Planning a trip to China is an exciting adventure in itself. There are a lot of different things to think about before you go, and some things that you have to do before you even set foot in the airport. For many countries, American citizens don't need a visa, but you will need to get one in advance before taking off for China. Visas are just one of the many things for which you'll want to prepare. Read on to uncover more helpful preparation tips.
Passports and Visas
You probably already know you need to have a valid passport for visiting China. But you also need an appropriate visa. Visas are issued by the Chinese embassy or consulate general serving your area. You can deal in person with the embassy or consulate, or you can ask your travel agent to manage the process for you. Special visa agents can also arrange your visa for you (for agents, google search "get china visa") but these services will cost extra on top of the $50 visa itself.
Health Concerns
You've heard about SARS and Avian Flu. You're concerned, but there's no reason to cancel your trip to China! Taking precautions while visiting any new place is a good idea and finding out the latest on what's happening in the area is the smart thing to do. The US Center for Disease Control doesn't require any vaccinations before you go to China, but they do make some recommendations. There are also some basic items you'll want to take with you just in case you have a run-in with a bad dumpling!
Health & Medical Reading
First Aid Packing List
Water & Food Safety
Money Matters
When I first started traveling, the travelers' check was THE way to carry money around. Now with the prevalence of ATMs and credit cards, there are more convenient ways to make your purchases. Having a little advance notice of the denomination of the Chinese currency can also help you prepare for your trip. These links will help you understand what you'll need to prepare with regard to your wallet.
Traveling with Small Children
The anticipation is probably worse than the reality of the trip. Traveling with children is stressful. But you can alleviate some of that stress by bringing what you need and buying the rest. Being prepared is most of the battle when you've got kids in tow, so make it easy on yourself. Knowing what kinds of activities are available for the little ones when they get bored with temples and monuments is also helpful. Check out kids' activities in Shanghai for examples.
Planning Your Itinerary
Now that you've got the mundane bits out of the way, it's time to focus on planning your itinerary. Is it bright lights and big cities you're into? Then you may want to start out in Shanghai. Perhaps it's China's long history, best exemplified by the Great Wall you're after exploring. Whatever you decide, you'll exhaust your time for planning before you exhaust the possibilities. Enjoy!
Packing
The best advice I give my friends who come to China is this: pack light! There is so much shopping to do, most travelers have no problem filling up their suitcases on the way home. So don't bring too much with you - you really don't need that much.
That said, there are a few essentials you should have along with you. As the saying goes, if you don't want it to rain, bring an umbrella. My theory is be prepared on the health front and bring along a first aid kit so you don't have to worry about minor illnesses should they pop up. If you have it with you, hopefully you won't need it.
Ruining Your Trip to China: How to Avoid It!
There's so much to see and do in China, you'll want to focus on the good. But with any new country and culture, there might be some annoyances or irritations. Don't let these get you down! Follow this simple primer to ensure you don't ruin your trip.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
May in China - Weather and Event Guide
May Overview:
May is my favorite month in China. You can pretty much depend on it being warm and balmy but the heat and humidity of the summer have not yet set in. The country has greened up and the flowers are in full bloom. You often get some clear blue skies in the major cities and there's just an overall good feeling in the air.
Northern China, such as Beijing, is beautiful. You'll be relatively dry and the temps are lovely. Across central and southern China it will still be damp, but the temps have warmed to such a degree that it won't feel uncomfortable. You'll still need your rain gear, but you'll see a lot of nice days.
May Weather:
Beijing: the average daytime temp is 80F (26C), the average number of rainy days is 6.
Harbin: the average daytime temp is 70F (21C), the average number of rainy days is 10.
Xi'An: the average daytime temp is 67F (20C), the average number of rainy days is 10.
Shanghai: the average daytime temp is 74F (23C), the average number of rainy days is 15.
Guangzhou: the average daytime temp is 85F (30C), the average number of rainy days is 19.
Guilin: the average daytime temp is 72F (22C), the average number of rainy days is 20.
See charts for Ave Temperatures in Major Cities
See charts for Ave # of Rainy Days/Month
May Packing Suggestions:
Finally, the layers can be lightened a bit.
North: very comfortable during the day. You still might need a longer layer for cooler eveings.
Central: it'll be damp but warm. Bring layers if you get cold in air-conditioning but you won't need anything too warm or heavy.
South: as with April, it'll be warm during the day, even hot, and humid. Bring light clothes that will feel comfortable under rain gear. You may want a heavier layer at night, but light pants will probably be the warmest you'll need.
Visiting China in May - Pros:
Like I said above, May is a great time to visit China for really comfortable temperatures.
May is also good as you'll avoid the big summer travel season.
Visiting China in May - Cons:
Labor Day (or May Day) used to be a week-long holiday, but with just one day off now, it shouldn't be a big problem to travel during that time. You may find larger crowds as tourist sights and worse traffic.
Rain across most of China except the North and far West. But that's just how it goes. You can't avoid rain if you're going to see the country so pack an umbrella. You'll be fine!
May is my favorite month in China. You can pretty much depend on it being warm and balmy but the heat and humidity of the summer have not yet set in. The country has greened up and the flowers are in full bloom. You often get some clear blue skies in the major cities and there's just an overall good feeling in the air.
Northern China, such as Beijing, is beautiful. You'll be relatively dry and the temps are lovely. Across central and southern China it will still be damp, but the temps have warmed to such a degree that it won't feel uncomfortable. You'll still need your rain gear, but you'll see a lot of nice days.
May Weather:
Beijing: the average daytime temp is 80F (26C), the average number of rainy days is 6.
Harbin: the average daytime temp is 70F (21C), the average number of rainy days is 10.
Xi'An: the average daytime temp is 67F (20C), the average number of rainy days is 10.
Shanghai: the average daytime temp is 74F (23C), the average number of rainy days is 15.
Guangzhou: the average daytime temp is 85F (30C), the average number of rainy days is 19.
Guilin: the average daytime temp is 72F (22C), the average number of rainy days is 20.
See charts for Ave Temperatures in Major Cities
See charts for Ave # of Rainy Days/Month
May Packing Suggestions:
Finally, the layers can be lightened a bit.
North: very comfortable during the day. You still might need a longer layer for cooler eveings.
Central: it'll be damp but warm. Bring layers if you get cold in air-conditioning but you won't need anything too warm or heavy.
South: as with April, it'll be warm during the day, even hot, and humid. Bring light clothes that will feel comfortable under rain gear. You may want a heavier layer at night, but light pants will probably be the warmest you'll need.
Visiting China in May - Pros:
Like I said above, May is a great time to visit China for really comfortable temperatures.
May is also good as you'll avoid the big summer travel season.
Visiting China in May - Cons:
Labor Day (or May Day) used to be a week-long holiday, but with just one day off now, it shouldn't be a big problem to travel during that time. You may find larger crowds as tourist sights and worse traffic.
Rain across most of China except the North and far West. But that's just how it goes. You can't avoid rain if you're going to see the country so pack an umbrella. You'll be fine!
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Tourist Trail - Tiananmen Square
Tourist Trail - Tiananmen Square
For us, there is no better place to get the true modern feel of Beijing. Tiananmen Square is huge open space surrounded on all sides by imposing official buildings. Apart from being a popular gathering place for tourists and kite flyers, it is still often used for any big celebration and for the government leaders to address the people.
Every lamp post is equipped with an array of speakers which can convey the speakers message to a crowd in the tens of thousands. You can visit the square freely until 10.30pm at night. If you go during the day you can often buy a ticket to go up to the balcony from which the leaders address the people. This gives a very impressive view of the square and you can pretend to be the government figure of your choice
If at all possible, you must go check out the square at night as well as during the day. The atmosphere at night is different again and the square is beautifully lit. On a cold winter night with fog is really something. But don't arrive too late, at 10.30pm the soldiers come and evacuate the whole thing in minutes and its sealed off for the night.
At sunrise and sunset the flag to the front of the square is raised or lowered by a squad of army personnel. This in itself is an interesting thing to watch. All the traffic on the busy Chang An Avenue is halted, around 30 soldiers march very ceremoniously across the road and the flag is hoisted up, or down the poll. Many people come to watch this, so get there an hour or so before if you want a good view.
Getting to Tiananmen Square is best done by subway or walking as taxis are not really allowed to stop anywhere near it. The are two subway stations on line 1, Tiananmen East (116) and Tiananmen West (117). They are both inconveniently situated a 5 to 7 minute walk away from the center of the square so there is no best station. Walking from the south entrance to Wangfujing Street takes about 20 minutes and is very pleasant. Just find the Beijing Hotel on Changan Avenue, walk past it and keep going west on Changan Avenue.
The Chinese name of Tiananmen Square is written below. You can use it to ask people directions or follow signs.
For us, there is no better place to get the true modern feel of Beijing. Tiananmen Square is huge open space surrounded on all sides by imposing official buildings. Apart from being a popular gathering place for tourists and kite flyers, it is still often used for any big celebration and for the government leaders to address the people.
Every lamp post is equipped with an array of speakers which can convey the speakers message to a crowd in the tens of thousands. You can visit the square freely until 10.30pm at night. If you go during the day you can often buy a ticket to go up to the balcony from which the leaders address the people. This gives a very impressive view of the square and you can pretend to be the government figure of your choice
If at all possible, you must go check out the square at night as well as during the day. The atmosphere at night is different again and the square is beautifully lit. On a cold winter night with fog is really something. But don't arrive too late, at 10.30pm the soldiers come and evacuate the whole thing in minutes and its sealed off for the night.
At sunrise and sunset the flag to the front of the square is raised or lowered by a squad of army personnel. This in itself is an interesting thing to watch. All the traffic on the busy Chang An Avenue is halted, around 30 soldiers march very ceremoniously across the road and the flag is hoisted up, or down the poll. Many people come to watch this, so get there an hour or so before if you want a good view.
Getting to Tiananmen Square is best done by subway or walking as taxis are not really allowed to stop anywhere near it. The are two subway stations on line 1, Tiananmen East (116) and Tiananmen West (117). They are both inconveniently situated a 5 to 7 minute walk away from the center of the square so there is no best station. Walking from the south entrance to Wangfujing Street takes about 20 minutes and is very pleasant. Just find the Beijing Hotel on Changan Avenue, walk past it and keep going west on Changan Avenue.
The Chinese name of Tiananmen Square is written below. You can use it to ask people directions or follow signs.
One Year Since the Sichuan Earthquake of 2008
On May 12, 2008, Sichuan Province’s mountainous villages suffered an 8-magnitude earthquake. The quake claimed the lives of nearly 70,000 people, injured 375,000 and left millions homeless. At the epicenter, Beichuan County lost 21,000 residents, or two-thirds of its population. The county, closed since the quake, was re-opened on Sunday, May 10, for former residents and families to pay tribute to their lost loved-ones.
While the people of the affected area try to get back on their feet, disaster tourism has begun in response to (apparently) enormous demand. I read recently in the Shanghai Daily about the Wenchuan Earthquake Museum in Dayi County that opened in advance of the anniversary. The museum cost US$4.39 million and includes all kinds of tokens from the disaster including a loudspeaker that Premier Wen Jiabao used when he visited the site and the Coca-Cola can from which a little boy, whose first request after being pulled from the rubble was a drink of Coke, sipped. There is an earthquake simulation room that includes smell-effects from a “harmless gas with the same odor as air emanating from earthquake ruins,”.
The Wenchuan Earthquake Museum should not be confused with the National Earthquake Ruins Museum that will present Beichuan County’s destruction. This US$336 million dollar museum and park’s plans have just been unveiled and won’t be open for another four years.
I have to question disaster tourism and all this money being spent on museums and monuments when people are still suffering, still living in temporary housing, still searching for missing people. Of course, if these museums bring people who care, who donate and spend needed tourist money, then I suppose there is some good. In any case, take a moment on May 12, 2009, to remember the victims of the Sichuan Earthquake.
Photo: A Beichuan quake survivor pauses as he tries to find family members in the rubble in the quake ravaged town, May 15, 2008 in Beichuan, Sichuan province, China. (Photo Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)
From Sara's China Travel Blog
By Sara Naumann
While the people of the affected area try to get back on their feet, disaster tourism has begun in response to (apparently) enormous demand. I read recently in the Shanghai Daily about the Wenchuan Earthquake Museum in Dayi County that opened in advance of the anniversary. The museum cost US$4.39 million and includes all kinds of tokens from the disaster including a loudspeaker that Premier Wen Jiabao used when he visited the site and the Coca-Cola can from which a little boy, whose first request after being pulled from the rubble was a drink of Coke, sipped. There is an earthquake simulation room that includes smell-effects from a “harmless gas with the same odor as air emanating from earthquake ruins,”.
The Wenchuan Earthquake Museum should not be confused with the National Earthquake Ruins Museum that will present Beichuan County’s destruction. This US$336 million dollar museum and park’s plans have just been unveiled and won’t be open for another four years.
I have to question disaster tourism and all this money being spent on museums and monuments when people are still suffering, still living in temporary housing, still searching for missing people. Of course, if these museums bring people who care, who donate and spend needed tourist money, then I suppose there is some good. In any case, take a moment on May 12, 2009, to remember the victims of the Sichuan Earthquake.
