Homeward Bound

Heading home today - it's been a great trip full of amazing sites and experiences. And I'm ready to be home and in my own environment.

 

The rest of the gang had a morning flight, so they all left the hotel at 7 am. My flight doesn't leave until about 5 pm, so I have a final day in Shanghai to myself. I decided to visit the Shanghai Urban Planning exhibit. I was drawn to this because they have set up one room of their hall as a full scale model of Shanghai and I love stuff like that - maps and dioramas speak to me! :)  I thought the exhibit was well done and really enjoyed it. It was also interesting to see the future plans for Shanghai including the new 'smart' home/city technology that they are looking at.

 

Getting to and from the exhibit was an adventure in itself. The Shanghai subway system is really very easy to use, but definitely not for the faint of heart! The station near my hotel was very easy - I purchased my ticket and found the right line easily. Once I arrived at my destination stop (People's Square), it was a whole different ball game. This station is HUGE! It's at least 3 levels (3 subway lines converge here), and spans several city blocks. I wanted to be sure I exited at the right location for the building I needed so I checked on a map - there are 20 different exits for this station!

 

I didn't mention in my blog from yesterday, but I had a 'preview' of the subway system last night. When we finished dinner, we rode the subway back to the hotel so I had a little bit of knowledge before going in on my own.

 

I spent about an hour or so at the Urban Planning center, then went back to the hotel area, found a place for lunch (salad and dumplings) and then sat in the hotel lobby reading until my driver showed up. Both flights were fine and uneventful. My entertainment from China to Toronto was watching a 6 part mini-series called the Book of Negroes. I had recently read the book so I was happy to see the series available to watch. I was quite surprised to find that I went through US Customs in Toronto - I kind of figured I needed to be in the US to go through US Customs, but what do I know??? 

 

I arrived in Minneapolis as scheduled - got home and into bed within an hour or so of arrival. Ready to get some good rest and try to kick this cold that I picked up in the last few days of the trip.

 

China is an amazingly diverse and beautiful country. I'm not sure if I will visit again, but you never know...  The visa is good for 10 years so we'll see if it calls out to me again in the future. For now, I can say that I am very glad that I went and for anyone considering a trip, my top 3 attractions were the Great Wall, the Hanging Monastery and the Terra Cotta Warriors.

 

Shanghai Day 2

Today started with a long bus ride - about 1.5 hours to get to the Humble Administrator's Garden in Suzhou. I can't actually tell you why it's called that because there was nothing 'humble' about this place. It was really beautiful and definitely over-the-top. One person from our group got separated from the rest of us in the garden so we ended up spending part of the time looking for her. Once we found her, our guide (Jimmy) told us that he would be 'sticky rice' with her for the rest of the day! The garden was lovely and it was a great day. It felt so good to be out walking on a sunny day and appreciating the flowers that were already blooming. It's always so refreshing to see that first burst of spring every year!

 

After the garden tour, we had lunch (back to Chinese food), then visited a street market area. This particular area was a bit different than most street markets that we've been to as this one was along water canals. We didn't spend a large amount of time there (just 20 minutes), then we got back on the bus to go to Zhouzhuang. This is a really neat city that seems to have more water canals than streets (ok, not really - but there were a lot of canals). It's like having Venice in China. We took a boat ride through the canals - the boats were along the same lines as the gondolas in Venice. Our pilot offered to sing for us for money (of course), but we said yes and got to listen to her sing a few songs during the ride.

 

Then we headed back to Shanghai and decided that since our dinner was so delicious last night, we would repeat - so we went out for Turkish food again tonight! :) The meal was wonderful (again) and the 9 of us who went left happy and with full bellies. Perhaps an hour or so later, I was sitting in the hotel lobby checking email and the waiter from the restaurant showed up. He was rather agitated and was finally able to share with me that they had presented us with the wrong tab. We were given a tab with a total of 835 yuan (about $140), but our tab was actually 1290 yuan (about $215). Linda helped me get him squared away and said that she would work it out with the rest of the group in the morning since I wasn't going to see anyone the following day.

 

Soldiering On

Even though last night's rest was short, it was good. The beds were comfortable and we were able to get the room temperature set the way we liked it. However, 5:00 am came VERY early!

 

Back into the little bus we went with all of our luggage stuffed in as well. Thankfully, the time in the bus was short. It only took about 20 minutes to get to the train station - which was VERY nice! It looked like it was very new - bright, shiny, lots of glass and clean and modern. We were booked on a high speed train to Xian. The train speed was around 240 km/hour and was very smooth.

 

Upon arrival at Xian, we were met by our guide and loaded into another bus that was too small for us, then we thought we would be taken to lunch. Unfortunately, we ended up having another factory stop first. We went to a place that makes terra cotta warrior replicas. We had the tour and then had another shopping opportunity. It was nice, but we were hungry and ready for lunch. We asked our guide about food and she told us we would eat at the museum. Well, it took us until about 3:00 to finally get to the museum, get tickets, and get to the restaurant. I did not get my wish for a different type of lunch... :(   It might be months before I choose to go to a Chinese restaurant when I get back in the States.

