Friday, June 1 - Delhi, India

I woke up at 6 am but forced myself to stay in bed until 6:45.  Went down to the Grand Ballroom to the huge breakfast buffet that is included with the room and had a wonderful waffle and fruit.  I read the local paper and found out that there is civil strife close by that has in fact shut down roads and the railroads between Delhi and Agra.  They are describing this in the press as a "caste war" and it is centered around Gujjar - between Delhi and Agra.  I guess I'll find out tomorrow whether or not I get to go to Agra to see the Taj Mahal.  If it doesn't work out, then it was meant to be that way and I'll have to save Agra for my next visit to India - with Lauren and Lillian (and Chris, Leslie and Lincoln?).  I certainly don't want to get in the middle of a civil clash - especially one in which 20 people have already been killed. 

I had my breakfast on the glassed-in terrace and it was beautiful - already hot outside - supposed to be at 110 degrees today.  I watched the yard  crew sweeping the beautiful green lawn.  I don't know how they keep everything so green in this heat - and I haven't seen sprinklers running. 

Sanjesh told me yesterday about the Indian Sekhs - those who wear turbans.  They do this since they never cut their hair.  They just wrap it up all under the turban.  Apparently this is a big turn-on for their women too. Can you imagine what is up in those turbans?  I don't even want to think about it. 

Also Sanjesh told me abou the Maharajahs.  There are at least 4 levels in the hierarchy - 1) Raj's, then 2) Maharahjah, then 3) Maharahaj Dhirajah, then 4) Maharajah Dhirajah Ashwannafha - I want to be one of those in my next life!!!! 

Sanjesh and my driver picked me up at the hotel at10 am. We drove through Connaught Place where the hotel is located in the center of Delhi.  We headed out of the city to Qutab Minar, a tower of victory begun by the Muslims in AD 1193 and completed in 1300.  The tower was beautiful and the ruins around very interesting.  We then went to the Tomb of Humayun, the 2nd mogul emperor of India.  This tomb, unlike the Taj Mahal, was built by the emperor's senior wife for him - the Taj was built by him for her.  It's huge and totally symmetrical.  This tomb is about 1/2 the size of the Taj Mahal so this was a good teaser for tomorrow (if I get to go due to the civil strife).  I had Sanjesh check on the Agra train and showed him the newspaper article about the strife.  Gujjar is a group of minority people who are protesting for more privileges but the other minority groups don't want them to get these privileges - so it is a real mess.  He found out that the Express Executive Train to Agra went this morning so they expect it to go tomorrow. So far, so good.  We then took a break and went to a Kashmir crafts showroom.  The government set this up due to the strife in the Kashmir Region- there is a conflict with Pakistan and both now have nuclear arms which is a big issue.  We looked at rugs first - and I learned more about the making of silk rugs in Kashmir.  This was somewhat similar to what we saw in China.  Before this was over, the rug merchant had 2 roomsd of rugs laid out for my inspection - I was the only customer there since the tourist season is over.  Tim will be happy - I didn't buy a rug - nothing "spoke" to me. 

We then looked at a lot of cashmere clothing, marble objects, wood carvings, and furniture.  I decided we didn't need any more nic-nacs so we just looked and then left.

We were then off to the Crafts Museum to see ancient relics of pottery, housing items, textiles and statuary.  Sanjesh gave a great explanation of things that helped explain the history of India.  It was mid afternoon when we finished and so hot - it hit 111 degrees F today - so we decided to call it quits for the day.  I was taken back to the hotel to rest and then went to the Atrium Bar for high tea - this will be lunch today.  High tea was very British reflecting that time when India was a British colony.  Scones with jam, finger sandwiches (including cucumber ones), small pastries, and tea.  Very good and it was only about $15.  Such a deal!

Later I had drinks in the bar with Satyendra - tried Kingfisher beer which is an Indian beer and it was good - and cheap.

I had dinner at 8 in the Restaurant 1911 - a French restaurant which apparently are very unusual in India - but it was excellent - exceptional.  They gave me a complimentary hors d'oeuvre that was a creme brulee fois gras - didn't sound right to me but it was excellent and tasty - ate the entire thing.  It was so hot I ordered cold melon soup that helped cool me off and then filet de boeuf with a fabulous wine reduction sauce - this was very authentic French.  I know I should be eating Indian while in India but I do like my French things.

The restaurant was named to commemorate the year when the British moved the capital of India from Calcutta to Delhi.  India finally got its independence from Britainin 1947.  I saw the site of the Queen Victoria statue on my tour but noticed that there was no statue.  They have a picture of the statue of Queen Victoria in the restaurant so I found this interesting.  I asked the maitre d' where the statue was now - heshrugged his shoulders and said "I guess it is like the statue of Sadam Hussein" - Funny!

After dinner I updated my journal and blog, packed an went to bed.  I have to get up at 4:45 am in order to catch a 6:15 am train to Agra.  My driver is picking me up at the hotel at 5:30 - so tomorrow is going to be along day.

Some miscellaneous things I have learned:  Hair -I've seen many Indians with red hair that I thought was unusual - it's henna.  Some have only slight red tint in their dark hair but there are a few who have bright red henna hair.  Sanjesh told me that these were mistakes!

Red dots (not whoo-whoo's!) - are everywhere here.  The women get the red dots when they are married - their husband puts the red dot on their forehead and sometimes in the part of their hair - I saw this a lot too.  This means that they are married.  A black dot means that the woman is single.  Many marriages in India are still arranged marriages.  Also many men have lines on their foreheads - the shapes of the lines indicate their religious sect.

Most Indians are cremated - it is honorable to have your ashes spread in the Ganges as they believe this helps get your soul to heaven quicker.  There is one religious group of about 90.000 people in India who stack their dead in a special room and they let the birds and animals eat the corpses.  After a while when there isn't much left they put whatever remains in a pit with lime dust on top.  Ugh!

Lastly, eunochs in India - there are still LOTS of them here and they live in special colonies.  They used to serve the emperors and ruling people in the past but this still happens even today in India.  Sanjesh told me that as we had heard in India, but questioned, they cut "everything" off - not only the testacles but also the penis (ouch!).  Many eunochs were and still are entertainers - but Sanjesh said not very good ones - but they make money by entertaining at weddings and other celebrations.  They had a special place in the courts of the Maharajahs and emperors.  Many dress as women but wear no makeup.  Sanjesh also told me that the Indian people can recognize a eunoch by looking at them. Wow - so different from America (thank goodness).

Larry

Thursday May 31 - Delhi, India

(Note:  This day isn't compete yet).

I awoke at 7 am with the faint sounds of India - horns honking.  I learned last night that they can't drive her without honking their horns.  Cars everywhere and many street have no street lines - they just GO1.

The hotel service staff is dressed up in 'fancy Indian servant dress' - turbans, red jackets, the women in saris - all very colorful and formal.  The hotel is beautiful.  A stately building set in a huge formal garden - tall palm trees line the entrance giving it a majestic look.  This is supposed to be one of the best hotels in Delhi.

I had asked Kurian if I could walk around the city this morning and he urged me not to as "many people will approach you".  So he suggested that I stay in the hotel gardens and we'll see outside later.  So that's what I did.  I had breakfast in their formal dining room - beautiful with impeccable service although it's a buffet.  I had an omelet today but the real breakfast treat was the fruit.  They had a frest fruit table set up and then another entire table with stewed fruit.  I tried the stewed pineapply, apricots and pears and they were SO good.  The sauces were yummy.  After my large breakfast, I took a stroll in the gardens.  It was already steamy out and I may switch into shorts instead of jeans.  It is supposed to be over 100 again today.  Kurian told me we could have a shower and that will make it more humid.  He told me that this is the 'off' season so we aren't expecting to be delayed by hordes of tourists.

For some reason, I remember "the sights and sounds of India" from CNN.  I'll add "smells" to that.  There is a very distinctive smell in the air - not good - not bad - just distinctive.  There is a heavy haze hanging over Delhi in the morning -but it lifted considerably during the day and was actually quite clear.  It is supposed to be 109 today - so HOT is the name of the game during this time of year.

There is a young man who roams around the hotel with a very special job - fly and bug swatter!  It's funny to watch him.

My local guide, Sanjesh Shivhara, and driver were waiting for me at 1 pm and we set out in the traffic - I'm actually glad that I couldn't see it more clearly last night on arrival as it is worse than I had thought.  They are trying to build mass transit but it isn't finished yet so everyone is on the streets.  If the traffic is clogged, they just gon on the other side of the road (even if the road is divided by a median) - the objective is just to get ahead.  Horms blaring all the while.  Many of their stop lights are very very long, but when it turns green, look out - every man for himself - they all start going at once to see who can get ahead.  Most of the streets were full of people, bicycles, scooters, tuk-tuks, and unfortunately piles of garbage.  They have added much more green to Delhi and reduced pollution by planting trees and shrubs throughout the city.  We came so close to crashing - but didn't - they tell me that there aren't that many accidents but most cars are all dented and scratched - so if they hit they must just keep on going.  (Tim - business opportunity here - you should set up more DuPont Refinish programs here - they need it!).

We drove by the Red Fort but didn't stop as I'll see a better one in Agra.  Our first stop was a Muslim mosque.  We had to take off our shoes to go inside and Sanjesh paid a man so our shoes wouldn't disappear.  It was really, really hot on the stone courtyard inside and they had laid paths of cloth in lines so everyone could walk on these inside of the hot stones.  Sanjesh explained the Muslim protocol and told me that I'd hear the calls to prayer while I'm here - the times are determined by the position of the sun.  All of the mosques face Mecca.  It is a life-long goal for the Muslim's to visit there.  Many people (all men) were saying their prayers when we went in - the women apparently have to pray in a different place.  I got lots of stares being the only Westerner there.  We retrieved our shoes and Sanjesh had a rick shaw waiting to take us on a ride through the narrow streets and alleyways of Old Delhi.  The rick shaw was built to carry two and he wanred me to keep my hands inside and put my left foot on a structural brace.  The ride was exhilerating - a bit scary at first adn then it was SO MUCH FUN.  The driver wasn't a young man and he pedaled his heart out for almost an hour as he showed me the alleyways and streets packed with everything.  Fascinating.  I'm still amazed how bicycles, pedestrians, rick shaws, scooters, carts, and people carrying or pushing great loads can all coexist in th narrow alleys of Old Delhi - but it all works. 