Photo: A Beichuan quake survivor pauses as he tries to find family members in the rubble in the quake ravaged town, May 15, 2008 in Beichuan, Sichuan province, China. (Photo Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)
From Sara's China Travel Blog
By Sara Naumann
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Mother's Day in China, May 10, 2009
After living here for so long, Western traditions get past me quite often since I don’t have American consumerism to remind me what I’m supposed to do. Without TV commercials and Hallmark ads screaming at me to make sure to wish my mother a Happy Mother’s Day, it nearly escapes me completely (as did Halloween and Thanksgiving last fall…). Mao Zedong supposedly said “women hold up half the sky” but Mother’s Day isn’t really done here in China.
How does a child, young or old, please his mother on May 10th here in China if it isn’t traditional to take her to brunch or bring her flowers? In my years here I’ve gathered the best way to please a Chinese mother is to eat well, do well in school or your job, make lots of money and produce offspring. She’ll feel like she’s done her job well to see you progressing in life. That’s pretty universal isn’t it?
So, say Happy Mother’s Day in China by eating everything on your plate, studying hard, getting a promotion, oh! and producing some grandchildren if you’re at the right stage in life.
How does a child, young or old, please his mother on May 10th here in China if it isn’t traditional to take her to brunch or bring her flowers? In my years here I’ve gathered the best way to please a Chinese mother is to eat well, do well in school or your job, make lots of money and produce offspring. She’ll feel like she’s done her job well to see you progressing in life. That’s pretty universal isn’t it?
So, say Happy Mother’s Day in China by eating everything on your plate, studying hard, getting a promotion, oh! and producing some grandchildren if you’re at the right stage in life.
Traveling to China or Hong Kong? Expect Long Lines in Quarantine.
When we first arrived in Shanghai in 2004, we had to fill in a quarantine form and hand it in before immigration. SARS was over but the authorities were still taking precautions. A bored looking woman sat in a white coat behind the quarantine desk with a temperature monitor behind her and she collected the forms that people nearly threw at her. No one had to wait in line, the woman barely glanced at the forms; it was a formality.
With the current swine flu issue and the extreme precaution that China is taking, things are very different. Both in mainland airports and in Hong Kong, the quarantine station is in full action mode. You will be required to fill in a quarantine form that includes questions about your recent destinations and your recent health. The health professional behind the desk is checking every single document to ensure they have your name and address in China and this check is causing a delay in getting through to your luggage.
While this delay is annoying, especially when you’ve just gotten off a twelve-hour flight, it is for your own safety and the health safety of millions, that the authorities are being so careful. Grin and bare it, and book yourself a nice massage when you get to your hotel. Elderly, pregnant and traveling with children passengers, remember to look for the VIP lane once you get to the immigration lines. This will, at least, speed things up for you.
With the current swine flu issue and the extreme precaution that China is taking, things are very different. Both in mainland airports and in Hong Kong, the quarantine station is in full action mode. You will be required to fill in a quarantine form that includes questions about your recent destinations and your recent health. The health professional behind the desk is checking every single document to ensure they have your name and address in China and this check is causing a delay in getting through to your luggage.
While this delay is annoying, especially when you’ve just gotten off a twelve-hour flight, it is for your own safety and the health safety of millions, that the authorities are being so careful. Grin and bare it, and book yourself a nice massage when you get to your hotel. Elderly, pregnant and traveling with children passengers, remember to look for the VIP lane once you get to the immigration lines. This will, at least, speed things up for you.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Tips for having one Safe, Memorable Trip to China
Tourism is a burgeoning industry in China making it not only the zenith dealings destination but a must see voyage sojourn. To guarantee that you have your slip, Chinese Translation Pro has compiled these effective journey tips as well as useful bits of information to take with you.
When to Go: If you looking for the lowest outlay on journey, chart your fall during the Low Season; December, January and February. The Peak Traveled Season concerns May, September and October. March, April, June, July, August and November are perhaps the best journey months with respect to penalty, climate and entertainment.
Getting There: The subject airline Air China. As is authentic of any getaway, travelers should confirm their arrival departure reservations; airline overbooking has led to people being trapped in China. Also, be primed for a lengthy flight. A nonstop from New York to Beijing lasts 14 hours while a charter to Shanghai lasts upwards of 18 hours.
There are four airport hubs within China; Beijing/Peking (BJS/PEK), Guangzhou Baiyun International, Shanghai Hongqiao (SHA) and Shanghai Pudong (PVG). Each airport includes taxis, released and transport buses, task free shops, banks/currency conversions, send offices, venture and internet facilities and bars and restaurants. Important to hint is the departure tax, which is salaried in Chinese currency only. Children under 12 and transit passengers, proceeding within 24 hours of move, exempt.
Once There: Once in China, there are numerous transportation options via rail, sea and automobile. Railways grant the principal means of transportation throughout China. The trains are affordable, cautious and well maintained operating between foremost cities; military involve Beijing to Guangzhou, Shanghai, Harbin, Chengdu and Urumqi. There are three types of trains, the Express selection being the best of the three. There are four varieties of fare: hard seat, diffused seat (only on small-space trains such as the Hong Kong to Guangzhou (Canton) line), hard sleeper and bendable sleeper. Children under 3 ft tall voyage free and those under 4ft pay a lodge of the fare. Train move is often a comfortable experience albeit, a time-consuming one, due to the coldness between destinations. Domestic smoothed tour is a time reduction alternative. Flights from Shanghei to Beijing, Hong Kong to Shanghei and Guangzhou to Shanghei are about 2 hours; however, the roundtrip travel overheads ordinary $350 USD. Though specific tutor travel between these cities ranges from 12 to 18 hours, the prices are decidedly more affordable, between $15 to $30 USD.
Visa- Don?? Leave Home Without It: Visas for leisure travel to China are simple to acquire, conceding a one month?? Stopover. The Chinese legation or consulate, your travel agent or the independent papers ritual will gladly help you. In the United States, commerce the Chinese Embassy in Washington DC or the Consulates in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston or New York. US citizens can sojourn in Hong Kong without a visa for up to 30 days.
Tips on Tipping: Tipping is generally accepted and encouraged by tour guides, lodge body and car services. In restaurants, if the tip has not already been figured into the price, a 10 to 15 percent tip is advisable.
Good Eats: A meal in China need not contain won ton or dim sum to be considered delicious and authentic. China offers an enormous array of dining options counting Muslim, Korean, American and traditional Chinese. Americans should bequeath their preconceptions of Chinese food at the customs gate!
Making Notes Makes All the Difference: Getting around in any exotic country can be intimidating, especially if there is the fixed words barrier to complicate communication. To alleviate impending frustration we have come up with some regular questions and phrases for you to font out and take with you. You can download it for Free from our Chinese translation website: www.chinesetranslationpro.com.
When to Go: If you looking for the lowest outlay on journey, chart your fall during the Low Season; December, January and February. The Peak Traveled Season concerns May, September and October. March, April, June, July, August and November are perhaps the best journey months with respect to penalty, climate and entertainment.
Getting There: The subject airline Air China. As is authentic of any getaway, travelers should confirm their arrival departure reservations; airline overbooking has led to people being trapped in China. Also, be primed for a lengthy flight. A nonstop from New York to Beijing lasts 14 hours while a charter to Shanghai lasts upwards of 18 hours.
There are four airport hubs within China; Beijing/Peking (BJS/PEK), Guangzhou Baiyun International, Shanghai Hongqiao (SHA) and Shanghai Pudong (PVG). Each airport includes taxis, released and transport buses, task free shops, banks/currency conversions, send offices, venture and internet facilities and bars and restaurants. Important to hint is the departure tax, which is salaried in Chinese currency only. Children under 12 and transit passengers, proceeding within 24 hours of move, exempt.
Once There: Once in China, there are numerous transportation options via rail, sea and automobile. Railways grant the principal means of transportation throughout China. The trains are affordable, cautious and well maintained operating between foremost cities; military involve Beijing to Guangzhou, Shanghai, Harbin, Chengdu and Urumqi. There are three types of trains, the Express selection being the best of the three. There are four varieties of fare: hard seat, diffused seat (only on small-space trains such as the Hong Kong to Guangzhou (Canton) line), hard sleeper and bendable sleeper. Children under 3 ft tall voyage free and those under 4ft pay a lodge of the fare. Train move is often a comfortable experience albeit, a time-consuming one, due to the coldness between destinations. Domestic smoothed tour is a time reduction alternative. Flights from Shanghei to Beijing, Hong Kong to Shanghei and Guangzhou to Shanghei are about 2 hours; however, the roundtrip travel overheads ordinary $350 USD. Though specific tutor travel between these cities ranges from 12 to 18 hours, the prices are decidedly more affordable, between $15 to $30 USD.
Visa- Don?? Leave Home Without It: Visas for leisure travel to China are simple to acquire, conceding a one month?? Stopover. The Chinese legation or consulate, your travel agent or the independent papers ritual will gladly help you. In the United States, commerce the Chinese Embassy in Washington DC or the Consulates in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston or New York. US citizens can sojourn in Hong Kong without a visa for up to 30 days.
Tips on Tipping: Tipping is generally accepted and encouraged by tour guides, lodge body and car services. In restaurants, if the tip has not already been figured into the price, a 10 to 15 percent tip is advisable.
Good Eats: A meal in China need not contain won ton or dim sum to be considered delicious and authentic. China offers an enormous array of dining options counting Muslim, Korean, American and traditional Chinese. Americans should bequeath their preconceptions of Chinese food at the customs gate!
Making Notes Makes All the Difference: Getting around in any exotic country can be intimidating, especially if there is the fixed words barrier to complicate communication. To alleviate impending frustration we have come up with some regular questions and phrases for you to font out and take with you. You can download it for Free from our Chinese translation website: www.chinesetranslationpro.com.
A Silk Road Trip-Deep Explore the western China
In August 1992, myself and my consort, Caroline, approved a tumble to situation-Tiananmen China. It was in the being when the London China Travel agency was on Cambridge Circus, converse the Palace Theatre on Charing Cross Road. It took me at slightest twenty books, a tardy-night Japanese television chain and some months to sketch and pose the stumble from what was then our sordid in Balham, south London. In the existence, you could array the stay via China Travel and then, while the route was wedged in improve, you could tour absolutely independently. Everything was pre-salaried, but on backdrop off, we had no tickets or fixed reservations apart from our air tickets in and out of Beijing. As ever, I kept a journal of the visit, which ran to more than fifty pages. A few years later, I condensed the experience to two sides of A4, ignoring policy of grammar and syntax, and created the following stroll, a perhaps poetic impression of near a month of travel.
Ex-London while the Sun dissected Michael Jackson’s nose and praised Boardman’s hooterless gold-honor bicycle. Air China to Beijing, where taxis outlay more than Lonely Planet predicts. A Chinese spirit program from one Tim Han of China Travel while fellow personnel slobber over televised agile Afro-American sprinters at the Olympics. Then to the no-longer Forbidden City. Piles of native tourists to negotiate.
Four hours of Xinjiang Airlines to Urumqi. Signs in Chinese and Russian advantage Uigur printed in Arab script (a latest innovation). Land position across Inner Mongolia. Why, and how so vertical? Urumqi numerous-fatigued. Piles of coal, shabby high revolt, snowstorm-capped Bogda Shen at lane-end. Pavement fate tellers, traders. Food stalls. Women washing sheeps’ stomachs in a stream, rubbish kebabs. Uigur city now Han Chinese, populated by Shanghai extra, over 2000 miles from ??Ome?? The following longed demo.
Uigur breakfast. Hot sheep’s milk, Chinese tea, puncture tomato bread, sweetened tomato and cucumber, pickled cabbage, fragile congee, sheep’s milk butter, two giant sweetie lumps. Uigur advertise. Fruits among a wood of hanging chicken. Chinese sell. Live vegetables and meats. Tank over-spilling with lively eels (part rate). Self-knotting spaghetti.
Woman trailing her gold watchdog at an illicit ‘find the lady’. Police officer looking on. Tears when the cost hits home. Renmin Park for noodles and rocket-fuel chili sauce. Bag slashers with identify-feel knives on a crowded bus. Care required.
Car to Turfan. Fertile valleys. Barren mountains. Occasional snowstorm. Road ploughed. Kazak yurts. Semi-hollow shade-making rammed-earth Uigur villages, imaginary at an aloofness keep for vent smoke. Steep downhill overeat, spectacular canal, rocks, colorless water and schedule-grey hills. Into Turfan depression, snow-capped distance surrounding grey seed pit 100 miles across. 42 degrees at its establish, 200 metres below sea direct. Car early goodbye tracks on molten street. A stout gob from the driver irrigates. Gobi means polish. Plenty here. And then green. A sanctuary. A giant mirage?
Turfan. Latticing vines for street-shade. Hanging raisin grapes. 15 yuan penalize for casual pick. Hotel tea in galvanised buckets. Turkish-elegance dancing and song. Genghiz-sacked rammed-earth cities of Goachang and Jiaohe. Painting tombs and brick minarets. Flaming mountains. Karez underground irrigation method. 3000 kilometres of channels. 1500 years old, gravity-fed from mountains at the depression-frontier. Uigur mores’s peak feat, and in packed working order.
Bus to Daheyan. Two hours over jerky stones to depression-bank. Dump of a railway town. Coal lots, box buildings, ravish land. Two women at war on situate forecourt. Ramming victim’s regulate onto the ground. Blood. Onlookers. Inaction. A tense town of aggrieved postees.
500 miles to Liuyuan in Gansu. Featureless flatly grey shale seed. Spectacularly single. Snow mountains to the north. Utterly clear, save for smoking coal towns. 40 above in summer, 30 below in iciness. Overnight by focus. Dawn reveals same weighty picture, now in sunburned.
