Shanghai is smaller in land area than Beijing, but has more people – 24 million people. Beijing has 23 million people. Xi’an has about 9 million, Chengdu 11 million, and Chongqing has around 33 million. I wish we had more time in Shanghai, but we only had one day. The day started off with a visit to a temple. The temple had a happy Buddha and a female Buddha. After the temple we went to the Bund. Shanghai has a river running through the middle. One side is the older downtown and one is the newer downtown. The Bund is a waterfront area. The view from there is the iconic Shanghai view. It’s not very iconic in my photos since it was a very hazy day. There were a lot of European style buildings near the Bund too. We went to an embroidery gallery. The work is amazing. All the embroidery was done with silk thread so the photos glowed and changed colors as you moved. Some pieces took a year or more to make. This was art way out of my price range. After lunch we went to a garden and more shopping. For dinner we were on our own. We were supposed to go to a dinner show, but it got cancelled. 10 of us took the subway back to downtown area. We went to the Pearl tower and went up to the observatory and then had dinner in the revolving restraint. Every restaurant we ate dinner in on the trip had a huge lazy susan in the middle of the table so you could spin it around to try all the dishes. We joked that at our last dinner we were the lazy susan, spinning around the food. Overall, the trip was wonderful, the people were so much fun, the food was great, and the sites were beautiful. I’m tired, but so glad I did this trip.
We left Chengdu and took an hour bus ride to Chongqing. This city is huge, 33 million people. It was just high rise buildings as far as the eye could see. We went to the Stilwell museum and then got on the river cruise boat. The boat was beautiful. We cruised the Yangtze River for 3 nights. They did too many announcements very loudly in my room early in the morning. The whole boat shut down by 11:00pm, kind of like we had a curfew. There were shore excursions every day. I didn’t do the morning ones because they cost more. One shore excursion was to see the red pagoda, Shibaozhai. We also did an excursion that took us on smaller boats up a smaller canyon. That was very pretty. There were also talks and programs on the boat too. It was even more fun because everyone in our tour group had already had a week to get to know each other so we had already bonded and had fun hanging out on the boat. There is a big dam on the river called the three gorges dam. There are 5 locks near the dam for boats. There is also a boat elevator, but our boat was too big to use the elevator. We went through two of the gorges during the day. It’s very mountainous and beautiful. There are rural villages and farms – no cars, no hospital, no high schools, no way in or out of the small villages except a 2 to 4 hour hike. We went through the locks of the dam at night. It takes about three hours to go through all five locks. I watched the boat go through the process of going through the first lock and then went to bed. It is free for boats to use the locks. On our last day we left the boat and toured the dam and locks. There are 3,000 engineers working there every day. It used to be 40,000. When the project is finished, it will be 600 engineers. There are 32 turbines to create electricity. The rest of the day was spent in the airport. Our flight to Shanghai was late. A bunch of us played cards in the airport. Chinese love games. After about 5 minutes we had drawn a crowd of Chinese men. They were watching us play. They would walk around to see what hands we had and how we laid down the cards so they could figure out how to play. We finally got into Shanghai and were on our own for dinner. A few of us found pizza. They serve pizza with a plastic glove so you don’t have to actually touch the pizza.
(c)All rights reserved Kimberly Fiore
locksMap of 3 Gorges portion of YangtzeShip ElevatorLocks
Pandas pandas pandas! This is one of the other things I was most looking forward to. Today we went to Chengdu Panda Base. 80% of the pandas in the world live in China. There are 20 to 30 at Panda Base. They have been successful at breeding pandas. They have been able to send some back into the wild as well. They had trouble getting them to mate at first. They even tried showing them panda porn to help. You can go to a website called ipanda if you want to see what’s going on at Panda Base including live panda videos. It was like a zoo, a really lovely place. It was delightful watching them. After pandas, we went to a local park. Chengdu doesn’t get much sun. The park was packed because it was a sunny day. Our guide told us that on sunny days a lot of people just don’t go to work. They go to parks instead. The park had a huge tea house, ladies playing mahjong, square dancing (more like easy Zumba), and a matchmaking area. In the matchmaking area, parents whose children haven’t married take a flyer with their children’s info on it and the information of what they are looking for in a mate. They put the flyer on the ground and other parents can read it. If they want to know more, they can call the parents and set up a meeting. There had to be thousands of flyers with parents standing around reading the flyers. After that we went to Jinli Street. It was similar to the ancient city shopping we did yesterday. Lots of shops, bars and street food. Then dinner. There is so much food. It’s great, they are trying to give us a good variety of local food, but I’m just tired of eating right now. Plus, in this area, the food is spicy so it’s been an adventure. We went to the opera after dinner. I was hoping it would not be an opera the way we know it. It wasn’t. It was a great show of dancing, acrobatics and singing. The two things they are famous for are fire spitting (fire breathing) and face changing. The face changing was neat. They would come out with a red mask on, wave a hand and then their face would be blue or some other color. It changed so fast it was fascinating. After we got back to the hotel I went hunting for ice cream. It was not to be found. I know I had seen it the night before, but couldn’t find it tonight. I must be getting sick if my ice cream sensing abilities are not working.
