Our China Trip

3/1/14 Saturday and 3/2/14 arrival: There was an early morning light snow in Chicago with a heavier storm forecasted to begin Saturday night. Ray and Mary Ann arrived at O'Hare for the American 289 flight to Shanghai that left at 11:05a (1:05a Sunday in Shanghai) for the 7,050 mile, 14 ½ hour flight. Jack and Leslie's flight from Tampa was delayed and they just made the gate connection (Mar was worried they would miss the flight, but Ray was looking forward to all of the extra seating). After an uneventful flight we landed at Pudong International Airport in Shanghai where Lindsey met us once we cleared customs around 3:30p. We took the first commercial Maglev train part way (traveling at around 150 miles per hour) and transferred to a Metro station for the trip to the Renaissance Shanghai at Zhongshan Park. Hint: when riding the Metra, your bags will go through X-ray and save you need to save your fare card that you use to enter the turn style as you will need it to exit once you reach destination. After arriving underground at this huge mega mall where the hotel was located, we took an elevator to the 25th floor lobby to check in. After going to our rooms on the 33rd floor, we returned to the lobby and had a beer, which was followed by an adventurous search for a restaurant back in the shared mega mall. After dinner and a stop at Cold Stone Ice Cream, sleep finally caught up with us. 3/3/14 Monday: A sunny and cool day started with breakfast at Mr. Pancake House, an iconic breakfast establishment across from the hotel. We caught the Metra to go shopping at Shanghai’s Hongqaio Pearl Market, which is in the Changning district. After arriving at the Metro station, we turned left and walked off in the wrong direction. Fortunately, Jack saw a Marriott and wanted to view the hotel's facilities where we learned that the pearl market was in the opposite direction. Heading off again, we got to see a massive luxury single family home campus with one mansion in the design of the White House. After finally locating the market, Leslie and Mary Ann spent a couple of hours working with the staff at one of the shops, while the rest of us wandered about the area. Upon completing the pearl acquisitions, we took the Metro to the Yuyuan station to visit the Yu Garden area, a 4th century Ming dynasty private garden home that was used during the Xiaodaohui uprising during the ensuing Qing dynasty. Wandering around after exiting the Metro station trying to figure out where the Yu Gardens might be, we decided it was best to grab lunch. In an alley, we located a small, and using the word loosely, street food "restaurant" where they handmade their noodles and we had a great lunch. Finally getting some general directions from a hotel, we located the Yu Garden (directional signage to major tourist sites is lacking to say the least) and spent a couple of hours wandering the area. Leaving the Gardens we promptly got lost, but we did manage to walk through an interesting local area of food vendors. Another hour of walking and realizing we were nowhere near our hotel, Lindsey found a Metro station and we took 3 lines to get back Zhongshan Park, arriving around 6:00p. We spent the next 2 hours at the hotel working on changing some travel plans for later in the trip and then grabbed dinner back in the mega mall before calling it a day.

3/4/14 Tuesday: Today was overcast with light rain, but before starting our planned journey to the Ancient Waterfront area in Zhijiajiao (Shanghai's version of Venice), another exquisite breakfast was had at Mr. Pancake House. Zhujiajiao is said to be the best preserved southern China waterfront town and it was a traders-infested town during the Ming

dynasty. We took the Metra to the Hongqiao station where we were planning on boarding a train for a 30 minute trip to Zhujiajiao, but found out that we needed passports which, unfortunately, were back at our hotel. However, if one takes the optional 1 ½ hour bus ride, no passport is needed - go figure. So after some discussion as to whether this was going to be a