Arrive Liuyuan. Daheyan writ akin. 120 miles south across the desert (black at first!), bygone vestige walls of Han Dynasty Greater-Great Wall. Camels and dunes of Taklimakan, world’s prevalent sand desert. Near Dunhuang refuge blossoms again. Sand and scree abruptly crop and tree. Feitian Hotel, with complimentary toiletries labelled Sham Poo and Foam Poo. Lunch. Fourteen dishes. Duck, foo-yong, cucumber, cabbage, oyster swell chicken, coriander pork, steamed buns, steamed bread, rice, beef broth and noodles, pork and green beans, pork and friendly chili, chicken and squash, basic noodles, water melon. Then to get the elemental torch for the caves. Houses huddled together. Wood supplies for winter piled on top. View across the roofs like a piece heap. Ground balanced claustrophobic ceramics maze.
Cave day. Mogao Buddhist caves - closed from 12 to 2, plump day required for perhaps the most stunning scene on earth. 400 ‘caves’ (some cathedral magnitude) in a sandstone esophagus, between 400 AD to 1100 AD. Utterly dry, always brown, entirely preserved. Everything painted. Tang episode difficult and colourful. A world of scenes by torchlight. Buddhas reclining, meeting, existence, posing. Thirty metre seated diagram with thousands of unsmoked cigarettes and coins on his lap as offerings. Shock of Qing-renovated cave with Taoist facts. Ghoulish features, knobby, and a face in the groin. 40 caves seen in the day, archaeologist as a delicate lead. Stunning. Fourteen dishes for banquet.
Desert bus back to Liuyuan. Always a brawl for seats. Three dirty hours. Train to Lanzhou. 800 miles along Gansu-Qinghai mountainous border. More black desert, then blond earth. Jaiyaguan castle at the limit of the Ming empire. Overnight by series. Country misused. Mountain bypassed, green rolling hills and stepped fields. Wheat reaped in. Straw dollies like children at meeting. Houses still of rammed earth. Lanzhou a booming industrial city. Thirty hours of travel. Walk by Yellow River.
Fish in lodge restaurant cistern all tedious. Lanzhou bus expensive. 50 fen per journey. Radios and knitting banned. Han house airborne horse and figurine warriors. Steaming complain with rape on menu. The fish comes first. Train to Xian through fair loess country. Deep furrows and gorges. All downright land cropped. 500 miles overnight.
Terra cotta warriors facing east to safeguard Qin Shihuang’s vault. Made in pieces. Assembled in situ. Partly excavated part where piles of dismembered limbs emerge from the earth. New terra cotta warriors for auction from the factory behind the museum. Exact replicas of originals. Wheeze at the thought of the undivided thing as a bogus for the tourist trade.
Xian, like all Chinese cities, a just. Roads open, intersecting always at right angles. Ancient centre walled, Ming rebuilt. Old mosque wonderful. Xianyang adjacent, with Seventh century Qian tombs, museum with another 3000 Han terra cottas like a football crowd. Train to Beijing. 800 miles, 26 hours. Houses often caves in valley plane. Later immense flat land, maize everywhere.
Temple of Heaven, Tiantan, and then Beijing Opera. Pause for beer at edge stall. Served by moonlighting novice stockbroker! Breakfast stored amazing, like four year old camembert out of a shotgun. Taking the move off. Great Wall. Mucho touristico, but still stunning. Like climbing a giant ladder in spaces. “I climbed the Great Wall” T-shirts, prices minor the expand you climb. Must be the air. Ming tombs dismissed by leader-book. Wrong. Amazing barrel arched quarters nine stories underground. Jade doors, carved thrones, limestone, granite, sensation. Reminiscent of renaissance Italy. Everlasting bricks etched with names of their makers. Souvenir jaded ferry for 55000 pounds.
White drapes over erotic statues in Tibetan Lama Temple. Same bestial contents in block paintings. 24 metre gold Buddha through the anger-hide. No smoking signs everywhere.
Mao’s Maosoleum a ruler’s tomb. Lines for queues painted across the straight. Feet pointing north towards Tiananmen Gate, upside-down feng shui. He is shiny, waxy and painted about the face. Moving defenses sand past on either wall. No pausing. Outside, stalls with Mao T-shirts, Mao key rings, cuddly toys, place cards, moving lamp shows. Mao Zedong chocolate floss by the armful. Then Great Hall of the People. Dining scope for 5000. Now abstain food for tourists. Great Hall chopped brushwood, cigarettes, T-shirts. Great Hall of the People cuddly toys.
2500 miles. Three and the half weeks. 5 destinations. 50 caves. 6000 terra cotta warriors. 1 each Great Wall, Forbidden City, Beijing Opera, Mao Zedong. Hundreds of tombs, temples, pagodas, parks, bendi-buses and bicycles. 3 silk shirts on the Silk Road. One amazing trip.
Ex-London while the Sun dissected Michael Jackson’s nose and praised Boardman’s hooterless gold-honor bicycle. Air China to Beijing, where taxis outlay more than Lonely Planet predicts. A Chinese spirit program from one Tim Han of China Travel while fellow personnel slobber over televised agile Afro-American sprinters at the Olympics. Then to the no-longer Forbidden City. Piles of native tourists to negotiate.
Four hours of Xinjiang Airlines to Urumqi. Signs in Chinese and Russian advantage Uigur printed in Arab script (a latest innovation). Land position across Inner Mongolia. Why, and how so vertical? Urumqi numerous-fatigued. Piles of coal, shabby high revolt, snowstorm-capped Bogda Shen at lane-end. Pavement fate tellers, traders. Food stalls. Women washing sheeps’ stomachs in a stream, rubbish kebabs. Uigur city now Han Chinese, populated by Shanghai extra, over 2000 miles from ??Ome?? The following longed demo.
Uigur breakfast. Hot sheep’s milk, Chinese tea, puncture tomato bread, sweetened tomato and cucumber, pickled cabbage, fragile congee, sheep’s milk butter, two giant sweetie lumps. Uigur advertise. Fruits among a wood of hanging chicken. Chinese sell. Live vegetables and meats. Tank over-spilling with lively eels (part rate). Self-knotting spaghetti.
Woman trailing her gold watchdog at an illicit ‘find the lady’. Police officer looking on. Tears when the cost hits home. Renmin Park for noodles and rocket-fuel chili sauce. Bag slashers with identify-feel knives on a crowded bus. Care required.
Car to Turfan. Fertile valleys. Barren mountains. Occasional snowstorm. Road ploughed. Kazak yurts. Semi-hollow shade-making rammed-earth Uigur villages, imaginary at an aloofness keep for vent smoke. Steep downhill overeat, spectacular canal, rocks, colorless water and schedule-grey hills. Into Turfan depression, snow-capped distance surrounding grey seed pit 100 miles across. 42 degrees at its establish, 200 metres below sea direct. Car early goodbye tracks on molten street. A stout gob from the driver irrigates. Gobi means polish. Plenty here. And then green. A sanctuary. A giant mirage?
Turfan. Latticing vines for street-shade. Hanging raisin grapes. 15 yuan penalize for casual pick. Hotel tea in galvanised buckets. Turkish-elegance dancing and song. Genghiz-sacked rammed-earth cities of Goachang and Jiaohe. Painting tombs and brick minarets. Flaming mountains. Karez underground irrigation method. 3000 kilometres of channels. 1500 years old, gravity-fed from mountains at the depression-frontier. Uigur mores’s peak feat, and in packed working order.
Bus to Daheyan. Two hours over jerky stones to depression-bank. Dump of a railway town. Coal lots, box buildings, ravish land. Two women at war on situate forecourt. Ramming victim’s regulate onto the ground. Blood. Onlookers. Inaction. A tense town of aggrieved postees.
500 miles to Liuyuan in Gansu. Featureless flatly grey shale seed. Spectacularly single. Snow mountains to the north. Utterly clear, save for smoking coal towns. 40 above in summer, 30 below in iciness. Overnight by focus. Dawn reveals same weighty picture, now in sunburned.
Arrive Liuyuan. Daheyan writ akin. 120 miles south across the desert (black at first!), bygone vestige walls of Han Dynasty Greater-Great Wall. Camels and dunes of Taklimakan, world’s prevalent sand desert. Near Dunhuang refuge blossoms again. Sand and scree abruptly crop and tree. Feitian Hotel, with complimentary toiletries labelled Sham Poo and Foam Poo. Lunch. Fourteen dishes. Duck, foo-yong, cucumber, cabbage, oyster swell chicken, coriander pork, steamed buns, steamed bread, rice, beef broth and noodles, pork and green beans, pork and friendly chili, chicken and squash, basic noodles, water melon. Then to get the elemental torch for the caves. Houses huddled together. Wood supplies for winter piled on top. View across the roofs like a piece heap. Ground balanced claustrophobic ceramics maze.
Cave day. Mogao Buddhist caves - closed from 12 to 2, plump day required for perhaps the most stunning scene on earth. 400 ‘caves’ (some cathedral magnitude) in a sandstone esophagus, between 400 AD to 1100 AD. Utterly dry, always brown, entirely preserved. Everything painted. Tang episode difficult and colourful. A world of scenes by torchlight. Buddhas reclining, meeting, existence, posing. Thirty metre seated diagram with thousands of unsmoked cigarettes and coins on his lap as offerings. Shock of Qing-renovated cave with Taoist facts. Ghoulish features, knobby, and a face in the groin. 40 caves seen in the day, archaeologist as a delicate lead. Stunning. Fourteen dishes for banquet.
Desert bus back to Liuyuan. Always a brawl for seats. Three dirty hours. Train to Lanzhou. 800 miles along Gansu-Qinghai mountainous border. More black desert, then blond earth. Jaiyaguan castle at the limit of the Ming empire. Overnight by series. Country misused. Mountain bypassed, green rolling hills and stepped fields. Wheat reaped in. Straw dollies like children at meeting. Houses still of rammed earth. Lanzhou a booming industrial city. Thirty hours of travel. Walk by Yellow River.
Fish in lodge restaurant cistern all tedious. Lanzhou bus expensive. 50 fen per journey. Radios and knitting banned. Han house airborne horse and figurine warriors. Steaming complain with rape on menu. The fish comes first. Train to Xian through fair loess country. Deep furrows and gorges. All downright land cropped. 500 miles overnight.
Terra cotta warriors facing east to safeguard Qin Shihuang’s vault. Made in pieces. Assembled in situ. Partly excavated part where piles of dismembered limbs emerge from the earth. New terra cotta warriors for auction from the factory behind the museum. Exact replicas of originals. Wheeze at the thought of the undivided thing as a bogus for the tourist trade.
Xian, like all Chinese cities, a just. Roads open, intersecting always at right angles. Ancient centre walled, Ming rebuilt. Old mosque wonderful. Xianyang adjacent, with Seventh century Qian tombs, museum with another 3000 Han terra cottas like a football crowd. Train to Beijing. 800 miles, 26 hours. Houses often caves in valley plane. Later immense flat land, maize everywhere.
Temple of Heaven, Tiantan, and then Beijing Opera. Pause for beer at edge stall. Served by moonlighting novice stockbroker! Breakfast stored amazing, like four year old camembert out of a shotgun. Taking the move off. Great Wall. Mucho touristico, but still stunning. Like climbing a giant ladder in spaces. “I climbed the Great Wall” T-shirts, prices minor the expand you climb. Must be the air. Ming tombs dismissed by leader-book. Wrong. Amazing barrel arched quarters nine stories underground. Jade doors, carved thrones, limestone, granite, sensation. Reminiscent of renaissance Italy. Everlasting bricks etched with names of their makers. Souvenir jaded ferry for 55000 pounds.
White drapes over erotic statues in Tibetan Lama Temple. Same bestial contents in block paintings. 24 metre gold Buddha through the anger-hide. No smoking signs everywhere.
Mao’s Maosoleum a ruler’s tomb. Lines for queues painted across the straight. Feet pointing north towards Tiananmen Gate, upside-down feng shui. He is shiny, waxy and painted about the face. Moving defenses sand past on either wall. No pausing. Outside, stalls with Mao T-shirts, Mao key rings, cuddly toys, place cards, moving lamp shows. Mao Zedong chocolate floss by the armful. Then Great Hall of the People. Dining scope for 5000. Now abstain food for tourists. Great Hall chopped brushwood, cigarettes, T-shirts. Great Hall of the People cuddly toys.
2500 miles. Three and the half weeks. 5 destinations. 50 caves. 6000 terra cotta warriors. 1 each Great Wall, Forbidden City, Beijing Opera, Mao Zedong. Hundreds of tombs, temples, pagodas, parks, bendi-buses and bicycles. 3 silk shirts on the Silk Road. One amazing trip.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
2nd week travel in china
Wow…I have a lot to revise you guys on.
Monday 8/4 and Tuesday 8/5
These years were very boring years to dialect about. I just went to work, came home, ate banquet, played on my notebook and went to bed. So…Not much fun there, but sometimes you just indigence a join time like that. Especially, if you’re generally forever on the go.
Wednesday 8/6
I did appeal much the same, but on Wednesday after work my links Isabel, Rory, Kate and I all went to this Jazz bar called the Cotton Club. I have talked about it before. I have very open there, session back and relaxing with good industry.