There were so manyelectrical and other wires over our heads just draped overhead on whatever would hold them.  Many of the shops were spaces about 4' by 4'.  Most people left their shoes on the street when they went in the shop - and we ran over many of their shoes in our rick shaw!  We saw vegetable and fruit markets, cloth markets, markets for cloth and sequents, barber shops (a very small room with one chair), and so much - it was truly amazing.  There I was right in the middle of it all too.

We got right into many traffic jams.  Sanjest taught me the Indian philosophy that makes this all work - Patience and Tolerance Make Happiness.  They don't seem patient with their extensive use of the car horn but it all does work in the end.

I asked Sanjesh how much the rick shaw driver would make and he told me about the equivalent of $7 / day.  While the tour took care of all costs, I tipped out little man and made his day.

We went back to the mosque in our rick shaw about the tour in the narrow streets and met our driver and headed across town to see the Mohatma Gandhi Memorial with eternal flame in a public park.  His memorial marks the spot where Gandhi was cremated.  His ashes were spread in the Ganges River.  There were lots of Indian people visiting this site as he is considered the 'father of modern India' and is remembered for his philosophy of no violence.

We then drove by the India Gate, built to remember the thousands of Indians who died in World War I.  India was neutral in this war by the British promised independence if India would support them.  India did but then the British reneged on it promise.  We then went to the India Government buildings - beautiful architecture.  The President's home, where Lord Mountbatten used to live, is here too and is huge - beautiful architecture and grounds.  The President is not elected by the people but rather by the party members.  Sanjest told me that they have so many parties that it isn't really working now.  We then went to the National Museum and Sanjesh knew somuch about the art - his explanations of the art helped explain a lot about their history and culture.  At least the museum was air conditioned and cool. 

It was about 6 pm so we headed back to the hotel fighting the traffic again.  Sanjesh and I will head outwith my driver again tomorrow at 10 am.  Friday is a holy day for Muslims so it will be interesting to see if I notice any differences.

There is a real focus in India on education.  They are proud of all of the Call Centers that have been located in Delhi and Mumbai to service America.  They do intensive language training depending on the country they serve so the workers sound like the people calling in.  They are taught British English, Australian English, and American English.  They are required to watch movies with the specific dialect and practice extensively.  Labor costs are so cheap in India (average worker makes about $150 US per month).  So with their education and cheap wages, they have a huge competitive advantage over America.  That's why our jobs are coming in so fast.  They also have national required birth control like China - one child per family.

For lunch I had Parma Bruschetta and a pot of Indian Darjelling tea - it was just enough for me and delincious.  Sunil at the Concierge Desk made a reservation for me for dinner at the Spice Route Restaurant - one of the top rated restaurants in Delhi.  Sunil reminded me of Sunil with KBACE who helped uson our Oracle project - he told me stories of India - and now here I am.  Most of Ingersoll-Rand's IT support staff are from India so I'm now seeing things that many of them have described to be before.  This is so exciting.

I went down to the lobby bar for cocktails after getting dressed up for dinner.  The wait staff loves to talk to Americans (even though I have a hard time understanding many of them).  Sankendra was my bartender for drinks in the lobby and he asked all sorts of questions.  Since I was by myself it made for an interesting time.  Drinks (scotch) were very expensive (about $14 each!0.  Sankendra told me that the roads and railroads to Agra are closed - don't know why -but they may be open again by the time I go.  This was mysterious to me.

I went for my dinner at The Spice Route a little before 8.  This restaurant is highly rated and was a sensual overload experience.  The restaurant smelled good, looked good with art relics everywhere, sounded good with interesting while subdued Indian music, and most of all tasted so good.  Tim will have to come here and have dinner - the spices and smells and tastes were great.  I started with chicken sate with peanut, plum and sweet chili sauce.  Main course was lamb with curry and peanut sauce.  It was so good and I ate way to much (again!).  My server also wanted to talk so we had a nice long chat - but again I missed a lot of what he said as they talk so fast.  But he was entertaining and explained every dish.  Even though I had had plenty to eat, I had to try dessert (thank Mom for making me this way!  I had bananas rolled in rice, deep fried and served with ice creat.  OK - my overeating is self-inflicted - I admit it.  I'll diet when I get back home week after next. 

But what a super experience.  the Indians smile like the Thai's and they are very friendly.  I returned to the room and a message was waiting for me from Kurian confirming my tour tomorrow with Sanjest again and driver at 10 am.  I went to best about 11 to rest for another exciting day in Delhi.

Oh, I forgot - we say children peeing in the streets in China - well, everyone does it here - everywhere, they just stop and men pee on the side of the road or women squat.  There are "pissouirs" all over - very public - for the men too.  So different from America and a real education for me.

Larry

Wednesday May 30 - Beijing - Bangkok - Delhi, India

I woke up with the sun this morning before the wakeup call.  It gets light about 4:30 am.  I was told that all of China is on one time zone which surprised me since China is such a huge land mass.  The butler rang the doorbell at 5 with my coffee in a coffee press on a silver tray held out in front of him with his other arm behind him.  He was in his tuxedo with tails as all of the butler and hotel staff wear at the St Regis.  Elegant.

I showered, dressed, had my coffee (not bad) and said my goodbyes to Tim who was still in bed.  He leaves at noon to fly to San Francisco and then to Philadelphia.  I'll see him 2 weeks from today in Philadelphia.

I met David, Susan & Allyn, Karl & Marliss, and Lillian & John in the lobby and we all loaded on a small bus for the 40 minute ride to the airport.  We talked with David about capital punishment and the legal system in China - and also in the US.  The Chinese Minister of Health was sentenced to death yesterday for taking bribes.  He also was apparently a factor in the cat food issue in the US and a toothpast poisoning in Africa, so they sentenced him to die (usually by firing squad).  We arrived at the Beijing Airport with no issues as there was very little traffic early in the morning.

David got each of us a luggage cart and showed us where to go to check in.  I said my goobyes to David - such a fabulous guide and also a great ambassador for China - and goodbye to those with me on the bus this morning from our group.  The lines through customs seemed long but they moved quickly, but the immigration line took a while.  I got to the Thai Air checkin for First Class before they opened and was a bit concerned since David had told me he couldn't confirm my reservation, but it all went smoothly.

I found one more Olympics T-shirt for my son and went to the Business Class lounge.  Unfortunately, none of the computers worked so I had a small bit to eat and a coke and waited for my flight to be called.  I decided to leave the lounge early and found out that it was more comfortable in the regular waiting lounge - there was no food or drink but the seats were more comfortable and the air was cleaner!

The Thai Air flight to Bangkok was delayed arriving in Beijing so we were about an hour late leaving but I had plenty of time in Bangkok during the layover.  The plane arrived about 9:30 and they got everyone off and all of us on in less than 30 minutes.  I wish US airlines knew how to do this.

The flight from Beijing to Bangkok was 4 1/2 hours and over 2,000 miles and then I have another 4 hours from Bangkok to Delhi and another 2,000 miles - so I'm covering some ground today.  They served us lunch on the Thai Air flight and then dinner from Bangkok to Delhi so today was airline food all of the way!  The lounges in Bangkok for Thai Air are so nice - they have food, drinks (anything you want), showers, internet computers, and you can even get a Thai massage if you would like.  I'm resting up today while I can as I start the tourist routine again tomorrow in Delhi.

R Crusoe & Sons has arranged all of my tours in Delhi so I have great expectations for this part of my trip based on our exceptional tour experience with them in China.  R Crusoe promises an "Unusual Journey" and they certainly exceeded our expectations with the China experience.  So today I leave the China culture and enter the Indian culture.  This is so exciting for me.

I got a dose of India on the plans as the man next to me talked fast and was very demanding of the airline staff.  He asked me a lot of questions before we left Bangkok - mostly about money things - but I put my headset on once we took off and that stopped the questions.  When the hostess offered him dinner with everyone else, he told her that he would take his dinner "in one hours time".  She was outdone.  In addition to the questions, he took his shoes off (no socks) and put his feet up.  He asked for 5 cold towels and almost took a bath in his seat.  He ws in perpetual motion even when he was sleeping.  He refused to use his seat tray except for when the dinner tray came and I kept watching to make sure he didn't knock something over into my space.  I think that was what I saw - he had no sense of personal space.  I expect to experience more of this in India.

We arrived a bit late in Delhi due to air traffic.  I got through immigration, got my bag (Thai Air actually sends First and Business Class luggage out first), and got through customers.  My guide, Kurian, and driver were there waiting for me with a sign.  They took my bags, I used the ATM maching at the bank to get some local currency and off we went tojoin the mess out on the highway.  They are building a new airport across the highway from the current airport since the current one is so old.  They will keep the current name - Indira Ghandi International Airport.  But the roads and construction are a mess.

There is no sense of staying in lines - sort of like the French - whoever gets in front wins.  Kurian pointed out sites on the drive into Delhi but it was dark and hard to see most.  I could see the tree-lined streets and not many high rises.  We passed through the embassy district and by the largest embassy - the US.  We talked a little about the culture but I'll get a lot more of this starting tomorrow when the tour starts. 

The Imperial Hotel where I'm staying is majestic.  A large white structure set in formal gardens and it is designated a historic hotel.  Beautifully appointed throughout.  I unpacked, watched a bit of TV and then went to bed.  I get to sleep late for a change (YEAH!) as Kurian and the driver will meet me at 1 pm to start tomorrow's touring.  Off to bed now - I'm exhausted after this travel day.

Larry

Tuesday May 29 - Beijing

We got up at 6:30.  It's my birthday today and I can't believe that I"m 28 for the 33rd time.  But I"m enjoying this so much.  Life is really good.  This trip was to celebrate 3 things - 1) My Birthday - 2) My Retirement from Corporate life after almost 38 years, and - 3) especially to celebrate the 10 years that Tim and I have been together.  We are so fortunate and are excited about what the future holds for us now.  But now on to our last day in Beijing and our last day in China.