“wise” decision we voted on the bus ride, which provided us with sites and life well outside of Shanghai. Just outside of the terminal was a massive (and clearly an understatement) construction project with huge (again an understatement) building structures underway, construction cranes everywhere, new highways and overpasses and huge temporary construction worker housing complexes - this undertaking was going to take years to complete. Also, throughout the trip the highways were not crowded and we would see new areas with 10 or more 20 to 30 story, mostly identical, housing towers either under construction or fully complete with no apparent sign of people living in them. Upon arrival in Zhijiajiao, the bus stopped at a bank and we were all told that this was the end of the line. With no bus terminal and no one that spoke English, our immediate priority was "forget the ancient waterfront" (besides there was no signage telling us were to find it anyway) and instead, we needed to find out how the heck were we going to get back to Hongqiao! We found a local hotel, but again, no one spoke English. Lindsey found an entrance to a local Metra station, again, no English. We wandered around the area looking for any indication of a bus terminal when Jack of all people, noted a small store front on a street corner that looked to him like it had promise (the logic that he used was the fact there was one big bus on the side of the building). Entering the front lobby, we were pointed to go through a door to the back of the building and, "success," it was what one would call a "one-bus" bus terminal. But it was where we got our return tickets, which Lindsey promptly purchased. So having only about 2 hours left before the return trip, we wandered around the town and had a great lunch in a neat little shopping area during which the wait staff took breaks from their Mahjong game. Catching the 3:30p bus back to Hongqiao and the Metro to Zhongshang Park station, we only had a short time before we were to leave to see the ERA “Intersection of Time” acrobatic show. The 40 minute 42 Yuan cab ride was an event as this was rush hour and there was no holds barred. People, scooters and bikers everywhere and every intersection was a challenge for the cabbie, but we arrived, got great seats and the acrobatics were fabulous – a must see. Another cab ride back to our hotel, we decided we needed food before crashing and thus, we ended our trip to Shanghai at Pizza Hut.

3/5/14 Wednesday: Up at 4:00a to pack and get ready to travel to Hongqiao airport for a flight on Juneyao Air to Chengdu. The van ride took about 30 min and 400 Yuan, 10 times the cab ride the night before. Things went pretty well checking in and finding the gate, except for Lindsey and Mary Ann's bags that required extra inspection. The flight was scheduled to leave at 7:00a. We had to take a bus to the plane and to say the Chinese are punctual

is an understatement as, even though people were still in the aisle, the plane began moving from the parking area. We were in the air about a half hour when we found out we were on a puddle hopper and started landing at Chizhou Jiuhauashian airport, well south of Chengdu where, and you had to be there, everyone had to grab all carry-ons were given a departing pass and told to leave the plane - even though we were the only plane at the airport. We entered the terminal area and, in less than 10 minutes, they announced the re-boarding of the flight - go figure. We got back into a queue, handed back the departing pass and re-boarded the flight plane and everyone but us seemed to think this all was a natural thing to happen. And then of course, since the flight to Chengdu was about 2 hours, we had full meal and drink service. Arriving in Chengdu, we grabbed two cabs to head to the Somerset Hotel. The rooms were huge with kitchenettes and a living area. Jack and Leslie's even had a washer and dryer that we all used later that day. We dumped our suitcases and went off to search for a restaurant. The hotel was in the medical district and there were not many restaurant close by, but we found the Grandbay Restaurant above a bank were we had a great lunch. We decided to pick up some wine, beer and snacks and went back to the hotel where we did laundry, played this card game that Lindsey suggested where you first design the playing board on newspaper with a magic marker, throw out a lot of peanuts that are used for chips and in the end, Lindsey wins. Where after, we just relaxed for the remainder of the day.

3/6/14 Thursday

We wake up and Mary Ann and Ray's safe doesn't open (Mary Ann's fault!!). We go to the hotel's breakfast while the desk staff made arrangements to reopen the safe before we caught 2 cabs to the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding – cabs only are big enough to hold 4 people, so with 5 of us, we tended not to use them during our trip. We arrived around 8:30a and spent the next 3 plus hours walking the reserve. This is a must do for anyone visiting Chengdu and be sure to go

early as that is when the Pandas are most active. Returning around 12:30p, we dropped our stuff at the hotel and grabbed a veggie lunch at a vegan/tea restaurant next door. Then we went off and took about a long walk around Chengdu with the highlights being a local food market; a good size group exercise/dance along the river front and a sugar cane drink made manually by grinding the cane – too sweet! We decided to stop at a mall near the hotel to buy some more wine, cheese and crackers and head back for the remainder of the day (note that everyone seems to have a job in China, whether it is sweeping the sidewalks and streets (all by hand) or working in the stores where every aisle or counter seems to have a person assigned to it). Back to hotel, Ray's Jaw Bone indicates that we walked about 9 miles today.