Thursday 8/7
My isolated Isabel was departure to be parting Friday to go to the Philippines for a little over a week. So that doomed I wasn’t departing to see her anyhow more because I was goodbye before she got back. So we went out to one of our darling seats in Shanghai. Laris. Again, I have also talked about this place before. Nevertheless last Thursday was different from familiar. There were a lot fewer people and we were all able to assistant a lot more. So…I met a lot of actually humbling people, such as the Marketing Manager for Nike, and these big business people from Turkey. It was cute cool. Nevertheless I stayed up a little later than I perhaps should have and so I was suffering at work the next day.
Friday 8/8
Like I said…I was actually corny at work, so it seemed like it lasted evermore on Friday. Although, Andrew Taylor (The big boss) let everybody go home at 4:00 instead of 5:30 because it was the breech for the Olympics that day, and of course that was a HUGE deal here.
To celebrate the notch, I went with a lot of links to this little native bar and watched it on a big barrier and then we all went to an all you can eat sushi and sake bar. It was my first time to one of these seats. And it was a lot of fun. Plus there was about 30 of us! They had this mammoth secretive extent modest for all of us. After the sushi and sake we were went to Karaoke. They call it KTV here. And it’s a little different from it is in the U.S. They are certainly big on Karaoke here. Each party gets there own secretive room. It’s cute amazing actually! So Friday was a lot of fun.
Saturday 8/9
I had strategy on Saturday to link an assistant, Rochelle, to do a little shopping. Nevertheless before I met her I had to go to the fabric bazaar to verify on the coat I was having made. I got there, tried of the coat, and it desired a few adjustments. I told them what besides I hunted done to it and they told me to come back tomorrow to accept it up.
I finally met Rochelle at Yu Garden. I had no idea that’s where she was charming me, because she just wrote me a note in Chinese to give to the Taxi driver, and just told me to collect her there. She didn’t know I had already been there before. Nevertheless it’s ok because I certainly have departing there, and it’s a lot of genuinely neat shopping. We depleted beautiful much the complete day there and an antique place, and by the time we were done, I beat. So I went home to take a nap.
As I laid down for a nap, my ally Hannah, text me and asked me to come with her to assemble an isolated of hers for banquet and a soda. So…Unhappily, I didn’t get any slumber, but how can you when your in China anyway? There is just so much to do! Although, I did go home before, because I just couldn’t keep my eyes open anymore.
Sunday 8/10
Sunday was the best day of the weekend! I had plans to join about 10 coworkers for KTV and feast afterwards. It was so cool receiving to go to KTV with them because the Chinese take it very fatally. They were all amazing, and made me look shocking. Nevertheless it was still pretty neat. Of course, most of the songs they sang were in Chinese, but I still was able to understand the yarn line of the song because they typically had a film of that song singing at the same time. It was so much fun, and I dearest hanging out with my coworkers because I always learn so much about the Chinese polish. It’s kind of fine to have the two different groups to sling out with. We got to KTV about 1:30 (well I got there a little later, because I got lost) and stayed there awaiting about 5:30. So they do this for a very long time. Nevertheless the best part about the day was the dinner. We went to dinner and this really careful Chinese restaurant. And I had no idea any of my coworkers drank, but let me tell you….They can snifter. About every 5 min. Superstar at the postpone will toast someone besides. And then it got to the headland where after the toast they would go bottoms up and juice the full glass. And then it got to the spot were they all went around the move and toasted me and told me how content they were that I was here, and that hopefully I can come back again soon. So by the time we all wrecked ingestion, we just sat there and talked and drank some more. Then the happening live a connect drinking playoffs! Somehow the issue came up that I had to delay on Saturday, so they all absolute to go around the submit and again and each say something fussy about me. It was the sweetest thing ever. Each of them were so cordial and nice that I am available to neglect each so much. It’s so great that you can make such great links in such a concise quantity of time. LOL…And then after all the foolish matter they got a little raucous because The Olympic basketball fixture was playing that night at 10:00. China was of course playing America. I am pretty certain America won, but I didn’t stop up to survey it.
anyway…Overall, it was such a great weekend. Definitely one that I will never forget
Monday 8/4 and Tuesday 8/5
These years were very boring years to dialect about. I just went to work, came home, ate banquet, played on my notebook and went to bed. So…Not much fun there, but sometimes you just indigence a join time like that. Especially, if you’re generally forever on the go.
Wednesday 8/6
I did appeal much the same, but on Wednesday after work my links Isabel, Rory, Kate and I all went to this Jazz bar called the Cotton Club. I have talked about it before. I have very open there, session back and relaxing with good industry.
Thursday 8/7
My isolated Isabel was departure to be parting Friday to go to the Philippines for a little over a week. So that doomed I wasn’t departing to see her anyhow more because I was goodbye before she got back. So we went out to one of our darling seats in Shanghai. Laris. Again, I have also talked about this place before. Nevertheless last Thursday was different from familiar. There were a lot fewer people and we were all able to assistant a lot more. So…I met a lot of actually humbling people, such as the Marketing Manager for Nike, and these big business people from Turkey. It was cute cool. Nevertheless I stayed up a little later than I perhaps should have and so I was suffering at work the next day.
Friday 8/8
Like I said…I was actually corny at work, so it seemed like it lasted evermore on Friday. Although, Andrew Taylor (The big boss) let everybody go home at 4:00 instead of 5:30 because it was the breech for the Olympics that day, and of course that was a HUGE deal here.
To celebrate the notch, I went with a lot of links to this little native bar and watched it on a big barrier and then we all went to an all you can eat sushi and sake bar. It was my first time to one of these seats. And it was a lot of fun. Plus there was about 30 of us! They had this mammoth secretive extent modest for all of us. After the sushi and sake we were went to Karaoke. They call it KTV here. And it’s a little different from it is in the U.S. They are certainly big on Karaoke here. Each party gets there own secretive room. It’s cute amazing actually! So Friday was a lot of fun.
Saturday 8/9
I had strategy on Saturday to link an assistant, Rochelle, to do a little shopping. Nevertheless before I met her I had to go to the fabric bazaar to verify on the coat I was having made. I got there, tried of the coat, and it desired a few adjustments. I told them what besides I hunted done to it and they told me to come back tomorrow to accept it up.
I finally met Rochelle at Yu Garden. I had no idea that’s where she was charming me, because she just wrote me a note in Chinese to give to the Taxi driver, and just told me to collect her there. She didn’t know I had already been there before. Nevertheless it’s ok because I certainly have departing there, and it’s a lot of genuinely neat shopping. We depleted beautiful much the complete day there and an antique place, and by the time we were done, I beat. So I went home to take a nap.
As I laid down for a nap, my ally Hannah, text me and asked me to come with her to assemble an isolated of hers for banquet and a soda. So…Unhappily, I didn’t get any slumber, but how can you when your in China anyway? There is just so much to do! Although, I did go home before, because I just couldn’t keep my eyes open anymore.
Sunday 8/10
Sunday was the best day of the weekend! I had plans to join about 10 coworkers for KTV and feast afterwards. It was so cool receiving to go to KTV with them because the Chinese take it very fatally. They were all amazing, and made me look shocking. Nevertheless it was still pretty neat. Of course, most of the songs they sang were in Chinese, but I still was able to understand the yarn line of the song because they typically had a film of that song singing at the same time. It was so much fun, and I dearest hanging out with my coworkers because I always learn so much about the Chinese polish. It’s kind of fine to have the two different groups to sling out with. We got to KTV about 1:30 (well I got there a little later, because I got lost) and stayed there awaiting about 5:30. So they do this for a very long time. Nevertheless the best part about the day was the dinner. We went to dinner and this really careful Chinese restaurant. And I had no idea any of my coworkers drank, but let me tell you….They can snifter. About every 5 min. Superstar at the postpone will toast someone besides. And then it got to the headland where after the toast they would go bottoms up and juice the full glass. And then it got to the spot were they all went around the move and toasted me and told me how content they were that I was here, and that hopefully I can come back again soon. So by the time we all wrecked ingestion, we just sat there and talked and drank some more. Then the happening live a connect drinking playoffs! Somehow the issue came up that I had to delay on Saturday, so they all absolute to go around the submit and again and each say something fussy about me. It was the sweetest thing ever. Each of them were so cordial and nice that I am available to neglect each so much. It’s so great that you can make such great links in such a concise quantity of time. LOL…And then after all the foolish matter they got a little raucous because The Olympic basketball fixture was playing that night at 10:00. China was of course playing America. I am pretty certain America won, but I didn’t stop up to survey it.
anyway…Overall, it was such a great weekend. Definitely one that I will never forget
travel china and japan- the lines story..
Hello friends and family!
As promised, below are some notes on my trip and a link to my photos. I’m having a fabulous time so far, though it hasn’t really sunk in yet that I don’t have to go back to work after this!
Photos can be found at: http://picasaweb.google.com/jennifer.beall/JapanChina
If you don’t have time (or care) to read all of my detailed notes – here’s the high level recap of what I’ve been up to:
July 10-July 18
Fiji with Ashley
Sat 7/18
Flight to Tokyo
Beatles Cover Band in Roppongi
Sun 7/19
Met with Hiroko – a friend of a friend and great tourguide
Harajuku – fashion area
Ginza – shopping district
Meiju jongi Temple
Shinjuku – view from Tokyo Metropolitan Govt bldg
Flight to Beijing
Mon 7/20
Delicious dumplings
Shopping for fake designer stuff
Pedicure
Kellogg dinner in Nan Luo Gu Xian
Tues 7/21
Flight to Xi’an
Meet Naishin’s work colleagues
Sichuan Hot Pot dinner
Wed 7/22
Terracotta Warriors
Thurs 7/23
Biking on Xi’an City Wall
Shopping
Fountain Show at Big Wild Goose Pagoda
Fri 7/24
Flight to Beijing
Out to 80s night with Princeton alums
Sat 7/25
Beijing zoo
Indian food
Sun 7/26
5 mile hike on The Great Wall
Mon 7/27
Spa day for only $100!!!
Roast Peking Duck
Karaoke
Tues 7/28
Tiananmen Square
Forbidden city / Imperial Palace
Malian Dao
Texmex
Wed 7/30
Post office drama
Flight to Bangkok via Osaka
July 10-18: Fiji
I’m not including any detailed notes on the first week in Fiji since I was there for work and not vacation. The basic recap is that my sister Ashley joined me in Fiji, and we had a great time on a Sailing & Snorkeling trip to Modriki in the Mamanuca Islands, which is where Tom Hanks filmed Castaway. We also did a traditional Kava ceremony and ate some delicious swordfish. During the week, I headed out to the Fiji Water bottling plant, and Ashley joined up with my friend Jon Lock and two of his friends from Chicago out in the Yasawa Islands. However, on the 2nd day there, she got some sort of stomach virus which basically ruined the rest of her trip. I joined back up with her on Thursday night at Denarau Island (the resort area near the Nadi airport), and spent Friday evening with her and Mark Deppe (my coworker Julie Kefer’s visiting friend). We all had a great time celebrating my last day of work with a Teppanyaki style dinner.
July 19: Fiji to Tokyo
Today I took the 9 hour flight from Fiji to Narita and kept myself entertained with The Other Boleyn Girl – a book by Phillippa Gregory that Ashley loaned me and which I highly recommend!!!
When I arrived in Tokyo, I took the Airport Limousine bus to my hotel (Thanks, Ruwin for the recommendation!). I finally got to cash in some of my points for a really nice room at the Hilton Tokyo in the Shinjuku business district. Apparently 8 months living at the Embassy Suites in Arkansas during the week was worth something! My Diamond VIP status got me access to the amazing Executive Lounge with free food, drinks, internet and fabulous views of the night skyline. In true Japanese style though, the room was very compact but nice nonetheless.
After getting settled, I headed to the Roppongi district to check out The Cavern Club – a bar featuring a Beatles cover band. (Kim Gordon – thanks for the BEST recommendation ever!!!). This was probably one of the most hilarious moments of my trip so far. John, Paul, George, and Ringo were really talented and had great voices, but their major limitations were 1) the bad attempts at dressing and getting haircuts to look like The Beatles, and 2) they can’t pronounce the letter L!!! Some of my favorite songs that they covered included: “Yerrow Submarine”, “Arr My Rovin”, “She Roves You”, “Herro Goodbye”, “Birstday”, and “Brackbird Fry.” I wanted to order sushi or yakitori or something traditional but somehow got suckered into the English menu and the closest offering I could find was a California Roll… though it was definitely the best California Roll I’ve ever had. I met some ex-pats who had been living in China and they kept buying me Shoju drinks which were pretty gross. Then, a rauckus group of Navy folks stationed nearby came in and really created a scene. I ended up staying out much later than expected because I was having so much fun!
July 20: Tokyo
Sunday morning, sleep deprived and slightly hungover, I managed to get up and head out to meet a friend of a friend named Hiroko (Ngai-Chi: thanks for the intro, she was fabulous!). Hiroko spent some time in the US at a Stanford summer program and spoke really great English, and I loved having a local tour guide to help me get around. Though, it was hard to control my smile when she told me she was starting a consulting job with “Deroitte” ? Having a local guide was especially important because in Tokyo there are NO STREET NAMES. I can’t believe that a culture which prides itself on being uber-efficient at everything would have such an inconvenient city plan making it extremely difficult to find anything. We started out by heading up to the 45th floor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) building for some views of the city. Unfortunately, the haze which I have now realized covers all of Asia meant that we couldn’t really see Mt. Fuji in the distance. Tokyo is a massive city though and the view was great.
