The TMJ's Oh My Gosh! Jaw Dropping Tour de China - October 2005
 China Tour 2005  Saturday, October 1: Suzhou Didn’t have to work today. Did a little last minute shopping after we finally left the house. Albuquerque – Phoenix – Los Angeles The three kids took Jim & Jane to the airport. Apparently the America West flights were preparing Jim for Chinese 757s but they didn’t realize it at that time. It was pretty foggy in LA. One last good meal before the adventure begins. Sunday, October 2: Suzhou Didn’t have to work today either, & only a couple of phone calls. Did the final runs to the stores to make sure we had groceries on hand just on the off chance that someone wanted to cook. Did stock up on Cokes & water. Los Angeles – Vancouver BC – Gulf of Alaska – Bearing Sea – North Pacific LA so foggy that they claimed that they couldn’t see the wingtips of the plane on takeoff. Stopped in Vancouver BC to change planes for the flight to China. Jim practiced with chopsticks on the noodles. Crossed the International Date Line & into tomorrow. Monday, October 3: Shanghai – Suzhou Mr. Ni picked us up at 12:30pm for the ride to Shanghai Pudong airport to pick up Jim & Jane. We got there an hour early, and their flight was 30-minutes late. Then it took them almost an hour to: walk from the last gate on the concourse to the terminal, clear customs, fight with the luggage cart, claim their bags  Jim Fights the Luggage Cart and meander through to the exit. Finally about 4:45pm we managed to leave the airport. Trip back to Suzhou was uneventful as holiday traffic was light. Jim & Jane felt pretty good, so after we dropped off of all of the luggage, then stopped by to introduce them to Paul & Sarah on our way to supper. Tried to catch a taxi, but they were pretty scarce. Finally got one to stop but he took one look at Jim & I and refused to let us in. We argued, but all he would say was “Passat – Passat”, meaning that we should get out of his little Santana and find one of the gold VW Passat cabs, and would not give in. Next cab that we flagged down was from the same company, same type of car, but no problem – unless you count getting in and out. Decided that we had better ease them into eating local food first, knowing that all of the tour food would most likely be Chinese. Went over to the Italian Place for dinner. Paul & Sarah joined us for drinks, but we managed to be back home by 8:30pm, & put Jim & Jane to bed shortly after 9:00pm Tuesday, October 4: Suzhou Up at a decent hour and took a cab over to Simon’s in Singa Plaza for breakfast. Ran into Janet Kovacs & her friend Bev, so they joined us, which allowed us introduce them to Jim & Jane. This was a good thing especially since they were going to be our travel mates on the Beijing portion of the upcoming trip. Then it was off to visit the Humble Administrators Garden.  Rainbow Bridge at Humble Administrators Garden This turned out to be quite an experience on a holiday. Jim, Mona & I were each ask to pose for photos, but no one seemed to want Jane’s picture, so she was feeling a little bit left out. Wandered around taking photos & enjoying one of Suzhou’s largest gardens. Back to SIP (Suzhou Industrial Park) to meet Sarah, Louis & Chloe for lunch at Milo’s. Kids found out that we were going to go to Pearl Town and decided that they did not want to go. It was my first trip out there also, and I have never seen so many pearls in my life. Mona had told us that there were a lot of pearls, but we had no idea of the quantity that she was talking about. While Jane & Mona were shopping, I tried to count the number of pearl that laying on the table. I counted the number of pearls on a strand, then the number of strands in the bundle, then the number of bundles on the table.  Small Sample of the Pearls Pearl Town The number I came up with was nearly 100,000 pearls! Some were smaller, but most were in the 5 to 7 millimeter (1/4-inch) diameter range. This was just one table, in one room, of one store, of the 40 major stores around the outside and 20 booths in the middle of the new Pearl Market. Then you have the old market, which also included numerous shops along the main street of the town. One shop there had bags of pearls just setting on shelves along one wall. Again, I took a quick count and found fifty bags, averaging 10-kilograms (22-pounds) each. There were three shelves, which means that this one shop had 1.65 TONS of pearls plus there stock on display. Staggering! Of course, we had to help the local economy and did not go home empty handed. Didn’t require a cart to get us back to the van, but the backpack was a bit heavy. Back home and decided that we were too tired to go out – pearl shopping is hard work – so we ordered dinner from our local Dial-A-Dinner. Had a nice mixture of German & Chinese. Wednesday, October 5: Suzhou Breakfast was omelets at Chez Ingram, then off to the bank to reload the shopping capital. Stopped down at CITS to pay for the upcoming trip. In order to use our credit card, it was going to cost us 4%. Not an issue for us, but it really seemed to bother Mi (our super travel agent). She wanted us to pay cash. Doesn’t seem to understand how long it would take to withdraw that much cash out of the bank using the ATM with their daily limit and how much that would cost in ATM fees. Then we ran into Chinese arithmetic! I’ve always heard the saying that “it is harder than Chinese arithmetic” but never fully grasp the magnitude of that simple statement. Say, for example that the trip was going to cost 1,000-RMB. When they added the 4% service charge for using a credit card, it came out to be a total of 1,411-RMB. Now 11-RMB is only $1.38-US, but it was the principal of the thing. We finally figured out that what they were doing was figuring so that they got 96% of the total charge to match the price of the trip and the bank got the remaining 4%. Mona argued and explained how percent worked, but they did not give up. Neither did Mona. Finally you could see that that little light came on for one of the gals, but she just backed off and let the others argue until they finally gave up and did it Mona’s way. Then it ended up that their AMEX merchant code had not been set up yet, so we couldn’t use our card. J&J were using their VISA and it went right through, so Mi told us to just pay after we got back when they got it set up correctly. So off we go to visit the Silk Museum. Only trouble was that we really meant to go to the Silk Factory. Did the museum and then headed down to the factory. Our second time through, and still fascinated by the whole process of watching the nearly 4,000-feet of silk being unwound from the cocoon and being wound with eight other strands to make a single silk thread.  