Beijing - and the GREAT WALL!

Sorry that I have been so lax about updating my blog....I left you readers hanging before the biggie!  Life has gotten in the way....regular committments, Garden Club, Book Club, a trip to NC for Mom's 88th birthday and getting the house & yard ready for Cathye's graduation party next weekend.  However, I want to get the cameras and tour books off the kitchen counter, so here is our last day in Beijing.

After breakfast at the hotel, we got on our tour bus & drove to the Ming Tombs at Chang Ling where 13 of the 16 Ming emperors are buried in what is currently a park-like setting. We visited the tomb of one of the emperors, Yongle.   It had some beautiful artifacts displayed in an exhibit hall, but mentally I was screaming, "Take me to the GREAT WALL!" 

 Emperor Jongle

Then we had another visit to a jade "factory," aka store.  Beautiful items, but this was at least our 3rd visit to a jade store on various excursions, and as usual they were too expensive and too heavy for our suitcases!

Carving jade.

                                                           
                        Jade ship for sail....I had just the spot for it back home, but alas, not in our budget!

  Lunch was upstairs; another mystery meal but western toilets (sad, how I have let myself rate restaurants on the basis of their restrooms).  This lunch was interesting because after the usual desert of watermelon, the waitresses came around with Dove bars and other frozen ice cream items...for sale!  (In the meantime, especially during our time at the store, I am mentally screaming, "Let's stop wasting time and go see the GREAT WALL."

Our trek via bus to the Wall took us through mountainous scenery and in the distance, one could glimpse sections of the Great Wall, a series of walls constructed over 2000 years ago in an attempt to ward off northern nomads.  There are some sections open for tourists such as ourselves, others open for serious climbers/hikers and some sections in such disrepair that they are not open at all.  We ended up at the section of the Wall at Badaling, a supposedly very accessible walk.  Ok, folks.....we were here!  It was a very steep walk up the road to the wall....another, steeper climb to access the wall (and I was ready to give up my goal of climbing the Great Wall....but Bill encouraged me to keep going)....a very steep and uneven flight of steps and I was there at a watchtower!  I had climbed the GREAT WALL.  Bill kept walking & climbing for a while more; I contemplated the scenery and people watched.  We were done before we had to meet our tour bus and spent some quality time contemplating the scenery and talking about future travel plans.

                                                    Bill & CAROL on top of the GREAT WALL!

On our way into Beijing (another long bus ride where I slept) we stopped at the side of the road to snap shots of the Birds' Nest, the Olympic Stadium from the games in 2008. 

Dinner that night was at a restaurant known for its Peking Duck.  Food was good but dinner was the usual rushed tourist group affair.  But we were all tired after our long day and had to pack and repack our suitcases for early morning departures to the States the next day.

Next blog.....the ship, Nautica of Oceania Cruiselines.

Xian....& the Terracotta Warriors

After our exhausting day in Beijing, we flew the next day to Xian.  We had another "mystery Chinese lunch for the tourists"....this time at an airport restaurant...with not a western toilet in sight.  Thank goodness for the toilets on the airplanes....can't do a hole in the floor when you're in the air!

The airport is quite a way outside the city limits.  We visited the local museum, which had a good exhibit of the Terracotta Warriors and their discovery and excavation.  Next we drove to the City Wall of Xian ( a big wall but not the Great Wall, but it is the only complete city wall in China); we had reached the end of another long day and were happy to check into our hotel and eat at a restaurant there (Japanese....no mystery food....my tempura shrimp were tempura shrimp!)

                                                     Xian's City Wall & sights there

The next morning we headed out to the archaelogical site and museum of the Terracotta Warriors.  They were discovered just slightly more than 25 years ago by some peasant farmers digging a well.  More than 10,000 life-sized figures of foot soldiers, archers, horses and chariots have been discovered and many have been painstakingly reassembled. They were originally part of an emperor's tomb....he wanted to have his army with him in the afterlife.  It is called an "8th wonder of the world."  Bill and I had seen a traveling exhibit at the High Museum in Atlanta a few years ago and seeing the real thing was one of the highlights of the trip for us!  You can't imagine the immensity of the museum and archaelogical site.....the enormity of the life-size army and the acres left to be excavated.  I hope the pictures begin to express some of it.

