October 5, 2012

Beautiful day to fly!   Flight was good…but long. We were fed dinner at 2am with nice glass of wine ..and then tried to get some sleep. Succeeded a little. Woke up and watched the Chinese folks on the plane consume bowls of noodles and broth with chopsticks so we ordered some as well. It was delicious…like ramen noodles, but tastier.  Breakfast was served in the “morning”…, which was 3:30 in the afternoon NY time. 

Watched two great movies…Thin Ice and To Rome with Love.  Started Magic of Belle Isle and it was so good, decided to stop watching and instead, rent on Netflix when Allan and I can watch it together when we get home. We did several laps around the plane aisles to hopefully ward off leg problems.

October 6

Traveling all day in plane​

October 7  Shanghai

After a long flight and then meeting Gary and Chi in the Hong Kong airport, we boarded our flight to Shanghai.  Shanghai is a bustling city…lights, hotels and restaurants everywhere.  Met our tour guide Candy who is very nice and is anxious for us all to enjoy this adventure. There are twenty-sixof us on tour…from USA, Australia, and Britain.  Had traditional Chinese dinner this evening…served with chopsticks, egg drop soup and a myriad of other Chinese delights. Food was not plentiful, but very tasty.  The Chinese don’t eat the way Americans do in terms of quantity. 

After dinner, we met as a group and received a lot of info from our guide as to what to expect on tour, places we will be seeing, and the heads up aboutthe toilets which in Candy’s words “are horrible “.  We are up for the challenge!!  Everyone in the group introduced themselves and we left promising to be on time in the lobby at 9:30 am to tour Shanghai. 

Our hotel is lovely and we have many amenities in the room that were unexpected.  We at first, however, couldn’t figure out how to keep the lights on. Apparently, you must put your key card in the slot on the wall to maintain lighting in the room. That was a new one for us. I am currently boiling the tap water for the required five minutes so that I can use it to wash my face in the morning and so Allan can shave, as tap water is undrinkable.  Two bottles of drinking water cost 24.4 Yuan, which is about four dollars.  Not bad at all. 

Going off to bed for a much-needed night’s sleep.

October 8  Shanghai

Had an AMAZING breakfast. Western and Chinese options. The wonton soup was delicious and we also had steamed buns, pickled veggies, bean milk, millet porridge, omelets, cereals, croissants, and on and on.  We slept great on very hard beds!  Room is quite lovely. 

First stop was the Shanghai museum where we saw beautiful relics, some dating back as far as 700 BC.   There was an amazing jade collection as well. After visiting the museum, we went to the Bund and walked along the riverside. It is a beautiful spot and we could view the amazing skyline.  The Shanghai skyline is like a scene from a futuristic movie. Very unusually shaped buildings. 

Next, we took a super fast elevator up to the 88th floor of the tallest building in Shanghai and we could see for miles around. It was a perfect day in which to do this as our guide told us that there are only 15 such days in Shanghai each year, due to the smog, and so far, we have experienced two of these perfect days. 

We had lunch at a catering hall on a river barge that the Chinese people use for weddings. We had many Chinese dishes…including delicious egg drop soup. Then we experienced a ride on the famous Maglev train…a train that travels 431km and when another train passes in the opposite direction, you hear a big BANG!!!

Tonight…lots of excitement. Our bus was leaving to take us to a famous Thai restaurant when someone on the street started screaming that they were hit. People on the bus who were watching out the window said that the person just walked near the bus while the bus was backing up and it appeared that they were walking deliberately into the bus. Much screaming in Chinese between the bus driver, the national and local guides and the pedestrian. We had Chi to translate and apparently, the pedestrian wanted to be taken to the hospital. It was really getting out of hand…and then the local guide offered money. That ended the ruckus. Apparently, people do this on occasion just to be compensated. 

We went off to the restaurant and had another great meal. However, one dish was a huge fish that was whole. It spun around on the lazy susan and always seemed to wind up in front of me with those beady eyes. People who tried it said it was full of bones. Yuck!!!!   We leave Shanghai tomorrow for a few days and will return on Thursday. 

October 9 Suzhou

 Started the day with great Chinese breakfast. Soup with wontons, bean paste, and some other items that I didn’t recognize but enjoyed. Also…had bean milk and liquid yogurt.  

We left our suitcases with the hotel and took overnight bag for next three nights and boarded our bus. 

Some of the people on the tour are complainers. They don’t like this or that. Even though a few folks are complainers, most the group is very nice and having a great time.  You must have an open mind and be ready for anything. So far, the bathrooms have been immaculate here in Shanghai, so I haven’t had to use my Pstyle yet. (For those of you who don’t know what that is…you can google it). Now we are going into more remote areas…so I’m thinking I will be having to make use of it at some point very soon. 

We drove on a highway to Suzhou. The plantings on the road were beautiful and all along for miles and miles…small shrubs that then graduated into trees in the background. Sometimes there were five rows of shrubs…each one taller than the next.  We went to a silk mill and learned how silk is made. We saw the worms munching on the mulberry leaves. Touched one of the worms. Interestingly…very silky and soft. The eggs are laid and then they hatch and the worms are fed the mulberry leaves until they grow big enough to spin a cocoon into silk. After forty days, the cocoons are taken to have the small silk thread started and it is unraveled onto spools.  Most of the worms are then baked to kill them and only a small percent can mature into moths to allow for future populations. The silk mill had beautiful clothing and bedding.  Then we had lunch at the silk mill…our first lunch so far that was so so. 

After lunch, we rode to the beautiful garden…Master of the Nets. Very peaceful and serene. Then on to the Grand Canal and a wonderful boat ride throughout it. The sights and smells were fabulous, although somesmells were a bit pungent. Women and men alike were washing clothes in the canal and people were waving at us as we cruised by. Such friendly people the Chinese.  I could take amazing shots of the culture – the people, their homes and their lives. 

The Chinese ride motorbikes and pedal bicycles all over. You can’t believe how many there are and we were so frightened that they would be in an accident since they ride so close to the cars and buses.  Women and men of all ages are riding along…and sometimes you will see a father in front at the controls with a little one in front of him.  Then another child behind him with the mother bringing up the rear. 

Our hotel is gorgeous. Brand new and the room is sleek and modern.  Went for a walk and practically got killed crossing the street. Cars, motorbikes, etc… They don’t stop even when you have the right of way. Scary!

Dinner was delicious with duck, beef, tomato soup, eggplant, egg and onions, and a few more dishes.  Bought some bottled beer to take back to the room along with some bakery treats we picked up at the local bakery.  

October 10  Suzhou to Hangzhou

is china in general. No graffiti and no garbage on the streets. 

After the temple, we visited a tea farm and had a tea tasting. We learned how the tea is grown, picked, dried and then brewed. We had delicious spring grown green tea and they explained how to pour the tea and how you should follow certain traditions to make your guests feel welcome…or not. 

We had a delicious lunch…this time at The Lily Hotel and again…many new dishes were introduced to us. Chi is helpful in telling us what we are eating if the host has not. 

After lunch, we visited Felai Feng, a hillside full of statues.  It was very interesting seeing all the beautiful statues. Then we visited the 6 Harmonies Pagoda and walked to the top of the hillside. It was quite a climb and I figured it helped us get into shape for when we go to the Great Wall!

The afternoon ended with a beautiful cruise on the West Lake and another delicious dinner.  The west lake has beautiful serene gardens surrounding it and each little nook and cranny was more beautiful than the next. It was very romantic walking through the greenery and strolling over bridges and paths as the sun was making its way to the west. We really took some beautiful pictures. 

Dinner was excellent…again sampling some interesting dishes. 

October 12

I was up at four thirty this morning because trying to sleep longer than that has been a little bit of a problem. Tonight, we will try to stay awake until at least 10:30. 

Remember the little accident that occurred a few days ago with the bus and the pedestrian?  Apparently, all was solved with about 80 US dollars from the tour guide. 

The Chinese people love having their pictures taken and they love to take our pictures. I have some wonderful people shots that I will put into a grouping…the faces of china.  Everyone is very friendly…and even though we don’t understand each other’s language, smiles cross all borders.  China is very clean. Store owners are always mopping the sidewalks in front of their stores and there are street cleaners everywhere. Teenage girls walk hand and hand and people ride bicycles everywhere. At night, it is a challenge since most of the bikes and motor scooters have no lights. 

Yesterday on the boat, a little boy ran over to me and hugged my legs. He didn’t want to go near the edge and risk falling overboard. Suddenly, he looked up and realized the pair of legs he was clinging to were not his mothers!!!  The look on his face was priceless. Poor little one. He ran off in search of his real mom. I think the blond hair spooked him!

Other travelers to china had told us that the food was repetitive. Yes…we get rice at every meal, cabbage, vegetable and soup, but we have been offered unusual fare as well, particularly here in Hangzhou.  I have been enjoying having soup and wonton for breakfast. Yesterday, I put quail eggs in too. Delicious. 

This morning Allan and I walked around town and watched people doing tai chi and dancing. I found a small park with exercise equipment and many Chinese were using it. I followed along…watching and then mimicking. They were very kind in showing me how to work the apparatus…all stations motor free…but very efficient. Exercised for about twenty-five minutes.  The Chinese exercise as they walk along…swinging arms and dancing while waiting for the buses. I also saw a lady today pounding her arms as she walked.  The Chinese are not obese. 

We visited Wuzhen an old restored town. We saw a huge home from many years ago and it was replete with antique beds with intricate carvings. We learned about Chinese wedding ceremonies and saw the wedding regalia.   There were canals all throughout the town and people are living in the housing. As we walked the streets, we could view the homes with interesting windows and doors and on occasion, we were able to peek inside.  We had lunch there and then enjoyed walking the streets and seeing craftsmen at work and many stores selling all kinds of goods. 

We traveled back to shanghai…which took a long time because of all the traffic…and for dinner we sampled Chinese hot pot…like Mongolian hotpot.  It was fun to cook your dinner right in front of you as we each had our own broth pot. One side was hot…very spicy and the other side was broth. At each meal, we get a glass of beer. 

Right now, we are back at our hotel and Allan and I are enjoying another glass of beer. We had to change hotels today. It seems that the Chinese government had a convention in the hotel we were supposed to stay in…and so we were moved to the holiday inn. It is a beautiful hotel and our room is lovely. 