Silk Factory Several of the damaged or double cocoons that were culled in the early sorting process are then soaked, and stretched over a small arched frame. Then this form is soaked again and stretched over a larger arched frame before being dried and hand pulled to form the individual layers that go into each comforter. Met Sarah, Louis & Chloe for lunch at Yang-Yang’s. I got brave and ordered a few items for the group and then ask the waitress if that was enough. She shook her head negatively, so I ordered a couple more items. She shook her head again so I added more items until she smiled and nodded. Wasn’t sure if she was smiling because she was glad because she could leave or if she just sold us enough food for a family reunion. Food was really good and the quantity was just about right. I managed not to order anything that was extremely spicy or just plain nasty tasting. After lunch we did a quick up and back shopping attack of Shi Qan Jie (Bar Street as it is known by the expats) before heading over to Walking Street. Just cruised around, had a kala (cola) at McDonald’s before wandering through the maze of shops around and behind the temple. No one seemed to be really hungry, so we decided that we would stop in at the Southern Cross for drinks and appetizers. So, two beers, two glasses of wine, an order of nachos, order of jalapeno poppers, a cheese enchilada platter, a New Mexico enchilada platter, a Tequila lime shrimp platter and a ham & cheese sandwich. Jim & Jane were surprised to find that the Mexican food in Suzhou, China, was better than in Washington DC. Later, we caught the cab for home. Made it clear up to 9:45pm before crashing tonight. Thursday, October 6: Suzhou Got up and only had time to throw down some coffee & toast before heading out to embroidery town. Made a major mistake by walking into shop #317 as our second stop. The work there was two steps from anything else & that made it hard to objectively compare with what we saw in the rest of the shops. Some of the work was so good that you had to look very closely to make sure that it was silk embroidery and not a painting. They start with a piece of silk stretched on the loom that has the outlines of the painting. Kind of like the paint by number sets. Then they stitch in colored silk threads to match what they see on a photo of the original. Some are simple in appearance until you look closely and can see the subtle nuances of the stitches used to form the pattern. There were others with scenes that are mounted in a frame that the panel rotates so that you can see both sides. We had seen a number of tigers that turn into leopards when you turn the panel around. But here, they had a pink rose with a butterfly that changed to a red rose without the butterfly. Another one was a tiger that changed into a peacock! These are all stitched onto a single sheer, translucent silk panel. Most of the work is in the one square foot range plus or minus, but some of the larger ones were 5-feet by 12-feet. Fantastic! Felt like we visited about a hundred other shops walking up and down the main street of the town. Jim & Jane bought one that was of the Rainbow Bridge we had seen in the Humble Administrators garden. Mr. Ni made sure that the one that they got was the best quality at the best price. He was simply great. Went out to West Island on Taihu Lake for lunch. Mr. Ni picked the place and then had to order as the menus were all in Chinese. He did well! One of the dishes was cooked clover – just your ordinary, everyday field-variety three leaf clover. Don’t know how or what it was cooked in, but it was really tasty. After lunch, we walked through the local market – which was actually the exit gauntlet from the local temple on the hill. Bought a couple of small items; fake pearls & stone teapots. The guy was in the process of carving a teapot and had samples of the different steps that it took to make one.  Teapots He was proud of his art and was very happy to show us the different steps & details. Some were very simple while others were very ornate, but all very well done. The one that we bought is shaped like piece of bamboo; Jim & Jane’s was more ornate, in the shape of a dragon. Back home we then walked over to the nearby Korean restaurant for dinner. Everything was very tasty, when you could get it to you mouth using those metal chopsticks that the Koreans are so fond of. Got to cook the meats on our own little grill in the middle of the table. Still ordered a bit too much but we got a lot closer this time. We stopped by the bank to reload, again, but Jane’s card wouldn’t work. She & I jumped on the electric bikes and headed over to the HSBC where our cards have always worked. I was proud of the cousin! Didn’t crash, didn’t fall off, didn’t run into anything. Did forget about the brakes being on the handles, but all in all did quite well for not being on a bike in a dozen or more years. Got the money this time, so life was good. Made it clear up to nearly 10:30pm tonight before people started snoring on the couches & chairs! Friday, October 7: Suzhou – Beijing Planned to go to Tong Li water town today, but Jane woke up not feeling too well, so we decided to just spend the day resting before leaving for Beijing. Mona took them over to the doctor, but he was unable to get them in that morning. Jim spent quite a bit of his time going back and forth between our apartment and the pharmacy down in the complex shopping street. Everything came out okay and by that afternoon, she was feeling better. Mr. Ni picked us up at 6:45pm and took us to the train station. Of course, our train was on track number 5, down three levels of stairs, all the way to the end of the tunnel and back up three levels of stairs. From there, all we had to do was find car number 2. Naturally, we popped up right beside car number 11. Nine long cars later we find good ol’ number 2. Fought our way from the back of the car all the way to the other end where our berths were. Had to fight off this Chinese guy who couldn’t read his ticket and wanted our bed. I finally managed to show him that our tickets matched the numbers on the wall and that we had all four bunks in this room.  Train Berth There was actually enough space for all seven of our bags under the seats and over the door. Mona & I took the top bunks. This time, we knew that on one end of the car was a western style toilet. Last time we didn’t know this and on a moving train, it made for an interesting toilet experience using a squat pot. Janet and Bev were down the aisle from us, but they had the two top bunks and had to go to bed when the other couple decided they were ready for bed. Jim & I didn’t have power for our CPAP breathing machines to help us rest and prevent snoring so that Jane & Mona could sleep. Needless to say, it was not the most restful night we’ve had. I kept waking Mona with my snoring & she kept poking me to get me to turn over to stop storing. Mona woke up with a bruise on her hip from the “mattress” on the bunk. Jane was so tired from being under the weather this morning that she was the only one that got a good night’s sleep. Saturday, October 8: Beijing Train Z86 pulled into Beijing at 7:30am right on schedule. Our guide, Angela, met us as soon as we got off of the train. Naturally, we came in on track 8, so it was down three levels, trying to keep the luggage on the little ramps on the sides of the steps. Nice feature, except for that gravity thing that makes the luggage keep trying to run down hill and take us with it. At least the way up was a ramp, no stairs. Walked to our 24-passenger van – all six of us – for the ride to the Capital Hotel, nice place. Got to check-in early, so early that we had to wait for the maid to finish our room. Showered, that felt good, and headed downstairs. We were a bit early, so we decided to have a coke in the lobby bar while we waited for the rest of the gang. The bill came to 57.50RMB! That was 25RMB for each 12-ounce can and 7.50RMB service fee! Won’t do that again. Bus ride to Tiananmen Square was only about 5-blocks. Walked around the square, which was decorated for the Golden week holiday and the Olympics, which will be held there in 2008. Then did the tour walking tour through the Forbidden City.  