Our hotel is in the embassy districk and the streets are lines with embassies - one after the other.  We walked past the US embassy - it had a Chinese soldier and 2 US Marines stationed out front and it was well fortified.  Also Sandra Day O'Çonnor is staying in our hotel while we are here.

We got on the bus and I had Jennifer report the results of the Ping Pong Tournament - The US took the Bronze, Greece took the Silver, and China won the Gold (David).  David was very pleased with this.

Our first stop was Tienamen Square which means Gate of Heavenly Peace.  The square is large enough to hold 1M Chinese people.  They laugh and say that it will hold 2M Japanese since they are smaller!  Mao's tomb is there (it's huge) and there is a very long queue to see Chairman Mao's mummified body.  David told us that they had to change his "sauce"recently.  They call the use of words like that "Chinglish".  The Chinese National Congress and National Museum are across from Tienamen.  Jennifer showed us where the students protested in 1989 and where the one student stood in front of the tank.  They don't know what happened to most of these students.  The Chinese people also have never been allowed to see the footage of those events but they know the history of the university students protesting against government corruption.  There is a section in the square across from The Forbidden City where the National Flag of China flies and it is protected around the clock by several soldiers.

We had a group picture made of us in the square with the Forbidden City and Chairman Mao's picture in the background.  Jannifer told us more about the period after The Last Emperor in 1911 until 1949 when warlords ruled China.  After Mao defeated Chang Kai Shek in 1949, he announced the formation of the Peoples'Republic of Chinaat Tienamen on 10/1/1949.  Mao then ruled Chinauntil 1976 when he died.  We then went through an underground tunnel to get to The Forbidden City.  There were lots of fountains and viewting stands where the Communiost officials stood to view their military parades in Tienamen Square.  The Forbidden City was built in 1400 and took 14 years to build in the Ming Dynasty.  It has 999 buildings with 9,999 rooms - not 1,000 or 10,000 out of respect for the gods.

People could not go into the Forbidden City because it was only for the emperor and he was like god.  The emperors seldom left the Forbidden City.  We went through 2 large gates before we got into the palance itself as it was built to ensure protection for the emperors.  Also there were no trees inside since people could hide in them.  Our tour took us into a private area where the emperor who lived to be the oldest emperor lived.  They protected this area after he died and it was never used again.  Dung Chou Peng helped ensure that the historical items were preserved and not pillaged by the Japanese.  Every thing was saw here was original and used by this emperor who lived to be 89 years old - quite old for the Chinese. 

We saw a "passport" that was a device givent to the concubine who was chosed by the eunock to sleep with the emperor.  The emperor had 142 xchildren - some by the empresss and most by the concubines.  Only those borne of the empress could succeed the emperor.  Jennifer told us a funny story about this.  At first she confused the English word cucumber wtih concubine.  So she told about the emperor staying with the cucumbers!  The tour group she had then didn't understand and she realized she was using the wrong word.  Cinglish again!

We also heard the story of the Last Emperor.  He was 3 years old when he ascended the throne and he cried and peed on the throne.  This was viewed a very bad omen and in fact the throne was abolished a few short years laster in 1911 when this emperor was in his late teens.  He was playing tennis when he was overthrown by the warlords.

After visiting the Forbidden City, most of the group loaded on the bus and went back to the hotel but Tim and I along with Paul and Belinda walked up Coal Hill - across from The Forbidden City to get a better view from above.  They had told us that it would take 20-40 minutes to walk to the top but it only took 5.  This was aneasy walk compared to The Great Wall.  The view was great from on high looking down on the Forbidden City.  We took pictures of the view and I also got a picture of the Buddha in the temple before the Chinese guard asked me not to take pictures.  We got an ice cream as a treat for walking to the top.  We found another short cut to get down the small mountain and looked at many bonsai plants in the park.  I then hailed a taxi for us and the 4 of us loaded in.  But the driver didn't know where our hotel was (here we go again) so we got out, I hailed another taxi, and off we headed back to the St Regis. 

Tim and I decided to get a small lunch close to the hotel and went to a Tex Mex restaurant of all places as a treat.  It was good - but not like in the US. 

We then went to the Pearl City Silk Market.  It was amazing.  Booth after booth of almost anything you could imagine.  We bought some Armani socks (~$2 a pair) and I bargained for a Beijing Olympics 2008 T-shirt and a Polo shirt (or was it a PoRow shirt?).  I got them for 1/3 of the original asking price.  We then walked back through the many embassies around our hotel and saw a large complex where the Chinese go to apply for a visa to the US.  We passed other shops where I could have gotten my shirts I just bought for cheaper prices.  Oh well!

We took a nap and packed.  Tim was able to get all of my things in his bags (except the Chairman Mao Red Book that he didn't want to carry for political reasons!).  That was nice for him to bring these things on back.  I have to leave the hotel tomorrow at 5:45 am for my flight to Bangkok and then to Delhi so tonight will be an early evening.

We met our travel group in the lounge for cocktails at 5:30.  Clark Kent was there in his butler outfit, complete with tails, serving cocktails.  We took a picture os us with him and he said that he was honored.  We met in the lobby at 7 to go to our farwell dinner for this tour.  The bus took us to the Green T Restaurant - a really WOW place.  We entered through black curtains covering the front entry.  There were beds with cushions lining the outside wall by the front windows.  There was a huge round table t the left with oversized chairs.  We were seated at a long table down the middle of the room with chairs that had backs over 10' tall.  They all had squared backs and were painted black.  The coolest things were the lit candles that appeared to be floating in air over the long table.  They wre suspended from the tall ceiling with the thinnest of wires and hung at different heights.  So cool.

They had interesting light shows going on in various parts of the restaurant.  The mens room was cool too - the sink was a large trough with no visible water supply but when  you stuck your hands under the ledge, a rain shower started.  The womens sink was visible from the hallway leading t the rest rooms but when someone was in the room, the glass turned opague.  So neat.  A restaurant like this would be a huge hit in S Florida!

The dinner was likewise fabulous with peautiful presentation.   We had puff pastry with shrimp, pineapple and other goodines in a great sauce.  This was followed by pumpkin soup and then salmon with black and white sesame seeds.  This was the first meal in China that we didn't feel stuffed.  We had plenty of red and white wine to accompany our meal.

Then they surprised me with a birthday cake and the group sang Happy Birthday.  I made a wish, blew out the candle and then Tim served everyone at our table the cake.  They bought out green tea ice cream to go with the cake and that was yummy.  The ice cream ws in a large bowl with dry ice that steamed up - it was cool.  We had David go ask Jennifer to join us for the cake and ice cream since she hadn't eaten dinner with us.  This was a great day.

Our group filled less than 1/2 of the large center table and Tim and I sat near the middle so we enjoyed watching the dishes that the others at the common table were served.  All so beautifully done.  The restaurant would not let anyone take pictures as their design was their "intellectual property" - but I did sneak one of the floating candles. 

We got to talk to David, Marliss, and Karl during dinner and enjoyed that a lot.  We had a good time also watching the progress of one couple seated at one of the beds in the window.  There was a lot of sucking on fingers and other body parts - and the entire encounter progressed considerably during our dinner.  When we left she was on his side of the bed table all over him.  This was fun to watch!

After dinner we loaded on the bus and David gave us final instructions for our various departuresthe next day.  I am in the early group since my flight leaves a little after 9.  I was scheduled to ride to the airport with several others, so at the hotel I bade my farewells to those who I wouldn't see - Jack & Sally, Dick & Susan, and Paul & Belinda.  I'll tell the others goodbye tomorrow.

Back in the room, Ifinished my packing since my large suitcase is scheduled to be picked up by the butler at 5:15. am.  We went to bed after placing awakeup call for 5 with coffee service.

Last Chinese lesson:  Ma Ma  Who Who means "So So" as in How are you doing?  Ma Ma Who Who.  Also the inflection is so critcal.  We found out that Knee How (down then up on the How) means Hello, while Knee How (flat How) means You're stupid.  Better be careful how you pronounce those Chinese words!

Larry

 

Monday May 28 - Beijing

We got up at 7, dressed, and went acorss the street from the St Regis to Starbucks for a real cup of coffee.  Chinese coffee just isn't the same.  It was just like the US and the prices were the same.  The Starbucks is next to a Subway so I took a picture of this with its Chinese name on the front for Gina in Ft Lauderdale who is in my water aerobics class and lives with Fred who owns Subway.  Went we went into the Starbucks, a woman was cleaning the windows out front - she was the one who came in and took our order.  The coffee was just like the US.  We met our group at 8:30 - many wanted info on the duck restaurant where they will go tonight.  We then all loaded on the bus to go to see the pandas at the Beijing Zoo.

Jennifer told us about the pandas - there are over 5,000 left in the world.  We saw 3 giant pandas each in a separate area.  All of them were eating on bamboo - that Jennifer told us is just a snack as they are meat eaters and love pork.  We took pictures and then I bought a small stuffed panda bear eating bamboo for my granddaughters. 

After a short time at the zoo, we headed to The Summer Palace where the Dragon Lady lived in the late 1800's.  They built a huge lake by hand 300 years ago.  There waas a covered walkway almost 1/2 mile long so the emperor/empress wouldn't get wet while looking at the lake.  There was a huge Buddhist temple on the hill and many other temples.  They also had a stone boat made of marble (I think) - it doesn't float but is permanently docked there.  We saw where Dragon Lady lived.  Dragon Lady thought of herself as a beauty but everyone feared her.  She bound her feet at a young age to keep them small as Chinese men thought this was a beautiful trait in a woman.  So her feet were only 3"long.  She had trouble walking because of this, but she was usually carried by 36 men - 9 was a lucky number so 9 times 4 equals 36.  We walked the entire walkway around  the lake and stopped for a little shipping.  I got an ice cream that was delicious and a shuttlecock game that David showed us - it was 5 yuan or ~.$.75.

Then we had a private Dragon Boat ride across the lake from one side to the other - one way.  We saw many beautiful bridges including the Marco Polo Bridge.  We then left The Summer Palace by bus and drove to the HuTong District where 2/3 of the people in Beijing live.  We went to Nuage for lunch - a chic Vietnamese restaurant on The Grand Canal which flows from The Yangtze River.  There were beautiful streets living the canal where people come to stroll or do Tai Chi.