Terracotta Warrior Museum

  Resassembled army - amazingly each figure is individually created with unique characteristics.

Partially assembled warriors - like putting together a life-size jigsaw puzzle.  Not one figure was found intact.

Waiting for excavation.

                                                            

After our morning here, we went off to a restaurant famous for its dumplings - now here was Chinese food that I could recognize & enjoy (but the fillings were still a mystery - pork & shrimp? - what kind of combo is that?  And is it really pork and shrimp or what part of the pig is it?  I was hungry and put my Chinese mystery food anxiety to rest.)  The waitresses brought an amazing number of dumplings to the table....every combination of meat you can imagine.  We all stuffed ourselves.  Then onto the airport for our flight to Beijing.  Another long day...thank goodness for the bus & airplane rides that I could nap on!

Next....the Great Wall!

Beijing - Tian'anmen Square & the Forbidden City

Ahh, Beijing.....it felt like a foreign city, not just an international one like Singapore & Hong Kong.  Lots of Chinese (duh, Carol!)  Not nearly as many signs in English.  During our days there and in Xian our lunches were provided; they were Chinese, served family style with a big lazy Susan to circulate around the big table.....everything looked and was edible but I referred to it as "mystery Chinese food;" yes, it was a chicken dish and nothing looked yucky but somehow it just wasn't right - and I like Chinese food.  Between our lunches and the immense walking we did in Beijing, any weight I had gained on the ship virtually melted right off.  Long days of sightseeing which ended in luxury hotels where we collapsed in our beds.  And most intimately foreign of all - western toilets were near onto impossible to find outside the hotels and the lunch restaurants (which catered to western tour groups).
This is the part of the trip where I complained the most.....and saw the most exciting sights of all, well worth the entire vacation

We left our ship (goodbye, wonderful vacation home for over 4 weeks) at 9 in the morning, Sat. March 24.  It was a 3 hour bus ride to Beijing (as usual I dozed), where we had a Chinese lunch (see above) and then went to Tian'anmen Square & the Forbidden City for a tour.  Tian'anmen Square is the largest public square in the world, dominated by a huge picture of Mao Tse Tung, and site of many historic events.  Huge & filled with Chinese.....not in the dowdy clothes that I expected but dressed quite fashionably and trendy.  Impressive...it dwarfed Red Square which we saw about 2 years ago. 

Right behind Tian'anmen Square is the Forbidden City, home to many Chinese emperors & their courts.  Huge....& filled with Chinese tourists (are you picking up a theme here?)  It's a 250 acre complex with pavilions, hall, courtyards and gates; we walked through just a tiny portion of it and we walked forever!  Up steps, down steps, across massive courtyards.  Couldn't quite believe that I was actually there & seeing such a storied place!  I tried to imagine it in all its glory, filled with sights and people at the imperial time; we need to rewatch "The Last Emperor."

Cameras had technical difficulties...Bill hadn't take his because we were nursing along the last set of batteries and mine died shortly as our sightseeing began (oops....forgot to charge it up on ths ship).  I'll share the few shots we have of Tian'anmen Square.

Next posting: Xian and the Terracotta Army.

Shanghai/Zhujiajiao

On our 2nd day that we were docked at Shanghai's port, Bill and I went on a tour to what is considered one of Shanghai's ancient cities, Zhujiajiao, going back in history at least 1,700 years.  It is the best preserved of Shanghai's ancient cities and is known as the "Venice of China."  We had a 1 and a half hour bus ride through the Chinese countryside, or the outskirts of Shanghai, to reach our destination; I'll be honest - I don't remember much of the bus ride because I was dozing.

Zhujiajiao (also known as Pearl Stream) was a charming city with old bridges and waterways, filled with old buildings and quaint-looking shops and restaurants.  We saw food stands where the edible items were being wrapped in leaves as take-out containers, fresh eggs with the hens right next to them, and women cooking and washing on coal stoves. (hmmm,that might have something to do with the crappy air quality).  We visited a post office that dates back centuries to the Qing Dynasty( kind of a Pony Express for the emperors) and also an old-time herbal/pharmecutical facility (lizards and snakes were among the suggested cures!).  Throughly loved the charm of the city and seeing a bit of old-time China. 