Forbidden City Didn’t get to see as much as last time because they are busy doing a lot of restoration work. It’s still a huge and impressive complex. Lunch was Chinese and very good. Afterwards, we all loaded up in pedicabs for a tour of the Hu Tong residential district. Wound our way through the maze of streets, then stopped for a visit at a “typical” Chinese house to visit a “typical” Chinese family. They were retired and did the family visit thing for extra cash. Set up as it was, it was still interesting to talk to him. He is the fourth generation of this family to live in the house. Much larger, and nicer then the one that we visited when we were here in 2001. Then back in the pedicabs for a ride past the Bell tower on our way to the Drum Tower. There were sixty-nine steps to the top, and I swear that they were at a sixty-nine degree angle and 69-centimeters wide! Bought a scroll that was a typical Chinese mountain scene, except that this one was done by a gal that uses only the side of her hand and the fingernail on her little finger to paint with. Saw them beat the drums then back down the sixty-nine sixty-nine degree steps. By the time we got back to our van, I was really starting to feel sorry for our poor little pedicab guy. He really earned his tip. From there, it was off to the Summer Palace. Had been the residence of the Empress Dowager (better known to us as the Dragon Lady). For dinner, she required that a 128-course meal be prepared. I think that this practice can still be found somewhat today. The weather was perfect, so this time we were able to take a nice leisurely stroll along the lake that wasn’t frozen solid. Again, several areas were blocked off due to restoration, but still was as beautiful as ever. Finally, we had our Peking Duck dinner. This is the most famous food of Beijing, which used to be called Peking, hence the name of the duck dinner. Again the food was excellent and we haven’t had any of the really weird stuff served yet. Back to the hotel by 8:00pm and glad to get settled in a bit early. Sunday, October 9: Beijing Breakfast buffet at the hotel before heading out. First stop was a visit to a jade factory. Lots of nice stuff; from small intricate carvings up to a ship that had to be at least 20-feet long & 12-feet high.  Jade Ship Jim & Jane bought one of the “Happy Family” generation balls – four balls carved one inside the other. Jade, being a rock, could add a lot of weight to our already overweight bags. Actually our bags weren’t over weight, but Jim & Jane’s were pushing the limit a bit. The trip continued to the Great Wall.  Great Wall Our guide said that this section was chosen because it wouldn’t be as crowded as the other area. She also mentioned that it was a little bit steeper than the other section. Can’t imagine why, but maybe the other one having a gondola to take you from the parking lot up to the base of the wall had something to do with the crowds. We climbed 383 steps very unevenly spaced; not even in rise or tread – some 2-inches high, but some closer to 16-inches. Add in two long ramps mixed in on the lower part and you finally get to the second tower. Decided neither the view from nor the historic significance of the third tower was worth the possible heart attack. Especially after watching a guy collapse at the base of the second tower. He was not looking good; his lips had turned blue and was not responding well to people talking to him. One of the guides got some help and they took him back down. Saw him later and he still looked a little blue. This section was different than the one that we visited last time. Besides just being on a steeper section of mountain, it was narrower and shorter, but that was probably due to the terrain. The steps going back down were a little harder on all of us. We all made it, but when we got down, the knees were a bit shaky. From there, we went to a Cloisonné factory.  Cloisonne Factory Had lunch upstairs, and Jane was looking forward to the wine with lunch. Turned out to be something more like Korean Soju which doubles as lighter fluid in a pinch. To make matters worse, the Cokes tasted like crap! Don’t know what was wrong, but damn they tasted bad. Cloisonné are the vases and objects that look like porcelain pottery. The story goes: During the Ming dynasty, the emperor had a bit of a temper and a habit of throwing things. When he would calm down, he would become very sad about what he had done. So, he commanded that unbreakable works be made. What his artisans came up with was a copper vase to which copper wire that had been hammered flat and bent into patterns was attached to the vase. The resulting spaces were filled with liquid enamel and then fired. After cooling, the pieces are polished with three increasingly finer stones until you cannot feel where the wire ends and the enamel begins. Some really beautiful work. Had just enough time to get in some more shopping before we left and headed for the Temple of Heaven. Strolled along the path that each emperor traveled each year to ask for the blessings of the gods. More refurbishment kept us out of the main temple, but the other areas were interesting. Walked through the park and visited a teahouse. Mona & Jane both said that the girl who taught us how to make and drink five different kinds of Chinese tea was cute, but neither Jim nor I noticed.  Tea House Some of the teas were very good and some were just okay. Both of us picked up a bit of one that we liked and a couple of mugs. Back to our bus for an early dinner with a show featuring the dances of southern China. Food was good, but the Coke was nasty here too. After dinner, we took Janet and Bev to the train station for their overnight trip back to Suzhou then the rest of us headed for a night of Peking Opera. Watched the performers putting on make-up and then settled in for the two performances. The first was “The Warrior King bids goodbye to his concubine.”  The Peking Opera This was the more traditional Chinese opera and was entertaining but not something I would buy season tickets to. The second was “The Monkey King fights with 17 Ahats.” This was much easier on the ears and was more enjoyable. Back to the hotel with some very tired legs and a 4:00am wake up call! Monday, October 10: Beijing – Lhasa The 4:00 am wake up call came way too early, but we had a 5:20am pickup for transfer to the airport. The guide arranged for a box breakfast as the hotel buffet did not start until 6:00am, which was a couple of cakey things, a piece of fruit, a bag of grape tomatoes and a bottle of water. Got to the airport and checked in without anyone saying anything about the weight of the larger bags. Going through security, the guy opened every bottle of water and pulled the tab on the Cokes that we had brought with us and smelled them. Okay, the water wasn’t a problem, but now we had two Cokes that were opened and that were not going to be able to go back in the little lunch cooler bag we had them in. We decided that it was best to drink the cokes. Luckily, these were two that we had brought with us from Suzhou and not that nasty stuff that they produce in Beijing. Imagine our surprise when they had that same nasty gag-a-maggot taste. We just sat there stunned. It was Mona that finally made the connection. All four of us had started taking high altitude sickness prevention medicine in preparation for the high altitude of Tibet, and it was affecting the taste of the carbonated beverages. We had tried Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite and Tonic water and they all tasted bad. Now we have to figure out a way to apologize to Angela for slamming the Beijing Cokes. Looks like soft drinks are going to be off of the diet until we leave Tibet. Flight to Lhasa with a stop in Chendu, was on a 757 that had absolutely the least legroom of any plane that I have ever been on. My knees were jammed into the seat ahead of me. Jim, Jane and Mona were in 7D-E-F & I was in 7C, which were one row behind the bulkhead seats, which only had two seats per side. Jim’s seat was the window seat that did not have a seat in front of it, but did have the solid arms that made it very uncomfortable for him. They managed to switch around a bit and were able to survive the flight. Arrived in Lhasa at 12:45pm and met up with our guide Phrurbu (pronounced Purr-boo with a rolling “R”) and were presented with the traditional white prayer scarves called Kha-btags or Hada. Immediately realized that someone had stolen all of the oxygen!  