October 13  Hangzhou to Shanghai

We are back in shanghai to resume our touring. Our hotel is beautiful…looks brand new. The Chinese government needed the rooms in the other hotel where we stayed when we first arrived in shanghai, so we had to change. This hotel is nicer than the last one. 

Slept very well and finally woke up at five fifteen instead of four fifteen. Hooray!  Our mattress is not as hard as other hotels have been…and after sleeping on the rock-hard mattresses, I was wondering if I’d get a good nights sleep.   The hard mattress feels very good on ones back. Had congee for breakfast which is a bland porridge made of rice. I put yogurt in it and it was delicious, but chi said I should use the pickled veggies. Maybe I started a new Chinese trend with the yogurt!  At the last hotel, we had moon cakes which chi said were delicious and he was right!  Looked forthem here, but alas, no moon cakes. 

Met a couple just finishing up twenty-eight day Wendy wu tour and they said it has been wonderful so we have much to look forward to. 

Today we went to Yu Garden, a beautiful garden with paths everywhere and beauty at every turn.  We strolled throughout and enjoyed the fish pond, the flowers, and the rock formations.  We also saw a wedding couple. The bride was beautiful and allowed us to take pictures. I didn’t take with my iPad…so I can’t share them at this moment. 

After the garden, we walked through the town where people were selling everything you could imagine.  There was a Starbucks there and it was mobbed. We also see many McDonald’s and KFC. 

We had a delicious Cantonese lunch…custard tarts like quiche, spring rolls, steamed buns, pickled vegetables, Chinese spinach, soup with dumplings, beef and peppers,  rice and watermelon. After lunch, we visited an upscale shopping area – Nanjing Road with guess, gap, omega, Rolex, and a huge apple store. We lost one of our tourists…the oldest man on the tour. Our bus driver drove around and we all tried to look for Reggie. Someone spotted him talking with the police and he could come back on board. Now we all kind of keep an eye on him. 

We then went to the Xintiandi area that had been restored to its glory by Jackie chan. All eateries…upscale and some upscale boutique shops. Allan and I bought four pieces of Godiva…16 dollars. They were delicious. 

Had dinner and then went off on a boat ride down the Huangpu River.  The government spends a lot of money to put on an amazing light show with all the buildings that line the river. It was just beautiful. I stood next to an elderly Chinese couple and they were fascinated by my iPad…and loved looking at the pictures I was taking with it.  I offered to take their picture…and they stood proudly for the shot. They were so excited to see it afterwards. Their son spoke English and so I included he and his brother in the next shot.  Everyone was deliriously happy. Later, the son came over with his little boy.  I knew he wanted the boys picture taken, but I asked him before doing it. He said yes so quickly and then called his wife over to be in the picture as well. It was wonderful. I then showed them pictures of Gavin and the family and they just kept going on and on in Chinese and smiling and patting me.  The older gentlemen than offered me a cigarette…(I declined).  When the boat ride was over, the elderly gent shook my hand and said hello over and over…thinking it was goodbye. It was a wonderful experience. 

Afterwards, a group of us left the bus and took taxis to the French quarter in the Xintiandi area and had pizza and beer. So much fun. The taxi ride was a bit harrowing…headlights coming at us from both sides and we thought our driver might be going up a one-way street. Yikes!

All in all…another great day.  Tomorrow we fly to Guilin. 

October 14 Guilin

I forgot to mention the other day that when we went through security at the Shanghai museum, we had to open our water bottles and drink from them to show they were harmless. Interesting!

Today we did not have to be ready until 11:00 am and so we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast. After breakfast, we drove to the airport and boarded a 3:30 flight. It was scheduled for two forty, but took off almost an hour later. 

The flight was wonderful. We enjoyed a snack of a delicious flavored roll and there were pickled vegetables which the Chinese lady next to me said to put on the roll.  It was tasty. We also were served apple chips, cookies, water and drinks. The flight was about two hours and we arrived in Guilin in time for dinner. 

Our hotel is nice…a little older than the other hotels we have been in, but many amenities.  I feel that I’ve been eating way too much and have decided not to pig out so much in the weeks to follow. HA!!!

October 15  Guilin to Yangshou

First time that our hotel is not up to par. It is rather poorly maintained, but they do give a lot of amenities. The shower mat…whoa!!!!  Quite a sight so it sat in the corner of the shower. Shower is huge…room is huge…. bedsvery, very hard so we put a quilt under us to sleep on. It did work.   Our meal last night was in the next-door catering hall. A wedding celebration was going on. Rose petals and spent firecrackers all over. The food was very tasty…a little spicier than we had in shanghai. 

We had to bid our local guide Jacob farewell before we left for Guilin as he was only with us in shanghai. Our new local guide, Carly is very nice and easy to understand as well. They are very knowledgeable and tell us many interesting facts about the customs, food, sites etc. in the area that we are visiting. 

Breakfast this morning was very plain…not the usual Chinese fare. I just had a hardboiled egg and porridge. We boarded the bus to the Li river cruise and on the way our guide told us about the local customs. When men look for a wife they want one with long beautiful hair, a lovely singing voice and wide hips for having babies. Women look for a man that can hold his liquor and not embarrass the family with drinking, large feet, strong, and of good temper. The women have beautiful hair by using rice water to wash their hair with. In one of the local villages, the women do not cut their hair until the age of eighteen and then they cut it very short. If they are not married, they do not use the cutoff hair. When they marry, they can wear it on their head and arrange in a top knot or bun. 

Guilin is much more rural than Shanghai and the houses are very run down.  The cars are older and many people are riding in wagons. We boarded our ship for the cruise down the Li river which was very beautiful. It was a hot and humid day but one could catch a breeze. We were given bag lunches since one Wendy wu tour a few years ago got sick from eating the food on the ship. Now they only have you eat the food prepared off the ship. As we cruised along, I could understand why. I saw the kitchen crew washing the used plates in the water from the river. Yikes!!  For the locals, this is fine, but not so much for tourists. 

The mountains and cliffs were beautiful to see along the way and we enjoyed the river ride very much. 

After we got off the ship, the elderly man got lost…again!!!!  The tour guide has had it and told everyone that from now on, she will not be looking for anyone if they get lost. They will have to take a taxi to get back to the hotel. We all clapped because it really was getting annoying having to stand around waiting while the guides searched for the missing person…usually this man. 

We packed an overnight bag as we are now staying one night in Yangzhou. Our hotel here is dated but clean. No matter where we are, the bedding is always immaculate. They give many amenities…shower cap, toothbrush and paste, robe, slippers, comb, bath gel, shampoo, vanity kit, razor with shaving cream, sewing kit, flashlights in the room, shoe polish kit, refrigerator, hair dryer and irons. Speaking of flashlights, on our first night meeting everyone, we were told that we had to take all batteries out of any gadget and keep it in carryon luggage. One of the British men asked if he could bring his torch. The look on our guides face was priceless as she said…your torch??  I think she was visualizing a Polynesian tiki light!!  Then someone said…he means his flashlight!  Too funny!  

Our dinner tonight was different yet again. We had lemon chicken, rice noodles, taro root dumplings and egg drop soup…along with a fish dish, broccoli, sautéed celery and some other dishes.  They always serve everything on a lazy Susan and you eat with chopsticks and put the food on a very small plate. You just help yourself as the lazy Susan spins around.  Every night we also get a glass of beer. 

Tonight, we went to an amazing extravaganza.  It was called impressions and was choreographed by the same man who did the Olympics in Beijing. What a show. There were over three thousand people in the audience and over 600 people in the performance. The local people are the actors along with a few who are training to be actors who attend the local university. The show was beautiful as was the music. It was set on the Li River with the mountains as the backdrop in the open-air theatre.   Everything was choreographed to the music and igniting. Boats came in from the side as well as the performers. The pictures don’t capture the beauty. An amazing night. 

Afterwards, we came back and some of us walked the local streets.  Bars with music blaring and kids dancing as well as street venders and people selling food were the norm. We stopped at a local place with the group and had home brewed beer. It was good but not as hearty as I was hoping for. 

It’s been a long day…so we are off to bed. 

October 16  Guilin

We rode the bus back to Guilin. It was beautiful driving through the countryside. There were many nurseries for plants on the way with beautiful flowers and shrubs being cultivated. The first stop was a rice paddy. The locals grow white rice and when ready, they cut the rice grass with a sickle and put it in a basket to take home and let dry which takes about three days.  

After that, we visited a pearl museum which was just a way to get the tourists to buy pearls. The pearl jewelry was lovely, but I didn’t buy anything since I already have pearls.  We had lunch at a restaurant called The Left Bank. The lunch was delicious…lemon chicken, duck, broccoli, noodles, beef with peppers, candied bananas, soup, and fruit.  I must say, the food has been outstanding. One woman in our group said, “I’m getting tired of Chinese food!”  Seriously??? Then why did you come to China. Duh!!

We then went to the reed flute caves. It was quite a hike to get up to the cave…a good workout to prepare for when we get to the great wall.  The locals hid in the cave in the 1940’s during the Japanese invasion.  In the fifties, the government was told of the cave and the government then opened it to the public in the early 60’s. If you can afford it, you can rent the cave and hold celebrations in the crystal palace area which has been electrified with floor lights. It is where the shallow pool is.  Quite lovely for a wedding. 

Had dinner which again offered new cuisine. Bean paste buns, chicken on a stick, corn soup, and sweet and sour chicken, beef dish and fresh oranges for dessert.  Also, had noodles, rice and vegetables. 

After dinner, we went to see the cormorant fisherman. It was pitch-black on the water and the fisherman has oil lamps on the raft for some light. He trains the birds to stay close to his raft and they have been trained to dive under the water to catch the fish. They cannot swallow the fish because there is a string around their neck. Once the bird catches a fish, he hops back onto the raft and the fisherman takes the bird and squeezes the fish out of his neck into a bucket.  The fisherman had quite a few birds and he caught a lot of fish in a short span of time. 

It was so dark, I could only take pics with my regular camera so I’m sorry you can’t see them until I get back home. 

Tomorrow we fly to Kunming. 