 

When we finished lunch, we started through another huge highlight of the trip - we went to see the Terra Cotta Soldiers. There are over 8,000 warriors and horses that form an army to protect the Emperor's burial site. We spent a lot of time there as many in our group were really looking forward to this part of the trip. It's a very well done museum and the crowds were incredible... If you haven't been around large groups of Chinese people before, you may not realize how much of a challenge it can be. They don't really accept the idea of queuing up or waiting for their turn. If they want to see something or get closer or get to the front, they don't wait, they just push their way to where they want to be. It can be overwhelming and after a full day of that, it can also be exhausting. You kind of have to adopt the same practice if you want to see anything because if you try to sit back and 'wait your turn', you'll never get there. We stayed until closing time at 6 pm.

 

Traffic was heavy and it took us about 2 hours to get to the hotel, so it was another late check in. However, we got checked into our hotel without any of the hassles of yesterday - our room was clean although it did smell somewhat smoky. But the best part is that we actually get to sleep for a FULL night! :)

Beijing - Day 1

Today we hit the ground running - well, really walking ... and walking and walking... By the end of the day, we logged about 6 miles. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's back up a bit and talk about my flight and arrival.

 

My total travel time was about 24 hours - the first leg of the trip was from Minneapolis to Seattle. I was happy to see that the flight was one with seat back screens with entertainment options. Those of you who know about my fascination with all things presidential will understand when I say that I was thrilled to discover a 7 part series on the Roosevelts - Teddy and FDR. I was able to watch 3 episodes on the Seattle leg of the trip, and planned to watch the remaining 4 episodes on the Beijing leg. Unfortunately, the last episode had some problems and while the video was ok, the audio was from the first episode. Bummer! So I'll probably have to look that up when I get back home to see if I can finish the series. The rest of my flight entertainment consisted of Big Hero 6, The Equalizer, and several TED Talks.

 

I was very excited to discover that the seat next to mine was empty. So I was in the 'A' seat and the 'B' seat was empty, then the aisle. So it wasn't enough space to fully lie down, but I was able to squeeze in and curl up to get a little bit of rest.

 

The flight itself was without incident - exactly the kind of flight you want. Passport control was easy, my luggage was delivered right away and I walked out and saw my driver waiting with my name. She got my to my hotel safely where I checked in and found a note waiting for me from my sister (Linda) letting me know where to find her and the rest of the group. I went looking for them at the restaurant only to discover that they had just left. I returned to the hotel and found both Linda and Les in the lobby - that's always the most exciting part of the trip for me, seeing the familiar face at the end of the trip.

 

Now to get back to that walking that I started with. Our first day started with a visit to Tiananmen Square. It was very large and the size along was really impressive. On holidays or special ceremony days, the square can hold 1 million people hand to hand! Unfortunately it was raining steadily so it was a bit uncomfortable. We moved on from the square to the Forbidden City which is huge! And since we were there and visiting, you may have already realized that it is no longer Forbidden. :)

 

The Forbidden City is where the Emperor lived with his entourage. The crowds were astonishing - people, people everywhere!! And don't get in the way of a large tour group - they do NOT stop... There were at least a half dozen times where I was literally being pushed from ALL sides as I was trying to go one way and the other tour group was going a different way.

 

Overall we spent about 2 hours between the square and the Forbidden City. As we were leaving the Forbidden City, we walked through the Emperor's Garden which was really beautiful - there were many trees that were over 200 years old and at least 1 that was over 500 years old! We went from there to lunch which was Chinese food! :) We were all seated at a large table with a lazy susan and they brought about a dozen plates of different entrees and we just kept spinning the food around and trying different things. It was lovely to sit, relax, eat and warm up - and dry off a little bit.

 

After lunch we visited a silk factory. It was really a sales pitch to buy silk, but they made it very interesting as well. they showed the whole process of making silk from the beginning to the end. Their best seller and what they spent the most time showing to us was their silk comforter. They let us help stretch some dried silk to help make the batting. The sales pitch worked on several of our group, so I can see why these places work with the tour groups. When everyone was done with their silken purchases we got back on the bus and headed to the Temple of Heaven. This is where the Emperor would visit to offer animal sacrifice and pray to Heaven for a good harvest. This ended up taking a couple of hours also. By this time we were all pretty exhausted, but we weren't done yet!

 

Our group decided to add an evening performance to our day. We went to a theater in the central business district to see a Chinese Acrobat show. It was supposed to be a "world class" performance - I wouldn't agree with that, but it was a good show and there were some really impressive acts. I'm glad I chose to go, but was happy when it was over because they played the music SO loud during the show I actually had to close my ears.