Then, we took the subway to the Ginza district which is sort of like NYC’s 5th Avenue. Shopping was super expensive though, so we just went to lunch and had some traditional Japanese rice bowl type of things. We stopped to admire some $50 melons and Mochi desserts before taking the train to the Harajuku area, known for the fashion-obsessed crowds. We then walked to Meiji Jingu shrine / temple which was beautiful. Unfortunately we were then stuck in a mob at the subway of families trying to go see Disney on Ice in the nearby Olympic Park.
I wish I had a few more days in Tokyo to explore – particularly sad that I didn’t make it to Akhibara (the electronics area), Sensoji temple in Asakusa, the Tsukiji fish market (closed on Sundays!), and the Shibuya area. Would definitely like to come back another time and try a lot more of the food! Fortunately, my Platinum status on American Airlines allowed me access to the Sakura lounge at the Tokyo airport where I had a delicious udon noodle soup, beef curry, and experimented on a variety of pickled items. Then I even got a free 15 minute massage!
July 21: Beijing
My friend Naishin from high school met me at the new Beijing airport on Sunday night. She has been volunteering this summer with an AIDS organization that she worked with at her last job with the Global Fund for Women, and then she is headed off to Harvard in the fall for a Masters in Public Health.
On Monday, we picked up some delicious little pork dumplings from a hole in the wall near Naishin’s apartment and then headed into her office for a meeting she needed to attend. Then, we went out to lunch with her coworkers in a back alley – definitely no tourists anywhere nearby. In my attempt to train myself into being a more adventurous eater, I tried some eggplant and Chinese green beans in a garlic sauce and a few other strange looking items which were all pretty good. We ate a huge feat for the equivalent $3 each, and I labored to become a more effective chopsticks user. The most interesting part of this meal for me was viewing the (lack of) Chinese manners. People just spit the bones or fatty parts of the meat on the table while they are chewing. Then, they hock phlegm in their napkin or on the streets all the time. Sooo disgusting!
Then we headed out to the Yaxiu area for some shopping where we were bombarded with fake designer items which are amazing replicas and incredibly cheap! I got a Longchamp bag for $8 and you can barely tell the difference from the $110 version in the US. We got a pedicure at the mall and then headed to Nan Guo Lu Xian (one of the hutongs in Beijing – or small alleys). We met up with 4 of my future Kellogg classmates: James, MiaoMiao, Elissa, and Yaoli. They treated us to a magnificent dinner of Chinese fusion food (though I chickened out on trying the mutton), and James even brought me a small gift of some red paper carvings. I was very impressed by their English and wonderful hospitality.
July 22: Xi’an
We caught a flight to Xi’an today. Upon arrival, we went to meet another Women’s organization that Naishin has worked with before and again were welcomed with a nice gift. They sent us to an amazing traditional Chinese restaurant for dinner that served Sichuan Hot Pot. I think its pretty similar to Shabu Shabu, and I LOVED it. We basically got to dump our own vegetables and meat into a boiling broth at our table and then dip them into a delicious sauce. Thank goodness Naishin’ Chinese is so good because otherwise I’m not sure I could order at any restaurants, especially since she has to tell everyone that I don’t like spicy food!
Walking around Xi’an is literally like trying to play the game Frogger in real life. There are NO street lights or stop signs at major intersections, and it is absolute madness just trying to cross the street. I actually felt like I was at risk of death everytime we were in a taxi, on a bus, or walking around! People on motorcycles were the worst – some have their entire family sitting on the back with no helmets or seatbelts. The people watching was also interesting. They just carry babies around, no strollers or anything, and the babies don’t wear any underwear or diapers. The parents just hold them over the nearest bush whenever they have to go – and somehow the babies are potty trained so early on that they let their parents know when that is.
July 23: Xi’an
Today we took the bus to the outskirts of town to see the Terracotta Warriors, which were created in 220 BC and just discovered in the 70’s. It was an AMAZING sight to see – something like 6000 completely unique life-sized soldiers all being excavated. There are 3 large pits that we wandered through – fighting the large crowds of mostly Chinese tourists – including some really cool relics and bronze statues. Apparently some crazy Chinese emperor though it would be cool to have everything he had in real life with him in the afterlife, so he had his entire army rebuilt along with many of his other worldly goods. I absolutely recommend seeing this to anyone who hasn’t already!
July 24: Xi’an
This morning we rented bicycles for the 12k ride on the top of the City Wall in Xi’an, one of the best preserved city walls in the world. Though it was full of potholes and not the smoothest ride, it was pretty cool to see the different city gates and elaborate watch towers along the ride. The ever present haze kept us from getting a good view of anything in the distance, but overall I really liked Xi’an. After our bike ride, we went home and cleaned up before heading out shopping in the Drum Tower and Bell Tower area where I was surprised to find a Sephora and several other American stores. We had lunch in a muslim area with some delicious treats and great shopping. Unfortunately, the delicious treats didn’t settle well and I was faced with something I had so far avoided very carefully – the scary squatter toilets!!! They are basically just holes in the ground, and there is no toilet paper anywhere. Luckily Naishin gave me a little packet to carry around with me so I was prepared. I’ll leave it at that…. Yikes.
In the evening, we took a cab over to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda for a fountain show which was much like the one at the Bellagio in Vegas, though much larger. Plus, the Bellagio would never let tourists and kids run amuck in the middle of the shooting fountains. It was a really beautiful site and the fountains were well choreographed with the classical music.
July 25: Beijing
We hung out in the pool at the Sheraton Xi’an in the morning since we had a mid day flight. We stopped at a restaurant boasting an English menu for lunch, and I ordered pizza thinking it must be the safest option, and I was DESPERATELY craving bread of any form — starting to get really tired of rice, noodles, and dumplings! Well, of course, the pizza was probably the worst thing I’ve eaten the whole trip — basically a really soggy dough with KETCHUP on it, topped with a few sliced tomatoes and cheese. I managed to eat it just because I was starving, but wow… lesson learned.
When we got back to Beijing, we headed out to an area with a lot of bars frequented by tourists, specifically searching for an 80’s theme night Naishin had been aching to check out. Of course, the entire Princeton study abroad program and alumni club was there, along with a bunch of Canadian Olympics volunteers promoting the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. We were having a great time until we realized the DJ only had about 8 songs from the 80’s on his playlist and then proceeded to play them over and over again!
July 26: Beijing
Today we rested in the morning and then headed for the famous Beijing Zoo in the evening. I was SO excited about seeing the Giant Pandas, and was slightly disappointed with the fact they were not very giant, all pretty sleepy, and there were only a dozen of them – and no babies. Plus, they had no English signage or names/histories of the Pandas like they have at the San Diego Zoo. They were adorable nonetheless, but Naishin and I really enjoyed all of the monkeys, apes, orangutans, and gorillas. Overall, it seems like Beijing has made a huge effort to make the city tourist friendly in anticipation of the Olympics, but the Zoo must have been overlooked.
We had to go sign up for our Great Wall tour back in Nan Luo Gu Xian, so we headed out there and found a really delicious Indian food restaurant. Probably the best cardamom chai tea I have ever had!!!
July 27: Beijing & Simatai (Great Wall)
Bright and early we headed over to the backpackers hostel to meet our bus for the Great Wall. While the traditional tourist spot, Ba Da Ling, is only about an hour from Beijing, we headed to a more remote part of the Wall about 3 hours away which has a good mix of restored and unrestored sections of the wall. It was built between 200 BC and 1500 AD to keep the Mongolians out of China and it truly is one of the 7 Wonders of the World! As usual, the hazy sky kept us from seeing very far in the distance, but we could see far enough to be completely amazed. We did a 4 hour hike (about 5 miles) in the roller coaster like mountains, snaking up and down constantly and avoiding sprained ankles on all of the crumbling stairs and rocks. It was a tough hike but extremely enjoyable and something I will never forget!
One interesting side note here – Beijing, in its desperation to clean up the air before the Olympics, has banned half the cars from driving each day by limiting which license plate numbers are allowed on the roads. It was kind of funny to see all the cars with license plates ending in odd numbers. Apparently HP gave all their employees bicycles so they couldn’t use the lack of a ride as an excuse to miss work during the Olympics! I don’t think its helping though – the sky is still really icky looking… though Naishin read something that says the govt is going to try to ‘induce’ rain by shooting something up in the sky and hoping it washes away some of the pollution… Yeah, right!
July 28: Beijing
A day of recovery!!! We were SO sore from our hike in all of the strangest places. Walking on all of the crooked rocks and steps and long downhill stairs made our ankles and calves really sore. And what is the best remedy for soreness? Why not a half-day at the spa!?! We found a really nice Spa in the business district called Bodhi where we were able to get 4.5 hours of treatment for $100 USD!!! I am not even kidding – you can barely even get a one hour massage in the US for that price. It included, a foot washing, body scrub, aromatherapy body massage, dermalogica facial, seated stretch & massage, and our favorite part given our soreness, a 1 hour foot massage. Heaven!!!
We had lunch at a local restaurant known for their traditional Peking Duck which my Kellogg friends had insisted that I try. While skeptical that I’d like it, we went for it and it was AMAZING. The duck is perfectly cooked and crispy on the outside, and then you wrap it up fajita style with fresh melons and cucumber and plum sauce. Then we stopped by to see the new CCTV building which is an architectural marvel – built in the shape of 2 L’s… with a large corner suspended in the air without support (must look at the pictures to understand!). It isn’t open yet but looked so cool anyways.
For dinner, we met up with the Kellogg crew again at Party City Cashbox KTV (Karaoke) which was such a fun experience! I knew Karaoke was popular in Asia, but the concept is completely different from American karaoke. Each group has a private room with our own tv, microphones, and set up allowing us to queue and select songs. What was hilarious to Naishin and me was that they all wanted to croon ballads (primarily in Chinese), while we wanted to sing Pop songs like “Umbrella” and “Forgot about Dre” ? We had a few Tsingtao beers and enjoyed the buffet dinner, staying well past our allotted time until they had to kick us out! We were also joined by a current Kellogg student Rossi who is doing his summer internship in Beijing.
July 29: Beijing
This morning we went to Malian Dao, the tea district, in search of a nice tea set. Literally the whole street is full of shops and malls with nothing but tea and tea accessories everywhere. The experience was comparable to wine tasting in Napa – but free. We would get called into the various shops, sat down at a small table, and have a personal tea concierge who would brew various teas for us to sample: reds, whites, blacks, and greens. We found some that we liked and bought others to bring home as souvenirs. After a long hunt, I finally found a tea set that I really liked and managed to get it on for half price… e.g. about $10 USD!
In the afternoon, we finally got around to doing the ‘real tourist’ stuff in Beijing and headed to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City (Imperial Palace). Tiananmen Square is apparently the largest square in the world, but it mostly just reminded me of the Civic Center area in San Francisco. They had some large Olympic replicas of the new sites around the city including the Birds Nest (National Stadium). The cool thing is that on the subways, they have TV’s playing explanations of various Olympic sports like field hockey and other less popular events. The Forbidden City was HUUUGE and all Feng Shui – completely symmetrical. We walked through plaza after plaza and saw a ton of beautiful architecture and some artifacts from the Ming and Qing Dynasties including bridal suites for empresses and tombs for emperors.
Sidenote: did I mention that all the Chinese people think its cool to wear socks with their sandals? It’s really, really terrible.
For dinner, we managed to find a Texmex restaurant in the international area, and it was surprisingly AMAZING. Naishin and I both cleaned our plate – and I they even had DR PEPPER!!! It was so exciting if you can’t tell.
July 30: Beijing to Bangkok
This morning I had to head to the Post Office to ship back my tea set and some of the souvenirs I bought in order to lighten my load in anticipation of my whirlwind trip across Southeast Asia over the next 10 days. The Post people were a giant pain and tried to refuse to ship my tea set insisting it will be broken. Considering it only cost $10 and I definitely didn’t want to carry it around for the rest of my trip, Naishin and I talked them into shipping it for us. Worst case it gets lost or broken, I’m out $30 of shipping & purchase price and just buy a new one in the US.
I caught the flight to Bangkok with a stopover in Osaka Japan (completely out of the way!). I hope I never ever have to go back to the Osaka airport as it was completely inefficient and annoying and I couldn’t find any sushi which I am still hunting for! Oh well, I have a 9 hour layover in Tokyo on the way back so I will do whatever it takes to find some then! I am getting a little tired of all the same movies on the plane every time – I have already seen 21, Penelope, 10,000 BC, Vantage Point, Fools Gold, Batman Begins… sigh.
Arrived in Bangkok without incidence and took a cab to the Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit Luxury Collection which is probably the most magnificent hotel ever. I don’t want to leave!
As promised, below are some notes on my trip and a link to my photos. I’m having a fabulous time so far, though it hasn’t really sunk in yet that I don’t have to go back to work after this!
Photos can be found at: http://picasaweb.google.com/jennifer.beall/JapanChina
If you don’t have time (or care) to read all of my detailed notes – here’s the high level recap of what I’ve been up to:
July 10-July 18
Fiji with Ashley
Sat 7/18
Flight to Tokyo
Beatles Cover Band in Roppongi
Sun 7/19
Met with Hiroko – a friend of a friend and great tourguide
Harajuku – fashion area
Ginza – shopping district
Meiju jongi Temple
Shinjuku – view from Tokyo Metropolitan Govt bldg
Flight to Beijing
Mon 7/20
Delicious dumplings
Shopping for fake designer stuff
Pedicure
Kellogg dinner in Nan Luo Gu Xian
Tues 7/21
Flight to Xi’an
Meet Naishin’s work colleagues
Sichuan Hot Pot dinner
Wed 7/22
Terracotta Warriors
Thurs 7/23
Biking on Xi’an City Wall
Shopping
Fountain Show at Big Wild Goose Pagoda
Fri 7/24
Flight to Beijing
Out to 80s night with Princeton alums
Sat 7/25
Beijing zoo
Indian food
Sun 7/26
5 mile hike on The Great Wall
Mon 7/27
Spa day for only $100!!!