The lunch was family style again eaten with chop sticks.  We had about 10 courses this time.  The curry chicken and beef dishes were the best.  AFter lunch we got into 2 people bicycle rick-shaws.  Gui Dafeng was our driver.  We drove deep into Hutong to a private home owned by Mr and Mrs Wu.  She had the greatest smile.  Three generations live in the house - Mr and Mrs Wu, their 2 grown sons with their wives and 1 granddaughter.  Mr Wu was an archiologist and was sent to the farms during the Cultural Revolution.  They admitted that this was a huge mistake for Mao Tse Tung to do this, but they learned from it.  They explained their life in the HuTong.

Gui, our driver, then met us and we had a bike race back to the bus.  Tim and I, driven by Gui were Number 1.  (Did you have any doubts?).

We loaded back on the bus and were driven back to the hotel by 3:15.  At 3:30 David had rented a pingo pong table in the fitness center and he played ping pong with us for an hour.  He was very good.  In the championship game, Greece (Paul) lost to China (David).  A fun time was had by all.  Tim worked out in the gym during this time.

At 5:30 Tim and I had drinks in the Executive Lounge.  We talked to Sally and Jack untila little past 7 and had a great time.  We went down to get a taxi at 7:30 to take us to Brasserie Flo - a French restaurant recommended by the concierge for a special birthday dinner for me (one day early!).  The ride there was uneventful and we got there about 7:45.  The restaurant was on the second floor and they seated us on the terrace for dinner.  Ot was a beautiful moonlit night was a 3/4 moon in the sky and there were few tables occupied.  They greeted us with "Bon Soir, Monsieur" - it was all very French and wonderful.

Tim selected wine (French St Emilion Grand Cru of course) and then we ordered dinner.  I had a delicious Soupe Poisson (fish soup) done only as the French can do.  Tim had a duck terrine.  For entree, I had a very French entrecote (steak) done perfectly and Tim had duck confit (will he ever get enough duck?).  But that is his favorite.

The ownder - a cute Frenchman from Dijon came over and we talked.  Tim ordered a Grand Marnier crepe flambe for dessert and I ordered the Flo Special dessert that was bites of 4 different desserts on the menu.  The owner did the flambe himself on the terrace next to our table.  Both were devine.

I asked the hostess to get us a taxi back to the hotel and explain to the driver where we wanted to go from the hotel card I carried.  (These are essential in China).  She went downstairs with us and talked to a guard who went in the street and got us a taxi.  The hostess showed the taxi driver the address for the hotel and he nodded that he knew where this was.  We took off a much different way than we had come to the restaurant and went through a night club district.  After a while, we realized the driver had no idea where we were supposed to be going.  He stopped at a specific corner and a young boy bhrew a bunch of "pretty girl"cards into our laps.  Then the pimp came to the cab and wanted to talk. We weren't sure what to do so Tim called the hotel (thank goodness he had his phone tonight!).  The hotel concierge talked to the taxi driver and we took off again in a different direction.  All the while the meter is running but then we realize our driver still doesn't know where to go!  He ends up pulling upbehind a different taxi and goes to talk to the other driver - meter is still running!  I asked Tim to call the hotel again and once again the hotel told the taxi driver how to get us back to the St Regis.

This time the hotel talked to the new driver.  The new driver paointed to the destination on our card which was the restaurant where we had just eaten and I shook my head NO - and pointed to the hotel address in Chinese.  We then got out of the first taxi (meter at 28 yuan) and into a new taxi (meter started over at 10) and started again to the hotel.  Shortly thereafter, we pulled into the parking lot of the Sizzler (yes the Sizzler) next door to the St Regis - we were back!  We got out and paid the driver the 12 yuan fare and walked to the hotel. Whew!  The Chinese must teach the taxi drivers how to get tourists where they want to go without this hassle before the 2008 Olympics.

We retired early after another exciting day.  We have to get up at 6:30 tomorrow for our last day in Beijing, our last day in China, and our last day on this tour.  But my tour with R Crusoe continues on to India on Wednesday.  Such a fabulous trip.

Larry

Sunday May 27 - Beijing - HIGHLIGHT DAY

This was the most fabulous day for me.  A visit to the Great Wall of China.

We were up at 7 and went to the huge breakfast buffet in the lobby that is included with the room.  We left at 8:30 for a bus ride to the Great Wall of China - about 2 hours outside of Beijing - a section of the wall with fewer tourists.

Jennifer, our local guide, is from Mongolia, but moved to Beijing for job opportunities.  She lived in a village of 150 people and lived on a farm where she helped care for sheep, camels (2 with humps), goats, and horses.  She described the natural beauty of Mongolia and invited us to visit there.  I'd love to do that.

She is getting married to a Chinese at the end of this year and will go back to Mongolia to be with her parents as called for by tradition.  This is considered a mixed marriage since Jennifer is Mongolian and her fiancee is Chinese.  Her village only got electricity 10 years ago and she grew up without knowing it.  She bought her father a computer and now he uses it to get info on the web and send emails.  She brought her mother to Beijing and took her to see the ocean for the first time.  She said her mother cried.  Her mother and father were in an arranged marriage - but Jennifer has chosen her husband to be.

Jennifer was encouraged by her father to study hard.  She had a dream since she was a little girl to go to Beijing to live and get a better job for a better life.  Her current dream is to come to the US but she had visa problems.  I'm sure with her determination that she will find a way.  The sudents in her university discrimated against her because she was Mongolian.  She said that she did so poorly on her first English tests - scoring 20 out of 100.  The students had study groups but they wouldn't tell Jennifer where they were.  Jennifer then started going to Tienamen Square where there were English-speaking people and she offered to show them around for free if they would help her speak and learn better English.  After doing this she got 100 on her English test.  After this, one of her fellow students asked her if it was true Mongolians eat their meat raw.  Jennifer replied - Yes and sometimes it's human!  She was so proud of her accomplishment.  She is a real inspiration and is living her dream.  Remember "The Secret"?

We stopped after a 30 minute drive outside of Beijing at a cloissone factory.  They showed us how cloissone is made from creating the copper pots, spplying the wires with glue to the pots in various designs, applying the enamel colors in the pattern, firing the items, applying more enamel, refiring, then polishing.  It was a primitive technique yet one that they have passed form generation to generation.  Orchid was our tour guide and spoke excellent English.  At the end of our tour we were shown into a huge showroom where they had lots of things for sale. 

Tim and I looked throughout and after much consternation, we settled on 2 Christmas ornaments for our travel tree - an elephant and a nutcracker.  Then we bought a large cloissone egg (cobalt blue of course) for the Florida condo.  They would not negotiate on prices at all so we paid full price on all of these pieces but we got a free gift - so I chose the cobalt blue chopsticks.  Orchid showed them to me and I asked her if Tim should use on and I should use one since there were only 2 sticks for 2 people.  They laughed.  I tried to get her to give me another set but she wouldn't.  So I bought one for 30 REM (about $4) so now we can both eat.  This reminded me of the reflexology doctor Paul saw in Guilin - Paul asked, What can I do for weight loss.  The doctor replied - Use one chopstick!.

Tim had been admiring a large cloissone bowl (cobalt blue again) and we looked at it several times both individually and together.  Orchid saw us do this and kep pushing us to buy the bowl.  It was 6600 REM and another 1000 for shipping to the US.  Tim finally decided NO and I went to finalize the other purchases.  After that Susan (FL) wanted to see the blow we had been looking at so I showed it to her.  Orchid was right there immediately and kep pushing this bowl.  Susan walked away and Orchid and I kept on talking. At this point, I can't relate the following events out of respect to my agreement with Orchid.  So I'll jump to the bottom line - I bought the bowl and it will arrive in Florida before I get back from my trip.  I was very happy with my purchase.  I got back on the bus and showed Tim a picture of it and wished him a Happy 2008 Birthday!  He was very pleased.  Susan (FL) told me - I knew you would get it!

We them left for the Great Wall of China.  It was 4,000 miles long and reached from the sea to Mongolia and it took decades to build.  It was started over 2,000 years ago in the Qin Dynasty.  It has been restored over the years and is one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.  It was so excited.  Tim's thing was to see the Terra Cotta Soldiers in Xian but mine was to walk and climb the wall.  As we got off of the bus, Tim and I started singing Pink Floyd's "The Wall".  It was funny.

We walked through a large market area where everyone was selling things for $1.  Jennifer had told us not to touch these items as it is a scam and they will change the prices if you touch them, so we headed straight for the cable car that would take us to the top.  We did pass a man at booth 81 that Jennifer said gave good deals, so we waited until we came back down from the wall.  We got to the cable car lift and went up with John, Lillian, Allyn, and Susan (TX).  When we got to the tip, I was in awe - we got to the top at 11:30 and Jennifer had told us to get up on the wall and go left for the best views.  The wall was magnificent - about 15-20' wide with lots of steps and slopes.  Every so ofter there was a watch tower which gave us some shade and coolness in the hot weather.  On some of the watch towers, you could like to the tip.

Tim and I set a goal to go to the highest watch tower and we allocated 45 minutes to get there - a stretch goal at best - especially for me.  We paused along the way to catch our breath (my breath!) and drink water.  It was so exhilerating.  We got to the last section to go to the pinnacle - the highest lookout tower.  It was quite steep and we took lots of breaks.  The stairs to go up the lookout tower were very steep - we let 2 girls from Chicago go in front of us and I suggested to one that she climb it like a monkey with hands and feet.  She did just that so I did the same thing and it worked fine.  The view from the top was magnificent and we could see The Great Wall way off in the distance as it snaked its way to the next ride then, down through the valley to yet another ridge way in the distance and then continue on.  How fabulous this was.  We also saw the ruins of the wall where it had not been restored past our watchtower.  I took lots of pictures of this as this was the highlight for me. 

