher up in the building you went, the more high end and expensive the items for sale were. Nothing had a set price. People negotiated for everything from T-shirts to cell phones to diamond rings. We had been delaying buying things because we didn't want to haul things all around China. Well, this was our opportunity to buy souvenirs and gifts. Mission accomplished.
That evening we had the Beijing (Peking) Duck Farewell Dinner.
It was a real treat. Lucky got Gary a birthday cake and a "tiger" hat (for the Year of the Tiger). (See pictures). Everyone sang Happy Birthday. Vina convinced David to lead the group in the Happy Birthday Chant in the tradition of ASU Poly. It was very nice and a great way to celebrate a milestone birthday.
The Beijing Duck dinner was very good and David led the group in an appreciation to Lucky for all that he did in leading us throughout China. A grand evening.
9 June (Wednesday) Beijing airport to Tempe, Arizona
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We woke up in Beijing at about 6:30 a.m. Wednesday morning Beijing time (3:30 p.m. Tuesday afternoon, Tempe time). We would arrive home in Tempe around midnight, Wednesday, Tempe time -- about 32 1/2 hours later.
We had breakfast at the hotel, checked out and headed out to visit the Lama Temple. At this point in our travels, we had seen about all the temples and Buddhas that we could stand.
Nonetheless, this place was impressive. Then back to the bus and a stop for lunch. After lunch we took a trip to the site of the 2008 Olympics. We visited the outside of the Bird's Nest stadium (an engineering marvel, in my view) and the Water Tube swimming pavilion. The whole Olympics area was quite impressive.
Then back to bus one last time and we headed to the Beijing airport for our 13 hour flight home. After going through customs and one last passport check, we boarded our flight for the 9 p.m. flight to LAX. We arrived at LAX at 6 p.m. -- three hours BEFORE we left China! Such are the wonders of modern travel. Then we schlepped our luggage over to the Southwest terminal and waited for the flight to Phoenix. We finally arrived at Sky Harbor around 10:30 p.m., gathered our luggage one last time and headed for home.
WHAT A TRIP!
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