Roast Peking Duck
Karaoke
Tues 7/28
Tiananmen Square
Forbidden city / Imperial Palace
Malian Dao
Texmex
Wed 7/30
Post office drama
Flight to Bangkok via Osaka
July 10-18: Fiji
I’m not including any detailed notes on the first week in Fiji since I was there for work and not vacation. The basic recap is that my sister Ashley joined me in Fiji, and we had a great time on a Sailing & Snorkeling trip to Modriki in the Mamanuca Islands, which is where Tom Hanks filmed Castaway. We also did a traditional Kava ceremony and ate some delicious swordfish. During the week, I headed out to the Fiji Water bottling plant, and Ashley joined up with my friend Jon Lock and two of his friends from Chicago out in the Yasawa Islands. However, on the 2nd day there, she got some sort of stomach virus which basically ruined the rest of her trip. I joined back up with her on Thursday night at Denarau Island (the resort area near the Nadi airport), and spent Friday evening with her and Mark Deppe (my coworker Julie Kefer’s visiting friend). We all had a great time celebrating my last day of work with a Teppanyaki style dinner.
July 19: Fiji to Tokyo
Today I took the 9 hour flight from Fiji to Narita and kept myself entertained with The Other Boleyn Girl – a book by Phillippa Gregory that Ashley loaned me and which I highly recommend!!!
When I arrived in Tokyo, I took the Airport Limousine bus to my hotel (Thanks, Ruwin for the recommendation!). I finally got to cash in some of my points for a really nice room at the Hilton Tokyo in the Shinjuku business district. Apparently 8 months living at the Embassy Suites in Arkansas during the week was worth something! My Diamond VIP status got me access to the amazing Executive Lounge with free food, drinks, internet and fabulous views of the night skyline. In true Japanese style though, the room was very compact but nice nonetheless.
After getting settled, I headed to the Roppongi district to check out The Cavern Club – a bar featuring a Beatles cover band. (Kim Gordon – thanks for the BEST recommendation ever!!!). This was probably one of the most hilarious moments of my trip so far. John, Paul, George, and Ringo were really talented and had great voices, but their major limitations were 1) the bad attempts at dressing and getting haircuts to look like The Beatles, and 2) they can’t pronounce the letter L!!! Some of my favorite songs that they covered included: “Yerrow Submarine”, “Arr My Rovin”, “She Roves You”, “Herro Goodbye”, “Birstday”, and “Brackbird Fry.” I wanted to order sushi or yakitori or something traditional but somehow got suckered into the English menu and the closest offering I could find was a California Roll… though it was definitely the best California Roll I’ve ever had. I met some ex-pats who had been living in China and they kept buying me Shoju drinks which were pretty gross. Then, a rauckus group of Navy folks stationed nearby came in and really created a scene. I ended up staying out much later than expected because I was having so much fun!
July 20: Tokyo
Sunday morning, sleep deprived and slightly hungover, I managed to get up and head out to meet a friend of a friend named Hiroko (Ngai-Chi: thanks for the intro, she was fabulous!). Hiroko spent some time in the US at a Stanford summer program and spoke really great English, and I loved having a local tour guide to help me get around. Though, it was hard to control my smile when she told me she was starting a consulting job with “Deroitte” ? Having a local guide was especially important because in Tokyo there are NO STREET NAMES. I can’t believe that a culture which prides itself on being uber-efficient at everything would have such an inconvenient city plan making it extremely difficult to find anything. We started out by heading up to the 45th floor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) building for some views of the city. Unfortunately, the haze which I have now realized covers all of Asia meant that we couldn’t really see Mt. Fuji in the distance. Tokyo is a massive city though and the view was great.
Then, we took the subway to the Ginza district which is sort of like NYC’s 5th Avenue. Shopping was super expensive though, so we just went to lunch and had some traditional Japanese rice bowl type of things. We stopped to admire some $50 melons and Mochi desserts before taking the train to the Harajuku area, known for the fashion-obsessed crowds. We then walked to Meiji Jingu shrine / temple which was beautiful. Unfortunately we were then stuck in a mob at the subway of families trying to go see Disney on Ice in the nearby Olympic Park.
I wish I had a few more days in Tokyo to explore – particularly sad that I didn’t make it to Akhibara (the electronics area), Sensoji temple in Asakusa, the Tsukiji fish market (closed on Sundays!), and the Shibuya area. Would definitely like to come back another time and try a lot more of the food! Fortunately, my Platinum status on American Airlines allowed me access to the Sakura lounge at the Tokyo airport where I had a delicious udon noodle soup, beef curry, and experimented on a variety of pickled items. Then I even got a free 15 minute massage!
July 21: Beijing
My friend Naishin from high school met me at the new Beijing airport on Sunday night. She has been volunteering this summer with an AIDS organization that she worked with at her last job with the Global Fund for Women, and then she is headed off to Harvard in the fall for a Masters in Public Health.
On Monday, we picked up some delicious little pork dumplings from a hole in the wall near Naishin’s apartment and then headed into her office for a meeting she needed to attend. Then, we went out to lunch with her coworkers in a back alley – definitely no tourists anywhere nearby. In my attempt to train myself into being a more adventurous eater, I tried some eggplant and Chinese green beans in a garlic sauce and a few other strange looking items which were all pretty good. We ate a huge feat for the equivalent $3 each, and I labored to become a more effective chopsticks user. The most interesting part of this meal for me was viewing the (lack of) Chinese manners. People just spit the bones or fatty parts of the meat on the table while they are chewing. Then, they hock phlegm in their napkin or on the streets all the time. Sooo disgusting!
Then we headed out to the Yaxiu area for some shopping where we were bombarded with fake designer items which are amazing replicas and incredibly cheap! I got a Longchamp bag for $8 and you can barely tell the difference from the $110 version in the US. We got a pedicure at the mall and then headed to Nan Guo Lu Xian (one of the hutongs in Beijing – or small alleys). We met up with 4 of my future Kellogg classmates: James, MiaoMiao, Elissa, and Yaoli. They treated us to a magnificent dinner of Chinese fusion food (though I chickened out on trying the mutton), and James even brought me a small gift of some red paper carvings. I was very impressed by their English and wonderful hospitality.
July 22: Xi’an
We caught a flight to Xi’an today. Upon arrival, we went to meet another Women’s organization that Naishin has worked with before and again were welcomed with a nice gift. They sent us to an amazing traditional Chinese restaurant for dinner that served Sichuan Hot Pot. I think its pretty similar to Shabu Shabu, and I LOVED it. We basically got to dump our own vegetables and meat into a boiling broth at our table and then dip them into a delicious sauce. Thank goodness Naishin’ Chinese is so good because otherwise I’m not sure I could order at any restaurants, especially since she has to tell everyone that I don’t like spicy food!
Walking around Xi’an is literally like trying to play the game Frogger in real life. There are NO street lights or stop signs at major intersections, and it is absolute madness just trying to cross the street. I actually felt like I was at risk of death everytime we were in a taxi, on a bus, or walking around! People on motorcycles were the worst – some have their entire family sitting on the back with no helmets or seatbelts. The people watching was also interesting. They just carry babies around, no strollers or anything, and the babies don’t wear any underwear or diapers. The parents just hold them over the nearest bush whenever they have to go – and somehow the babies are potty trained so early on that they let their parents know when that is.
July 23: Xi’an
Today we took the bus to the outskirts of town to see the Terracotta Warriors, which were created in 220 BC and just discovered in the 70’s. It was an AMAZING sight to see – something like 6000 completely unique life-sized soldiers all being excavated. There are 3 large pits that we wandered through – fighting the large crowds of mostly Chinese tourists – including some really cool relics and bronze statues. Apparently some crazy Chinese emperor though it would be cool to have everything he had in real life with him in the afterlife, so he had his entire army rebuilt along with many of his other worldly goods. I absolutely recommend seeing this to anyone who hasn’t already!
July 24: Xi’an
This morning we rented bicycles for the 12k ride on the top of the City Wall in Xi’an, one of the best preserved city walls in the world. Though it was full of potholes and not the smoothest ride, it was pretty cool to see the different city gates and elaborate watch towers along the ride. The ever present haze kept us from getting a good view of anything in the distance, but overall I really liked Xi’an. After our bike ride, we went home and cleaned up before heading out shopping in the Drum Tower and Bell Tower area where I was surprised to find a Sephora and several other American stores. We had lunch in a muslim area with some delicious treats and great shopping. Unfortunately, the delicious treats didn’t settle well and I was faced with something I had so far avoided very carefully – the scary squatter toilets!!! They are basically just holes in the ground, and there is no toilet paper anywhere. Luckily Naishin gave me a little packet to carry around with me so I was prepared. I’ll leave it at that…. Yikes.
In the evening, we took a cab over to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda for a fountain show which was much like the one at the Bellagio in Vegas, though much larger. Plus, the Bellagio would never let tourists and kids run amuck in the middle of the shooting fountains. It was a really beautiful site and the fountains were well choreographed with the classical music.
July 25: Beijing
We hung out in the pool at the Sheraton Xi’an in the morning since we had a mid day flight. We stopped at a restaurant boasting an English menu for lunch, and I ordered pizza thinking it must be the safest option, and I was DESPERATELY craving bread of any form — starting to get really tired of rice, noodles, and dumplings! Well, of course, the pizza was probably the worst thing I’ve eaten the whole trip — basically a really soggy dough with KETCHUP on it, topped with a few sliced tomatoes and cheese. I managed to eat it just because I was starving, but wow… lesson learned.
When we got back to Beijing, we headed out to an area with a lot of bars frequented by tourists, specifically searching for an 80’s theme night Naishin had been aching to check out. Of course, the entire Princeton study abroad program and alumni club was there, along with a bunch of Canadian Olympics volunteers promoting the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. We were having a great time until we realized the DJ only had about 8 songs from the 80’s on his playlist and then proceeded to play them over and over again!
July 26: Beijing
Today we rested in the morning and then headed for the famous Beijing Zoo in the evening. I was SO excited about seeing the Giant Pandas, and was slightly disappointed with the fact they were not very giant, all pretty sleepy, and there were only a dozen of them – and no babies. Plus, they had no English signage or names/histories of the Pandas like they have at the San Diego Zoo. They were adorable nonetheless, but Naishin and I really enjoyed all of the monkeys, apes, orangutans, and gorillas. Overall, it seems like Beijing has made a huge effort to make the city tourist friendly in anticipation of the Olympics, but the Zoo must have been overlooked.
We had to go sign up for our Great Wall tour back in Nan Luo Gu Xian, so we headed out there and found a really delicious Indian food restaurant. Probably the best cardamom chai tea I have ever had!!!
July 27: Beijing & Simatai (Great Wall)
Bright and early we headed over to the backpackers hostel to meet our bus for the Great Wall. While the traditional tourist spot, Ba Da Ling, is only about an hour from Beijing, we headed to a more remote part of the Wall about 3 hours away which has a good mix of restored and unrestored sections of the wall. It was built between 200 BC and 1500 AD to keep the Mongolians out of China and it truly is one of the 7 Wonders of the World! As usual, the hazy sky kept us from seeing very far in the distance, but we could see far enough to be completely amazed. We did a 4 hour hike (about 5 miles) in the roller coaster like mountains, snaking up and down constantly and avoiding sprained ankles on all of the crumbling stairs and rocks. It was a tough hike but extremely enjoyable and something I will never forget!
One interesting side note here – Beijing, in its desperation to clean up the air before the Olympics, has banned half the cars from driving each day by limiting which license plate numbers are allowed on the roads. It was kind of funny to see all the cars with license plates ending in odd numbers. Apparently HP gave all their employees bicycles so they couldn’t use the lack of a ride as an excuse to miss work during the Olympics! I don’t think its helping though – the sky is still really icky looking… though Naishin read something that says the govt is going to try to ‘induce’ rain by shooting something up in the sky and hoping it washes away some of the pollution… Yeah, right!
July 28: Beijing
A day of recovery!!! We were SO sore from our hike in all of the strangest places. Walking on all of the crooked rocks and steps and long downhill stairs made our ankles and calves really sore. And what is the best remedy for soreness? Why not a half-day at the spa!?! We found a really nice Spa in the business district called Bodhi where we were able to get 4.5 hours of treatment for $100 USD!!! I am not even kidding – you can barely even get a one hour massage in the US for that price. It included, a foot washing, body scrub, aromatherapy body massage, dermalogica facial, seated stretch & massage, and our favorite part given our soreness, a 1 hour foot massage. Heaven!!!
We had lunch at a local restaurant known for their traditional Peking Duck which my Kellogg friends had insisted that I try. While skeptical that I’d like it, we went for it and it was AMAZING. The duck is perfectly cooked and crispy on the outside, and then you wrap it up fajita style with fresh melons and cucumber and plum sauce. Then we stopped by to see the new CCTV building which is an architectural marvel – built in the shape of 2 L’s… with a large corner suspended in the air without support (must look at the pictures to understand!). It isn’t open yet but looked so cool anyways.