Yak The trip from the airport to Lhasa was just over one hour, which, until the tunnel and bridges were finished two months ago, would have taken well over two hours. Arrived at the finest hotel in all of Tibet, the Lhasa Hotel, which used to be a Holiday Inn until they sold it back in 1995 – and we promptly took a nap. Dinner that night was on our own so we ate at the hotel in the Yak Café. All kinds of food including Yak steak, Yak burgers, Yak stew and some other stuff made with Yak. We passed on the Yak, not because of it being Yak, but the dinner the following night was a Tibetan dinner, which was sure to include Yak. Took a walk around the area then back to the hotel to turn in early. Was severely tempted to have the front desk turn on the oxygen supply that is in each room for use with an oxygen pillow?!? Tuesday, October 11: Lhasa Up for breakfast & to start our tour at 9:30am. Went to visit the Potala Palace, which was the winter palace of the Dalai Lama since the 7th century.  Potala Palace It sits atop the largest of the hills in Lhasa. It has a white section, which is the living quarters, and a red section that are the temples, teaching and libraries. The local people in native dress walk around the base of the palace with their prayer wheels spinning. Since many of the people could not write, the monks would right out a prayer for the people who would put them inside their prayer wheels. The spinning sends the messages to the gods. Even though the valley floor Lhasa sets in is at 11,811-feet (3,600-meters) and the walk up the long ramp which takes you up to the palace itself at 12,139-feet (3,700-meters), the climb didn’t seem to be as hard as the Great Wall did. Saw people carrying sacks of dirt and small stones up on their backs. These were then spread on the roofs, where a line of women & girls would walk around tamping the dirt & singing until it was compacted into a solid mass. Walked through room after room. Many of the rooms had entire walls covered with “pigeon holes”, each holding a book. These were old, thick, hand bound, hand written books. Most of the thirteen previous Dalai Lamas are entombed here in ornate mausoleums. History Lesson:> In November of 1950, 80,000 Chinese troops invaded Tibet. In 1954, the Dalai Lama went to Beijing for peace talks with Mao Tze-tung. His efforts to bring about a peaceful solution to Sino-Tibetan conflict were refused by Beijing. In 1959 Lhasa was the scene of a huge demonstration calling for China's withdrawal from Tibet, and reaffirming Tibetan independence. The Chinese army crushed the uprising. The 14th Dalai Lama escaped to India where he was given political asylum. Since 1960, the Dalai Lama has resided in Dharamsala, India, the seat of the Tibetan Government-in-exile. End History Lesson.  Nomad Girls  Nomad Woman with Braids The way that they braid their hair is fascinating. Some are braided in long hanging loops & others in multiple smaller braids that are platted together to form a flat sheet. Again, we saw many people making their prayers. Back to the hotel for a brief rest before heading over to the Mad Yak for dinner and a traditional dance show. Since we were in Tibet, we went for the not the Chinese food side of the buffet. Can’t say that Yak butter tea will be on my list of have to have drink list. Mona seemed to like it, but the rest of us preferred the barley wine. A great improvement over the Chinese wine we had in Beijing, but still not a Château St Michelle Cabernet Sauvignon. Enjoyed a show featuring Tibetan songs & dances – some of which is reminiscent of, but with a faster beat than the American Southwest Indians. Back to the hotel and in the rack before 10:00pm! Wednesday, October 11: Lhasa – ChengDu Up early to pack before breakfast. Then we were off to visit the Jokhang Temple.  Jokhang Temple Square This was built in the 7th century. Phrurbu had suggested that we swap the visits to this temple and the Summer Palace so that we could see more of the local people. Good suggestion. We saw hundreds & hundreds of people walking around the temple in a clockwise direction spinning their prayer wheels and making their prayers. In front of the temple entrance, dozens of people were worshiping by placing their hands in a praying position on their foreheads (for the mind), their mouths (for speech), their chest (for heart), then would kneel down and stretch out full length on the ground. Phrurbu explained that some would do this only a few times, but that others would repeat this prostrating themselves hundreds of times or more. When we went into the temple we went in through a special gate reserved for tourists, but there was a crowd of people surrounding the gate trying to get in without having to wait through the extremely long lines that form around the palace entrance. One woman grabbed my belt and tried to sneak in hiding behind me, but the guard pushed her back and shut the gate on the people trying to push in. This unfortunately included Jim & Mona. They had to fight their way to the front and then squeeze through with the guard’s help, fighting off the people. Inside, there was a line of nomads & locals that were inching their way along the walls single file going into each and every nook and cranny of the many rooms & altars.  Worshippers The interior was lit with large lamps filled with yak butter. They honor the deities with white scarves, which they would toss to the altars while murmuring sacred mantras to show their respect to the Buddha. I have never seen so many one Yuan & one Jaio notes in my life. People leave them stuck in every little crack or just place them in a bowl. Money lying everywhere, but no one even thought about picking any up. Climbed to the top where we could look down upon the crowds & out over the bazaar. Here is a hint for you; don’t lean against the top of the red walls made of stra, a red paint & clay to steady your camera for photos. The red stuff gets everywhere. I was red from wrists to elbows and all over the front of my shirt. Back down to the special gate again for the press to get out. Getting out was harder than getting in. As soon as they unlocked the chain on the gate, the people would rush forward. One of the guards really slammed the gate against the people trying to force their way in. Finally managed to slip out, feeling kind of bad about the fact that we were able to go in and out “easily” while the pilgrims were forced to wait in long lines. Of course we paid to get in the special gate & they were just trying to take a short cut, but we still felt strange. Started our clockwise walk through the bazaar. Saw this one monk that was working his way around the temple making his prayer, then he would get up, walk forward to where his hands were then repeat the process over and over. He had on a leather apron; pieces of tire tread wrapped around his the toes of his sandals and pads for his hands. When he would prostrate himself, he would slide forward nearly a full body length. Interesting. Not sure if it would be considered cheating or not. Just walking around the bazaar was quite an experience. All of the local and native people in their native dress was something to see.  Woman with Prayer Wheel You don’t see that in other parts of China. Most everyone wears western style clothes. Walked around looking in shop after shop. Bought a few things on our way through. Mona picked up this Yak horn teapot and the lady took her money then was tapping it all over the merchandise. Phrurbu explained to Mona it was her first sale of the day and that she was using it to bless (?) her wares for good sales for the day. Had dinner at a restaurant near the square. They served food from Nepal, Tibet, India, Italy & Mexico, so we had an eclectic lunch. All too soon it was time to head for the airport. On the way, we stopped to visit a typical family. This was apparently someone that the driver knew and not a scheduled visit like the one in Beijing. They had six kids, slightly more than the two allowed. All were unkempt but the little girl was just beautiful.  