October 17  Kunming

The guides are easy to understand usually and they are very accommodating. Someone on the tour said they were getting tired of watermelon for dessert at each meal. Our guide Carly then made sure we had banana and oranges to complete our meals. . Allan and I have no complaints. It is all part of the adventure. We both agree that this hotel, which we came back to in Guilin to fly to Kunming is not up to par with hotels in the other cities, but truthfully, the room is huge and has a huge walk in shower and we only sleep here. We are so exhausted after a long day of touring that we just plop down and go to sleep. This morning we stayed asleep until 7 am!!!  

The locals ride all over on motorbikes and scooters, as I have mentioned before. The scooters go about 25 mph and the rider wears a helmet which is usually a construction helmet. The scooters are electric and so they don’t have to use gas to get around. The problem is, no lights on many of them (including the motorbikes) and they don’t stop for anything. It is like playing the old video game Frogger to get across the street. 

The people lease their homes from the government and they can live there for seventy years. If they move out, the next person will be able to lease the house only for whatever time is left from the original leaser.   So if a person lives in a home for fifty years, the next owner can only reside there for twenty years and then they must move out.  After the seventy years time, the house will go back to the government and the government will tear it down and build a new one. 

This hotel does not have the delicious Chinese breakfast that is offered by the other hotels we have been in. We were only offered traditional western breakfast. Disappointing since I’ve really come to love the Chinese broth with noodles and vegetables that we could have in the other hotels. Not to mention the delicious steamed buns and sautéed vegetables. 

All Chinese hotels use a card holder for your key card in the room. You must put your room key in the card holder to obtain electricity. This is fine…but you must take your room key with you (they only issue one most times) when you leave.  This is a great electricity saving method for China but becomes a problem for us as the A/C and outlets shut off so you cannot charge anything when you are out of the room and the room can get a little warm. The A/C works very well so the room does cool down quickly upon return. 

We drove to the airport and had lunch there. Our flight was late again, but the flight was wonderful. We arrived in Kunming and were met by our local guide daisy. The altitude in Kunming is over 6,300 feet so we have to drink lots of water and tomorrow eat a big breakfast with eggs or meat so that we don’t get too tired. 

Ate dinner in the hotel tonight. Hotel a bit dated but again, bedding clean. After dinner, we were invited by a couple – Mark and Jacqueline (Jack) – along with a few other couples, to celebrate Mark’s 31st birthday.  Mark and Jack are on their honeymoon and are from Britain.   We all had a good time talking and Mark and Jack were happy to know that i love Rod Stewart as they are fans of him as well. 

Going to bed now.  After two beers, I’m ready for sleep!  Tomorrow will be another busy day. 

October 18  Kunming

There is much construction here as well. Buildings are going up all over. We believe the people are moving from the rural areas closer to the cities. Don’t forget, even though the government owns the buildings for seventy years and will then tear them down to build new, the seventy years has not happened yet. 

After a Chinese breakfast, we left for the stone forest. The road was under construction and very bumpy with lots of cars all coming very close to each other. Yikes!  We had to take a detour on the way which added another half hour or more to the trip.  On the way, our guide told us about her wedding day. Our guide comes from dali and she told us of the local customs. The bride is supposed to cry a lot before getting married, so they wear sunglasses to hide their eyes. The family and friends pinch the bride on her left arm. One pinch means good life. Two pinches mean have children right away. Three pinches mean be rich. Four pinches mean the person who is pinching you doesn’t like you.  Our guide said that on her wedding day, everyone pinched her twice because next to good life, children are most important thing. Her arm was black and blue up and down the next day, but she was happy because more pain, more good luck. 

Also, family members do crazy things to groom on wedding day. They sometimes put lipstick on his body, make him go out to beg, sing and dance in the street and other silly things. Divorce is something they do not believe in and doesn’t happen easily.  

She also told us about the Yie people.  The women wear hats with triangles in the corners.  When one triangle is gone, it means girl has boyfriend and she has given triangle to him. When girl gives two triangles to boy, it means they are engaged. They don’t get married right away. They must wait three years and boy must work for the family. After three years, the mother of the girl serves chicken soup to the boy. If head is in the soup, boy is acceptable for marriage. If wings are in soup, boy is nice, but not for their daughter so he must fly away. If feet are in the soup, boy is unsuitable and must walk away.    When girl wears triangle on top part of hat, means she is married. 

Also with the Yie people, the women are the workers and the men stay home and have fun and or watch children. Women can climb trees to get to the special tea leaves that are grown in that area. The trees are quite high and the women start climbing trees at the age of six.  By age of seventy, very good at climbing trees! 

It ‘s allan writing now!  

Has anyone noticed Irene has had too many Chinese meals?  She’s starting to talk in Chinenglish!

Okay..I’m back. 

We passed the narrow-gauge rail road that goes to Vietnam.  The train tracks are one meter wide and it takes 19 hours to get to Vietnam because the train is so slow. The French built the railroad almost one hundred years ago. 

Visited the stone forest which was opened in 1931.  The area was under water probably millions of years ago and we could walk through the limestone formations that are now visible.  The formations were beautiful and the sunny blue sky made the visit especially lovely. 

Had dinner tonight …and tasted across the bridge noodle soup.  Basically, it is rice noodles in broth with pork, chicken and fish.  Tasted delicious buns that seemed gingery and were filled with ham and onions. Another whole fish appeared, but it was filled with bones.  

Walked around a little outside, but the hotel is close to the railroad station and not the best of neighborhoods.  I blew a fuse in our room using my hair dryer. They fixed the fuse, but I haven’t tried the dryer again. I figure I will do it right before I leave. I hope I didn’t toast my dryer because not every hotel has a hair dryer for use and that could make for some very bad hair days!

 Finished the night with a beer in the bar and off to bed as we leave hotel tomorrow at 7:45 am for our flight to Chongqing. 

October 19  Chongqing

Today was a very stressful day. 

We started the day running a bit late because of the early wake up call and having to get on the road early because of touring and catching our plane to Chongqing.  We stopped to visit the Western Hills and Dianchi Lake before traveling to the airport.  We took a bus half way up the mountain and then climbed 300 steps to get to the top.  I was out of my comfort zone climbing up the steep steps because of my fear of heights.  It was scary for me going up…but terrifying going down. I made it!!!  The views were magnificent and I’m glad that I bite the bullet and did it. 

Then we had lunch at a restaurant nearby. I took some pics of the fish dish. 

We then drove to the airport and had a nice flight to Chongqing. Chongqing has a population of over 32 million – the most populated of all the cities in china. The city sports mountains and rivers and very high humidity. It is cloudy for 200 plus days…but luckily, today wasn’t one of them.  The temperature in the summer can go up to 42 degrees C. (108 F).  Chongqing is also very foggy in the mornings with visibility not more than 200 meters.  It is also smoggy from all the cars that travel around because of the population. They have planted trees all over the highway to try to help keep the smog down.  Allan spotted a sign that said Chongqing Asthma Society. I can see why. 

Chongqing is known for its spicy food and hot pot is very popular. There are 2,000 hotpot restaurants downtown. 

There is construction all over with apartment buildings in various stages of completion.  A monorail is being built which has been challenging to build because of the mountainous terrain.  The monorail construction has offered many job opportunities from laborers to engineers to designers.  Chongqing also has a 60 meter subway system with many branches.

In the downtown area, 300,000 people go to work each day.  There are many tall buildings – the largest at this point being 375 meters in height, but they will be building new ones that will soar to over 500 meters. 

There are six residential areas – the largest of which house 80,000 residents.  To buy your home costs 10,000 yuan per square meter and the homes average range in size is about 100 square meters. 

We went out to dinner…and here’s where the next stressful incident occurred. (And my North Carolina friends will feel my pain…knowing how much I LOVE bones!!!!!!!)

My first bite of dinner was something that looked to me like fried eggplant. WRONG!!!!!!!!!  It was river fish…with bones…and one got lodged in my throat. YIKES!!!  I excused myself from the table and tried to hack it out in the ladies’ room.   I thought I dislodged it, but my throat still felt weird. I asked for steamed buns, but it would take too long to prepare so I asked Candy our guide what I could do.   She told me to drink white vinegar. She had them bring me a bowl of vinegar and I drank it down. She said I was very brave to just down it straight but when I have a bone in my throat…I’d drink antifreeze if I thought it would help!    Candy said when she was little and she ate river fish, sometimes she would get bones stuck in her throat.  Lovely!!!!   Her grandfather always had her drink vinegar which dissolves the bone. Who knew!!!!  When we got to the hotel, Chi helped me find more vinegar in the convenience store and I bought some buns to eat as well since I didn’t eat any dinner. Allan looked down my throat and said it is white with irritation…but he didn’t see any bone. My throat is still scratchy…don’t know if the bone is still there hiding somewhere, but I’ll just keep gargling with the vinegar tonight.  Glad I didn’t have to have the vet who is on tour with us do surgery on me. LOL!!!!

I am now sitting in the hotel bar…having a black beer. Did I mention I had a stressful day?

October 20  Chongqing to Dazu

What a wonderful morning!  We went to a beautiful park and saw so many wonderful sights. People dancing, doing tai chi, playing cards, hoola hooping, playing instruments, painting…and on and on!  The people didn’t believe I could hoola hoop…so I went over and the lady gave me the hoop and I did it. All the Chinese ladies were impressed and gave me the thumbs up!   Many people were chanting and massaging their faces…like what I do in exercise class…sans chanting!  Many things that my exercise instructor Diana does is what the Chinese do as well. Balance, lunges, massage…very wonderful!  There was a man drawing beautiful name murals for people. Quite exquisite. 

Next we went to people’s square and did some people watching. Took many photos of children on my camera. Babies don’t wear diapers and their outfits have holes in the bottom. When baby needs to pee or poop…mamma opens hole in outfit and holds baby over sidewalk. Mission accomplished and no diapers to clog landfills!  Lol!  

Many weddings occur today because today is a lucky day in china.  We saw many brides having their pictures taken. Red envelopes with money inside are the gifts to the couple. Many casual friends will fill envelope with 8 yuan for rich life since 8 is a lucky number.  If friends and distant relatives come to wedding, not uncommon to give 200 to 500 yuan. Close friends and family might give as much as 1,000 to 3,000 yuan. Both parents give a red envelope individually to show that the person marrying their son/daughter is acceptable to both. 

Took photo of group of Chinese teens amid much whooping and laughing. Then they all came over to see the pic with more giggling and thumbs up.  Fabulous!!!