We took a boat ride through the town after our walking excursion.  At the end of the ride, it was possible to buy small fish, eels ot turtles to put in the river to indicate that one was a good person.

Important information:  the KFC in town does not have a western toilet....but there is one to the right of the temple near the beginning of the boat ride.

Next posting: Beijing, Tian'anmen Square & the Forbidden City.

Shanghai

Sorry for the interruption in my blogging; I ran out of internet minutes on the ship and didn't want to pay for more.  I thought I would be able to catch up in Beijing, but the repressive Chinese government blocks blogs and Facebook. 

We are home now and have been for a week.  I am starting to get caught  up on laundry & housework, so it's time to share my memories of Shanghai.

Our ship is small enough that we were docked in the middle of Shanghai....we could look out our cabin window and see the most amazing skyscrapers!  A son of friends is working as an architect there and we could understand why he would want to work in such an innovative and growing city.  We did a half day tour of the city which introduced us to some older areas, the Bund and the French Concession, that were filled with early 20th century buildings that were reminscient of Europe.  Once again, a river flows through the city and there is a wonderful park that parallels the river.  I was impressed with the floral plantings....many of the same flowers that grow in Atlanta in the early spring, but in different garden arrangements.  We visited skyscrapers for photo stops and went up the Jinmao Building, the 2nd tallest building in China and among the top 10 in the world.  Bill had lots of fun snapping photos from the observation deck!  Our final stop that morning was at the Shanghai Arts and Crafts Research Institute, located in a European - style building in the former French Concession.  There were awesome examples of various Chinese art forms, and of course, the ability to buy affordable souvenirs.

The Bund

Convention Center 

                                                                   views from Jinmao Building

 Orient Pearl Tower 

Notice the ugly air quality in the photos from the Jinmao Building.....what looks like a poor quality shot or a very overcast day is really smog.  Smog will be mentioned again in this blog!

There is still more to blog about....the town we visited the day after our sight seeing in Shanghai and then of course, the time in Beijing.  Tune in tomorrow, faithful reader, for another update!

Hong Kong

We spent Fri. & Sat. in Hong Kong; our boat is small enough that we were able to dock in the middle of the city's Victoria Harbor, right next to the clock tower & Star ferry docks on the Kowloon side of the city.  What an impressvie city - it reminded me of an Asian New York City. Lots of people, lots of bustle, and a zillion more skyscrapers than New York!  This is a place I would like to come back to and explore more.

Weather was warmer (75 - 80 degrees) and not humid.  However it was quite foggy and our views from Victoria Peak (which overlooks the city) were less  than spectacular.  We did a half-day bus trip around the city, which included a stop at a jewelry store for an hour (about 50 mins. too long for us; but the bathrooms were very clean!) and a short sampan ride. 

Fri. night we took a night tour on the top section of an open double-decker bus.  Because it was night and foggy, we didn't take any cameras with us.  The nightly laser show that Hong Kong  is noted for was disappointing because of the fog, but the drive through the brightly lit and bustling night streets was well worth it.  We were able to walk through a night market with its numerous stalls and the great odors of Chinese food wafting from the restaurants.

The next afternoon the fog had lifted and we had a great tour of the harbor of Hong Kong on a junk.  We saw another zillion skyscrapers and the world's largest container port (I thought it would be boring, but the amount of ships and containers on each ship was incredible!)

Bill getting all artistic with the world's longest suspension bridge.

St. Patrick's Day was not a big day in Hong Kong....but there was quite the celebration on board ship, complete with green beer.  Of course, after dinner Bill & I went to our stateroom and read, rather than take part in the party.  We are such an exciting nightlife couple!

Sun. and Mon. we have been at sea, following our rigorous schedule of eating, napping, reading, more eating, counted cross-stitching for me and computer gaming for Bill, followed by even more eating.  It may take us months to adjust to real life back in Atlanta!

Tues. we land in Shanghai, are there for 2 days, followed by a sea day and then our final stop in Beijing.  I may not blog anymore until our hotel in Beijing; internet minutes on the ship are not cheap and I'm about out of time with the package of minutes I bought when we first boarded the ship.  But never fear, faithful follower(s).....this blog may be delayed for a few days, but it's not ended!