3/7/14 Friday

Another early morning wake up for our trip to the Chengdu airport and our flight on Chengdu Air to Xi'an to see the Terra-cotta Warriors. Fortunately our safes open without incident as Jack herds everyone to get to the airport with time to spare, but he inadvertently leaves Lindsey's banana at the hotel (by now Ray and Mary Ann realize that Lindsey is not a morning person and that she really missed her morning banana). But we knew the flight was only about 1 ½ hours, so a full meal service was to be had wherein Lindsey's mood brightened and we had a happy flight. Upon landing in Xi'an

we gather our bags in another mega terminal, which was virtually empty, and we grabbed 2 cabs. But herein the adventure starts. As we are leaving the airport, both cabbies realize they have no idea where the Ramada Xi’an Bell Tower Hotel is, which Lindsey knows is in the heart of the city near the train station. Stopping in the right hand lane of a 4 lane highway our cabbie, who has 2 phones neither of which had map service, stops and gets out to consult with the other cabbie. Fortunately, there is almost no traffic on this highway and after about 3 to 4 minutes of discussion, we get back underway. About 30 minutes into the route, our cabbie still seems lost, but eventually does find the Ramada. We check in, clean up and head out for an early lunch. Around noon we head for the Metro station, followed by a bus to another train station and then another bus for the 1 ½ hour ride to the Emperor QinShihuang Mausoleum Site Museum and the Terra-cotta Warriors. We decide it best to hire a guide for 100 Yuan (a must considering the vastness of the site, which covers over 20 hectares or some 56 acres) and spend the next 3 ½ hours touring this exceptional

historical area. QinShihuang was born in 259 BC and became the first Emperor of China in 221 BC establishing a centralized State, abolishing the feudal system and standardized the system of weights and measurement. He also ordered the destruction of many ancient records and Confucian writings. Construction on the mausoleum started soon after he became King of Qin and took 38 years from 247 BC to 208 BC peaking with over 720,000 conscripts. He died at

the age of 50 in 210 BC. There are 3 main buildings where the Terra-cotta Warriors can be seen, Pit 1, 2 and 3 along with the museum and multiple research facilities. Discovered in 1974 by a farmer digging a well, the museum was opened in 1979 and the area is described as the “Eighth Wonder of the World.” After covering the 3 Pits and museum building we were directed to the gift center where, would you believe it, the farmer who discovered the site was present signing autographs for 200 Yuan – scouts honor, we were told it was him!!! Almost the last to leave the site before closing, we caught the bus from hell for a 1 ½ hour back trip to the main train station arriving around 7:30p. It was raining lightly and the square around the terminal was packed as we went to look for the taxi stand. Finally locating the taxis at the far end of this huge square, Lindsey negotiated with a guy who says he has a small van that can take all 5 of us (and who also seems to be the only one in the city that knows where the Ramada is). We then go for a wild ride through the back streets of the city and various alleyways and pop out of an alley right next to the Ramada. We decide to do the buffet at the hotel and after an in depth analysis of President Kennedy’s "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech, we retired for the evening.

Saturday 3/08/14 With no hurry in the morning as our high speed train to BeijingXi doesn't leave until 1:10p, we all sleep late and finally meet up around 9:30a in the lobby. Lindsey does her bank thing (as trip treasurer, she is constantly withdrawing Yuan for all of us and keeping this massive Excel spreadsheet of appropriate debits and credits) and we walk to a pastry shop for a light breakfast. Back to the hotel we check out, which Jack was pleased as the Ra-ma-da as our cabbies who took us from the airport the day before called it, lacked the efficient internet connection service that he so desires during his hotel stays! Catching the Metro we go to the Xi’an North train station, another enormous railroad station where we catch the high speed train for a 5 hour trip to Beijing. During the first hour of the trip at speeds of 310 kilometers per hour, things were going well until Jack spilled his beer. Fortunately, the train has staff that frequently comes down the aisles either sweeping or mopping (again, lots of workers everywhere). Hours into the trip we see the ever-to-frequent mega cities being built, again seeming to lack people, and the smog never lifts. In the more remote areas early in the trip we noticed lots of cave-like dwellings in the hillside and the only crop noticeable throughout the entire ride is soy. We see few people in the countryside and virtually no livestock. Arriving in Beijing we decide to take 3 different Metros to the Park Plaza Beijing Wangfujing Hotel in the Dongcheng district and actually beat a couple we met on the train who had taken a taxi. Dropping off our baggage we walk across the street and had a great dinner before calling it a day. Sunday 3/09/14 Sunday