Tibetan Girl They were on the lower end of the socio-economic scale but the house, for what it was, was fairly well kept. Walls surround the house and animal pens; chickens running amok everywhere. The main room was crowded  Living Room but neat; in a separate room they had what we would call a den or sitting room where their personal shrine was kept and tended carefully. Kitchen was again in a separate room and it looked like the cooking is done over an open fire,  Kitchen probably using the Yak dung we saw stuck on the compound walls drying. The infant was lying there wrapped up in skin blanket and knitted cap on the porch. Took some photos – felt a little weird about that, but couldn’t pass up the opportunity – and left a tip. On the way to the airport, we saw a monk that was prostrating himself on the shoulder of the highway.  Traveling Monk We ask Phrurbu about it and he said that he would do that all the way to the temple some 360-kilometers (225-miles) away. Assuming that stretched out he was 6-feet long, this would mean that he would repeat this process about 198,000 times! Makes you stop and wonder if Christians would be this devout if our religions required this type of worship? Got to the airport and they told us that our plane was going to be late, but that they could put us on an earlier flight. We took that and they gave us our four boarding passes: Jane Dowling, Jane Dowling-A, Jane Dowling-B & Jane Dowling-C. Don’t have a clue on this one. The flight back to ChengDu was spectacular, well not so much the flight as the scenery. The sky was crystal clear and the Himalayas were absolutely amazing! Peaks and glaciers as far as the eye could see, and all seemed so close. Guess when you fly at 29,000-feet and the mountains are at 16,000-feet it would seem that way. Not sure what huge mountain that I saw, but it towered over the surrounding ones by what seemed a factor of two. Would like to think that it was Mt. Everest, but it should have been more behind the plane, unless we turned more than I thought we did. If it wasn’t, I can’t imagine how big it would be. Okay, we got in early so we grabbed our checked luggage & out to the lobby. Our guide wasn’t there to meet us, which was to be expected. We figured that they had gotten word that the plane was delayed and adjusted their schedule accordingly. We checked on the original flight to see how long of a wait we would have and noticed that it was due to arrive at 18:50 – exactly on schedule. Who knows how they think. So we stood around sucking in all of the sweet oxygen that being at only 500-meters (1620-feet) can provide. Finally found our guide, Lilly, and headed for dinner. Tonight was Hot Pot night. We ask that Lilly and the driver, Mr. Zhou, join us. We started with a large pot of chicken soup. Have you ever seen the old MasterCard commercials? Hot Pot – 40RMB; Bottled water – 4RMB; the look on Jane’s face when I pulled the chicken head, still attached to the chicken, up out of the soup – PRICELESS!  Chicken Soup While they took the pot back to cut most of the meat from the bone, we “enjoyed” the duck tongue and fried duck intestines. Both can be eaten if need be, but as a delicacy, I’ll have to leave mine to the Chinese. Both are spicy so Mona & Jane begged off by claiming burning lips. Got the hot pot back, chicken nicely pulled apart, but still with the head and feet attached. We added the meat and veggies to the new pot, let it cook, then enjoyed the meal very much. Finished up with fried pumpkin cakes. Headed to our hotel, the Minshan & talked about the schedule for tomorrow. We changed up the itinerary so that after the Panda reserve we were going to see the world’s largest Buddha instead of visiting another teahouse. Have to check this story out as Wuxi and Hong Kong also claim to have the world’s largest Buddha. Need to finish this and get to bed. Day starts early tomorrow. Thursday, October 13: ChengDu Breakfast was a bit on the limited side this morning. I guess if you are Chinese there was plenty, but for us Anglos, there wasn’t much recognizable. First stop was at the Panda reserve and breeding center. There are less then 1500 Pandas left in the world. China no longer gives Pandas as gifts, but does loan them to other countries. There were a number of pandas there (duh!) from adults to a one-month-old baby. The gestation time is longer for captive Pandas then for those in the wild. Not being around wild Pandas, the ones in captivity don’t have any way to learn how to mate. If the Pandas don’t figure out the birds & bees on their own, they are shown Panda porn videos to try to teach them. The first time mothers seem to be surprised when they give birth and don’t really know what to do. Enjoyed watching two older cubs playing & wrestling together.  Pandas There was always an observer handy to record each and every move their Panda makes. Also learned that the Red Pandas are members of the raccoon family and not related to the Pandas at all. Seems that since they live in the same area and eat the same food as the Pandas they called them Pandas. Look nothing alike. One is red and about the size of a badger and the other is, well a black and white Panda bear. From there we went to out to the town of Leshan about two hours away to visit the worlds tallest Buddha. Driving through the countryside was quite nice. We stopped at the requisite Chinese hotel for our Chinese dinner. As usual, there was too much food for our little group of four to eat. Cokes are improving but still bitter. Hope that the flavor gets better soon. Down to the docks for a boat ride to get a view of the Great Stone Buddha from the river.  Buddha Three rivers come together at the base of these huge red sandstone cliffs and cause a turbulence in which a number of the local fishermen drown. A local monk raised money to build the Buddha here at the confluence to protect the fishermen. Very impressive when viewed from river level. Jane & Mona were glad that the Buddha was there to protect us. While we were on the boat, a couple finally ask if Jane would be in their photograph. When we docked, we walked over and climbed the 450 steps (Lilly lied when she said about 200) to the top of the cliffs to view the Buddha from above. One big statue! It is 71-meters (220-feet) tall and that is with it in a sitting position. Sits back in the grotto and was originally protected by a series of roofs that spanned the width of the opening, but they were destroyed during a war, just don’t know which one. The information at the site claims that 100 people can stand on the top of one foot. We decided to pass on going down to stand at the feet to look up and just viewed it from the top. Something about what goes down must go back up. This Buddha is Jowo Sakyamuni, the Buddha of Compassion, and not the big round, smiling, fat bellied one that we normally think of when we think of Buddha. Started sprinkling so we headed back down to the van for the trip back to ChengDu. Passed through some very scenic farming country with lots of small terraced rice paddies. We all decided that we were just a wee bit tired of Chinese food, and since tonight’s dinner was on our own, we ask Lilly for a suggestion for western food. They dropped us off at a place call Grandma’s Kitchen. If you are ever in ChengDu and are looking for something non-Chinese, make it a point to find this place! We had been thinking pizza all day, but after looking at the huge western menu, Jim & Jane had hamburgers that took two hands to control while Mona had chicken & I had Chicken Alfredo. The evening was so nice that we decided to walk