We had alloted time to get to the tower and actually arrived there 10 minutes early.  After taking it all in and taking pictures and resting, we headed back down.  The walk down the steep stairs was tricky and again we did it using our hands.  The walk back down was easier but in places we could really feel it in our quads.  We made it back to the meeting place for our group 15 minutes early and everyone was already there - most of them hadn't walked that far.  So since we were early, Tim and I headed down the wall to the right and went to the 2nd watch tower and took pictures.  This was fabulous too.  We got back 1 minute before 1 pm (the appointed time) and everyone had already gone down to shop so David was waiting for us.  He was amazed that we had gone all of the way to the top tower and told us no one on any of his tours had ever gone that far - and neither had he!  So we were proud of this accomplishment. 

We took the cable car back down the mountain - you can walk but there are over 1,000 steps and it takes 1 - 1 1/2 hours to make the walk up.  Tim wants to do that next time when we come here with Lauren and Lillian!!!!  (Leslie - do you want to join Grandpere and the girls in China?).

We were immediately met at the bottom of the cable car by more shop owners with their $1 scams.  This was overwhelming and I was glad Jennifer had told us to wait.  We found booth 81 and the rest of our group was there buying voraciously.  I jumped into the fray late but got 2 hats (Beijing Olympics 2008), a Chairman Mao Red Book with his sayings (some are very interesting), and a purple mask of an old Chinese man with a "top knot".  I bought this because of the top knot as it reminded me of the joke EJ and Rich had told us.  Tim told this joke on the bus and our fellow travelers all had a good laugh.  Susan (FL) said she couldn't wait to tell it to her friends and especially a plastic surgeon friend.

We then drove to lunch and had a 15 course - yes 15 because Susan (TX) counted them - lunch served family style on a lazy susan.  This was one of the better meals we have had and I particularly liked the corn/grain/sugar concoction and the pancakes with vegetables.  Yum!

After lunch (and several beers) we got on the bus to head back to our hotel in Beijing.  Everyone was tired after the walking and such a large lunchand drinks so most snoozed for a while.  As we got close to Beijing, David woke everyone up and discussed some background of the Peoples' Republic of China.  It was formed 10/1/1949 and marked a new era for the Chinese people.  Chairman Mao was all-powerful and exerted control over the people (600M at the time).  He tried new things - some worked and some didn't work.  The Cultural Revolution started in 1966 and ended in 1976 when Chairman Mao died.  Mao is entombed (and mummified) in Tienamin Square is is still beloved by many Chinese although David admits he made many mistakes.  I read some passages from Chairman Mao's little red book and it is truly interesting - and somewhat radical to our way of thinking.

Tomorrow we go to Tienamen Square and The Forbidden City - this will be exciting too.  We arrived back at the hotel at 4:15 and Tim and I had my birthday wine from my children for our evening cocktails while we dressed.  At 6 pm, we caught a taxi to to to the Beijing BaDong Roast Duck Restaurant.  Jennifer had reserved us a table there and she wrote the instructions in Chinese for the taxi and restaurant.  I got a taxi from the hotel bellman and asked the bellman to make sure the driver knew where the restaurant was and to show us since Jennifer had told me the restaurant didn't have a sign in English.  The bellman assured us the driver knew the restaurant.  Long story - short - He didn't.  We drove around and around all the while this Chinese taxi driver was shouting in loud Chinese.  He tried to unload us at an office building and we knew that wasn't right.  I started to ask people on the street if they spoke English but the driver called someone to ask directions.  He was still confused - all the while shouting in Chinese!  I started laughing.

We started to get out of this taxi and find another one - or to have him take us back to the hotel - when suddenly he turned the taxi around and off we went.  It ends up he had called Jennifer, our local guide, and she told him how to get there.  We passed a huge group of construction workers in their yellow hard hats sitting on the curb waiting for a special bus to pick them up.  We headed back up the highway - he had taken us too far.  He finally found the restaurant - Whew!  Of course, this was the one time Tim hadn't taken his global cell phone.

Jennifer had given us a piece of paper with her name in Chinese and phone number with the name of the restaurant and what we wanted to eat.  It ended up that the restaurant had servers who spoke English and they greeted us in English and showed us to our table.  The menu was in Chinese and English and was over 100 pages long with pictures.  As we walked in the restaurant, there were dozens of ducks hanging in the window waiting to be cooked and we could see many in the glass walled kitchen being roasted.  Yum - we couldn't wait.  They had our reservation (in Jennifer's name in Chinese) and took us directly to our table right by the carving table where they carve the ducks.  We ordered a bottle of white wine that ended up costing us 3 times what the duck cost!  It was funny though - we were at the Beijing BaDong Roast Duck Restaurant - the Are of Cooking by Chef Dong - but we couldn't find one duck on the menu.  Later our travel colleagues told us it was there but neither Tim nor I saw the duck.  But they knew what we had come for.

Our server took our order for 1 duck for the 2 of us and she helped Tim pick out side orders - a green vegetable that was like spinach.  Duck soup came with the meal and a persimmon sorbet, a plate of fresh fruit and the most unusual thing I've ever seen served in a restaurant - a stick of Wrigley's chewing gum.  But the duck was devind.  The chef carved it in front of us preserving the skin which is quite tasty - the meat and the organs came on separate plates.  After the carving, the server showed us how to assemble the meal.  She put the duck skin in sugar - that was new for us and delicious.  She took the small crepes and put duck on them after dipping the meat in hoisin sauce - yum!  Then she added green onion strips.  Then the crepe was folded and eaten - fabulous.  Then she assembled a biscuit with somewhat similar technique - duck in hoisin - cucumber strips, radish strips and garlic sauce with sugar.  That was fabulous too.  She then left us to our own devices to devour the entire duck - except for the organs.  The restaurant was clean, spacious, and packed - we were the only westerners in there.  This was a real treat that both Tim and I had been looking forward to - Peking Duck in Peking!  (Thanks, Skip, for introducing me to this mean years ago in Charlotte).   I found out that Peking is the Cantonese name for this city while Beijing is the Mandarin name.  It just has 2 different pronunciations.  Dinner was fabulous - we just couldn't come to Beijing without eating Peking duck.

At the end, the server insisted that I fill out a comment card.  The Chinese really do want to get things right before the Olympics in 2008.  I rated everything Excellent except for the duck soup that we had both thought probably tasted loke dish water would taste.  Once they read my comments, they came back - not one - not two - but three of them to find out WHY we didn't like the soup.  Tim and I thought that this was funny.  We had eaten everyting except the soup and they just didn't understand that we didn't like the taste.  We saved the chewing gum to show to our tour group - they'll get a laugh out of that.  We paid the bill and our server walked me out and helped me get a taxi.  We returned to the hotel and went for a walk around Beijing to walk off dinner and all of the food we have eaten.  I've gained all of the weight back I had lost plus more.

We happened on a group of people doing ballroom dancing in a park.  They had a portable music source and did all kinds of ballroom dancing.  They last dance they did while we watched was a waltz and they did a marvelous job.  They were 20-30 couples off and on dancing.  They looked so serious and never clapped after the songs.  I asked David about that later and he told me that clapping would never be done in a setting like that.

We walked back to the hotel and went by several embassies just around the corner from our hotel including the US and Greece embassies that were side by side (Paul and Belinda are from Greece).  We went to the lobby lounge for a nigtcap and there was a table of Chinese women all dressed up ("You need girlfriend!").

We got to bed around 10 pm after a truly unbelieveable day.   One of my most memorable days ever.

Larry

Saturday May 26 - Xian to Beijing, China

We got up at 6 am this morning to get our bags ready for the porters by 7.  We had breakfast in the loungs and then met the group in the lobby at 8:30.  I had toast with rose pedal jam - actually made from rose petals - it was interesting and good.  We met David, Ling, and our group at 8:30 in the lounge, loaded on the bus, and headed to the airport - an hour and 10 minute drive - to catch our plane at 10:20 for Beijing.  We arrive early afternoon to begin the Beijing portion of the tour.  The Chinese had built a new superhighway outside of the city to the airport and it was really nice.  They had already checked our bags but security was a bit lax as our boarding passes didn't even have our own names on them.

We waited about an hour to load on the China Eastern jet for the 80 minute flight to Beijing.  The tour had given us a box lunch (with a bottle of water too) that we carried right through security.  But the airline offered a hot lunch that was actually pretty good.  I had beef with rice while Tim had pork with noodles. 

We arrived in Beijing right on time, waited while the tour retrieved our bags and then we met Jennifer, our local guide.  She explained that there are 15M people in Beijing and we saw cranes everywhere for all of the construction that is underway.  They now laugh and say "the crane" is the national bird.  Lots of new high rises, new highways, and renovation of existing buildings in preparation for the Beijing Olympics in 2008.  I have a feeling that they will do a very good job preparing.

We drove to a huge park that housed the Temple of Heaven.  This temple was actually a group of temples with the most beautiful being the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvest.  There were 22 emperors who came here to pray for their people.  The walkway to the temple was so interesting as many people were there singing and playing instruments of all sorts.  One large group of older Chinese people were singing loudly and even had a conductor.  Jennifer told us that they were singing The Chairman Mao Song and they do this every day.  They were smiling and singling loudly - over and over - and this was GREAT!

After our visit to the temples we walked back to the bus.  On the way I bargained on a Chairman Mao watch - from 150 to 50 yuan, and a Tshirt (Beijing Olympics 2008) for 20 yuan.  We took a 20 min ride to the St Regis Hotel where we will stay for the next 4 nights.  On arrival in our room, I had a fun surprise - a bottle of wine from Chris and Leslie with a card - "Happy 28th Birthday for the 33rd time!  We are thinking of you - Love, Chris and Leslie".  That was a special moment and I love those my children so much.

We changed for dinner and met our group in the executive lounge at 5 for cocktails.  It ended up that cocktails didn't start until 5:30 so we shared stories with others in our group.  Finally, "the butler" - Clark - took our drink orders.  I asked Clark how he got his English name and he told me from Superman - he loves Clark Kent.  I introduced him to the rest of the group and he loved that.  We kidded him about this and befrinded him.  He started making the drinks stronger too!

We loaded on a bus at 6:30 to go to The Courtyard Restaurant just outside the walls of the Forbidden City.  It was a lovely Western-style restaurant with original art pieces on the wall.  We all enjoyed dinner but overate again.  Tim and Paul had to pay an outrageous price for the wine that we enjoyed.