It's time to turn the clocks ahead in the U.S., but not in China where it remains the same exact time over the entire country. There's a Starbuck's across from the hotel and we meet there at 9:00a for coffee and breakfast. We're not that far from the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square, so we decide to walk, which takes about 30 minutes. Tiananmen Square is a large city square, named after the Tiananmen gate (Gate of Heavenly Peace) located to its North and is the fourth largest city square in the world at some 109 acres. We encounter huge crowds and tight security and after clearing a couple of check points find out the Square is closed because the Chinese Central Committee is in session. So not being able to access the Square, we take some pictures and decide to check out the Chinese Museum, but wouldn't you know it, they

want to see our passports, which again are back at the hotel. So our only option is to try to get into the Forbidden City across the street. We work our way across what looks to be a 10 lane highway by going underground through the Metro station and encounter another check point where they are announcing no access for an hour. Lindsey comes to the rescue and seeks mercy from the guard who seems impressed that she knows the language and

he suggests we go to the end of the block behind us, make two lefts and try the East gate. As we make the first turn and begin walking down this side road of small local shops for what seems to be ½ mile, we decide to grab lunch at a local shop. Continuing on after eating, we find an entrance to small area where very few people are mingling that turns out to be a backdoor into the Forbidden City and pop out right at the location where we purchase the entrance passes. The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. Built in 1406 to 1420, the complex consists of 980 buildings and served as the home of emperors and their households, as well as the ceremonial and political center of Chinese government and is listed by UNESCO as the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world. We then spend the next 3 ½ hours walking through one massive area to the next, ending up at the Emperor's garden where we turn around and eventually find the East entrance gate and walk back to the hotel and took in happy hour. Ray, Jack and Lindsey went out for a quick dinner near the hotel while Mary Ann and Leslie decided to call it a day. Lindsey then needed to go off to the airport to pick up her friend Katherine who joins us for the remainder of the trip. Monday 3/10/14 Today we are going to cover a lot of sites on the outskirts of the city so Lindsey made arrangements with a tour company for a bus and guide. We met at 8:30a and boarded our tour bus for the first stop at the Ming tombs. The thirteen Tombs of the Ming Dynasty are located some 26 miles north-northwest of central Beijing within the Changping District. The site was chosen by the third Ming Dynasty emperor Yongle (1402–1424), who moved the capital of China from Nanjing to Beijing. After the construction of the Imperial Palace (the Forbidden City) in 1420, the Yongle Emperor selected his burial site and created his own mausoleum. From the Yongle Emperor onwards, 13 Ming Dynasty Emperors were buried in this area. This was followed by our first required “tour shopping stop” - a jade market where we spent an hour of shopping followed by lunch. After boarding our bus we moved onto the Great Wall of China. The Great Wall is a series of fortifications made of stone, brick, tamped earth, wood, and other materials, built in part to protect the Empire against attack. Several walls were being built as early as the 7th century BC with the majority of the existing wall from the Ming Dynasty. It is estimated that the Ming walls measure some 5,500 miles and that the entire wall with all of its branches

measures about 13,000 miles. It is also said to be the longest cemetery in the world as the workers are said to be buried within. We travel to Mutianyu, a section of the Great Wall located in Huairou County approximately 110 miles northeast of central Beijing and one of the best-preserved parts of the Great Wall. Built mainly from granite, the pass at Mutianyu is a unique section of the Great Wall 20 to 25 feet high, and 12 to 15 feet wide with crenellations (battlements)

on both sides of the Wall. The section of the Wall at Mutianyu stretches for over 1.2 miles. The Mutianyu Great Wall has 22 watchtowers built at almost 300 foot intervals.

We take a chair lift up and hike to the Peking tower watch tower, tower 6, and after our climb back we all go down the mountain in sleds down a metal toboggan chute to the base. We then moved on to our second required tour shopping stop, which is a silk market for the required demonstration tour and purchases. Returning to the hotel we

quickly clean up as Lindsey has arranged for us to have a Peking duck dinner at a lovely restaurant a few blocks from the hotel and we spent the remainder of the evening in gastronomic delight!

