Fantastic trip to China!
| 2005-03-09 - SAN FRANCISCO Arrival in San Franciso. We stayed at the Comfort Suites near SFO. 2005-03-10 - SAN FRANCISCO to SHANGHAI Departing from San Francisco on Air China's wide cabin 747 Boeing jetliner for Shanghai. We fly along the coastline northward, across Alaska and then down across Siberia to China. 2005-03-11 - ARRIVE in SHANGHAI Arrival in Shanghai during the early evening hours and transfer from Shanghai's new International Airport to the Ocean Hotel. Shanghai is one of the world's most beautiful cities, especially at night. Beautiful colored lights cast a soft powdered hue on its modern architecture that creates a fairyland look. Truly an unforgettable sight! 2005-03-12 - SHANGHAI Sightseeing in Shanghai. Major attractions include Nanjing Road, Youyuan Garden, the Museum of Art and History, the Jade Buddha Temple, and the famous Bund, situated on the city's waterfront. Divided by the river, there is an international architectural display on one side and the city's newest skyline on the other. To top the evening off, a spectacular Acrobatic Show. We were all sooooo sleepy but it was a great show! 2005-03-13 - VISIT to SUZHOU Suzhou was very prosperous during the Ming and Qing dynasties and many local traders became wealthy. Much of this wealth was spent in creating elaborate gardens. A visit to the most famous of the approximately 150 gardens, the Masters of the Nets Garden. Later, we took a short cruise on the famous Grand Canal and visited a Silk Factory to see how tiny silk threads are taken from cocoons and woven into beautiful silk fabrics. We all bought quilts, sheets, pillows, etc. 2005-03-14 - FLY to WUHAN We flew to Wuhan, at the junction of the Yangtze and Han rivers and visited the Yellow Crane Pavilion and other historical attractions of the city, including the incredible Hubei Provincial Museum before boarding a four-star cruiser, the Victoria 07, approved by the National Tourism Administration of China. Upon boarding, the crew beat drums of "welcome". 2005-03-15 - YANGTZE RIVER CRUISE A cruise up the Yangtze, sailing through China's beautiful countryside. There is lots of freight moving up and down this busy river. It was so nice not to be cramped up on the tour bus - also, afternoon naps were a plus! 2005-03-16 - YANGTZE RIVER CRUISE Cruising on the Yangtze the ship passes through one of the three massive locks at the 230 foot high Gezhouba Dam at Yichang and then past the first of the Three Gorges, Xiling Gorge, which is also the longest of the Three Gorges. Next, the ship passes through the worlds largest, newly completed, five-stage Three Gorges Dam Locks and a special tour is given of the famous Dam site where 25,000 people are employed on the world's largest construction project. Finally, after re-boarding the cruiser it passes through the second of the Three Gorges, the Wu Gorge. These gorges have some of the most beautiful scenery in the world. The river level was at 139m and will be filled to 175m. 2005-03-17 - YANGTZE RIVER CRUISE Boarding smaller boats for a trip up the Daning River, and the three small gorges called the Lesser Three Gorges. This is a very interesting area of dramatic hillsides, covered with growing crops, saw grass, lush bamboo groves, caves, and many other surprises. Here is an entirely different social level of China where farming and selling crafts is the way of survival. The scenery is breathtaking. 'Katie' was our local guide on the boat. I gave her a tangerine Altoid. She tasted it, her mouth puckered and then she swallowed it. :-) 2005-03-18 - YANGTZE RIVER CRUISE Today we arrived at Wan Zhou (pronounced Wan Joe) - the gateway to Sichuan. It is best known for it's wide stairway depicted in author John Heresy's book, "A Single Pebble" and an infamous clash between British gunboats and local warlords known as the Wan Zhou Incident of 1927. In the evening, there was a talent show starring the ship's passengers - Craig wa the emcee for "Larry's Group". 2005-03-19 - ARRIVE in CHONGQING / DEPART for XI'AN Arrival in Chongqing. A tour of the city to see those lovable animals, the Panda bears. Did you know there are only 1,100 Pandas left in the world? We also visited the General Stilwell Museum. A group from the Flying Tigers was to arrive there tommorrow. Then a late afternoon flight to the ancient city of Xi'an and check into the beautiful Xi'an Jianguo Hotel. 2005-03-20 - XI'AN A full day tour that recalls the glories of ancient Xi'an; a visit to the burial site of Emperor Qun Shi Huang, with his incredible army of 8,000 lifelike Terra-cotta Soldiers positioned in military formation to protect him in his afterlife. These soldiers are 2,000 years old and will give you a whole new outlook on how people really looked and dressed in years gone by. Also, a visit to the ancient Neolithic Bamboo Village, an archaeological site discovered in the 1950s and a visit to the majestic Wild Goose Pagoda. The highlight this evening is a 20-course Dumpling Dinner followed by the beautiful and colorful Tang Dynasty Culture Show. This show and the dumplings were great; and front row seats too! 2005-03-21 - FLY to BEIJING Arrival in Beijing, the capital of China, and a visit to Tiananmen Square. You will not believe how large this square is. At the end of the square you can visit the tomb of Chairman Mao but he was 'closed' on the day that we were there. Condoleeza Rice was visiting and we saw her motorcade. We took a long walk through the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, and the Temple of Heaven. 2005-03-22 - BEIJING A full day excursion to the spectacular Great Wall and the famous Ming Dynasty Tombs. The Great Wall is a 4,000 mile long rampart built over several centuries to keep out the invading Mongols. No matter which direction you walk on the wall, you will just stop and gaze at this awesome landmark, one of the few sites that the astronauts are able to see from outer space! Then a trip to the Ming Tomb area, a secluded valley, housing 14 Imperial burial mounds (only two of which have been fully excavated and opened to the public.) We walked several flights down to the burial chamber. 2005-03-23 - BEIJING Sight seeing and shopping in Beijing. Lots of pearls, jade, North Face jackets and 'hello' people. We went to Silk Alley and Rainbow Market. Lunch was at Pizza Hut. 2005-03-24 - ARRIVE in SHIJIAZHUANG A drive southwest of Beijing for an agricultural tour, toward the city of Shijiazhuang. There are acres upon acres of winter wheat and other small grains all along this prime farming region; corn and soybeans are harvested by this time. A visit to various farms, including a dairy farm where farmers pool their livestock thus utilizing a modern dairy facility they would be unable to afford owning only a small number of cows. There may be four or five herds on this one large dairy farm with each farmer living on the premises caring for his own cows. 2005-03-25 - SHIJIAZHUANG China is different from the US, Brazil and other countries who practice highly mechanized agriculture production. China has less need for massive mechanization, because of their huge population and available work force. The farms and equipment are smaller. An afternoon tour of various interesting factories, including a textile mill to witness the making of fabric from the raw cotton fiber. This evening, a special welcome banquet held by the leaders of the Agriculture Bureau and the Provincial Tourism Bureau of the Hebei Province. 2005-03-26 - FLY HOME to SAN FRANCISCO Drive back to Beijing by bus and proceed directly to the airport. There, we had to de-plane and "sign out" of China (the process took about an hour). Marilyn flew direct from Shanghai to Paris. Connie, Don and Craig had a long flight across the Pacific to San Francisco. We arrived about noon, then got baggage, went through customs and back to Comfor Suites for a 3 hour nap. For dinner, Don had baby back ribs and Craig and Connie had prime rib at The Hungry Hunter - yum! It was great to be back in the U.S.A. Descriptive test courtesy of Rupiper Travel |