back to the hotel. Only about 10 blocks, but they were some long blocks. Still have to pack tonight. Friday, October 14: ChengDu – Guilin Five-fifteen wake up calls suck. Grabbed our suitcases and headed down to grab another Chinese box breakfast – Water, an orange, a boiled egg, a roll & a piece of sponge cake – to down in the van on the way to the airport. Got seats 7C, 7D, 7E & 7F on a 737 which was quite a bit better than the 757’s. Doors closed and there was no one is 7A or 7B, so we quickly claimed them and spread out. Flight was only an hour and a half, but if it had been any longer, I would have had to strangle the seven women in the row behind us. Actually there were only three and one of them never said a word, but the other two never shut up for one minute. Those women drowned out the engine noise! Guilin is the city with all of the sharp mountains that you see in many of the Chinese paintings. Really foggy when we landed & we couldn’t see anything. Didn’t have too much trouble finding our luggage as we had five of the twelve pieces that came down the claim belt, which seemed strange when the plane was 95% full. Found our guide Judy and the driver, Mr. Doh. Driving into town, the haze started to clear and the mountains began to appear. Guilin itself is basically flat, but these mountains just jut up hundreds of feet into the sky. They are not in groups of mountains, but usually a single peak, narrower than they are tall. We saw one that was more elongated and is in the form of an elephant. Visited the Seven Star Park, so named because there are seven mountains that form a star around the park. Today must have been elementary school kid day at the park. We said “Hello” and shook more hands in that hour than someone running for mayor of a large city. We enjoyed it and the kids seemed to get a real kick out of it. We wandered through the park and the zoo; managed to refrain from getting our photos taken sitting on the tiger and the two-humped camel and the swing with the two peacocks on it.  Seven Star Kids From there we went to Lovers Isle, which used to be where the kids went to do what my generation called “Parking”. Jim & I got our photos taken with three girls in local costumes. Both places were full of the fragrance of Oleander trees that only bloom at this time of year. Had lunch before stopping by our hotel to check in and drop off our luggage, then headed out to visit Reed cave. The cave has some wonderful examples of columns and draperies. Main room was pretty much on the same level as the entrance, which was conveniently located through the gift shop. The walkways were very nicely done and they had a lot of the obligatory lighting to color and display the formations.  Reed Cave Maybe just a bit too much mood lighting. Hope some of the photos taken without flash turn out. This was the hottest cave I’ve ever been in. The humidity was at 100% and the temperature felt like it was in the 85°F (30°C) range. The sweat was running down my back and starting to fill up my shoes! Going back outside was so refreshing. Sure didn’t need the jackets we carried with us. Stopped by the Pearl Museum & gift shop. Most of their stuff was salt-water pearls, which are different than the fresh water pearls in Suzhou. Very proud of the girls as they both resisted and we left empty handed. Back to the hotel for dinner on our own before the evening show. Found a KFC a couple blocks away & decided that was where the dinner on our own was going to be. Back to the hotel to meet Judy to go to a Chinese musical. Jim was feeling pretty tired & decided to stay in and rest. Different songs & dances of the local ethnic people woven into a loose story line, not what we expected but we enjoyed the show. The audience behavior was startling to Jane. There was constant talking back and forth to each other, across us and between different rows. Not whispering, but talking. Very typical for Asians. Saturday, October 15: Guilin Breakfast at the hotel before heading out the door at 8:40am for the one hour ride out to where we boarded a boat for our trip down the Li River. Don’t know exactly what we expected, but being in the middle of a fleet of other tour boats going downriver in single file wasn’t it. At one point we counted 16 boats in front of and 17 behind ours. Going up on deck you just turn round and round looking at the mountains until you get dizzy. The scenery was absolutely staggering! No matter what or how much I write, I could never begin to do it justice. The Li River winds through the type of mountains that you see on the Chinese paintings that seem to be an endless number of monolith’s rising up out of the earth everywhere you look, fading into or appearing out of the mist in the distance.  Li River Cruise Yesterday, Judy told us that there were 99,999 mountains and today we are starting to believe her. Between the mountains, you see only more mountains until they dissolve into the haze. Every turn in the river revealed scenery more spectacular than the last – Nine Horse Mountain; the villages; the vendors on their bamboo rafts. The bamboo that lines parts of the river was growing at least fifty-feet high and over 8-inches in diameter at the base. We stood up on the top deck of the boat taking photos until our shutter fingers got tired. The mountains eventually pulled back from the banks of the river giving way to small rice paddies and fields. Many more people were visible working along the shores. Saw the Chinese fishing birds – Cormorants – that have a ring that their owners place around their necks to prevent them from swallowing the fish. Wish we could have seen them working. Trip finally came to a reluctant end and we were “forced” to walk through the shops of Yangshou. Managed to escape with only a few more gifts and generally enjoyed the stroll. Long ride back to town gave us a chance to convince Judy that we did not want another elaborate Chinese dinner. She finally relented and took us to a place called McFounds. Menu was varied and so we waded in and ordered everything from dumplings & veggies to slovakai & ravioli. We forced Judy & Mr. Doh to eat with us, so she added some more food to the already massive amount we’d ordered. Everything was great, but there was just too much to finish. After dinner we went to see a Chinese Acrobatic show. Judy managed to get us front row seats. Not your normal acrobatic show, this one had some dance/ballet thrown in. Some of the skills of these of those people were incredible! Left the show with our jaws open. From there it was off to a night cruise around the city. Lots of lighting on the buildings, shrines, trees and even on the hills. Jim decided that he does not like the sound of an Erhu. An Erhu is the Chinese vertical fiddle instrument with only two strings and a small resonance chamber covered with snakeskin, and it was being played on the little boat right next to our table. Two bamboo rafts pulled up along side of us and we watched some of the Cormorants diving for and catching fish.  Cormorants Those bird were well trained and something to watch work. We must have been the last boat of the night because he took the rings off of their necks and let them catch some fish for themselves. It’s been a full day and we finally crawled into bed around 11:30pm. Sunday, October 16: Guilin – Chongqing Slept in this morning. Had a late breakfast before meeting Judy & Mr. Doh for a visit to the nearby village of Da Xu. The original plan was to visit Longsheng where we could view the terraced farms and rice fields. The way she had described it led us to believe there were going to be lots of steps. We finally got out of her that there would be about a thousand steps. We did not think that all of us were up to that many steps. We signed off saying that it was our request. Da Xu was only about an hour away but 50-years ago. Jane stopped at the first booth that we came to and bartered with them over some antique coins while this old man with a long beard and toothless grin watched and chuckled.  