Went to lunch in a restaurant that was also hosting a celebration for a new baby girl. The local people here celebrate when the baby is one month old. If a girl, like this baby was, not too big of a celebration. Price for each table…about 2,300 yuan. If it is a boy baby…the celebration might take place in a five-star hotel costing much more. The people in the restaurant were very loud and the atmosphere celebratory. There was also lots of smoking. The Chinese people smoke a lot because the price of a pack of cigarettes is about 3 to 5 yuan. Very cheap. About 350 million people are smokers here in china. 

Our lunch was very good, although this was the first meal that tea was not served. An egg custard

 with beef drippings, cabbage, peppers and steak, pumpkin soup, and rice was among the fare. 

After lunch, we drove to Dazu and see the famous Dazu Rock carvings (cliff carvings) at Mt Bei. The carvings date back to the Tang and Song Dynasties (800-1100AD).  It was amazing to see how the stone was carved into sometimes quite intricate patterns. The inscription in one of the grottos is said to be written by Confucius and says Honor your Parents.  

We arrived at our hotel and were very pleasantly surprised by the hotel and our room. Room is huge…immaculate and the bathroom has both shower and tub. Music plays softly, if you desire, while you are sitting on the throne!!  wow…that’s something I’ve never seen before. There is even a chaise in the room to relax on.  

Went to dinner at a wonderful restaurant. The food was seasoned expertly…not too hot as is usual in the Sichuan tradition.  Ave, who is with us on the tour, told us that the delicious taste in one of the dishes stemmed from Sichuan peppers. They are tiny red peppers that taste a little like cardamom but leave your mouth tingly. We are going to pick some up to take home when we get to Chengdu.

We returned to our hotel and were just about to leave to go for a drink…when a fireworks display took place right outside our window!  It was beautiful. Today, as I mentioned earlier, is a lucky day in china so there are many celebrations going on.  

Well off for that drink now. This hotel is quite beautiful. 

Hope you can see the numerous pics that I have uploaded of the day. 

October 21  Dazu to Chengdu

Had a delicious Chinese breakfast of dim sum and soup. The soup was spicy with noodles and beef and the dim sum was delicious with bean paste and a type of meat. Tried the salted hardboiled egg. Yikes!  The egg was salty…but tasted like I imagine a spoiled egg would taste. Not a fan of that. 

After breakfast, we visited Baoding stone carvings which were very beautiful.  They were carved between 1172 & 1254 AD. The intricacies of the carvings are quite amazing considering the stone and the era.   As we were walking out of the area, we observed people defoliating a tree that was to be planted. Apparently, they do this so that the tree won’t need as much water after planting. 

Had a lovely lunch and then boarded our bus for a four plus hour drive to Chengdu.

Well…the four hour plus bus ride turned into almost six hours!!  We had a few pit stops to the Happy House (bathroom…usually squat toilets) and we did some singing, reading and learning some more about the Chinese culture.   I took a picture of the happy house so you could see it in all its glory!  

Many people walk with baskets strapped to their backs to hold their purchases and the moms walk with the babies either strapped to their backs or in baskets that are on their backs. 

Candy told us about feet binding…something that I already knew about, but it was still interesting to hear about it again. Usually, the foot is only 10 cm in size after the foot binding process…which takes about ten years or more. Men would choose their bride based on the smallness of the girls’ feet. The smaller the better. When the girl was around three years of age, the foot binding began. The girl had to be already walking for awhile. First the foot was washed with warm water and white alum to protect the foot from bacteria.  The second toe was then strung with cord to the little toe and the third and fourth toes were pulled under the foot leaving the big toe alone. Then a cloth ribbon was wrapped around the foot. It was about three inches wide and was starched with rice or wheat flour.  The bindings would be made into a pointy shape in the front and then eventually, the foot would be made into a high arch or a gap between the toes and the heel, using a large bamboo piece that was put in the shoe to keep the arch high. The girl had five shoes to wear for day and two shoes to wear for nighttime. At first the bindings were not very tight…but after awhile, the bindings got tighter and tighter and it was very painful.  The mothers would still make their daughter walk on the bound feet causing much pain.  After two months went by, then the foot was bound tightly. The mothers who loved their girls the most, bound the tightest to ensure that the girl would find a husband as she would have a small foot.  Also, stepmothers would bind the feet tightly…just to cause the girl more pain.  After ten years, it was not as painful as the foot stopped growing.   The woman still had to work in the fields.

Cleansing the feet took about two hours.  The bindings had to be unwound very slowly as the cotton stuck to the skin, causing a lot of pain. Every crevice of the foot had to be washed carefully and then the foot had to be dried and bound again. The woman never let anyone see her bare foot. In the cooler parts of china, the foot washing happened every seven to ten days. In the summer months, every five days. 

Candy’s great grandmother had her feet bound and Candy remembers how her great grandma would walk…taking very small steps and leaning slightly forward. Thankfully, that barbaric practice has ended years ago and now the girls wear stiletto shoes…. that probably cause the same painful experience. Lol!

Our hotel is not like the one we were at last night, but it is clean and as usual, very nice bedding. The beds in this hotel are soft…not like the rock-hard ones we have grown accustomed to.  The bathroom is a one-persondeal. We went to dinner tonight at a local restaurant…the food being cooked in the hallway as we went in. The food was spicy and quite good once your tongue and mouth got over the numbness. The food was very different and once again the selection of dishes was unique. Allan and I walked to a local convenience store and bought a bottle of German beer which we are now enjoying.  Early wake up call tomorrow.    

Allan here…

Yes, for those of you who think Irene has eliminated the blogging competition by not allowing me to write…you are almost correct.  She enjoys writing each day and I edit nightly.  (I decided to leave the Chinglish in for your collective entertainment.)

Now that we have arrived in Chengdu we stay for 3 nights and I will contribute more (Allan).

October 22  Chengdu

A little background on Chengdu. Chengdu is known as the leisure city, the gourmet city, the panda city and the brocade city.  The panda is China’s national treasure.  Brocade is still available. Years ago, the woman controlled the pattern and the man co trolled the machine. Girls had to learn embroidery as well before marriage. 

The hospital system in China is not the best.  You have to pay out of, pocket if you go to the hospital unless you have insurance to supplement the cost.  It is very expensive. Beds are scarce and in an emergency, you must pay up front before you are treated. In the poorer villages, babies are born at home with midwives present. 

I had a delicious Chinese breakfast again this morning with dim sum, Chinese soup and I sampled lotus root for the first time which was quite tasty. 

After breakfast, we boarded a very roomy bus to take us to Leshan to visit the Grand Buddha, the tallest Buddha statue in the world, sitting on the mountainside. We took a short ferry ride to view the statue from the river. After viewing the statue, we walked around the town and saw people selling fruit, meats and souvenirs.  Our guide told us not to purchase any stuffed animals because they are not good as they are made from waste material. Yikes!  

On our Return to Chengdu, we visited the old town of Huanglongxi on the way.   it was a lovely town, but tourist oriented. We saw bamboo beetles, scorpions and locusts that were roasted on sticks for sale. Jack the vet bought them and some of the group sampled them.  Jack offered one to a Chinese lady who scrunched up her nose, shook her head and walked away. That can’t be good!!!   Allan and i didn’t partake in the feast. Yuck!

As we walk around, the Chinese people try to nonchalantly take our photos with their iphones. They are fascinated by us. I always ask permission to take their photos. Sometimes they are excited and pose…other times they shake their heads and turn away. I took wonderful shots of some teenagers who loved seeing their photo on my ipad. I also took a wonderful shot of a group of elderly men who were just sitting in a bench. When I showed them their photo they started laughing and slapping each other. I think they were saying…”See…we still got what it takes!”  I took it on my regular camera, so I will post it when I get home. 

There were ladies selling wreaths of flowers for the hair and all the ladies bought one. I negotiated a great price. The seller wanted 10 yuan…I said 2. She said 4…I said 3. She said no so I walked away. She came after me and held up three fingers and the deal was sealed. There were also people walking around offering to clean out your ears and give you a massage. One of the guys in our group had his ears cleaned. The Chinese man stuck various long wands into his ears. I wouldn’t have had that done in a million years!!  

We drove back to Chengdu and had dinner in a restaurant that was built to resemble a cruise ship. Again, the choices were different and delicious. Those Sichuan red peppers are so savory. They tingle in your mouth and leave a very pleasant aftertaste. I think I might have mentioned, we can’t bring the, back to the states because they carry a citrus blight that is detrimental to the citrus trees. Somehow, I am sure that they can be found in Chinatown, however. 

Going off now for a Starbucks before bed. 

October 23  Panda Reserve, Changing Faces and Brocade

A lovely young Chinese girl was searching for a place to sit for breakfast this morning and I invited her to join us. She and another girl sat and we chatted during breakfast. They were very interested in what we thought of China and what cities we had visited. They were delightful and we enjoyed their company very much.  The one girl was so poised and as Allan and I noticed, she just glided into the seat when she sat down.   It was wonderful conversing with them. 

We were originally concerned we would have to search all over for water to drink as we traveled around China because as I’ve mentioned, the water in the hotels is not potable.  We have a glut of water right now.  Each hotel gives two bottles and so finding water has not been a problem.  It is a challenge to remember to use bottled water to brush our teeth and not just turn on the faucet from force of habit. So far…so good.  Now we will drink a lot of water during the day to reduce our stash or lug it around from city to city. The problem with drinking a lot is…you must frequent the “happy house” which as i mentioned, sometimes is not so happy. LOL!

Last night we walked around the streets and went into an apple store to find an adapter to attach our camera card to so that we could upload our camera photos to the ipad. They wanted 288 yuan…the equivalent of 48 dollars. Since we can buy it in America for around 25, we opted to wait until we get home and purchase it for the next trip.  We will also pick up a router for the next trip so we can use the Internet from our room. 

I packed very light for this trip…and to tell the truth, I could have left some things at home. Eight shirts are too many…six would have been perfect. I haven’t even worn two of the eight yet. The only thing I could have brought more of is socks.   They take a long time to dry. 