Tuesday 3/11/14 We start the day with a breakfast-search-from-hell as Jack makes the suggestion that we look for a place to have breakfast rather than first grabbing coffee at the Starbucks across from the hotel (and where Ray was one person away from his cappuccino grande). We walked for over an hour, ending up at a McDonald's after passing through several places including a Kentucky Fried Chicken - go figure. We catch the Metro to the Temple of Heaven and toured the grounds for a couple of hours. The Temple of Heaven, or more literally the Altar of Heaven, is a temple of Chinese religion used for

imperial ceremonies for five centuries. Construction of the Temple of Heaven began during the reign of Emperor Yongle and was completed in 1420. It was used by all subsequent Emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. We then moved across the street to the Pearl Market for lunch and a couple of hours of shopping. Jack, Ray and Katherine vote to go back to the hotel while Lindsey, Leslie and Mary Ann move on to another silk market and do some more financial

damage. Later, we all meet up in the lobby bar and then went back up to Jack and

Leslie’s room for snacks, wine and the Green Lantern movie, one of Jack’s favorites,

before calling it a night. Wednesday 3/12/14

Checkout day at the Park Plaza. After breakfast at Starbucks we stash our luggage and then take 3 Metro lines to the Summer Palace where we spend 4 terrific hours wandering the grounds. Here again the signage is non-existent. We exit the Metro and even though the Palace area is right behind us we have no idea where it is. Fortunately, we turn to the right and walk a couple of blocks where we finally see the entrance – if we had turned left, we might never have found it!!! The Palace area is

where the imperial court would leave the summer heat in the Forbidden City for the cooler Kunming Lake area. It was favored by Empress Cixi, the last Empress of China, who had it rebuilt twice, once in 1860 after its destruction by French and English troops, and again in 1902 after being damaged during the Boxer Rebellion (one should see the movie “Last Emperor of China” before visiting). Leaving around 3:30p, we make it

back to the hotel for our last happy hour. Lindsey and Katherine leave to check in to their hostel before returning to the Park Plaza where we then go out for a hot pot dinner. It was decided early on that the four of us would leave for the Crowne Plaza near the airport as we have a 10:10a flight in the morning and we are a long way from the airport. It takes us almost an hour without traffic to the hotel where we check in and return to the lobby for a night cap. Lindsey, Katherine and Steve (Katherine’s boyfriend who has just flown

in) stop in to say their goodbyes and we finally turn in around 11:30p.

Thursday 3/13/14

We leave the hotel at 7:30a and proves a good thing that we stayed close to the airport last night. We are in the 5th day since a Malaysian Boeing aircraft flying from Kampala Lumpur to Beijing was lost and security is very tight at the airport. The airport is huge and we're in another long queue waiting to check in at the ticket counter and then through several check points and a train ride before getting to the international terminal with only a half hour before boarding for our 10:10a, 6,569 mile flight to Chicago. Ray, Mary Ann and Leslie go to the duty free area to quickly dispose of their Yuan, while Jack gets comfortable in a remote area that has good internet access. As we begin boarding, we can't find Jack. Mary Ann and Ray board and as they are getting ready to close the doors, Jack is found and we all head for home. Finally, this trip would never have been as memorable and successful without Lindsey – she did an awesome job start to finish and we can’t thank her enough. Thoughts on China - The cities visited, especially Shanghai and Beijing, but also Chengdu and Xi’an, are huge cities with the very prosperous interspersed with the extremely poor.

- Everyone seems to have a job and there is virtually no begging. - Cars are plentiful, especially during the rush hours in the cities, but not so much outside. However, most of the population travel by walking, bike, scooter or the very efficient Metro systems, trains and buses. - The young are all connected to the internet and are constantly on their cell phones.

- Taxi cabs are very common, so are smokers.

- There is construction everywhere, the national bird could be the “construction crane.” - But at the same time, all cities were extremely clean. - Scooters and bikes are everywhere – but hardly anyone uses helmets and no lights – it makes for wild night time traveling.

- People don't bother you and few speak English - even at the hotels. - Males on the right, females on the left.

- No tipping - it's an insult.

- Signage to major visitor sites, virtually non-existent. - LED lighting at night on the buildings is cool.