Jane Bartering Walked down the central street where there were several vendors with their wares set up in front of their houses. Walked all the way to the end “just looking”. Took photos of the houses & the people and just enjoyed the experience. On the way back, we stopped at a little teahouse for a Coke, which are almost back to tasting normal again. The woman there showed us a photo of her and President Nixon that was taken during his first visit to China. She ask if we needed to use the toilet, and Jim either was feeling very brave or had to pee really bad. He came back with such glowing reports of the facility that we all made a dash for it. Actually had a western toilet and toilet paper and was probably one of the cleanest toilets outside of the hotels we ran across during the whole trip. Probably wouldn’t want to spend too much time in there in the winter or a driving rain storm as there were some fairly large gaps in several places in the walls. Who would have guessed that this neat little shop was hiding a 3-star W.C.! Back through the town stopping to pick up some of the small items that we had spotted along the way. Mona found a neat stone xylophone with a dragon on it. Finally agreed on a price and then had to convince them that we did not want the solid iron frame for only another 50RMB. Okay, managed that so the next problem is going to be how to pack them. I ask Judy about this “book” that is pictures on bone like scrimshaw. Judy was embarrassed, but explained the parents would give these “instruction” books to their children on their wedding night. You will have to use you imagination, as I was not able to get a photo of this. Back to Guilin, stopping along the way for photos and lunch. Same little place as yesterday. Found out that what we had thought were dumplings were actually the ravioli that we thought we didn’t get the night before. Had a few hours to kill so we just went walking around the downtown area. Actually managed to escape with only a deck of playing cards added to our collection – don’t ask. Got ready to head back to the hotel to pick up our luggage so Judy called Mr. Doh. No answer. Kept calling and kept getting no answer. Starting to get a little bit late, so we flagged down a couple of taxis. Jim, Jane & Mona took the first one back to the hotel and Judy & I took the second back to where we had left the van. Mr. Doh was fast asleep in the front seat. Judy woke him up and for once, I was glad that I don’t speak Chinese. There was no doubt as to the content of the conversation. Loaded up our luggage and boarded our little van one last time for the trip to the airport. Got our tickets, checked our luggage and headed to the gate. Kind of worried about what was going to happen when they X-rayed the 15-pounds (7-kilograms) of stone xylophone keys in my carry-on, but it went through just fine. Must be use to Anglos with strange souvenirs in their luggage. Plane was a little late and when it got there, it was another 757. Jim’s face was one of pain. We had seats 2E/F and 3A/B, but since it was Xiamen Airlines, a regional carrier, we expected the worst. Got on board and found out that we were actually in some kind of upgraded economy class with an extra large amount of leg room. Too bad that this was our shortest flight of the whole trip. Arrived in Chongqing and found our guide. Never did get his name. During the ride to the ship, we learned that Chongqing was a city of 10-million and that Chongqing City was over 30-million people. There were so many neon lights on the buildings, running up and down, back and forth in patterns and various colors. The city is very hilly and there are almost no bicycles. They had supper planned, but with the late lunch we had plus the food served on the plane, we ask to cancel the Chinese hotel food dinner and just stop somewhere to get water & Cokes. No Coca Cola, so we had to settle for a large bottle of the local brew. Got to the ship and the guide gathered up some of the local porters to carry our luggage down the five flights of stairs to the ship. Seems that there wasn’t enough bags for everyone so two of the guys grabbed Jane and held her by the arms all the way down to the boat. When we went to check-in they ask for our passports and our airline tickets. We had no problem with item #1, but according to information from our travel agent, they were suppose to be giving us the tickets, not the other way around! Back and forth between the purser, our travel agent and Mona trying to get it straightened out. Mona got mad at me for getting upset and made me go to my room .  Stateroom 1  Stateroom 2 Mi, our travel agent in Suzhou, checked and called back to say that the tickets were already on board and that a guide would give them to us tomorrow. Dropped off the luggage then headed down to the restaurant to getting something cold to drink. Apparently it was near the end of the meal and only a couple tables clear at the back were open. The waitress was Apple and she had a choice of smiling or seeing. When she smiled, her eyes would turn into slits, but she had a gorgeous smile. Ended up just getting soup, salad & dessert – except for Jim who managed to force down a steak. The purser came by our table to let us know that we would get our tickets after we disembarked at the end of the cruise. Guess that we’ll just have to wait and see what happens. We ended up being the last to leave the restaurant and got a chance to watch how anal some people can be. They actually had the waitresses lining up all of the chairs to a string stretched the length of the entire room. Every chair had to be perfectly positioned. Ship is not due to sail until tomorrow morning at 7:00am, so we may not get up to watch that grand event. Monday, October 17: Yangtze River Left the dock right on time. We got up, opened the curtains, and then lay back down to watch the city and ships go by. Finally got up around 8-ish, showered were almost dressed when Jim & Jane called to see if we were up for breakfast. Learned that our ship, the Viking Century Sky, was not only the newest cruise boat on the river, but was also the largest, with a capacity of 306 passengers and 120 crew members.  Century Sky There were only 190 passengers on board but it was probably 97% Anglo. Took a walk around the ship, which really didn’t take nearly as long as it did when we were all on the Volendam last year on our Alaskan cruise. This was much smaller, then again we were sailing on a river and not the ocean. The Yangtze here is very swift and very muddy. Lunch was a sandwich buffet for appetizers with real food available from the menu. The sandwich bar was so good that we just pigged out on that then went straight into the dessert mode. The excursion today was to the Shibaozhai Temple which when the reservoir reaches full capacity in 2009 would have water three-quarters of the way up on the front entrance of the pagoda.  Shibaozhai Temple The government is going to build a levee entirely around the temple to prevent that, but then it will become an island and I don’t know where all of the vendors will set up for the tourists to walk through on their way from and back to the ships. Climbed up the twelve flights of wooded steps to the top. Quite a view. On top there was this little bridge that you were suppose to step across in three steps. Bridge had quite an arch to it so it was not easy. Below the bridge was a salamander, largest salamander I’ve ever seen. His head alone was as large as a dinner plate! Back down to the boat for some rest and wine – one and a half bottles of wine to be exact – on the veranda before dinner. The dinner menu just did not have anything that looked appetizing to me, but everyone else was fine with it. Mona had a duck that she said was very good. I had decided that all I wanted was just a bowl of soup. When Florian, the food & beverage manager that made Jane’s heart throb & Mona drool, stopped by, he seemed concerned that all I was having was soup. I explained that nothing jumped out at me on the menu, so he had Apple bring me a great little fillet mignon. After dinner, we went up to the lounge to watch the crew cabaret show. Apple was one of the performers and did a native Taiwan dance.  