For dinner, we met up with the Kellogg crew again at Party City Cashbox KTV (Karaoke) which was such a fun experience! I knew Karaoke was popular in Asia, but the concept is completely different from American karaoke. Each group has a private room with our own tv, microphones, and set up allowing us to queue and select songs. What was hilarious to Naishin and me was that they all wanted to croon ballads (primarily in Chinese), while we wanted to sing Pop songs like “Umbrella” and “Forgot about Dre” ? We had a few Tsingtao beers and enjoyed the buffet dinner, staying well past our allotted time until they had to kick us out! We were also joined by a current Kellogg student Rossi who is doing his summer internship in Beijing.
July 29: Beijing
This morning we went to Malian Dao, the tea district, in search of a nice tea set. Literally the whole street is full of shops and malls with nothing but tea and tea accessories everywhere. The experience was comparable to wine tasting in Napa – but free. We would get called into the various shops, sat down at a small table, and have a personal tea concierge who would brew various teas for us to sample: reds, whites, blacks, and greens. We found some that we liked and bought others to bring home as souvenirs. After a long hunt, I finally found a tea set that I really liked and managed to get it on for half price… e.g. about $10 USD!
In the afternoon, we finally got around to doing the ‘real tourist’ stuff in Beijing and headed to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City (Imperial Palace). Tiananmen Square is apparently the largest square in the world, but it mostly just reminded me of the Civic Center area in San Francisco. They had some large Olympic replicas of the new sites around the city including the Birds Nest (National Stadium). The cool thing is that on the subways, they have TV’s playing explanations of various Olympic sports like field hockey and other less popular events. The Forbidden City was HUUUGE and all Feng Shui – completely symmetrical. We walked through plaza after plaza and saw a ton of beautiful architecture and some artifacts from the Ming and Qing Dynasties including bridal suites for empresses and tombs for emperors.
Sidenote: did I mention that all the Chinese people think its cool to wear socks with their sandals? It’s really, really terrible.
For dinner, we managed to find a Texmex restaurant in the international area, and it was surprisingly AMAZING. Naishin and I both cleaned our plate – and I they even had DR PEPPER!!! It was so exciting if you can’t tell.
July 30: Beijing to Bangkok
This morning I had to head to the Post Office to ship back my tea set and some of the souvenirs I bought in order to lighten my load in anticipation of my whirlwind trip across Southeast Asia over the next 10 days. The Post people were a giant pain and tried to refuse to ship my tea set insisting it will be broken. Considering it only cost $10 and I definitely didn’t want to carry it around for the rest of my trip, Naishin and I talked them into shipping it for us. Worst case it gets lost or broken, I’m out $30 of shipping & purchase price and just buy a new one in the US.
I caught the flight to Bangkok with a stopover in Osaka Japan (completely out of the way!). I hope I never ever have to go back to the Osaka airport as it was completely inefficient and annoying and I couldn’t find any sushi which I am still hunting for! Oh well, I have a 9 hour layover in Tokyo on the way back so I will do whatever it takes to find some then! I am getting a little tired of all the same movies on the plane every time – I have already seen 21, Penelope, 10,000 BC, Vantage Point, Fools Gold, Batman Begins… sigh.
Arrived in Bangkok without incidence and took a cab to the Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit Luxury Collection which is probably the most magnificent hotel ever. I don’t want to leave!
tour story-xining,- first arrive in xining,guangxi china
Wow, so it looks like I have not been updating very much on my move journal. Let me revise everybody!
I am currently studying abroad in Shanghai, China at Fudan University as an alien student, and I love it!
Since it is Guo Qing Jie here (Chinese National Holiday) and we, the students, have a week off from program I have firm to take a journey to Xining, China, which is in the Qinghai state. Why Xining? Well…I have traveled to China before, but never out west! So I decisive: why not try something different. I inwards here last night, and it took a 36-hour chain fall from the Shanghai Railway Station. I am here with an ally, Jen D. She is from Florida, but she goes to teach in South Carolina. When we purchased tickets in Shanghai to Xining, we waited on a 1 and a 1/2 hour line and all that were left were one subtle sleeper and one hard seat. The silky sleeper was in haul 10 and the hard seat was in pushcart number 5, so we decided to swap. However, since it is the Chinese National Holiday, the file was awfully crowded, and there were people with position tickets, so it was almost impossible for us to change seats. As I made my way to the smooth sleeper, a man hit me…Yea he plainly hit me! I was shocked…And then…At dinnertime…This one man commented that my putonghua was not up to par! Haha…It was hilarious…Oh and I favorably dislike the verity that since I look Chinese, people automatically feign that I can read it.
anyway…Xining is amazingly different from Shanghai. The people here take their time with clothes, and they are very diverse. We are close to Tibet so it was great since all different types of people here. Last night we ate dinner at this Tibetan Dance Restaurant, and it was very interesting because people were putting these ashen scarves around the singers which the thought sang well…I have yet to build out the significance of that.
Today, we went to Ta’er Si, which is a big monastery for Tibetan Buddhists. It definitely reminded me of my Indian spot visits. It was a very different typeface of Chinese/Indian Monastery. Tomorrow we will be making our way to Tongren, which is a Tibetan Town. I am very excited to see the types of handicrafts I will be able to get there, and to experience the culture there. This trip has been certainly amazing and has been an adventure hence far. I am looking advance to what may lay early in the coming living before our revisit to Shanghai. We will be omitted a few days of seminar, but hopefully that should be okay with the people at IES.
I am currently studying abroad in Shanghai, China at Fudan University as an alien student, and I love it!
Since it is Guo Qing Jie here (Chinese National Holiday) and we, the students, have a week off from program I have firm to take a journey to Xining, China, which is in the Qinghai state. Why Xining? Well…I have traveled to China before, but never out west! So I decisive: why not try something different. I inwards here last night, and it took a 36-hour chain fall from the Shanghai Railway Station. I am here with an ally, Jen D. She is from Florida, but she goes to teach in South Carolina. When we purchased tickets in Shanghai to Xining, we waited on a 1 and a 1/2 hour line and all that were left were one subtle sleeper and one hard seat. The silky sleeper was in haul 10 and the hard seat was in pushcart number 5, so we decided to swap. However, since it is the Chinese National Holiday, the file was awfully crowded, and there were people with position tickets, so it was almost impossible for us to change seats. As I made my way to the smooth sleeper, a man hit me…Yea he plainly hit me! I was shocked…And then…At dinnertime…This one man commented that my putonghua was not up to par! Haha…It was hilarious…Oh and I favorably dislike the verity that since I look Chinese, people automatically feign that I can read it.
anyway…Xining is amazingly different from Shanghai. The people here take their time with clothes, and they are very diverse. We are close to Tibet so it was great since all different types of people here. Last night we ate dinner at this Tibetan Dance Restaurant, and it was very interesting because people were putting these ashen scarves around the singers which the thought sang well…I have yet to build out the significance of that.
Today, we went to Ta’er Si, which is a big monastery for Tibetan Buddhists. It definitely reminded me of my Indian spot visits. It was a very different typeface of Chinese/Indian Monastery. Tomorrow we will be making our way to Tongren, which is a Tibetan Town. I am very excited to see the types of handicrafts I will be able to get there, and to experience the culture there. This trip has been certainly amazing and has been an adventure hence far. I am looking advance to what may lay early in the coming living before our revisit to Shanghai. We will be omitted a few days of seminar, but hopefully that should be okay with the people at IES.
days tour in yangsuo
Forgetting to cite that after the little cruise on the Yangtze, we were full to the 3 gorges dam on method to our hotel. Oh my goodness, it was dreadful! Every slip has it’s low spit, say no more. The one economy leniency was the regional conduct we had on the bus there. He’d learned some foreign form of English that resulted in him talking like Borat. That, and his inquiring pronouciation of ‘Si’itin’ conduit had us all, plus our lead David, in hysterics. The hotel wasn’t much better. Something clearly to eat my knees during the night. - And it wasn’t your normal mosi! Don’t unease Mum, it took a lot of savlon but the knees are ok now!
Onto Yangshou……
We here in the early hours,just about start, to be greeted with views of gigantic peaks and karst mountain scenery through the darkness. This is def our favourite place in China. Much more as I had imagined rural China to be than the scenes of skycrapers from the Yangtze. It was absolutely exquisite. The first day we useless wandering about the city and promote stalls and then in the afternoon, we had a ferry voyage along the River Li. Gorgeous scenery at twilight. We also got to see traditional Cormorant fishing that twilight which was sincerely cool. I even held a Cormorant for a smart photo whiz after it’s fishing sitting. It was totally onerous with certainly azure eyes. Actually I somewhat enjoyed being it’s branch for a few record!
The next day we had a group tandem pester through the citizen villages and mountains. There was a decision just before dine to climb up to a peculiar mountain with a fissure in it. Most of the group declined to sit in a cafe but Ross, I and another lad absolute to make the climb up as we were promised a great picture from the top. We had community women next us up all the way moving drinks for extortionate prices. They must have been truly fit. I found it really hard untaken and the little lady following me took to fan me most of the way. I think she was alarmed I might keel over! Anyway, sure enough, we made it and the analysis was stunning. This little jaunted was briskly followed by a lovely lunch at the farmers house. In the afternoon, I’d opted to try a Chinese painting period and Ross a calligraphy flare. My teacher was entirely appalling but I managed to products something that resembled a rattan painting! The sunset brought more entertainment in the figure of a light show choreographed by the same guy that did the break ceremony for the Olympics. It was different! Backdrop incredible - all the karst mountains lit up and the 600 actors looked good all punting boats along, or lifting flags from the water. The downside was with no English translations, we hadn’t got a suspicion what was open on. Also, the insolence of the Chinese again amazed us. Not only did they spit and symposium rowdily for the duration, they all got up and left 5 mins before the end departure a row of us Brits, Americans and Canadians seated and applauding to the end. Very strange.
Onto Yangshou……
We here in the early hours,just about start, to be greeted with views of gigantic peaks and karst mountain scenery through the darkness. This is def our favourite place in China. Much more as I had imagined rural China to be than the scenes of skycrapers from the Yangtze. It was absolutely exquisite. The first day we useless wandering about the city and promote stalls and then in the afternoon, we had a ferry voyage along the River Li. Gorgeous scenery at twilight. We also got to see traditional Cormorant fishing that twilight which was sincerely cool. I even held a Cormorant for a smart photo whiz after it’s fishing sitting. It was totally onerous with certainly azure eyes. Actually I somewhat enjoyed being it’s branch for a few record!
The next day we had a group tandem pester through the citizen villages and mountains. There was a decision just before dine to climb up to a peculiar mountain with a fissure in it. Most of the group declined to sit in a cafe but Ross, I and another lad absolute to make the climb up as we were promised a great picture from the top. We had community women next us up all the way moving drinks for extortionate prices. They must have been truly fit. I found it really hard untaken and the little lady following me took to fan me most of the way. I think she was alarmed I might keel over! Anyway, sure enough, we made it and the analysis was stunning. This little jaunted was briskly followed by a lovely lunch at the farmers house. In the afternoon, I’d opted to try a Chinese painting period and Ross a calligraphy flare. My teacher was entirely appalling but I managed to products something that resembled a rattan painting! The sunset brought more entertainment in the figure of a light show choreographed by the same guy that did the break ceremony for the Olympics. It was different! Backdrop incredible - all the karst mountains lit up and the 600 actors looked good all punting boats along, or lifting flags from the water. The downside was with no English translations, we hadn’t got a suspicion what was open on. Also, the insolence of the Chinese again amazed us. Not only did they spit and symposium rowdily for the duration, they all got up and left 5 mins before the end departure a row of us Brits, Americans and Canadians seated and applauding to the end. Very strange.
travel story in shanghai
Well the night line to Shanghai was an experience. I’m wholly accustomed to unknown night trains - or at slightest I thought I was - cultivate I went on a Chinese one! Nothing could have very primed us for the smoke den or the spitting. And 17 hours of people waking you up with countless retching noises is totally a long time! - Oh, and there were no doors to the compartments. Just particians with triple malarkey beds and very little area to exist. I won’t even go into the toilet facilities. We all left the teach very dehydrated as that was better then having to use the ‘fault in the baffle neat onto the stalk flare’. I would like to examine their reasoning that these kinds of toilets are more hygenic than Western ones. Clearly they have never sat on one!
Anyway, onto Shanghai. Ross cute liked it but I didn’t genuinely price it that much. We walked circular every room of the museum in under an hour which shows what we thought of that! The ordinary accounted museum wasn’t up too much moreover - postulate the smallest arrival fee could have told us that still. Ross did get a photo of some dinosaur or other so it was worthwhile in his eyes - and colliery as it partically made up for the actuality that I and the girls on the visit had dragged him curved a sell all morning! The two very good stuff we did in Shanghai see The Bund at night and a Chinese acrobatics show. Of akin ilk to Afrika, the show was pretty cool with some scarey ‘I can’t look moments’. The act where they had 5 motorbikes departure rotund in an enclosure was incredible but I was kind of delighted when it was over and no-one had got hurt!
We’ve discovered that it’s also myth that only our Chinese food at home arrives smothered in MSG. It’s in everything here too. Our group seems to be succombing to it’s addictive properties already. They appear to put it in everything. Even the crisp we got for the school had MSG in them. Why?