While we were out last night, we had a delicious coffee in Starbucks. The cappuccino was 25 Yuan…about $4.10. It was delicious.  We have been getting some news from home…most of it about the election.  It is the big topic here in China.   We are sleeping very well…even on the hard beds. Three people so far in our group have had the traveler’s diarrhea.  But they are the ones that are more adventuresome in their eating out.  Allan and I have been careful of not eating fruit, etc and not having any mixed drinks out. We stick to beer. Hope our luck continues. 

Today is the double nine festival which is september 9th according to the lunar calendar. It is a day of showing respect to elders.  It is also important to climb the mountain on this day…or go up to the top of something to bring good luck. 

We visited the panda reserve and it was fabulous. The pandas are playful and very cute to watch as they frolic and climb the trees. One panda climbed up the tree and we all held our breath as he hung upside down…and we were sure he would tumble down at any moment. No… Theyare expert climbers and he came down from the tree like a well-trainedacrobat.  We saw the baby panda in the incubator who was taking a little snooze.  If you wanted to hold a baby panda, you had to pay $220 (US) a pretty hefty price for a few moments with a little one.  We also saw the red pandas that had magnificent coats and tails.  It was feeding time so we watched them chomp down their food and watched them chow down on the bamboo. 

Pandas grow very fast and when they are babies, they are very active. When they reach the age of 6 months, they begin to learn how to climb a tree and by the age of five, they have reached sexual maturity.  March to May is the mating season.  Pandas will live twenty-five years in captivity, but only about fifteen years in the wild. They are not totally vegetarian…their diet consists of 98% bamboo and 2% meat. They eat the bamboo rat and other small rodents and can eat goats and sheep as well. In captivity, they have a special diet along with apples and bamboo.  About 20% of the bamboo is digested.  Pandas do not hibernate like other bears and they also have six fingers…one of which is an opposable thumb, which is part of the wrist, A female panda can weigh about 120 kilograms.   Pandas are becoming endangered because of human beings clearing the bamboo trees for fields to grow their crops because there are so many people in China and the food is a necessity.  

We ate lunch at the panda reserve and then went to the brocade museum. It was very like the silk museum we had been to awhile back, so we all just walked around and looked at the wares. 

After dinner…which again had delicious dishes we hadn’t tasted yet, we went to a performance of opera, changing faces, acrobatics and music. The Chinese opera wasn’t anywhere near as wonderful as Puccini or Verdi.  It resembled more like alley cats in heat. Seriously…it was quite grating. The acrobatics were good and the comedy skit was clever as the man kept an oil lamp burning atop his head while he climbed under benches and rolled around. A woman did hand shadows of birds and other animals and another woman did a stick puppet performance.  they were interesting to watch, but the two fabulous acts were the soloist on a two-stringedinstrument and the changing faces and clothing.  The soloist was amazing and he could make the two-stringed sound like a violin. The changing masks was just truly unbelievable. In a split second, each performer couldchange the mask on his face and, change his clothing. I don’t know where the previous masks and clothing went…it all happens in a split second.  That was worth the price of admission!

We went out to get a black beer and some snacks and tomorrow we will get some snacks for the train ride. Tomorrow will be a long day. 

A Panda Bear walks into a café and orders a sandwich and a drink. After he is finished eating, the waiter comes over to bring him the check. When the waiter arrives at the table, he just starts to ask, ‘Would you like any des…’ Then the Panda Bear reaches into his fur, pulls out a gun, and shoots the waiter dead. The Panda Bear then wipes off his chin with his napkin, gets up, and starts to walk out. Just as he is about to go through the door, the manager grabs him. ‘Wait a minute!’ he yells, ‘You just killed my best waiter! Besides that, you didn’t even pay for your sandwich!’

The Panda Bear grasps the manager by the throat, jacks him up, and growls, ‘Hey man! I’m a PANDA! Do you know what that means? Why don’t you look it up!’

At this the Panda walks out the door and ambles down the street. The manager, shaken, returns to his office and consults a dictionary.

He reads: 

‘panda – a large mammal of the Asian mountain forests related to raccoons and true bears and characterized by bold black and white markings. Eats shoots and leaves.’

HA!

Oh…and by the way.  I told my new Australian friends Tom and his wife Chris, (Tom wanted to be included in the select group of people who receive the journal updates each day), that I would mention him in my next daily blog. So here goes.

TOM!

Mission accomplished!  LOL!   

October 24,  Travel to Xian

Tom, who I mentioned yesterday, is an avid reader as am I and he has recommended many books to me that I am anxious to consider when I return.  I have many books downloaded on my ipad and it has been nice to read while on the bus. It is much easier than lugging around paperback books all over the place. 

At breakfast this morning i took a hardboiled egg with me to have for breakfast tomorrow morning as we won’t be getting anything to eat except tea and toast in the morning. The food on the train apparently is not very good, so our guide candy said to take butter and jelly packets from breakfast at the hotel this morning and she would make toast and tea for us tomorrow on the train. I thought the egg would be a nice addition.   We also have protein bars with us. 

Then Allan and I and chi and Gary went to the convenience store and picked up bananas, OJ and then on to the bakery for pastry filled with bean paste. We thought it would give us more to eat tomorrow and so we are all set for breakfast. But then our guide handed out juice, bread, nuts, OJ and tea bags while we were in the bus so that we would have it for breakfast tomorrow.  Wow!  We will have quite a feast between all this food. 

We board the train at 9:38 pm tonight and will arrive in Xian tomorrow afternoon at 12:49. I will not have wifi on the train…so I will tell of the adventure tomorrow when I get to our hotel. We are bunking with Gary and Chi so I’m sure we will have a great time. 

Must get our checked luggage down to the lobby now…so will meet up again with all of you later.

Since this is the city of leisure, we spent a leisurely time walking around the bamboo park and the old streets called Jin Li.  The bamboo park was very nice with Chinese people singing, dancing and playing mahjong.  We watched elderly men drawing Chinese characters with a large brush and water in the paving stones.  One man was anxious to tell me what the letters meant.  He kept telling me over and over and when he got to the last letters he raised his arms up to the sky.  He did this numerous times to make me understand. Finally, I just pointed to them all…and when I got to the end, I also raised my hands to the sky. He was pleased. Of course, I had no clue what it meant…but he was very happy. Teenagers came over to have their photos taken and wanted to take ours, which is a common event. 

After lunch, we visited Jin Li and walked all through the streets. We found a Starbucks and I had a delicious salted Caramel mocha coffee. We went off to dinner and then made our way to the train station. We must stick together like sticky rice so that we all remain as one.  We are currently in the VIP waiting room…large roomy chairs while we wait for the overnight train. Will see you in Xian. 

October 25  Xian

We boarded the train at around 9:38 and it went very smoothly.  Some of our group went on another train and the rest of us went on this one. Our compartment is clean but small and with four of us in the room, it did get rather warm at first.  Allan and I brushed our teeth in the sinks that are next to the happy house. We had heard horror stories of the happy house on the train…how you had to use it right away because as the night wore on it would be really in bad shape, but that has not been the case.  It is cleanand quite usable.  We all decided to sleep in our clothes and take our showers when we get to the hotel. 

Allan and I took the top bunks and clambered up.  There was a lot of storage space above for our luggage and so we had plenty of room to spread out. The mattress was very hard so we decided to put our blanket under us for a little padding as it was still rather warm. In the middle of the night, it got very cold so we had to find our coats to cover up with. Allan didn’t sleep well, but I slept okay…waking up to find out it was 7:38.  Wow!!  We are all a little stiff this morning.  

We had a light breakfast in the compartment of banana, bean paste bun and OJ. Gary and Chi and Allan and I passed the time chatting and watching the countryside go by as we will be on the train for another four hours or so.  The trees are changing color and the mountains are quite beautiful. Some of the homes we pass are ramshackled and you can see corn drying in heaps at the front doors and vegetables growing in the fields.  

We ate our lunch on the train…delicious tofu in brown sauce, chicken and veggies, and tomato and egg. We followed it up with cucumber soup. Since the other people opted not to eat in the dining room, our guide was able to offer the six of us who did want train food, a nice cold beer.  We had to drink it out of soup bowls however.  Lol!  

We arrived in Xian and since our hotel rooms were not ready, we visited the ancient wall of Xian which is the most well preserved wall in all of China. It encircles a city that is 5.4 square miles and is 12 meters high and 15 -18 meters wide at its base.  The wall was started in the Ming dynasty and is over 600 years old. We strolled around for awhile, but we were all tiredfrom our train ride and were anxious to get back to the hotel for a shower. 

Our hotel is lovely and we have a huge room with a king-sized bed!!  

Tonight, we had a delicious dumpling dinner followed by a Tang Dynasty dance and music performance. The dumplings were amazing…each one shaped like the delectable filling inside.  Little ducks with duck inside, chickens, pigs, vegetables, mushrooms, walnuts, and on and on. We also had delicious appetizers to start the meal off with. 

The dance performance was beautiful with spring colors and ladies in traditional Chinese dresses and headgear.  The women are so graceful. 

Off to bed after a busy day. 

October 26  Terra Cotta Warriors

Today we went to see the 8th Wonder of the World…the Terra CottaWarriors.  It was amazing to see them and if you would like to learn more about them, please read the National Geographic description below. 

We spent quite a good part of the morning at the warrior site…first starting with the factory that makes replicas of the warriors using the same clay from the hillside that the originals were made from.  They also manufacture beautiful lacquer furniture. Then we visited the warriors and the three pits that have been excavated so far. It was unbelievable to see them and to see how each warrior was different in facial expression.  The farmer that was one of four farmers digging a well and finding the first warriors, was atthe museum today, signing books.  

We went to a tea house on the premises and drank Lotus Concubine black tea which was outstanding. I would like to find that when i return to the states. 

We had an enjoyable lunch and then went back to the hotel for the afternoon. We walked around inside the wall in Xian and then had dinner which was rather western style…steak and French fries being part of the fare. 

At night, we took a tour of Xian after dark. The city was lit up with millions of lights and the effect was beautiful.   We also saw fountains that spouted in time to classical favorites like The Toreador Song from Carmen and The William Tell Overture.  We drove around to see the city wall lit up at night and saw women and men dancing in the park at nine o’clock at night. The Chinese are always exercising and dancing. It is a wonderful way to live. Xian is exciting.

