This morning we walked a bit of the Xian city wall. The 12 km wall surrounds the old city and is about 15m+ high and about 20m wide. Apparently no one ever really attacked it since it was considered to be impregnable. It is very substantial.
Sunday, November 3, 2013
Terra Cotta Soldiers
Friday, October 11, 2013
This morning we walked a bit of the Xian city wall. The 12 km wall surrounds the old city and is about 15m+ high and about 20m wide. Apparently no one ever really attacked it since it was considered to be impregnable. It is very substantial.
The gates are few and relatively small. There are a some old military buildings right on top of the wall.
Afterwards, we visited a jade factory and learned a bit about carving jade sculptures and jewelry. The factory guide is holding a set of nine (I think) jade balls nesting inside each other, all carved from a single solid block of jade rock. Tricky.
After lunch, we visited the Terra Cotta Soldiers excavation site near Xian. An ancient emperor had at least 8,000 of these life-size clay soldiers, some with chariots and horses, fashioned and arranged in battle formation to protect him in his tomb in the afterlife. The soldiers were set in pits in the ground. The pits were covered with a timber and dirt roof. Many of the terra cotta figures were smashed shortly after the emperor died when an invader discovered them. The roofs caved in and the site was lost until 1974 when a farmer digging a well discovered them. Since then the Chinese government has done a huge dig and restoration. They have built 3 large buildings over the pits that have been discovered so far to protect them. It's an amazing sight and something I've wanted to see for a long time.
The restoration project is on a massive scale, just like almost everything else in China.
Hard to believe.
All of the figures are life-size. The bodies of the soldiers are similar but all of the faces are different. It took many years by many artisans and labourers to create this underground army. It seems that the Chinese people, whether under the rule of an emperor or a Communist government that tolerates no dissent, have been accustomed for centuries to all pushing in one direction. What they can accomplish is awe-inspiring and a bit scary.
This morning we walked a bit of the Xian city wall. The 12 km wall surrounds the old city and is about 15m+ high and about 20m wide. Apparently no one ever really attacked it since it was considered to be impregnable. It is very substantial.
Xian Tang Dynasty Dancing Show
Thursday, October 10, 2013
This morning we flew from Beijing to Xian. In the afternoon we toured the Shaanxi Museum, one of the best museums in China. There are a lot of ancient artifacts, including some from the nearby Terra Cotta Soldiers excavation site.
In the evening, we enjoyed a dumpling banquet at a dinner theatre. We were served 15 different kinds of dumplings. Delicious meal.
After dinner, the Tang Dynasty Dancing Show started.
There were elaborate sets and costumes.
This show was a huge improvement over the Peking Opera we had seen in Beijing.
Anita is at the entrance to the Shaanxi Museum earlier in the day with a large friend. Another full day.
This morning we flew from Beijing to Xian. In the afternoon we toured the Shaanxi Museum, one of the best museums in China. There are a lot of ancient artifacts, including some from the nearby Terra Cotta Soldiers excavation site.
It seemed that everyone really enjoyed it.
Friday, November 1, 2013
The Summer Palace and the old Beijing Hutong
Wednesday October 9, 2013
This morning we visited the Hutong which is an old neighbourhood of Beijing.
The weather was overcast and a bit cooler but not too bad.
It was 10 yuan each (about $2) for a 20 minute rickshaw ride. There are hundreds of rickshaws and drivers waiting to take tourists around the old streets.
In the afternoon we went to the Summer Palace where the emperor and his entourage vacationed. The building on the hill is just one of many. The hill is manmade as is a huge lake.
Along the edge of the lake there is a covered walkway that stretches for a kilometre or two. The concubines could not walk fast due to their bound feet. Instead of possibly getting caught out in the rain or too much sun, they could walk along this covered walkway with elaborate paintings on the beams and ceiling. There are 14,000 paintings (I think).
It's no wonder that the Chinese have modernized their infrastructure so fast. They are used to doing things in a big way.
If you want a lake, just get some of the help to dig one. That's what the emperor did.
This is a stone building in the shape of a boat on the Summer Palace lake.
There are a few bridges like this around the Summer Palace grounds.
Our last stop for the day was at the Olympic site. The Bird's Nest stadium is incredible.
Luckily, we got there just as the evening lights went on. After another sumptuous dinner, we dragged ourselves back to our hotel. Every day is filled with seeing incredible sites. By the end of each day, everyone is very tired.
This morning we visited the Hutong which is an old neighbourhood of Beijing.
It's no wonder that the Chinese have modernized their infrastructure so fast. They are used to doing things in a big way.
The Great Wall
Tuesday October 8, 2013
Today, we took the bus from Beijing to a section of the Great Wall north of the city a couple of hours.
The Wall is an incredible feat of ancient engineering and construction, running up and down the mountain ridges.
Some parts of the wall are very steep. It's a tough walk.
On the way back to Beijing, we visited the Ming Tombs, where 13 emperors of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) are buried. There are quite a few buildings as well as a big hill which apparently contains the tombs.
The timber frame construction is massive.