Yesterday was a travel day. I decided not to walk the city wall. I called mom and checked some emails instead. We ate lunch and then flew to Chengdu and then dinner. Spent some time walking around the city after dinner. I found cheese flavored ice cream. How does that happen? Who thought that was a good idea? Yes, I ate it. It was sweet bland ice cream with a cheese after taste. I cannot recommend it.
I didn’t see this, but some of the other people on the trip did so our guide explained it. In Xian some people have birds for pets. They take their birds for a walk in the morning. They walk and swing the bird cage really high. The bird then gets to fly in its cage (just trying to stay balanced). This way, the bird gets exercise. When the bird is ready to rest, they put them on the ground or hang the cage from a tree. They cover the cages because they don’t want the birds to get scared or upset from seeing other birds or people. Huh? But if somehow two birds do see each other and they like each other, they will open the cage and let the birds visit and socialize with each other. True story.
Fun fact: Chinese people cannot get social services outside of their home town without paying. So children who live in rural areas cannot go to the city to attend school unless they pay extra. Rural teachers don’t get paid enough so the teachers quit. So, rural children don’t get good educations. Sometimes the parents leave the home to work in the cities and the grandparents raise the children. Ok, so that wasn’t really a fun fact, more like and interesting fact.
Today we went to see the Leshan Giant Buddha. This involved a long drive to a boat dock. We got on a boat and rode to a big Buddha carved into the rock. It took 30 years to carve the head and shoulders, 30 years for the body and 30 for the legs. Then after lunch we went to a shopping area that was made to look like an ancient city, or it was an ancient city fixed up. It was beautiful and fun shopping. I bought something that looked like roti sai mai, (my favorite Thai dessert), but it was like fuzzy peanut butter. There were people cleaning ears by sticking small brushes in your ear and then using metal tongs to vibrate the brushes. I tried that. Not sure my ears feel cleaner, but it was a unique experience. The guy did a neck and shoulder massage after that was worth the price of admission. For dinner we did hot pot. I think I’m not a fan of hot pot. More walking around the city by night.
(c) All rights reserved Kimberly Fiore
Squash stuffed with riceTiny paper red hearts from a wedding
Today we went to see the terra cotta warriors. This is one of the things I most wanted to see in China. There are over 8000 terra cotta warriors. A lot of them are still underground because we don’t have the technology to preserve them yet. Most of the ones they uncovered had bright paint on them. Within a short period of time, all the color oxidized and was gone. They are 2008 years old. Each warrior has a different face, the faces of the actual soldiers. Before the warriors we went to a shop where they make replica warriors. They also made lacquer furniture. The first thing we did in the morning was go to a local park, Xingqing Park. Like the other parks, there are a lot of retired people exercising and playing games. Apparently no tourists go to this park except with this tour group. The people love to see the tourists and invite them in to join. We did some tai chi, hacky sac, a fan dance and acupressure massage. It was a lot of fun. The Chinese people were quick to grab you and have you join in. They loved taking photos with us too.
We had a dinner show tonight. It was wonderful, with great costumes and quite a variety of dancing.
We have tomorrow morning off to do what we want. I’m torn between going to see the drum and bell towers up close, walking along the city wall, and sleeping in. When we got back to the hotel, one person asked me if I was going to the towers tonight. Duh. I could do that tonight and then the wall tomorrow. We took a taxi from the hotel. You couldn’t get very close to the bell tower, but you could get pretty close to the drum tower. It was real pretty, all lit up. Getting back proved more difficult. We stood where a lot of taxis were coming by. One stopped and a Chinese couple appeared from nowhere and took it. Then the next one stopped and some Chinese people just jumped in front of us and took it. This went on for quite a while. Most taxis didn’t even stop. Most that stopped, drove up to Chinese people instead of us. Two taxis did stop. When I handed them the address of the hotel, they both said no. I finally decided a 40-minute walk lead by Google maps sounded like a great idea. The guy I was with didn’t like the new plan, but he didn’t have much choice because he wasn’t any more successful at getting a taxi than I was. We came to a smaller street. As you looked down it, all you could see is small colored flashy lighted business signs. It looked like a spy or kung fu movie where the hero escapes into a crowded back alley. I decided this was the better path back. It was. We zig zagged through small restaurants, businesses, street vendors and alleys. I liked seeing this side of the city. I like getting a glimpse of how people actually live.