Cabaret Others did various native dances and the front desk crew sang “You are my Sunshine”. Very well done for being crewmembers and not entertainers. Ten o’clock. Decided not to stay for the “Oldie but Goodie” show (figured that one song might get a little old) and head back to the cabin with a little time to finish this part of the log before hitting the hay. Ship sails at midnight to the Qutang Gorge. Tuesday, October 18: Yangtze River I screwed up at breakfast and did not sit at one of Apples tables. Believe me, I heard about it from all of my traveling companions. Started up the Qutang Gorge. The cruise director was telling us that the 1.9-million people who are being displaced have no choice as to where they go or when they leave. Whole villages of farmers are being moved to apartment complexes near by or in some cases where there is not enough farmland, to the under populated western part of the country. I guess that since the people of the Peoples Republic of China are not allowed to own any of the land in China, that they really don’t have much of an option. The younger people seem to be glad to move and get a newer and larger place to live, but the older folks don’t want to leave the only home that most of them have ever known. Docked at Wushan & transferred to a smaller ship for a 20-mile, 5-1/2 hour trip up through the Lesser Three Gorges of the Daning River. Passed under what the locals call the bye-bye bridge. This is because when the reservoir is full the water level which now is some 100-meters (330-feet) above the river, would only be 250-millimeters or 10-inches below the road surface. A new bridge is planned for up stream and then the bye-bye bridge goes bye-bye. They are going to have to hurry, because all they have decided is where the bridge will be built, but haven’t even got the road to there yet. Most of the abandoned houses will be striped of all recyclable parts then torn down to prevent navigation hazards. These gorges, Dragon’s Gate, Misty Gorge and Emerald Gorge, can be as narrow as 500-feet (150-meters) and with cliffs as high as 4,000 feet (1,200-meters). Also saw what are called the hanging coffins.  Hanging Coffin  Hanging Coffin - Detail They are actual coffins that were placed high up on the cliffs on ledges or in clefts in the rocks. No one knows just why the Bah people put them up there or how they did it. Along the way we saw monkeys on the banks running along ledges or leaping from tree to tree  Monkeys and the goats climbing on the sheer rock walls.  Goats Had a really good barbeque lunch ashore before the return trip back to our ship. Back on board, we started our cruise through the Wu Gorge. Rest of the day was spent just relaxing, catching up on postcards and logs and then took a walk up to the top deck to watch the mountains go by. At this point they are so close to the water and so steep that we see almost no villages or houses. Tonight was the Captains dinner. Too bad that the captain is Chinese. Not that I don’t think that he is a good sailor, but that the dinner was all Chinese and from the descriptions in the menu, spicy Chinese. Turned out that only couple of the dishes were blistering; the rest were just nicely seasoned or mildly hot, depending upon whether you talked to Jim & me or Jane & Mona. Wasn’t as bad as we feared and Mona managed to work her way around the hot and the fish. The ship was scheduled to go through the locks tonight around 10:00pm. Since it is now 10:15pm & we are just sitting, I don’t know if I’ll stay up to watch or not. At the current water level they only use four of the five locks to raise and lower the ships, and the forth is not a full lift yet. Finally moved into the first dock just after midnight. Water level showed 138-meters above sea level. Final level will be 175-meters. Wednesday, October 19: Yangtze River – Yiching – Shanghai – Suzhou Apparently I slept though the locking process as when we woke up we were docked at the pier. Weather was rainy & foggy. Got the bags packed and out in the hall by the appointed time, then headed down for breakfast. Decided to eat heavy as we did not know what the food situation was going to be like. Got checked out and the purser finally had our airline tickets along with our guide, Helen, so that made us feel better. She stayed on the ship with the luggage while we did a tour of the Three Gorges Dam. Not a good day for viewing and photographing, but you could still see that it was going to be a damn big dam. Largest in the world. Not as visually impressive as something like Hoover Dam, but much bigger in size and in generation capacity. When it is completed it will have a total of twenty-six 700-megawatt turbine-generators. When it was first conceived, it was going to provide 9% of China’s total electrical power, but with the growth rate that China has experienced, it will provide just over 4%. Along with the double lock system, that allows for both up river and down river traffic at the same time, there will be a ship elevator that will be capable of lifting or lowering ships with a maximum weight of up to 3,000-tons in only a half an hour. It will cost to use, while the locks are free, but the locks take about 4-hours to pass completely through and as they say, “Time is money”. Up to see the model of the dam. Still raining. Back to the ship to get Helen and our luggage. About an hour from the ship into Yichang and lunch. Went to visit the Three Gorges Dam Relic Museum. Apparently with the rain, Helen was having a hard time figuring out things for us to do. We finally talked her into taking us to the airport early, where we could just sit and wait. Got there about 3:00pm and the flight wasn’t until 8:10pm. When we got settled in we saw that several of the flights had been delayed, but ours was listed as “Normal”. Finally started to receive planes about 5:30pm and at six we checked in and went up to the departure lounge just in time to hear that our flight was now delayed. No one could tell us how long of a delay it would be or even if we would get out that night. I guess if you are going to have a hiccup, the last night of the trip is the time to have it. At 7:00pm we decided to have dinner, so the girls bought some Ramen Noodles from the shop and fixed it with hot water from the dispenser.  Dinner In Yinchang At 7:30pm they announced that the flight was delayed until 11:00pm. At 8:00pm they gave everyone on flight MU2088 a bottle of water or a Coke. At 9:00pm they said that the plane would arrive at 11:00pm. All this time Mona & Mi have been text messaging back and forth about a hotel in Shanghai or having a driver pick us up and take us on in to Suzhou. Finally decided on the latter. At 11:00pm the flight arrives and at 11:30pm we are boarded and on our way to Shanghai Hong Qiao airport. At 12:30am they come on the PA and tell us that Hong Qiao airport closed at midnight to inbound traffic and that we were being diverted to Shanghai Pudong airport. Mi had stayed up following the flight, caught the change of airports and had the driver ready when we cleared baggage claim. Finally got home at 3:00am. This has to be one of the most fantastic vacations we have EVER had.  ToMonaInc |
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