On the walk to the restaurant we saw a "special barbershop" - a business that looks like a barber shop but has hookers working there.  You can get a massage with a "happy ending" there!  We laughed about this.  We also saw a verterinary hospital that excited Karl.  We walked to the Night Market - a long block full of food stalls selling all kinds of exotic foods - snake, scorpions, centepedes, grubs, and many other things that were inedible for us.  I didn't even want to think about it.  But Karl ate 3 scorpions that were deep fried and he said tasted like french fries - all he needed was ketchup.  I kidded Karl and told him that they were aphrodisiacs so we had fun joking about that too.

We got back on the bus and returned to the hotel about 10 pm.  At the hotels we have stayed at we have been warned not to use the water from the tap to brush our teeth as it may not be purified.  So we only use bottled water that is purified. 

Another fabulous day.  Tomorrow the highlight for me - The Great Wall of China.

Larry

Friday May 25 - Xian, China

We were able to sleep until 7 am this morning since we don't leave the hotel until 9:20.  We had breakfast in the Horizon Club which is located on the floor of the hotel where our room is.  Tim ordered one of the special breakfast dishes available - Meat Dumplings in Spicy Soug - it was very hot but he enjoyed it.  We are having a dumpling lunch so this starts the day off right for him.

We both did our computer updates using the PC's in the Club and then met our group at 9:20 in the hotel lobby.  The bus took us to Shaanxi Normal University to meet with Professor Qin (pronounced chin) and students.  Each person on our trip had a student.  There was only one male student as these are people studying to be teachers and not many boys want to teach.  I had Hou Can (pronounced how-(long)Z-aan) - she spoke such good English and explained to me why English is such an important subject in Chinese education.  We talked for 1 1/2 hours about education, freedome of speech, human rights, American TV (the Chinese love Friends and Prison Break), and American movies.  All of these are bootlegged from the internet but they get them with Chinese subtitles on them.  We had an animated discussion about so many topics.  The Chinese in general don't like President Bush (he wants to be the emperor of the world) but they think nicely of the American peole.  They don't understand why the US invaded Iraq.  I tried to explain invasion for the purpose of conquering versus invasion for the purpose of liberating.  I think she got it.

Many Chinese want to live in the US but they can't get visa since many Chinese who have come to the US don't ever leave.  My student didn't have an English name so she asked me to give her one.  I gave her 2 to pick from - since her family name was Hou, I suggested "Holly" but she wanted a name based on her given name so I also suggested "Candy" based on her given name being Can.  I told her she could pick the one that she liked or find another one.

We had a very open discussion.  She invited me to go to a performance tonight to hear her mother sing in a Tang Dynasty production.  He mother is an accomplished singer and teaches musice in the university.  We already have plans for tonight so unfortunately I had to decline. 

Candy explained that men and women are paid the same but the selection for jobs is biased(just as in the US) based on gender.  Women aren't selected because employers know that at some point they will get pregnant.  Lillian had a young woman who worked part time in a candy store and she was told that the girl made 2.5 yuan / hour - about $.32.  Wow!

The entire group enjoyed this experience.  Professor Qin was paired with Tim.  She asked him to help her get an art student a job with DuPont - that would be mission impossible.  Also she wanted him to help her get a job teaching Chinese in America.  She taught at a university in Illinois previously and apparently really like this.  Professor Qin is now retired - she graduated from university in 1964 but was sent to work on a farm during the Chairman Mao regime.  She stayed on the farm working for 10 months and then eventually moved to teaching in the university.  She has taught students English and works in a language school.  All of the students we met were training to be teachers.  Hou Can is majoring in pshchology.  She tole me the examination from college is in 3 parts - English - Politics - and Knowledge.  I was amazed that English is such an important part of this examination.  We exchanged email addresses and Hou Can promised to write to me.  That would be fun to stay in touch with her.

We left the University and went to the DefaChang Restaurant - a dumpling restaurant.  Tim was so excited.  The dumplings were fabulous - so many works or art in food.  The most favorite dumpling at our table were the walnuts - Susan from Dallas ate most of these on the second order that we placed for them!  The dumplings were fabulous but so filling.  They truly were works of art.  We couldn't eat them all - and we wondered who ate the leftovers!

Ling told us that there are hot pot restaurants and we hope to go to one tonight.  But other hot pot restaurants specialize in fish heads.  Ling told us that the most cherished parts of the fish are the fish lips, cheek meat (which Tim loves) and fish eyeballs - all specialties in China.  We also learned that KFC is the most popular fast food restaurant in China - they love it - it's more popular that McDonalds since they eat more chicken than beef.

After lunch we went to the Historical Museum of Shanghai to view a private exhibit of the mural paintings from the walls of the emperor tombs from the Shannxi Province.  The tombs were built over 1300 years ago for emperors, their wives, the Prime Minister, and other officials.  There have been 80 tombs discovered starting in 1962 and others unearthed between 1962 and 1982.  The murals were all in special chambers to protect them and the Chinese are trying to determine hw to display them for the public.  What we saw was for VIP's only and Curator Qui has been working with these for years and has recreated many and colored them since the colors have faded since the tombs were underground and subjected to a lot of moisture.

After the musuen we went by bus back to the hotel for a free afternoon.  I saw a bus and car collision on the way that must have been only one of many.  The way traffic moves is truly amazing.

We rested a short time and took a taxi to the Bell Tower in the middle of town close to where we had lunch.  They had a gong (bell) you could ring for a fee.  We watched others ring the bell with a huge wooden striker.  We walked to the top and took pictures.  It was a very good view but I keep wondering how much more beautiful this place would be if there were no smog.  It is truly sad.

We waled through the underground walkway to the Drum Tower.  There were 3 Starbucks at this one intersection!  We walked to the Drum Tower - not as big as the Bell Tower but interesting.  A Chinese man walked up and struck the drum only to discover that he had to pay to do this - it was funny.  He then got to strike the drum 2 more times after paying.  We laughed.

We went to the top and viewed a furniture exhibit inside.  We also saw a display that shower the drum as the oldest Chinese musical instrument discovered.  They had many different kinds of drums from minority groups, etc.  We saw a Yao drum from the Yao tribe we had visited, and elephant foot drum that looked like is name, and many others.

We left the Drum Tower and went into a huge market area next door that had vegetables, fruits, and tourist items.  They had wanred us of the pickpockets and their ability to cut the bottom of your carrying items to extract the contents so we were very alert.  We then walked to the other side of the busy road to find a taxi.  We found lots of taxis but no drivers so we were puzzled.  Finally a man walked up and asked if we wanted a taxi.  I showed him my hotel card and he gave me a price of 50 REM to take us there - it should be about 10 so we walked away and went to the East Road, South exist of the underground walkway where there was another taxi stand.  We immediately got a taxi - he knew where we wanted to go and off we went.  I can't believe we made it back to the hotel safely but we did.  We tipped the driver even though they don't tip taxis in China.  I asked the bellman to tell the driver that he was very skilled and we appreciated him getting us back safely.  He liked that.

We went to the Horizon Club for cocktails and hors d'oeuvres and to share stories wtih others in our group.  At 7:45 we left in a taxi with David, Belinda, and Paul to go to the hot pot restaurant.  It was fabulous.  We had a private room that David had arranged and each of us had our boiling pot in which to cook various food - vegetables, lettuces, melon (!), beek and lamb.  Tim, David, and Paul got spicy boiling pots while Belinda and I had regular ones.  The hot pots got better and better as the cooking went on.  I tried to pay for dinner for all of us but David had already taken care of this.    This was a great experience.  I noticed my hands are a bit swollen so there must have been a lot of salt.

We took a taxi back to the hotel and went to bed since we need to get up early.  Bags ready inside the door by 7 am.  Another fabulous day on this fabulous trip.

Larry

Thursday May 24 - Xian, China - HIGHLIGHT DAY

We were up at 6, ate breakfast in the Executive Lounge at the buffet and met our travel companions at 8 for the ride out to see the Terra Cotta Army.  Today was a much anticipated HIGHLIGHT day for this entire trip.  The trip to the Terra Cotta Soldiers Museum took 50 minutes.  Upon arrival, we had VIP treatment for this entire experience - one differentiating factor with the R Crusoe and Sons Tour.  Ling gave us a commentary on the history.  Emperor Qin was the first emperor of the Xing Dynasty from 259 - 210 BC.  He died suddenly at age 49.  He had his mausoleum built over several decades using up to 750,000 people.  They made terra cotta figures with different characteristics to guard Qin in the afterlife.  Qin searched for ways to become immortal but obviously failed.  They estimate that there are 6000-8000 terra cotta soldiers - all buried.  Almost 1,000 of them have been put back together since they were found in pieces in 1974.  They consider this site the Eight Wonder of the World and we can see why. 

Qin's successor (conqueror) had the terra cotta soldiers destroyed so all were found in broken condition - such a shame.  They have done an absolutely marvelous job of putting the soldiers back together.  Ling also showed us the 2 brass chariots pulled by 4 horses each that were discovered - all brass.  They also had all kinds of animals and weapons buried but most of the weapons were taken by the conquerors.  As VIP visitors, we had access to a special viewing platfrm right above the army.  After that, they took us to another area in the excavation area whre we were RIGHT THERE with many of the soldiers.  We took lots of pictures and the other tourists - especially the French - were quite jealous of our up close access.  Tim had to lift Sally up so her head showed at the top of one of the soldiers so I could take a picture of her and Jack together - they were cute.

This was rally special and Tim was like a child at Christmas time.  We then went to the gift shop where Tim immediately bough 3 soldiers (not sure how much bargaining he did as he just wanted them, and we know how he gets when he feels that way!).  He bought 3 soldiers - an infantryman, a general, and a kneeling archer - and a horse (with saddle).  He was ecstatic and will use these at the new condo in DE. 

We then went to the coffee ship and hada box lunch with bing TsingTao beer (bing = cold).  After lunch we loaded on the bus and headed back to the hotel.  Ling gave me a piece of paper that I could use to get a taxi to take us to the East Gate of the ancient wall surrounding the city.  While this wall is nothing like the Great Wall that we will visit in Beijing, it was GREAT!.  To make it extra special, we rented bicycles and pedaled our way around the ENTIRE wall.  Tim estimates that it was 12 miles long and it took us 1 1/2 hours of constant peddling on the bumpy stones.  This was so much fun.