We got up early in the morning for our flight to Xi’an. This is the oldest city in china (3000 years of written history). When we landed it was raining. But the plan for the day was a museum so that was the best day for it to rain. Xi’an was the capital a long time ago so there are many treasures found around the city. The museum had a lot of pottery and metal work from the different dynasties. The people believe that they needed to be buried with their treasures for the afterlife, similar to the ancient Egyptians, but in China they buried them underground and built mountains on top. Then I wondered, if we are digging up these treasures thousands of years later, are we ruining their afterlife? Are they no longer rich and protected in the after life?
After the museum, we checked into the hotel. My room was a suite. I have separate living room from the bedroom. I also had a king sized bed. I just want to hang out in a robe in my room for a few days. But, a girl has to eat. Tonight we went out for a dumpling dinner. The restaurant we went to is supposed to be famous for their dumplings. It was near the center of town. There are two towers there, the bell tower and the drum tower. In ancient times, the walled city was gated and locked at night. One toDwer housed bells (or drums, can’t remember which is which) that were rung in the morning to announce that the gates were opening so people that lived outside the city knew it was time to come in and do business. At the end of the day, the drums were used to announce that the gates would be closing soon. There were 18 different dumplings served at dinner. They just kept coming. Some of them were really delicious and some were not so much.
In the morning we went to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. The Forbidden City is something I have always wanted to see so I was quite excited for today’s tour. When we got to Tiananmen Square there were so many people. We had to go through a bunch of guards. People were getting turned away, but we just walked by. There was no line, but more of a weird series of barricades that didn’t make sense. We’d walk around some and then cross the street and then walk around others. There were people on the other side of some of the barricades, but we couldn’t get over there and they couldn’t get to where we were. Somehow we arrived at the Square. There were more barricades in the square too. If I had been travelling alone, I think I would still be standing on the street corner going “It should be around here somewhere. Why can’t I get to it?”
The Forbidden City was wonderful. It’s a walled city surrounded by another walled city surrounded by two more walled cities. The size of it was ridiculous. It took us most of the morning to walk from one side to the other. We learned a lot about the different Emperors that lived there. The amount of paranoia they had was amazing. The walls were built so thick. The pavement was thick so no one could ever tunnel in. There were not many trees so no one could hide in them and shoot arrows at the emperor. Stories of wives and concubines, sons and brothers, all vying for power. Why anyone would want to be an emperor is beyond me.
After that was lunch and pearl shop. After the pearl shop we went to the summer palace. It was real beautiful, but it was very cold and windy. We were supposed to take a dragon boat back, but it was too windy and our boat wasn’t running. I think most or all of us were ok with that as getting on a boat to cross a cold windy lake didn’t sound fun. Instead we had to go on a long walk over the mountain. We went through an area where most Western tourists never go. It was beautiful like walking through a park. There was also a pretty temple and some old houses that use to be for the concubines. There was a fake shopping center that one of the emperor’s wives had created so she could pretend to go shopping with the normal people.
That evening we were on our own for dinner. We got back kind of late due to the boat not being available so I was tired. I ate at the hotel and packed up my suitcase since we are leaving very early tomorrow morning.
(c) All rights reserved Kimberly Fiore
Vent for “air conditioning”Hollow box they would set fires in to create floor heating
When I got to the airport in Bangkok to go to China I was told I would need to go through immigration, get my luggage and recheck it at the next airport. Oh jeeze, I have an hour between flights. That’s going to be close. Then I look at my seat and it’s row 33. It will take forever to get off the plane. Row 33 was actually the 6th row. Who knew? I got to China, had to take a shuttle, go through immigration, get my bag, recheck my bag, go through security again, another shuttle, a long walk, get some water, and go to the bathroom. When I finally got to the new gate, they were loading the plane – perfect timing. China magic.