For dinner we had Peking Roast Duck at a restaurant before returning to our hotel.
Today, we took the bus from Beijing to a section of the Great Wall north of the city a couple of hours.
The Wall is an incredible feat of ancient engineering and construction, running up and down the mountain ridges.
For dinner we had Peking Roast Duck at a restaurant before returning to our hotel.
Thursday, October 31, 2013
First full day in Beijing
Monday October 7, 2013
Our flight from Washington leaving at 12:20 Saturday afternoon actually landed in Beijing at 2:20 Sunday afternoon due to the time change of 12 hours ahead added to the 14 hour flight.
On Monday morning, our busload of 24 plus 2 guides first went to the Temple of Heaven where the emperor went to humble himself in prayer to guarantee a good harvest.
There is a huge square at the entrance and lots of parkland. These people were using the space to dance while others were doing tai chi or other exercises or practising their calligraphy on the pavement using big brushes and water. As we saw throughout southeast Asia, in China people really use the parks and are not embarrassed to be seen doing things that would be unusual in Canadian parks. Everyone lives in apartments so this is their open space
In China, squares or rectangles, like the shape of the park, represent the earth and circles represent the heavens. Here is Anita on the central circle reaching up to heaven.
Another part of the Temple of Heaven.
Every day for lunch we were taken on the bus to a nice, big restaurant with round tables. Each table had a huge lazy susan turntable where at least 10 different dishes were placed. We all got green tea and one glass of beer per meal. Each table was marked with a flag for the different groups. We were always Table 12. The 8 of us would spin the turntable and take whatever food we wanted. We were taught that the Chinese version of "Cheers" was pronounced "Gambay" which we somehow immediately mangled to "Rambo" (I think Anita had a hand in this). At every meal we cheered "Rambo" for the next 3 weeks.
Right near the Temple of Heaven is Tiananmen Square, the Hall of the People (like Parliament), and Mao's tomb. Tiananmen Square leads to the Forbidden City just across the street.
In Tiananmen Square we are in front of the tomb of the unknown soldier and the Hall of the People. Our guide said that he would answer any political questions when we were in the privacy of the bus but not to ask him political questions in public. He had a real and very rational fear of being arrested if he was ever critical of the government in public. Around public places in Beijing, especially Tiananmen Square, there are lots of closed circuit tv surveillance cameras. The Chinese government is very serious about repression of dissent. The Chinese public know less about arrested dissidents than we learn about them in Canada. There are no human rights or free speech in China.
Photo op in the Forbidden City, the former home of the emperor where he lived with his family, concubines and eunuch servants. The Forbidden City is massive. It took quite a bit of the hot, sunny afternoon to walk through it.
After dinner we went to the Peking Opera, a traditional Chinese opera. Before the show, an assistant dressed one of the main characters on stage to show us the elaborate costume. We were all really tired from our day in the hot sun and from jet lag, to the point where many of us were nodding off in our seats. However, the screeching operatic so-called singing woke us up. Many of us got a little giddy but tried to be respectful and not laugh. Unfortunately that led to a lot of snorting and giggling that we couldn't stop for awhile. We couldn't wait for the main character to commit suicide, as promised, so the performance would end. We can't recommend going to a Chinese opera. It's excruciating.
Our flight from Washington leaving at 12:20 Saturday afternoon actually landed in Beijing at 2:20 Sunday afternoon due to the time change of 12 hours ahead added to the 14 hour flight.
On Monday morning, our busload of 24 plus 2 guides first went to the Temple of Heaven where the emperor went to humble himself in prayer to guarantee a good harvest.
Every day for lunch we were taken on the bus to a nice, big restaurant with round tables. Each table had a huge lazy susan turntable where at least 10 different dishes were placed. We all got green tea and one glass of beer per meal. Each table was marked with a flag for the different groups. We were always Table 12. The 8 of us would spin the turntable and take whatever food we wanted. We were taught that the Chinese version of "Cheers" was pronounced "Gambay" which we somehow immediately mangled to "Rambo" (I think Anita had a hand in this). At every meal we cheered "Rambo" for the next 3 weeks.
Right near the Temple of Heaven is Tiananmen Square, the Hall of the People (like Parliament), and Mao's tomb. Tiananmen Square leads to the Forbidden City just across the street.
Photo-op in front of the Temple of Heaven.
Off to China October 5 2013
Not long into our recent trip to China, we discovered that blogspot, as well as facebook and other sites, is blocked in China. Therefore, we're going to catch up on our blog now that we're home and can still remember at least some of what happened.
We had never gone on an organized tour before, but we had heard good things about Sinorama and thought that the price was very reasonable for a 23 day tour of China. Also, we were a little intimidated by the logistics of travel in China so after we returned from southeast Asia last spring, we booked this trip.
