We are home from an amazing trip to China and slowly recovering from a 12 hour time change and crossing the international date line for the first time.I have been looking at pictures as I put them into the computer and cannot believe we have been to all these place we have been hearing about for so long and wanting to see for ourselves. I have wanted to visit China since I read my 3rd grade geography book! The size and amount of building and the amazing scope of projects the Chinese undertake and accomplish is totally mind boggling but we still had a peek at some of the old China and realize just how very long their history is and how varied.
Considering the size of places, when we got off the Yangtze River cruise, we were in the city of Chongqing for example, which has 34 million people. It has a population equal to the population of all of Canada.
I still have not figured out what was my favorite part of the whole trip. Just being there was very special. Our trip followed the typical route of Shanghai, Beijing, Xian, Chongqing, Guilin and HongKong. We were in China for 16 days with 2 days of travel. We had 5 in-country flights, lots of bus rides and 4 boat rides. We had a full meal on every flight even those 55 minutes long! Every airport we were in except for one domestic airport was brand new, huge, full of stores and the service was excellent. Airport security was as tight there as it is here.
Shanghai is a fully modern city with just a few older sections that we saw. Many new buildings mostly apartment buildings are under construction. We visited the ancient Yu Garden which was crowded but lovely. Getting into it through the market was a big treat, and we took lots of pictures. Well to be truthful, I took lots of pictures everywhere. We also loved the Shanghai Museum.
The Great Wall is an interesting adventure. To walk on this famous piece of history is moving. Bill climbed up as far as he could go. I watched him, and then wandered wishing I had the camera.
The steps are rough and uneven and were very crowded. The crowded part was everywhere particularly after the 1st of October as that week is the National Holiday in China like our 4th of July. Lots of families...multi-generational were on vacation everywhere we went.
In Beijing we drove by the Olympic Center at night so I was able to get a picture of the Aquatic Center, but not the Bird Nest. Both were beautiful and so unusual in the night lights.
The Summer Palace is a lovely park and a gift to the people of Beijing which they use well. Parks seem to be favorite places as they live in such small and crowded apartments for the most part. There is though, a growing middle and upper class who do have some larger spaces. The
Forbidden City, and Tienanmen Square were familiar, but the size of both of them and also the Temple of Heaven were unbelievable! It seems that it is impossible to imagine the huge spaces unless you actually stand in them! Visiting the Hutongs or old parts of Beijing was a lovely afternoon! They have stopped tearing these buildings down and are renovating them using some of the old building techniques. We had a home visit and lunch there which was very good.
Xian was a typical city and we had quite a long bus ride through city and pomagranet orchards to the Shanxii Provincial Museum, a lovely new building and it set the stage for the visit to the Terra Cotta Soldiers. We saw a Cinema in the Round which is a terrific illustration of the building and the destruction of the tomb and of the warriors only 2 years later. The farmer who found the tomb was there in the gift shop as he is every day, and signed the book we bought about the soldiers and the tomb. The buildings that they have built for the displaying of the soldiers, officers' quarters and chariots are interesting too.
We flew to Wuhan and then drove 4 hours to the town if Xichang where we got on the boat to cruise the Yangtze. The drive was very interesting as we saw lots of farm land, rice fields, fish farms, sesame growing as well as corn, sweet potatoes, soybeans and cotton. The plots are small and carefully cultivated, some with water buffalo and some with a small rototiller. Threshing was being done by hand in some places and by small machines in other places. We saw small trucks with a motor attached on the front that could be detached and used for other farm projects. It was very functional.
We visited the Three Gorges Dam and sailed through the 3 gorges and in a smaller boat down the Daning River through what they call the Lesser Gorges which were lovely. They pointed out hanging coffins high in caves along the river, a burial practice used by the Ba people to bury their dead, and help them get closer to heaven. The sun was out and it was a very special day.
The trip up the Yangtze River was a relaxing and pleasant time. The staff put on culturally enriching shows 2 evenings and the costuming was beautiful. We had also attended the Opera (Beijing), and an Acrobatic Show (Shanghai) and a Dinner Theater (Xian) with dancing and music so had a good exposure to a variety of the cultural experiences for tourists. The costumes in all the performances were lovely and so colorful. The music was different and interesting too. They use many musical instruments from ancient times we do not use in North America.
Guilin was different than the huge cities we had been with no high rises and the wonderful karst mountains surrounding the city. The Reed Flute Caves were lighted and one of our group for whom walking was harder was able to be carried through in a chair and see the cave easily. The trip on the Li River was picturesque and we did see lots of water buffalo, ducks, and cormorants which they still sometimes use for fishing in a few of the villages. These older customs are disappearing as you might expect with motor boats and modern fish farming techniques being used more and more. The giant bamboo is a lovely green and curves gracefully over the water. The farms along 
the river were growing rice and citrus as well as cotton, vegetable crops and corn. We had dinner in the city and a walking tour with a man-made waterfall and the brass and crystal pagodas. The city was lighted everywhere as it was festival time. Massages were good there too!Hong Kong was our last city and all the signs are in English. We stayed in Kowloon and were able to get around on our own easily.
We had High Tea at the Peninsula Hotel and found the recommended optic store where we were both able to get polarized sun glasses so we can see better when we are sailing on Wind Spirit. We did have a short tour over to Victoria Peak, saw the Happy Valley Race Track and to Aberdeen where we were on a Sampan for a harbor tour and then to Stanley Market where we did a bit more shopping.We left for home the next day and are still internalizing all we have seen and done. We met some very pleasant people on the tour. The group was too big however and they used 2 buses to haul all 60 of us around. We did have a wonderful time despite the size of the group. The tour director Joy did an amazing job keeping us on schedule and going.
Our tentative plan is to head to Baltimore for Halloween and then go to the boat on the Eastern Shore. The repairs are completed so we will provision and then head south soon after a Halloween visit with 2 little boys!