When I got to Beijing I was supposed to have someone pick me up from the tour company, but there was no one there. I got scared for a minute. I realize the tiny bit of Thai that I speak makes me feel more comfortable in Thailand. I know no Chinese. Then I told myself to relax and I just waited. The shuttle guy looked more flustered than me when he showed up. He spoke no English, but got me to the car. The car driver spoke no English. I walked out of the airport and it was cold! It felt so wonderful. Beijing traffic is horrible so it took forever to get to the hotel. The hotel is nice. My room has an actual shower and bathtub. Unfortunately, my room also had wet carpet in the entrance and an angry voice in the bathroom. Also, the heat didn’t work. The man staying next door to me was in his bathroom yelling on his phone for over an hour. I did get the hotel to switch my room, but now I have a twin bed instead of a king. It is warm and quiet though.
Day one of our tour was awesome. It’s a tour group of 23 people and a guide. The guide is great. So, far the people on the tour are nice and interesting. We went to the Temple of Heaven. In the park portion a lot of retirees come to play card games, knit, exercise and just generally hang out together. In a lot of families, the grandparents take the kids to school and then go to the park to hang out. Then they pick up the kids in the afternoon since the parents have to work. The park had exercise circuit similar to Thailand, but much more of it and people use it. There was a massage circuit too. The park was beautiful and in great condition. The actual temple was beautiful. Our tour guide gave us so much information, but a lot of it I don’t remember so I just can’t pass it on. Our tour guide gave us whispers – he can talk on a mic and we can listen over earphones. It makes walking around crowded loud places so much better. He can tell us about the area we are seeing as we walk around it. After the Temple of Heaven we went to a jade shop and then lunch. Lunch was ridiculous. They just kept bringing out food. We had at least 12 different dishes at each table. I tried some of everything, but the soup – there just wasn’t any room left when the soup came out. Then we went to the Great Wall of China. This is something I’ve always wanted to see. It is an amazing feat of engineering and hard work. It’s so beautiful where we went. My knees felt great – Thanks PhuketFit. After that we went to the Olympic complex to see the Bird’s Nest. We didn’t go in, but just took pictures from outside. Dinner was Peking Duck and then another 10 dishes or more. It was like ridiculous lunch all over again. All the food was excellent.
I’ve been worrying about getting a Chinese visa. I have to show proof of hotel bookings and flights in order to get a visa. But there is no guarantee that you will get a visa. So, it’s a huge expensive leap of faith since, of course, the tour and the flights are non-refundable. Thus, worry. Then, a visa takes 4 days typically. I don’t have 4 days off work. You can pay to have it expedited, but there’s no guarantee that it will then take one, two or three days. All of this has been running around in my head for a couple weeks now driving me crazy. So, I’m glad it’s visa day. I’m not sure why I’m worried. I’m not a threat to China. There is no reason why I should be denied a tourist visa. But I had dreams of having my application thrown out because I wore a tank top or because I misspelled something or left something off my application. Stop it brain! There was a line when I got to the embassy. AT 9:00 they opened the door and everyone walked in. Security at the China embassy is lax compared to the US embassy. The US embassy checked your passport before you came in. You could only come in one at a time. You had to put all electronics in a plastic bag and leave them at the security desk. Then everything else went through an xray machine and you through a metal detector. At the China embassy we just all walked through the metal detector as it beeped and the guy behind it ate his breakfast. Then you take a number and wait your turn. She took my paperwork looked over it about 7 times, then told me how much it would cost and told me to come back at 3:00. I went back at 3:00 and went through lack of security again. I paid for my visa and got it! Easy. So, I’m going to China for two weeks in October!
While I was waiting for 3:00, I decided to try a new coffee shop to have lunch and work. I found one called Clay Studio Coffee in the Garden. It was across the street from a terra cotta clay museum. They still make statues and wall murals that look like they were made a long time ago. I didn’t go to the museum, but it’s top of my list next time I come back. The coffee shop was in a garden full of plants and terra cotta stone carvings. You could sit in the gardens or in the shop which looked like a green house. This may be the prettiest coffee shop I’ve ever seen. I wonder how I might be able to live there. Then I think about all the bugs, geckos and snakes that probably live there and I think that it’s the perfect day time coffee shop.
Then I went to my favorite pizza place for dinner! I’m also attaching some random photos I took walking around. I like the combination of glitzy temple next to run down dirty building. It’s always interesting to see.
(c) All rights reserved Kimberly Fiore
Coffee Shop EntranceEnter a captionMy new coffee shop friend
Rraine Drops 