 

After the show, it was finally time to head back to the hotel. We decided to stay in for dinner because we had all had plenty of walking and activity throughout the day - a total of 6 miles as I mentioned at the beginning!

Filling in the blanks

With the challenges of trying to post to a blog in China, it looks like a couple of entries were missed. I'm back in the US now and adding a couple of days that didn't get posted while I was traveling. I also have a couple of final days to finish up and get posted. Overall - wonderful trip and full of really incredible sights!

Shanghai Day 1

Our first day in Shanghai dawned bright and sunny - it's really a treat to see the sun! While it didn't rain while we were on the boat, we didn't see the sun at all so it's been DAYS since we actually had sunlight shining on our faces. Our first stop of the day was the Oriental Pearl TV Tower. We went to the top and got a birdseye view of the city - what an amazing view! And we were so lucky to have a clear day. The observation platform had 2 levels - one that was all glass enclosed and another that had open air with a glass bottom. I loved it!

Our next stop was the Shanghai Museum. It's a well done museum that has various exhibits that offered a lot of choices for our group. We spent an hour wandering around the museum then went for lunch. Guess what - it wasn't Chinese food! We went to a teppenyaki restaurant instead. It was good - a nice change from the daily Chinese food we've been having. It's different from teppenyaki restaurants in the states though - the chef was cooking right at our table, but there was very little 'show'. It was just a utilitarian way to cook our lunch. The only showmanship was when he lit the food on fire - on purpose... That was pretty cool.

Our next stop was Yu Gardens. It's in the middle of Old Shanghai and included several old buildings and nicely landscaped gardens and ponds. After our garden tour, we had some shopping time at the shops in the Old Shanghai center. Then we headed back to the bus to move on to our next stop - The Bund.

The Bund is an Indian word for water walkway. You could also call it a boardwalk. It's a nice, wide elevated boardwalk overlooking the river and all of the high rise buildings on the other side. There were a lot of people there but it didn't feel crowded because it's long and wide and there are access points all along.

From the Bund, we went to Nanjing Road - this is a 3.5 mile pedestrian only street that's nothing but shopping - and most of the shops are high-end. By this time, it was approaching dinner time and Linda had the idea to ask our guide if there was a Turkish restaurant available. He suggested one that was only about 5 minutes away so I headed out with Linda and Les to seek it out. We found it easily and were thrilled! The food was authentic Turkish - delicious, fresh and all the wonderful flavors that we expected with Turkish food.

After dinner, we walked along Nanjing road again - by this time it was after dark and all of the shops were lit up. It was a bit of sensory overload - all the neon signs in Chinese characters, all of the people, the little tour tram tooling around and ringing its bell... It was an incredible experience. At the end of Nanjing Road, we arrived back at the Bund. Seeing that after dark was really cool - the high rise buildings across the river are not just lit up, most of them have changing light displays so the view is different every time you look.

We walked along the river for quite a distance, then took to the streets to work our way back to the hotel. All in all, we walked about an hour to get from the restaurant back to the hotel. I decided to end my night was a soak in the awesome bath tub, which felt great after the long walk after dinner. Not quite as nice as a hot tub, but pretty close!

Dam, Dam, Dam

After a quick breakfast on the boat, we disembarked for the last time. Leaving the boat was a lot smoother than boarding. We hired porters to take our bags off the boat and get them delivered to our assigned bus. It worked much better than trying to schlep all of our luggage ourselves.

The local guide had the responsibility to give us a tour of the Three Gorges Dam project. It's a huge project - according to the guide, the largest project in the world. The dam is huge, but it was hard to appreciate the size. You can't get an appreciation of the size of it given the perspective of the viewing platforms. It's not like the Hoover Dam where you get to see a huge dam face. The locks were quite impressive though - it's a 5 stage lock which takes 3 - 4 hours to get through. We didn't go through in the boat because it was under maintenance. This dam also has an elevaator for smaller boats.

After the dam tour, we were loaded back on the bus to get to Yichang. We didn't have any planned activities in Yichang - we were just booked on a flight from there to Shanghai. Well, after lunch (Chinese food agagin) our guide suggested a visit to a Chinese minority folk art museum. It was really interesting - the ladies were using silk thread to make wall art - so it was basically another opportunity to shop and spend money... AND several of us took advantage of the 'opportunity'! :)

We got to the airport and were too early to check in so we got some coffee and waited about an hour. We finally got checked in and then our flight was delayed. It was an hour later than scheduled, so it wasn't too bad. We found a comfortable place in the airport to wait. It was a small coffee/tea place with a few food options so we had some tea and dumplings for dinner.

We finally arrived in Shanghai at about 9 pm. We met our Shyanghai guide (Jimmy) and got to the hotel by about 10:30. Check in was smooth - the rooms all have a smoke smell, but it's not too overwhelming.