Quoted from National Geographic…

By John Roach

“Workers digging a well outside the city of Xi’an, China, in 1974 struck upon one of the greatest archaeological discoveries in the world: a life-size clay soldier poised for battle.  The diggers notified Chinese authorities, who dispatched government archaeologists to the site.  They found not one, but thousands of clay soldiers, each with unique facial expressions and positioned according to rank. And though largely gray today, patches of paint hint at once brightly colored clothes. Further excavations have revealed swords, arrow tips, and other weapons, many in pristine condition.

The soldiers are in trench like, underground corridors. In some of the corridors, clay horses are aligned four abreast; behind them are wooden chariots.

The terra-cotta army, as it is known, is part of an elaborate mausoleum created to accompany the first emperor of China into the afterlife, according to archaeologists.

Young Emperor

Ying Zheng took the throne in 246 B.C. at the age of 13. By 221 B.C. he had unified a collection of warring kingdoms and took the name of Qin Shi Huang Di—the First Emperor of Qin.

During his rule, Qin standardized coins, weights, and measures; interlinked the states with canals and roads; and is credited for building the first version of the Great Wall.

According to writings of court historian Siam Qian during the following Han dynasty, Qin ordered the mausoleum’s construction shortly after taking the throne. More than 700,000 laborers worked on the project, which was halted in 209 B.C. amid uprisings a year after Qin’s death.

To date, four pits have been partially excavated. Three are filled with the terra-cotta soldiers, horse-drawn chariots, and weapons. The fourth pit is empty, a testament to the original unfinished construction.

Archaeologists estimate the pits may contain as many as 8,000 figures, but the total may never be known.

Unexcavated Tomb

Qin’s tomb itself remains unexcavated, though Siam Qian’s writings suggest even greater treasures.

“The tomb was filled with models of palaces, pavilions and offices as well as fine vessels, precious stones and rarities,” reads a translation of the text.

The account indicates the tomb contains replicas of the area’s rivers and streams made with mercury flowing to the sea through hills and mountains of bronze. Precious stones such as pearls are said to represent the sun, moon, and other stars.

Modern tests on the tomb mound have revealed unusually high concentrations of mercury, lending credence to at least some of the historical account.

Chinese archaeologists are also using remote-sensing technology to probe the tomb mound. The technique recently revealed an underground chamber with four stairs like walls. An archaeologist working on the site told the Chinese press that the chamber may have been built for the soul of the emperor.

Experimental pits dug around the tomb have revealed dancers, musicians, and acrobats full of life and caught in mid-performance, a sharp contrast to the military poses of the famous terra-cotta soldiers.

But further excavations of the tomb itself are on hold, at least for now.

“It is best to keep the ancient tomb untouched, because of the complex conditions inside,” Duan Qinbao, a researcher with the Shaanxi Provincial Archaeology Institute, told the China Daily in 2006.”

October 27, Xian to Beijing

Updates to the journal have been delayed as Beijing has blocked our access to CNN, gmail and just about everything else.  Could not get mail or send mail…probably because it is a gmail account, which is linked to google, and google is blocked. Also, the hotel does not have wifi…even in the lobby. I usually can get internet service from Gary’s router since he is usually in a room nearby, but not this time.  Oh well…

Here is what has been happening since Friday.

A funny thing happened yesterday. We were sitting with the Brits and talking about how we all pronounce words differently and how we use different words for the same item.  They say tomahto…we say tomato.  They say nappies for diapers and torches for flashlights.  Then Mark said they say pastor…and I thought he was referring to the priest.  I said…oh we say pastor too. He looked at me incredulously and said really??  I said yes…but I thought you called them vicars!  Then he said…no. I’m talking about noodles…pastor!!!  I said…you mean PASTA???  He said…no… Pastor!!!!!  Oh boy!!!!  Those Brits!!!!  And when I went on to say that it’s pasta and gravy instead of pasta and tomato sauce…they just shook their heads.  Too funny!!  

This morning we visited the little wild goose pagoda.  It had beautiful and peaceful and the gardens as usual were quite lovely with roses in bloom all over in different colors. We also watched a man hand painting beautiful pictures with Chinese motifs. Allan and I purchased one…two birds in a tree and the man put our names on them in Chinese characters. 

We had lunch and then we visited the Shaanxi Museum which was filled with relics from Chinese history. We could see some of the terracotta warriors up close which was wonderful. Some of the color is gone from the warriors due to oxidation, yet 2000 years later, the swords are still quite sharp. Each warrior is signed with the location of the person who made it, and if the warrior wasn’t up to standards…off with the artist’s head. That certainly was the incentive for the artists to work very hard to manufacture a perfect warrior each time.  After that, we went to the Muslim quarter and strolled through the Islamic food markets.   Our guide Candy told us it was best not to talk to strangers, be mindful of our personal belongings, and for the Americans, don’t tell anyone we are American because of the unrest between our country and the Islams.  We stuck like sticky rice with our new Aussie friends…and kept saying…G’day mate!!   Lol!  

Candy took me to a tea house to purchase the lichee black tea that I loved so much. The tea house lady had us taste three different kinds of tea, but my favorite is still the lichee so I purchased the loose tea leaves and she placed them in a canister. Hope I don’t have trouble bringing it into the US. 

After dinner, where a delicious soup with almonds was served among other delicious items, we boarded our train to Beijing. 

October 28 Beijing

Took the overnight train again. The train station in Xian was bedlam and we did not have the VIP waiting room this time. The waiting room was hot and filled to overflowing with people waiting for their train to take them on their way.  We had to stay close to our guide like sticky rice and be wary of pickpockets. The Chinese, our guide told us, will try to get into our queue so they don’t have to wait on line. Tour groups have some priority so she told us not to let anyone into the line. Easier said then done since the Chinese are pushy. We are learning to push back. 

Our train was the fast, non-stop from Xian to Beijing, but the ride itself was not very relaxing. Woke up numerous times during the night because of the jostling.  In the morning, the train attendant just barged in… opening our door with the key, and taking out the trash. Yikes!  Good thing we were still in bed.  The sun was rising and we stood in the hallway watching the scenery go by. It is cooler now in Beijing and some of the leaves are changing color.   People were smoking in the next train car which were the cheaper beds and allow the smokers their vice. Unfortunately, sometimes the smoke wafted into our car. We had to keep the doors closed.  The happy houses on the two overnight trains were not as terrible as we feared and the attendants keep them clean during the night. 

We had breakfast in the hotel immediately upon our arrival as the train arrived after 7 am.   We could check into our rooms and take a much-needed shower. We had free time until lunch to just relax, nap or read. The hotel is very nice…but no wifi which is unbelievable.  

The hotels have beautiful lobbies and the rooms have been okay…but the bathroom faucets and handles are made from cheap metal and are always rusting. I don’t know why they don’t spend the money for better ones since they put marble all over the bathrooms and they usually have beautiful showers.   One complaint we all have had is that mold is always in the silicon grout around shower and tubs. If they would replace it periodically, it would be so much better. At least they are clean and the bedding is always immaculate. 

We met for lunch at a local restaurant around noon and then off to start touring Beijing.

Beijing has a population of over 23 million. It looks just like all the other big cities we have been to.  It is very clean and because of the Olympics, I’m thinking it has been updated quite a bit. Yet…no wifi in the hotel???  That really is a first!

We toured the Lama temple, which was interesting to see, but no picture taking was allowed inside. Many people were praying in front of the many Buddhas that were there and lighting incense. We walked through four temples and then some of us decided to go out on our own to the silk street market for some shopping. It was a beautiful day in Beijing…sun shining and no pollution which apparently is a rarity.  

We asked our local tour guide, Peter to drop us near the market, however he dropped us off in the middle of nowhere and we were to take a cab to the silk market.  Alas, no cabs. Finally, I asked a young couple walking along and in broken English they told us we could walk there from where we were. Another 15 minutes and we arrived. 

The market has floor after floor of merchandise…watches, jade, jewelry, Polo and Gant shirts, silk scarves, electronics, slippers, and on and on. Most of you know how much I love to shop…so this was not up my alley. I bargained for an item that I wanted and not even knowing what a good price was, I told the merchant that I was shopping around and if she had the best price I would be back. She dropped the price another fifty Yuan.  Finally, I could get away to the next store to price things and this lady was a tough one. She wouldn’t let me out of the store.  Seriously!!  I finally had to call Allan over to help me.   When I did get out…she gave me a final price, but I walked away.  She came running after me after awhile and dropped the price another 80 Yuan…much cheaper than the first woman. I was still unsure if it was even a good price…so I left. I was so exhausted with the bargaining that Allan and I and another guy, Rich from the group went and had a cappuccino. Whew!!!

We met up with the others and had to negotiate a cab ride back to the hotel to meet up with everyone else for dinner.   No cabs to be found that had meters…and a man came over and said he would take all seven of us in his van for 200 Yuan. We said no and walked away.  When we couldn’t find a cab still, he came back to us and said 100 Yuan. He had no insurance…wasn’t registered, but we knew we had to get back to the hotel so off we went with him. Holy mother of God!!!!! What a ride we had. They are crazy drivers here and we had one hair raising close call after another. No seat belts and when he made a 90-degree turn and then a 90-degreeturn to get around a bus and between another car…I thought we were done for. He missed the turn for the hotel and had to call the hotel to find out how to get there.  Then he got mad, turned off the car engine in the middle of the traffic, calmed down and we finally got back. The group was just leaving to go for supper as we were ten minutes late. The driver wanted more money…but we gave him the 100 Yuan that he wanted originally and he went away quite disappointed. There wasn’t much he could do with the entire tour group standing there. 

We had dinner at another local restaurant and some of us were going to go to Tiananmen Square at night, but between our afternoon adventure and last nights’ train ride, we all called it a day.  We met down at the bar for a beer and went off to bed. 

Our hotel room is beastly hot and Allan is gong to see if we can change rooms.  We are not in a very good area and we are in the middle of nowhere and so it is hard to get around if you don’t want to go with the tour group. We all feel that these last few days there has been too much down time in the itinerary and we wish we could be seeing more of Beijing. If our hotel was in the main part of the city, it would be easier to get around. 

Allan did change our room…and now we have a very nice corner room overlooking the city. Much better…and much cooler!

October 29  Beijing

We are concerned about the super storm bearing down on the east coast. . I’m sure Ken, Marcelle and Gavin will have to evacuate and since we don’t have wifi…it is a little disconcerting being out of the loop.  Gary and Chi will write to them to try to get updates. 