Anyway, onto Shanghai. Ross cute liked it but I didn’t genuinely price it that much. We walked circular every room of the museum in under an hour which shows what we thought of that! The ordinary accounted museum wasn’t up too much moreover - postulate the smallest arrival fee could have told us that still. Ross did get a photo of some dinosaur or other so it was worthwhile in his eyes - and colliery as it partically made up for the actuality that I and the girls on the visit had dragged him curved a sell all morning! The two very good stuff we did in Shanghai see The Bund at night and a Chinese acrobatics show. Of akin ilk to Afrika, the show was pretty cool with some scarey ‘I can’t look moments’. The act where they had 5 motorbikes departure rotund in an enclosure was incredible but I was kind of delighted when it was over and no-one had got hurt!
We’ve discovered that it’s also myth that only our Chinese food at home arrives smothered in MSG. It’s in everything here too. Our group seems to be succombing to it’s addictive properties already. They appear to put it in everything. Even the crisp we got for the school had MSG in them. Why?
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
When to Go to China
- If you plan to travel China you must consider two factors: The weather and the public holydays. China is the third biggest country in the world. Its climate is particularly diverse, from sub arctic in the North to tropical in the South. There is a large range of terrains that include mountains, deserts, and plateaus in the east; while in the west can be found plains, large rivers and hills. In Tibet, lies Mount Everest, at 8,848 m. Turpan depression is the second lowest point on land in the world. Precipitation in China is regular every year. The rainy seasons are principally May to September and in general the south of the mainland has more rainfall than the north including some monsoons from the western Pacific Ocean or the equatorial Indian Ocean. Sometimes the heavy rains in the coastal central and south of China have caused flooding in the cities near to the rivers and have destroyed a high number of crops. Conversely, the northwest is a region of low rainfall and drought-prone. In general, the best time to travel to the north of China is early spring and late autumn, especially between March to April and October to September. In the south, November to February is a good time, despite of the humidity. Central China is warm in summer but very cold in winter. The west is even colder but the humidity is lowest because of its distance of the sea.
12 Days Luxury & Standard of China Highlights Hong Kong - Guilin - Yangshuo - Guilin - Xian - Shanghai - Beijing
Day 01
Arrival in Hong Kong
Upon arrival, please take a taxi or the airport shuttle bus to the hotel we have booked for you by yourself. The rest of the day is on your own to explore the city.
Tips: In Hong Kong, both the currencies of Hong Kong dollars and Chinese Yuan are accepted in the large stores, shopping malls, big restaurants and hotels. It is also very handy to exchange any currency in either local banks or your hotel. No handling charge is needed. Most of the Hong Kong people can speak English and the English signposts are easily to be found everywhere. That's no problem for you to travel Hong Kong freely on your own
Day 02
Hong Kong
The hotel accommodation with breakfast is arranged today. You are suggested to have a half-day Hong Kong Island Tour. Peak tram ride to mid-level of Central District then to the Victoria Peak, visit the Repulse Bay, Aberdeen and Stanley Market on your own.(B)
Tips: Hong Kong is not big but full of international metropolis flavors. It's often described as a Shoppers' Paradise or the Culinary Capital of Asia. Really, it deserves the title. Shopping in Hong Kong is a great pleasure. You can enjoy duty-free purchase of the world-famous brands. Convenient urban transportation makes shopping a breeze. Meanwhile, lots of restaurants can be found at the shopping malls. Various delicacies from different countries are mouthwatering. After shopping and dining, you may go to a bar, KTV, cinema or coffee house for relaxation. What a happy day!
Day 03
Hong Kong - Guilin
Morning is free. The e-ticket information of Hong Kong to Guilin will be provided to you in advance. According to the flight schedule, please take the flight to Guilin by yourself. Our guide will greet you outside the baggage claim area at Guilin airport and drive you to hotel.(B)
Day 04
Guilin - Yangshuo - Guilin
Enduring memories are created today as you cruise down the Li River to Yangshuo. Upon arrival in Yangshuo, a short bicycle trip to the countryside will then be arranged. You will visit a local villager's home to experience the farmer's lifestyle there. Alternatively, you can take our electric car instead of bicycles if you are not very skillful. Transfer back to Guilin.(B+L)
Tips: Since the lunch on the Li River cruise may not meet your expectation, TCG suggest that you have enough breakfast at the hotel today. Li River - During the first part of Li River cruise, visitors can appreciate many touristy attractions: such as the Elephant-Trunk Hill, Rooster Fighting Hill, Forest of Odd Shaped Peaks, Pagoda Hill, Longmen Village, Daxu Ancient Town, Millstone Hill and Ox Gorge. Grotesque peaks stand on the bank of the river and rows of cottages mix with the rice pad, which is a miniature of the tranquil Guilin landscape. Immersed in such a serene environment, visitors will feel relaxed and forget the trivialities of daily lives.
Day 05
Guilin - Xian
Visit the Reed Flute Cave, the Seven Star Park and the Elephant Trunk Hill. Take a flight to Xian and transfer to the hotel. (B+L, D is included for luxury series)
DifferencesLuxury Series: we have arranged a buffet dinner for you at your hotel this evening.Standard Series: we would like to leave this dinner on your own. You may have dinner at your hotel by yourself or ask for your guide's suggestion. Descriptions:Reed Flute Cave - It's quite interesting to visit the Reed Flute Cave, Lu Di Yan in Chinese. The cave is pouch-shaped with an entrance and an exit, which stand very close to each other. After entering the cave, you will take a U-shaped route to see different attractions.
Seven-Star Park - Coming to the Li River, you should go to visit the Seven-Star Park. Otherwise, it would be a great regret. The park is just located on the east bank of the Li River. It possesses the most concentrated sceneries of Guilin. The picturesque landscape makes people astonished.Elephant Trunk Hill - Situated at the southeast of Guilin city and on the western bank of Li River, the Elephant Trunk Hill is thought to be the landmark of Guilin landscape, and the symbol of the city. Originally named “Li Hill” or “Yi Hill”, the hill got the present name for resembling an elephant sucking water with its long trunk. With an elevation of 200 meters (656 feet), the hill is 55 meters (180 feet) high above water, and has a long history of 3. 6 hundred million years.
Day 06
Xian
Visit the Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum. To avoid having the poor food at the site, you will take highway back to downtown to have lunch at a well-known Cantonese cuisine restaurant. In the afternoon, visit the Big Wild Goose Pagoda and the City Wall. This evening you will be entertained with the marvelous Tang Dynasty Show.(B+L+D)
DifferencesLuxury Series: you will have Tang Dynasty Dinner and Show at Tang Dynasty Palace (Add: No.75, Chang'an Road, Xian).Standard Series: you will enjoy Dumpling Banquet and Tang Dynasty Music and Dance Show at Shaanxi Opera Theatre (Add: No. 165, Wenyi Road, Xian).
Descriptions:Terracotta Warriors Museum - The Qin Terracotta Warriors and Horses are a must when visiting Xian. Of the three pits, the Pit 3 is a commanding center for the military groups in the other two pits. In this pit, there have been unearthed one chariot, four horse figures and 68 terracotta warriors. It was exciting to find many kinds of bronze weapons and bronze, gold and stone decorations in the pit. Also, the ancient weapons used in actual fighting such as the crossbows, bronze spears, bronze swords and arrowheads will certainly broaden visitors' horizon. City Wall - The City Wall of Xian is definitely the pride of Shaanxi. Old and firm circumvallation complemented by forest zone around the wall, moat and the ring road consist of a special and unique park. It is just like a shining necklace, decorating the ancient capital city of thirteen dynasties fairly pretty.
Day 07
Xian - Shanghai
Visit the Great Mosque and a local family. After enjoying the a la carte lunch at a famous local restaurant, take a flight to Shanghai and transfer to the hotel.(B+L)
Tips: After visiting the Great Mosque, you should not miss the Muslim Street (Hui Min Jie) nearby. It is the gathering place of local famous flavor food and it is always bustling with local people and visitors from different places. You can also find lines of stalls and shops along the street selling various ornaments, art crafts and little antiques. The silk clothes, especially the silk cheong-sams (chi-pao) are very popular among foreign visitors. Pay attention to the article quality and do remember to bargain for a right price.Descriptions:Shanghai City - Shanghai has a subtropical monsoon climate with four distinct seasons. Winter in Shanghai is cold and damp; summer is hot and humid; spring is pleasantly warm; autumn is sunny and cool. The best seasons to visit Shanghai are in April and May when flowers blossom vigorously and the weather is pleasant.
Day 08
Shanghai
Visit the Shanghai Museum and the Yuyuan Garden. Then for the afternoon activities, please see the following different arrangements for the luxury and standard series. Tonight a memorable a la carte dinner is served at Central Hotel, whose restaurant Wang Bao He has a history of around 260 years and is the best place to serve Shanghai Cuisine. The dinner will be followed by the Portman Acrobatic Show at the Shanghai Centre Theatre.(B+L+D)
DifferencesLuxury Series: after lunch we will transfer you to the Bund area, where you will take a cruise tour on the Huangpu River. The cruise will start at 14:00, reach the Wusongkou pier and then get back to the Bund at 17:00. Then leave you some free time to explore the Bund area on your own.Standard Series: you will be taken to visit the Bund along the Huangpu River and the famous Nanjing Road, and then a local family visit is scheduled. Descriptions:Shanghai Museum - As a distinguished museum of Chinese art, Shanghai Museum is also one of the four famous museums in China, holding rich and high-quality collection of ancient precious works of art. It consists of eleven galleries with various contents and three exhibition halls, which is the home to about 120,000 pieces of historical relics. Yuyuan Garden - Yuyuan Garden is a nicely laid-out, small-size garden of the Ming Dynasty. With its beautiful and gentle scenery, it attracts many domestic and overseas visitors every year. The ancient buildings in the garden are charmingly shy, under the shade of green trees in deep elegant seclusion. Huangpu River - Huangpu River is the mother river of Shanghai. As the symbol and microcosm of the city, it witnesses the glory, humiliation, despair and prosperity of Shanghai. Both sides of the river gather the highlights of city sights. The river measures 71 miles long, 437 yards wide and 39 feet deep on average. It discharges itself into the Yangtze in the northeastern Shanghai, becoming the last branch of Yangtze River. With the steady current, wide channel, and flat river bottom, it is a fine natural harbor, playing an important role for foreign exchange and trade.
Yuyuan Garden, Shanghai
Day 09
Shanghai - Beijing
Take a flight to Beijing and transfer to the hotel. Visit the Summer Palace. (B+L)
Tips: After long journey travel and days of scheduled visit, you may like to do some exercises for relaxation. The in-door swimming pool is available at your hotel. If you like, you can have an exhilarating swimming there tonight. Also you may go to the fitness centre to relax. A little right amount of physical exercise does great favor to have a sound sleep. Good rest and full relaxation can ensure you a more enjoyable trip. Descriptions: Summer Palace - also called Yi He Garden, means pleasing and peace in Chinese. Mainly composed of Kunming Lake and Longevity Hill, it is the largest well preserved imperial garden in China. It is a monument to classical Chinese architecture in terms of both garden design and construction. As its name implies, it was used as a summer resort for emperors or empresses. It is not far away from the downtown area but evading from the bustling and perturbing Forbidden City, thus is favored by the imperial rulers.
Tiananmen Square, Beijing
Day 10
Beijing
Visit the Badaling Great Wall. To avoid having lunch at shopping site restaurants, you will be driven to have Sichuan food at a local popular restaurant. Visit the Sacred Way and the Ming Tomb in the afternoon. On the way back to downtown, drive by the Bird's Nest (Olympic National Stadium). You will see its appearance at a distance. (B+L, D is included for luxury series)
Differences Luxury Series: we arrange an a la carte dinner at a famous Cantonese cuisine restaurant in the Wangfujing area.Standard Series: we intend to leave the dinner on your own. You may ask for some suggestions from your local guide. Descriptions:Great Wall - The Great Wall, the landmark construction of China, was listed in the World Heritage by UNESCO in 1987. Since its open to the public, it has attracted hundreds of thousands of tourists from all over the world. Maybe you have heard of the famous Chinese saying - 'He who does not reach the Great Wall is not a true man'. From this, you can know the importance of the Great Wall to Chinese people. Now, cheer up! Come with us to explore the dragon-like Great Wall and discover the soul of China!
Day 11
Beijing
Visit the Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven. The Beijing Duck Dinner is served at a famous restaurant followed by a lively Peking Opera performance at the Liyuan Theatre.(B+L+D)
Descriptions: Forbidden City - In the Forbidden City, you can see on both sides of the palace gate stand big jars. Please guess why they were laid there. Yes, you're right. They are used to reserve water. In ancient times, there are no advanced extinguishers. Totally depending on human power, the fire could be controlled. In history, this city suffered from fire for about 100 times. Countless treasures were once destroyed in the fire. So, big water jars were put by the side of the palace gate. It was not the best way, but it was very practical at that time. Temple of Heaven - Tian Tan in Chinese, was a sacred park in history even larger than the Forbidden City in measuring area. It was built in Ming dynasty by the imperial for worshipping the gods in heaven. With its quiet and capacious environment, nowadays more and more retired local people love to gather here to enjoy and entertain themselves. They are playing chess, teasing their pet birds, singing, dancing. You may join them for fun.
Day 12
Departure from Beijing
From the hotel you will be taken to the airport so that you can board the flight back home loaded with pleasant memories.(B)
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