After turning in the bikes we went in one of the massive structures at the east gate - most likely used by the eperior when Xian was the capital of China.  We discovered here that the wall had a moat outside too that we didn't even know was there.  So this was quite a fortress.  We returned down from the wall, I hailed a taxi and showed him the card that the hotel had given me so he would know in Chinese where we wanted to go.  Taxis (along with most other services in China) are very, very cheap.  This ride was only ~$1.50.

Tim went to the gym and I tried to get my stomach settled down.  This is the first stomace distress I've had on the entire trip and hpefully it won't be that bad.  We had cocktails in the lounge at 5:30 with the group and then left at 6:30 for dinner and a Chinese show - more about that later.  While Tim and I were biking on the wall, everyone else went on the bus to a craft and jade center - we have seen enough of that so we enjoyed the wall ride.

A little politics - China has a strnog focus on education for its people.  It had developed to a point where the Chinese are masters at copying things.   We laughed because they have "genuine fake" markets that they advertise.  On the new tonight, they reported that the government has a goal of turning China into an "innovative country" through specific strategies they are implementing withing the next 15 years.

On the environment, Xian is so dusty, smoggy, and dirty.  There are so many people in China (1.3B) and they have traditionally gotten power from coal burning plants.  They are trying to switch to nuclear and hydroelectric.  Tim says that a lot of the smoke in Xian is from the dust blowing in from the Gobe Desert - northwest of here.

There are tons of bicycles and scooters on the streets of Xian.  David explained that it looks like chaos to us, but it is very orderly to them and just the way it works in China.  People set out in front of traffice to cross the street anywhere and weave their way through traffic - no need to find a cross walk.  Also if you are making a right turn, in China you can ignore the red light always and just keep on going even though there is heavy traffic in the street you are turning on to.  They just merge.  It all works but is a bit disconcerting at time.

We loaded on a bus at 6:30 after several cocktails in the lounge and went to the Tang Dynasty Theatre.  It was a large Las Vegas style, glitsy dinner theatre.  We sat at a long table with Paul, Belinda, Jack, Sally, and David.  Paul bought a bottle of champagne for our table which was a great treat.  We had several toasts.  The dinner was several courses as usual and very good.

Chinese musicians - all women - played Chinese instruments while we ate and a woman sang a few Chinese songs.  After dinner, the one hour show was beautiful with very colorful costumes, beautiful lighting, dancing, and singing.  The highlight for many was the man who played a 3,000 year old instrument that was built to sound like a bird.  It was invented by order of the emperor.  It was a bit screechy for me!

The finale had the entire dance troope and the emperor with his wife/wives and concubines entered the theatre from the back.  It was beautiful.  It was a fun evening.

This day certainly lived up to our expectations with the Terra Cotta Warriors, the bike ride on the city wall, and the dinner show.  We went to bed exhausted ready to get rested for another exciting day in Xian, China.

Larry

Wednesday May 23 - Shanghai to Xian, China

We awoke, packed, and had breakfast in the lobby cafe and then checked out of the Four Seasons - an excellent hotel.  We took a walk with our group through a local "commune" neighborhood one block from the hotel.  David lived in one of these neighborhoods for 10 years while he was growing up.  He never left the confines of this neighborhood.  There was limited access to these communes for security purposes.  They had services in the commune like food, hair cuts, etc.  Several families typically lived in one room.  They used a "honey pot" and the women were to clean them - it would be a huge embarrassment if the man had to clean the honey pot!  They are now tearing down all of these communes to develop the land.  The developer goes to the government and makes an offer and then the government negotiates (yeah, right) with the owners and they have to move.  Whatever money the government has left after these negotiations stays with the government.

We loaded on the bus and headed to the Jade Buddha Temple.  On the way a woman had a small girl by the hand walking down the sidewalk.  The little girl obviously had to go to the bathroom, so she squatted the child down, pulled her pants down, and she peed right there on the street.  I now understand many of the wet spots on the sidewalks as we have walked around.  What where you step!

We got to the Jade Buddha Temple and David explained Buddhism to s - incense, the many statues, offerings, etc.  We then went upstairs to see the Jade Buddha - a huge Buddha carved from a single piece of jade that had a yellowish - creamy color rather than green.  He told us it is very rare.

We then drove to the Shanghai Museum and we each received an audio guide. Tim and I went thorugh the bronze, furniture, minority, jade, and statue galleries.  We went to the museum store and I bought a T-shirt. 

We then headed to the Pudong Shanghai International Airport for our 2 1/2 hour flight to Xian.  We saw the bullet train along the way - it goes 420 km per hour and it only takes 7 minutes to get from Shanghai to the International Airport.  We arrived at the airport just in time and walked right on the plane.  In 10 minutes we were moving.

We arrived in Xian in late afternoon and were met by Ling, our local guide.  We loaded on a bus and she took us to the Han Dynasty Museum where Emperor Hang Ling is entombed.  They have excavated many of the burial plots around the emperor but not the emperor's yet as they want to be sure theyhave the technology to handle whatever they find inside.  This experience was a "teaser" for tomorrow as these tombs had small miniature terra-cotta figures of people and animals.  They buried THOUSANDS of these in the graves with the various people to assist in the afterlife.  This all happened 2,000 years ago and the figurines were fascinating.  It is interesting that the Egyptians were doing the same thing in a similar manner but neither knew of each other (that we know of).

Ling also told us about the role of the eunochs and concubines.  The concubines were selected to "service the needs" of the emperor.  The eunochs were selected at age 5 to guard the concubines and play other roles in the royal court.  It was an honor for a family to have their son selected as an eunoch.  They castrated the boys once selected and the family saved the boy's testacles so they could be buried with him once he died in hopes that he would be a man in the next life.

After the museum, we got back on the bus for the 45 minute ride to the Xian Shangri La Hotel - the only 5 star hotel in Xian.  Xian is another large city with about 7 M people.

We had snacks and drinks in the Executive Lounge and shared stories with our travel companions.  Then Tim and I went to the spa and I had a manicure, foot massage, and got my hair trimmed.  They really pamper you and they do a lot of cross selling.  My bill for all of the services I received was only $35.  Tim had just the manicure and enjoyed it.

Thomas cut my hair and washed it after the cut.   He washed it while I was sitting in the chair by putting shampoo at the very top and then pouring a small amount of water on the top and then gradually getting my full head soaped up. He didn't spill a drop.  I've never had my hair shampooed like this.  He then rinsed it at the sink and then had a woman come and give me a head and shoulder massage.  This was all a part of cross-selling as she wanted to sell me a full massage - perhaps tomorrow.

We turned in early as tomorrow will be a full day with our visit to the Terra Cotta Soldiers - full size people and animals buried with other royalty from 2,000 years ago.  Tim is so excited as this is the highlight for himon this trip.

Larry

Tuesday May 22 - Shanghai, China

Today was our free day in Shanghai.  We got up about 7:30 am, had breakfast in the Cafe Lobby Restaurant and met the group (except Jack and Sally) about 9 am.  The bus took us to Shu Jia Jiao - the River Town - an old city on the outskirts of Shanghai built around canals.  Quite scenic with lots of small bridges.  I stopped at a shop adn bargained for cute Chinese wine bottle holders.  We bought in bulk and got her down from 40 REM to 20 - whoo - $2.50!  Yeah - it feels so good when you at least "think" you have made a good deal!

We rode on a sampan through the canals with Chou as our oarsman.  We window shopped and saw lots of food that we wouldn't dare eat - including snakes, eels, etc.  Then we went to the Shanghai Qicac Silk Company so our travel companions could see how silk is woven into clothing.  But David mentioned that they had a rug display and I wanted to see that, so we went there.  The silk carpets were on the 3rd floor and they showed us how the grubs developed and spun the cocoons. Before the grubs turn into moths, they boil the silk cocoons, which kills the grubs, and they harvest the silk.  We saw a young girl weaving a beautiful silk carpet.  They use young people (all girls) because their fingers and hands are small and this is needed to do the tedious work.  The patterns they followed were small and intricate and once missed knot can ruin the entire carpet.  It can take over 1 year to make a single small carpet with so many knots.

The main plant where the silk carpets are made is ~ 5 hours out of Shanghai.  They showed us how they dye the silk and lastly how the sculptered designs are made into the carpets.  I had never seen this before even though we have so many of these types of carpets in out home in Florida.  Then then opened up the silk rug showroom and Tim said to me - "You can't come in here"!  We looked throughout - beautiful carpets.  Long story - short.  I bought a new Chinese design 100% silk runner - 8' long - cobalt blue and gold and a small table carpet.  The negotiating was fun too.

Then we met our driver and guide for the rest of the day - Jessie.  She was great and told us so muchy.  First Tim was very hungry so we went to Xia Tian Di and ate at Zen for dim sum.  We had the dumplings with soup inside (they freeze the soup and them form the dumpling around the frozencube and then steam it).  They were fabulous and we ordered another order of these at the end of the meal. 

After lunch, Jessie had our driver take us through the French concession - an area given to the French in which they could trade in Shanghai.  We then went to the Black Market - down an alley, then down a smaller alley - into a locked door, up small stairs, and then into another locked room.  Allyn and Susan were there buying watchs.  I had a picture of a Louis Vuitton purse for Leslie and they tried their best to sell me another one since they didn't have the one I wanted.  I persisted, so they went to get it.  Shortly after, it arrived.  I had fun negotiating with them on several items.

We left and the driver returned us to the hotel.  I went to the business center and updated my blog while Tim went to the gym - with so much to eat, that's where I should have been!

We dressed up for tonight's dinner and had a cocktail in the lobby lounge before meeting the rest of our group.  We went to a beautiful building with gardens that was the former British Consulate in the French Concession.  Dinner was magnificent.  Our first course included small meats on a plate that had sections of dry ice that swirled up while you ate.  Jessie had told us that David's birthday was May 20 (the day we arrrived in Shanghai), so I proposed a toast to him and we sang Happy Birthday David.  He was very pleased.