We took waaaay too much toilet paper with us. It wasn’t needed at all. True, most happy houses that we visit do not have toilet paper…but one can always take some from the hotels each morning, so it is not a problem. 

This morning it was a jungle in the hotel breakfast area. A lot of Europeans came in and they really push and shove to get to the food. I almost had my shoulder dislocated by one overly zealous woman.  We are learning to stand our ground and push back when necessary.  Crossing the street here in Beijing…and for that matter in all of china…you can’t fight the cars. They just keep coming at you and will not stop. It’s a little frightening.   You also must be alert for the bikes and the motor scooters because they just plunge through as well.  Crossing a New York street is a piece of cake compared to this. At least the cars stop in NY. 

We went to Tienneman Square and the Forbidden City this morning. It was amazing standing in the square and sobering to think of the students who gave their lives for democracy. Our guide told us he could not answer any political questions on the square as he would get into a lot of trouble.  He told us that there are cameras and plain clothes police all over monitoring what is said and warned us to also be careful that our words did not sully the Communist Party. 

The Chinese flag has five stars…one large one representing the Communist Party and four smaller ones representing soldier, farmer, worker and citizen.  Tienneman Square is the symbol of China.   The square is quite large (500 meters x 800 meters) and people from very rural areas come to see the square as every Chinese person should visit the square at least once in their lifetime.  Our guide told us not to be surprised if the rural people take our pictures as they do not often leave their homes and do not see non-Chinese people.  After seeing the square and watching the soldiers marching in and out with precision, we went on to the Forbidden City.

In 1421, the first emperor moved to Beijing to live in the city and emperors…24 in all……lived there throughout the Ming and Qing dynasties, spanning over 500 years.  The last Emperor ended residency in 1911.  The Emperors lived there with their concubines and many eunuchs (castrated young males) and it is thought that 10,000 people lived in the city at one time.  

Construction started in 1407 and took 14 years to complete. The Forbidden City is 90 hectares in size.  One million laborers toiled to build the homes, and where the concubines lived there were over 800 rooms. The emperor would sleep with a different concubine each night…for four hours only…never the entire night…and only the two eunuchs who escorted the concubine into the room would know the whereabouts of the emperor. This was so an assassin would not be able to kill the emperor as each nightly room was different.  Eunuchs lived within the walls to be sure that the children of the concubines would be from the emperor himself…and no one else. 

The concubines were not permitted to leave the city, but could visit their family after being four years in residence. Not every concubine had the honor of sleeping with the Emperor. 

We had lunch in the Forbidden City and then toured a bit more…seeing the rooms where the empress and her concubines lived and then we went back to the hotel. It was a beautiful day…again, a rarity in Beijing. It was a bit chilly walking around but the afternoon warmed up nicely. I visited the happy house and overheard a group of Europeans saying that you musthold your own with the pushy Americans.  Wow!!!!  That’s what we say about them!!!!  Obviously, at one time or another, either an American or a European became pushy somewhere in the world…and that started the whole controversy. I think if we could start again, we all would be perceived as nice folks…not pushy and well meaning.  

October 30  Beijing

Chairman Mao said you are not a Chinese hero until you climb the Great Wall.  Well…we are Chinese heroes because we climbed the Great wall.  I could go half way up…but unfortunately, I turned around to look back and realized how high up I was and got a little panicky that I wouldn’t be able to get down if I continued.  We turned, and walked back…but at least we can say we did it part way. 

The day dawned sunny and bright and we were very lucky to be able to see for miles and miles in the crisp air and the cloudless blue skies. The place on the wall where they took us was very steep which was a shame since other areas are not and we could have climbed much higher. A Chinese girl came down after going just a few steps and she was clinging to the side…terrified. That was me as well. It was very steep and frightening for someone afraid of heights. Waaaay out of my comfort zone.  Chi asked her if she was afraid and she said yes…and I told her that I was too. 

Many in our tour who have been to the wall before were very disappointed that Wendy Wu decided to take us to this section of the wall, which was difficult to navigate.  They said there were many sections nearby that were not as steep and those spots would have given everyone who wanted to, the opportunity to experience one of the wonders of the world.  I was disappointed as well since I only went half way. It truly was exceptionally steep and the steps were very difficult since they were so high. 

The Great Wall was started some 2,000 years ago and it is one of the seven wonders of the world.  The wall is about three thousand miles in length.  

I could have paid for this trip if I had hung a sign around my neck…Photo with Me…10 Yuan!!!  Everyone wanted a pic with the blonde woman. Toofunny!   

We went to a jade factory afterwards. Beautiful carved statues and then into the jewelry area for the spiel. While the saleswoman was giving her talk…the other sales people were sizing us up…trying to predict who among us would be the purchasers.  The merchandise was very expensive.  We had our lunch at the jade factory and then went to visit the Summer Palace.

On the way to the summer palace, we stopped at the Olympic site and saw the water cube and the birds nest where the 2008 summer Olympics took place.  It was exciting to be in the same spot and walk the same path that Michael Phelps no doubt walked along when he won his eight gold Olympicmedals!!  

Empress Ci Xi, the dragon lady, built the summer palace. At 17 she became one of the emperor’s concubines at the Forbidden City. She was smart, knowledgeable, and could sing beautifully as well as dance. She wanted to be noticed by the emperor, so she paid the eunuchs to tell her when the emperor would be returning and what path he would take. She made sure she was nearby singing.  She hid so the emperor had to find her by following her song.  When the emperor saw how beautiful she was, he fell in love with her and she became one of the main concubines.   She bore him a son…which elevated her position to empress dowager – the one who ruled the concubines. Her son died when he was 19 and she chose her nephew to become emperor. However, she eventually poisoned him and then chose another boy the day before she died at age 48.  Her claim to fame was the summer palace, which is three times the size of the Forbidden City. 

There is a beautiful lake surrounding the area and a concrete boat building at the end of a long path. There is a beautiful corridor getting to the boat area that has exquisite paintings along the way…both on the upper walls and along the beams across the ceiling.  Unfortunately, the place is in disrepair and Chi said it has really gone down since he was here thirty-three years ago. 

After visiting the palace, we went to see an acrobatic show which was impressive when five motor cycles went into a spherical cage and zoomed around…missing each other by what seemed to be inches. Yikes!

There was a notice on the stage before the show and it read…

Theater notice:  

1. Do not smoke in the theater

2.  Do not throw peel and waste paper within the theater 

3.  After the show begin do not shouting loudly please.  If necessary please pass go on both sides of the passage. 

4.  After the performance please an orderly leave theater.  Don’t crowded past on to safety. 

Had dinner in a local restaurant…rather dirty on the floor and the place looked like it might not pass health department standards…but the food was delicious. It is where the local Chinese go and it was crowded so I guess they know where the good food is.

We have had unbelievable weather throughout our trip. Not one day of rain…very unusual.  It has been cold in Beijing, but sunny. 

October 31, Beijing

Today we first went to a park on the grounds of The Temple of Heaven.  The older Chinese folks go there to exercise and to socialize. There was gym equipment everywhere and all the Chinese were working out.   The women were doing sit-ups on the bars, men were doing push-ups and they were dancing and singing. There was a chorale group practicing and they sounded beautiful.  Mah Jong and cards were being played all over and people were playing badminton and ping-pong.  I wish that the states would put in this type of equipment in the public parks.  While at the park, severalus bought beautiful handcrafted hats for 25 Yuan!!  The seller wanted 30 Yuan, but our guide negotiated an even better price. The seller had to be careful as the police were watching her and came out from behind a tree admonishing her and telling her to go away. We had to wait for the police to leave to hand over our money and quickly grab our hats.   The hats are warm and fashionable and we all had our picture taken wearing them. 

We went to the Temple of Heaven, which was beautiful against the blue sky. The weather has truly been amazing…much better than the tour books predicted.  

After seeing the temple, we went out to lunch at a restaurant and had some Chinese pizza which was quite good.  The other offerings were also delicious and we could get draft beer. We have beer at every meal.  The pizza was not as good as New York pizza of course, but the crust was better than most. 

We then went to the silk street market and had fun bargaining for trinkets and other such things. They drive a hard bargain and you must be firm in what you want to pay. I did very well with my purchase and the boss yelledat the saleswoman because she gave me such a great deal. Then she was angry with me…taking the purchases and shoving them into bags and muttering.  It was fun for the hour…but it is not something I’d want to do every day. We walked over to Starbucks for a much-needed cappuccino. 

Candy our guide showed us where her father had a restaurant. He had made quite a good living and she lived like a princess in those days. But then the SARS epidemic hit a few years ago, and her father lost his business and his money because people were afraid to go out into public areas. She said she went from being a spoiled princess to being Cinderella and having to earn a living. 

Tonight, was the Farewell Peking Duck dinner.  The chef came in and sliced thin pieces of duck and thin pancakes were presented as well.  Celery and bamboo shoots came sliced in thin strips and we were taught how to dip each piece of vegetable and meat into a sauce, place all on the pancake and roll it up.  Most people enjoyed the duck…there was quite a lot of it to share…but I thought it tasted gamey so I didn’t have any more. There were other dishes to enjoy and after dinner, we shared email addresses, took photos and bid farewell to early travelers who had to catch flights early in the morning. 

We met some very nice people on this trip and made new friends that I’m sure we will stay in touch with…and possibly travel with again.  This China trip was a fabulous experience and China is a fascinating country. I am so happy that we had the opportunity to see so much of this huge place and to experience as much as we did.  Meeting the Chinese people, who are so proud of their heritage, will be something we will not soon forget. 

On to our next experience…Hong Kong!!

November 1 Hong Kong

It’s another beautiful day in Beijing and we met our friends this morning for breakfast before traveling to the airport for our flight. It was a tearful goodbye as we promised to keep in touch.  We really enjoyed Chris and Tom’s company all throughout our trip and we are hoping to meet up with them again sometime for a vacation…. and at the very least, to keep in touch with one another.  

Our flight was uneventful and we arrived in warm Hong Kong, which was a pleasant change from the chilly air of Beijing. The sun was shining and our guide met us promptly.  We arrived at our hotel…our room is small but clean and we must pay for wifi which is a disappointment. 

Chi, Gary, Allan and I walked around the streets of Hong Kong looking for a place to eat and Chi was invaluable in reading the food offerings of all the restaurants. Most of the places are small and the place we chose was cooking the food out on the sidewalk.  Chi ordered for us and the food was amazingly delicious!!!!!  We asked for napkins and we were told that we would have to pay four dollars for a bag!!  Our meal cost 380 Hong Kong dollars and it was worth every penny.  

We went to a convenient store and bought Tim Tam…a cookie that was recommended to us by our Australian friends. It is graham cracker covered in chocolate. Yum!  We also bought peanut m and m’s and chips (crisps according to the brits that were on our trip) and some dark chocolate. Chi and Gary introduced us to sugar cane juice…something that is hard to get in the states. It tastes like sweet tea…very nice. We looked for lichee black tea but there was none to be found.  

Time to go to bed. It’s been a long and emotional day and tomorrow we start bright and early with a Hong Kong tour. 

November 2, Hong Kong

We had a western breakfast this morning in the hotel. I kind of miss the Chinese breakfasts that I’ve gotten used to during our stay on the mainland.  I had to ask for chopsticks this morning to eat my veggies. They did have congee with beans…so I was happy about that.

It is another glorious day and we are off to tour Hong Kong. 

China is one country with two systems, as Hong Kong doesn’t follow the rules set out by the mainland. Hong Kong and Kowloon are civilized areas.  Very clean with western style bathrooms with soap, hand towels and toilet paper!!!!  Also, there aren’t people spitting in the streets like you always see and hear in Mainland China.  Hooray!!!!!  There are about seven million people living on the limited land space here and housing is a huge problem. Most people live in the skyscrapers and they are built on landfill made fromchunks of rocks taken from demolishing mountains.  The super rich can afford to buy their homes and 60% of the population is living in Government subsidized homes.  Buying an apartment is about $1000 per square foot so the average family lives in about 400 square feet. 

There are no bridges that connect Kowloon (on the mainland) to Hong Kong island…only three tunnels. The waterways are so crowded with boats for shipping that if they had to constantly open bridges to allow boat passage, the traffic jams on the bridge would be catastrophic. 

The rush hour traffic is horrific…don’t take a taxi here because the bill would be high as you sit and wait in traffic. 6% of the residents own cars…and the ones that own them…own them for status. The cars of the wealthy on the mountain are Mercedes, Lexus, BMW, Ferrari, and even Lamborghini.  Our guide in Beijing used a BMW…Bike to the Metro and then Walk!!!!  LOL!!

The people who live in Hong Kong can travel to China and even work or live there, but the people on the mainland can only visit Hong Kong. In Hong Kong, medical is paid for and the patient only must pay about fifteen dollars for a visit to the doctor. There is about 3% unemployment in Hong Kong with no benefits. 

Our bus tour climbed to Victoria peak and the view was spectacular since it wasn’t foggy. Usually…you can’t see anything with the fog. The peak is 1800 feet above sea level. We saw some lovely homes along the way owned by millionaires.  Two of the millionaires have more than one wife since it was legal during the war.  There is only a one-wife policy now. However, you can have as many children as you want since the one child rule is only on the mainland. 

After seeing the peak, we went to Stanley market to shop. One guy on the tour latched on to me…and followed Allan and me all throughout the market. How annoying. Allan said my “nut beacon” was functioning quite well. Fortunately, we lost him at the end of the tour and he went back to his hotel.  Whew!!!

We went to Aberdeen, which is a fishing village. Generations of folks have lived on the water in houseboats…paying no mortgage or rent…and fishing to make a living. The children must take a sampan to get to land for school. I took a sampan ride and could see the fishing boats up close. Fish was drying from lines and women were gutting them and cutting them up for sale.  Some of the boats have electricity and A/C as the lines are under the water. The boats are sometimes larger than an apartment on land. There are about 2100 boats now in the village…down from a much larger number as kids become educated and go off to land to find good jobs, unlike their ancestors. 

We passed a cemetery that was private. You had to pay for a plot. Most Chinese are buried in the government cemetery, but after seven years, the body is dug up and given to the family to keep at home in an urn and another family takes the plot for seven years. Most people just cremate their loved ones to avoid having to go through that. 

Our guide took Gary, Chi, Allan and me to a delicious dim sum restaurant after the tour. We offered to buy him lunch because he was such a great guide for our half day tour, but he refused saying he had to get back to work. We were right at a window overlooking the water and had a delicious meal. 

Walked around Kowloon for a while and then went back to the hotel for a little rest. Walked back to the waterfront and had dinner at The Jade Garden…a Cantonese cuisine. It was very good…especially the steamed buns with coconut sauce. 

Afterwards, we walked to the promenade at the waterfront for the Symphony of Lights laser show in the harbor. The laser lights came from many of the skyscrapers along the water. Beautiful. 

Early day tomorrow as we go to Lantau Island. 

November 3, 

The hotel we are staying in is the BP International which doesn’t stand for Best Hotel…or British Petroleum.but rather Baden Powell…founder of the Boy Scouts of America.  There was a huge Boy Scout store on the 11th floor and the fleur de lis insignia is all over the building.  A huge picture of Baden hangs in the lobby, along with a bronze statue of scouts.  

They drive on the left side of the road here, so you must be careful crossing the street.  They do have huge signs written on the road saying look left or look right which is helpful. Crossing the street is easy…the lights are timed with a rattling noise that speeds up when you are crossing and slows down when the light will turn red. There is no jay walking allowed…or crossing on a red light. One couple did it and was admonished on the loud speaker of a police car. 

Chi is sick so both Gary and he decided to stay at the hotel while Allan and I did some sightseeing. The MTR (subway system) is quite easy to navigate and off we went to see the big Buddha on Lantau Island. The trains are beautiful…no eating or drinking is allowed and they are immaculate. You can figure out where to get on and off easily since all trains have a map with blinking lights to tell you where the next stop is. The Buddha was certainly impressive…as was the cable car ride to get there. Yikes!  I usually don’t like to ride in cable cars, but I decided to get out of my comfort zone and do it. I’m glad I did because the ride was truly beautiful…except on the way back when the wind picked up and our cable car started to swing. Double yikes!  We were very high and could see the airport, which is on a landfill island and also the beautiful water views.  

The giant Buddha is located at the Po Lin monastery. Giant Buddha covers an area of 6,547 square meters. It is the world’s largest seated outdoor bronze Buddha statue.  The statue is 26 meters high and is made of 202 separate bronze pieces and it weighs in at 250 tons.   It sits in a lotus throne on top of a three-platform altar inside of which is an exhibition center.  The Buddha was honored as one of the ten engineering wonders of Hong Kong. 

At the monastery, it was interesting to see a Mercedes parked in the back, yet all the monks were wearing robes that looked rather tawdry. Also…the toilets were not like Hong Kong, but were dirty with no soap and severalsquat ones as well as western ones. Guess the donation money doesn’t pay for upkeep in the bathrooms…but perhaps goes for transportation!  Lol!  Lots of dogs around…and there were signs up all over “no meat or alcohol allowed”, because of the Buddhist monastery.  Those dogs were safe. Dog meat is popular in china.  

We had a delicious snack that was included in the admission price to see the Buddha…two pieces of dim sum and a bowl of noodles for each of us. Delicious!  I really love Chinese food and will miss the steamed buns. 

We took the train back to Hong Kong and got on a ferry to visit Lamma Island, which our friend Tom said was beautiful with great fish restaurants. The ferry ride was very nice as we passed the skyline of skyscrapers.  We walked and walked but never found the beach…lots of construction going on. A lot of the homes are just shacks ready to tumble down. We did, however find a bar and a beer so one out of three “B”‘s wasn’t bad. We had a delicious Guinness on tap!  Creamy and delicious!!  Lots of dogs here as well and we passed a shop named All About Cats…but there were dogs inside all standing around. Weird. By the way, here they speak Cantonese and chi said be careful of ordering chicken because with a different intonation…a prostitute might be brought to the table. 

Someone on our china tour with Wendy Wu said the national bird of china is the crane!  That would be the construction crane because there was construction all over every city we went to in mainland china. Here…not too many cranes…but we did see a lot of other types of birds.  

We took the ferry back to Hong Kong and then boarded the famous Star Ferry back to Kowloon for one last look at the harbor and the skyline.  When we got to shore, we saw a booth being set up with a banner that read “Hong Kong residents for quitting the communist party”.  Interesting.  

The weather again today was fabulous!!!   By the way, we did not have one single day of rain this entire trip.  I spoke to other folks who were on a 17 day Wendy wu tour and they said it rained every day and one day they even had snow. We were lucky indeed. 

Tonight, we had a hot pot dinner which was an experience. The place had very small tables and we hardly had any room to cook the food and put the cooked food on plates. Allan an i inadvertently ordered the beef and fish.  It came with fish skin that looked like potato chips and tripe.  yuck!  

After dinner, we bid good bye to Gary and Chi.  It was a wonderful vacation and lots of fun being with both of them. Chi of course was helpful many times for translations during the trip and we all had a lot of laughs together…sometimes about the people on our tour…and sometimes just having fun about the sights we toured.  Tomorrow we catch our flight back to the states and we hope that our community in Oxford fared well with super-storm sandy barreling through and that friends and family are all okay. 

We want to thank you all for coming on this journey with us.  We hope you enjoyed reading the daily journal updates of our adventures each day as we traveled over 7,400 kilometers through mainland China and then quite a few more kilometers in Hong Kong. It truly was a trip of a lifetime for us and I loved sharing it all with you. We will be in touch with you all when we return. 

November 4

This morning the wake up call we put in for consisted of someone knocking on our door and saying, “wake up”!  Too funny!!

They gave us a box breakfast to eat in the hotel lobby since we had to leave on the bus to the airport at 6:40 am. The breakfast consisted of:

1 egg hardboiled

1 apple

1 sandwich with undetermined meat and lots of mayo (on white bread…with the crusts taken off. Nice touch!)

1 orange juice

1 small wedge of cheese

No napkins. 

Hong Kong is stingy with paper napkins. Most restaurants do not give you any and as I think I mentioned, one restaurant we went to we would have had to buy a pack if we wanted them. 

Wifi in airport. Hooray!!  Enjoying a cappuccino before the long flight. Will be in touch when we get back to the states.