After dinner, Tim and I walked from the Four Seasons to the J W Marriott - Tim's home in Shanghai when he is there on business - for a nightcap.  We had a couple of drinks, took in the lights of the city one last time, watched them turn off at 11 pm and then took a taxi back to the Four Seasons.  There were some call girls in the bar working their trade. - "You need pretty girl!".

A couple of Chinese stories to relate:

The Japanese man asked the god when Japan would win the World Cup (soccer).  God said it would be 50 years the the Japanes man cried and said "I won't live that long".  Then the Korean man asked god when Korea would win the World Cup.  God said 100 years and the Korean man cried saying "I won't live that long and my sone won't live that long to see this".  Then the Chinese man asked the god when China would win the World Cup.  The god started crying and said that he wouldn't live that long!

There were 2 fish in a stream.  One philosopher said the fish was happy.  The other philosopher said - "You are wrong - How do you know that the fish is happy?".  The firt philospher said - "No you are wrong - how do you know that I don't know that the fish is happy?"  (This could go on forever - sort of like corporate discussions!!!!).

Chinese words - I love you - Woh - eye - knee (wo ai ni)

Hao = How = It's Good

Larry

Monday May 21 - Shanghai, China

Ti m had a business breakfast this morning so I set the clock for 7 am.  Ends up the time on the clock was set an hour early so it was really 6 and he was an hour early for his meeting - whoops!  He came back to the room and slept in the chair until the clock went off again.  I needed that extra hour of sleep after last night!  I got back up at 8 (the real 8!), got dressed, and went to a fabulous breakfast buffet in the hotel lobby.  Out group met at 9:30 to begin our tour of Shanghai, while Tim went to the DuPont offices in Pudong to meet with Shirley for the morning.  We went through Pu-She, through the tunnel to Pudong and straight to the Pearl Tower.  R Crusoe Tours had arranged a private lecture with Patrick Kranik who is a Marketing/Communications consultant in Shanghai but also a Chinese history expert.  He spoke with us for about an hour and a half n the history of Shanghai.  We got in the VIP line, no waiting, and went straight to the elevator to speed us to the top.  We went to the highest large sphere on the tower and had the dining room to ourselves.  The views were magnificient.  We saw the current 4th tallest building in the world and next door they are building the tallest in the world (for now).  Everything in Pudong (east) has been built in the last 15 years.  The construction is unbelievable.  Patrick described the last 2 centuries in Shanghai - it was not much of anything before that.  He gave a cultural, political, societal, and architectural perspective of Shanghai.  He is very passionate about Shanghai.  We then walked to the people mover ride under teh Huangpu River.  It had lights and a lot of fancy things.  We all fit in one capsule that moved n a track under the Pu.  We arrived at The Bund - the happening place in Shanghai.  We walked up the waterfront and marveled at the old buildings.  At 18 The Bund is Bar Rouge - upstairs - the nightclub where Tim partied previously and had the Nebecanesure bottle of champagne.  We had lunch at 4 The Bund at M on the Bund on the rooftop terrace.  Lunch was leisurely and fabulous.  I had salmon carpaccio and rack of lamb - deliciious.  Our lunch lasted 2 1/2 hours.  We then got on the bus and went to Yu Gardens.  David gave us a great narrative of the meaning of the gardens.  He explained that northern Chinese people are simple while southern Chinese people are complex - hence the gardens all have meaning here.  After the garden tour, Tim and I walked around the many shops but we didn't buy anything.  We took a taxi back to the hotel.  Tim napped while I updated my blog.

I got way behind since we were on thes hip for 3 days and the wireless wouldn't work.  After dressing, we met Ed Riley from Ingersoll Rand (now working in Shanghai) in the lobby lounge for a drink and catcu-up talk.  He seems to be very happy and was glad that we were able to visit in Shanghai together.  He is enjoying Shanghai and will probably stay here a while lonter.  Ed joined us for the evening activities since I had asked David to get Ed a ticket to the acrobatic show.  We then met up with our group and went by bus to the acrobatic show that was unbelievable.  The 1 hour 45 minute performance was spectacular.   Contortionists, trampolines, spring boards, and many other things.  The highlights for me were the man who spun large Chinese vases on his fingers and threw them in the air and caught them on the back of his neck - never dropping them - and they were large - and the motorcyclists in a sphere that was about 12 feet in diameter.  One by one they added a motorcyclist until there were 8 motorcycles speeding around inside the sphere.  It was amazing.  The show ended with confetti that had fortunes on them - like the inside of Chinese fortune cookies - which don't even exist in China!

After the show, we loaded on our bus and David took us for a nighttime tour of the lights on the Bund.  We was most of this last night but it was fun seeing it all again.  After the city tour we got back to the Four Seasons Hotel at 9:5 pm.  We immediately went to the Steak House Restaurant for salad, steak, and wine.  I've been craving a steak so it was good to have a Western-style dinner.  The restaurant staff was so nice to accommodate us even though we arrived 5 minutes before closing.  We enjoyed our steak dinner, and about 11 pm bade our farewells to Ed Riley and headed up to bed.   This was a long day for us and we were really tired - especially after partying so late last night - so we went to bed - but it was again almost midnight.

Larry

Sunday May 20 - Yangtze River to Shanghai

We docked last night shortly after coming through the last lock and remained at dock through the night.  We were very exhausted since it had been a busy day so we went to bed early last night.  We woke up about 6 when the ship sounded its horn for some of the passengers doing the early tour - woke us both up.  Since most of the passengers are going on the early tour and it will be crowded, our tour company arranged for us to go later to avoid the crowds.  After those passengers got off the boat started cruising down river again.  We didn't know why!  Once again there was an incredible haze outside which we still think is pollution but the Chinese insist that it is from moisture in the air due to the river.  This raises the question about propaganda and trust vs what the Chinese government want the people to believe.  For example, I told David that several people died when the Hoover Dam was guild so how many died during the many years of the Three Gorges Project.  The answer - not many, but no specific numbers.  Do the people even know?  Also we were told that there aren't that many coal fired energy plants - the main source of energy currently in China!!!  We were told that they purpose of the dam was for flood control only - not energy - yet they have build the largest power dam in the world to supply power to almost all of China.  Lastly, we are told that there is no capitalism in China (!).  But we found out that our tour guide is a registerd member of the Communist party.  They have a philosophy that they will focus on developing the eastern part of China and make many people rich - those people will then help others to become rich - and so on and so forth.  Oh my! 

So we have traveled about 300 miles on the Yangtze River - 3 nights and 2 full days of exploring the river.  This was just the right amount of time for us on this river.

We left our cabin early since the housekeeper knocked on our door at 7 asking for the key but we didn't know why since she didn't speak English.  We started walking around and saw absolutely NO ONE - and here was the ship cruising down stream AWAY from the dam - we were very confused and concerned that we hadn't understood the time and had been left.  No one was in the dining room or on the upper deck or in the hallways - and this ship isn't that big.  We finally found Jack and Dick in the library reading - WHEW!

We had the breakfast buffet at 8 am.  Jacky our waiter was very attentive - He was a good waiter and we enjoyed him very much.  I've just been eating too much during this adventure so had oatmeal and fruit this morning.

We left the boat at 9:30 in Yichang and met our local guide - also David.  The bus took us through Yichang along a new Chinese super highway to the dam site.  They call this the "Body Massage Road" since it is so bumpy - it was built that way but not intentionally.

The dam site is HUGE - massive - very impressive.  We waw the upstream and downstream locks from the highway above.  We then went to an Exhibition Hall tha was reserved only for visiting dignitaries.  It had a scale model of the Three Gorges Project and David (local) did a commentary on the project for us.  After this we went to take pictures in front of the dam face from a viewing area and then to a higher elevation where we could see the dam and the locks.  The ship "elevator" facility is still being built and won't be ready until 2012.  It will cost ships extra to use this as the locks are free but David explained that "time is money".

We then went to lunch for another Chinese bugget.  Good.  We were early for our flight so the bus took us to Yichang City.  Tim and I went on our own exploring down a small alley way and discovered a "rock market" where they have stones for sale.  They have retrieved stones that have special veining in them that actually make pictures on the stones.  They have polished them and many are beautiful works of art - some abstract but some very explicit like the one that looked like a forest with trees.  Some were huge and very heavy.  Even the smaller ones were heavy.  The river trackers had shown us small pebbles with this veining yesterday so now we were seeing these works of art made from natural stone.  Tim and I zoomed through a department store to use the facilities and then got on a bus for the ride to the Yichang Airport.

David told us that our plane had landed but once we got through security we discovered that our plane was delayed.  The Yichang airport had one gate.  The plane finally arrived and they turned it around in less than 30 minutes.  Plane full - with lots of German tourists.  A one hour flight to the domestic Shanghai Airport west of the city.  We identifiedour luggage and then loaded on a bus to go to the Four Seasons Hotel in Pu Sue (west of the Yuangpu River).  David was so excited to be hme and his narrative on the bus was animated.  About 22M people live in Shanghai but only 20k of them are native to Shanghai.  Pu Dong (east of the city) is all new and all built in the last 15 years.  As we walked in the elaborate huge Four Seasons Hotel, Tim exclaimed "We're back to civilization!".

Tim called Shirley Hiew and she had James, her driver, pick us up at 8 pm for the short drive to the restaurant on the Bund. We at at Highlights on the 7th floor of #2 The Bund.  We had drinks at the bar and then ate on the rooftop patio overlooking the Pearl Tower, the Yuangpu River (Pu) and the Bund.  Dinner was fabulous (Tim's treat) and we were there when the lights on the entire Bund were turned off at 11 pm.  It was amazing to watch it all go off.  After that, James picked us up and drove the 3 of us to a private club (G) to meet Eric (also a DuPonter) and Lewis from Ft Lauderdale for a drink.  A drink turned into three drinks and we weere well lubricated.  Shirley had James drive us back to the hotel and we poured ourselves into bed after 1:30 am.  A fun, fun evening.  I really like Shirley - she works for DuPont and is originally from Singapore but works in Shanghai.  She was such a gracious hostess and picked a FABULOUS place for us to eat on our first night in Shanghai.

Larry