October 4th, 2013
We hadn't got our flight schedule and visas from Sinorama until a couple of weeks before the trip so we had no idea whether everyone who booked for the same tour as us would be on the same flight. As it turned out, we were among the few who didn't get the best flight schedule. However, on Friday October 4th, I picked up Anita at a supply teaching job in Killaloe at noon and off we drove to Ottawa. We stayed at the Days Inn overnight, left our car there, and took the shuttle to the airport at 4 am. We didn't get much sleep. Our flight to Washington Dulles on UA left at 6 am. It was only 1 hour 40 minutes and then we had a 4 hour and 40 minute hangover until our flight left Dulles for Beijing. At least Anita had time to grant President Obama a photo op. Naturally on our next flight, we flew over southern Ontario on the way so we were just going back the way we had already come.
Fourteen hours from Washington to Beijing is the longest single flight we had ever taken. Neither of us slept much but we watched a lot of movies. Due to the 12 hour time change, we arrived in Beijing only 2 hours after we left, at 2:20 pm. This was the beginning of jet lag.
This was also the beginning of our discovery that a lot of the infrastructure in China, for example the Beijing airport, is new, very modern and very large. Every airport or high speed train station we went through on our trip was big and beautiful. There have been 80,000 km of expressways built over the last 30 years. China has definitely been on the move, much more so than we would have ever guessed.
Our "national guide", who took the English name of "Mark", met us outside the arrivals area right after we picked up our luggage. He was with us for the whole 23 days while "local guides" also led us in each location after Beijing. Mark was great, very patient, organized and cheerful.
Sinorama is apparently owned by a Chinese Canadian person and is a big company, sending many Canadian tourists to China each year. It seems that they can offer such good prices by volume buying. We had already been assigned to Bus 4 and Table 12. Whether it was on a bus, train, plane, or boat, we traveled with the same group of 24 people for the whole trip. Sinorama had 10 such groups arriving in Beijing at the same time. We'd see and chat with the other groups in big restaurants or in the hotel lobbies or at tourist sites, but we never had any organized interaction with them.
For each meal, the group of 24 was divided into 3 groups of 8 so we ate with the same group of 8 for every organized meal. Breakfast was always a buffet so we could eat at any table but otherwise all the tables were marked with our group number. Having always traveled before on our own, we were hesitant about this arrangement but it worked out just fine. Our group of 24 was always punctual and cheerful, with a couple of notable exceptions, and our dinner companions were great. Frank & Kathy, Kevin and Mary, and Ram and Nazeera were very amiable and lots of fun. We're glad we met them. In the end, we chose to eat breakfast with them too whenever we could, even when it wasn't required. Most of the people in our group of 24 were about our age and retired or close to it.
Over the course of the trip, we learned that, as we had suspected, there are pros and cons to this type of travel. We would never have seen so much at such a low price with so little effort on our part if we hadn't gone on a group tour. However, there was also never any real need to interact with the local people to find hotels, restaurants, sites of interest or to figure out how to get around the country. We spoke mostly with the tour guides and the others in the group, not with local people. We had no need to mangle the language and do weird pantomimes to get where we wanted to go. It's a bit more like going to the zoo and a bit less like traveling through the wilderness. As part of a group, you are always on the group schedule and not on your own. If you want more or less time at any site, or want to leave the hotel earlier or later, it's not happening. The walking pace is also much slower than our normal rate, since all levels of health and fitness have to be accommodated.
However, it worked out great and gave us as much of a taste of China as we wanted. We may do a group tour again, but only when it's the best option. For example, this might be the way to tour the pyramids of Egypt or the wilderness of Africa, but we would never go this way to Europe or Australia.
Anyway, Mark got us all on the bus and away we went to the Beijing Lijingwan Hotel for a welcome dinner and some sleep. All of our hotels were 5 star and were some of the best hotels we've ever stayed in. We could never have afforded these hotels if travelling on our own.
Although everyone was way overtired, I think we all had trouble sleeping for quite a few days due to the time difference. Jet lag is a bitch.
We had never gone on an organized tour before, but we had heard good things about Sinorama and thought that the price was very reasonable for a 23 day tour of China. Also, we were a little intimidated by the logistics of travel in China so after we returned from southeast Asia last spring, we booked this trip.
October 4th, 2013
We hadn't got our flight schedule and visas from Sinorama until a couple of weeks before the trip so we had no idea whether everyone who booked for the same tour as us would be on the same flight. As it turned out, we were among the few who didn't get the best flight schedule. However, on Friday October 4th, I picked up Anita at a supply teaching job in Killaloe at noon and off we drove to Ottawa. We stayed at the Days Inn overnight, left our car there, and took the shuttle to the airport at 4 am. We didn't get much sleep. Our flight to Washington Dulles on UA left at 6 am. It was only 1 hour 40 minutes and then we had a 4 hour and 40 minute hangover until our flight left Dulles for Beijing. At least Anita had time to grant President Obama a photo op. Naturally on our next flight, we flew over southern Ontario on the way so we were just going back the way we had already come.
This was also the beginning of our discovery that a lot of the infrastructure in China, for example the Beijing airport, is new, very modern and very large. Every airport or high speed train station we went through on our trip was big and beautiful. There have been 80,000 km of expressways built over the last 30 years. China has definitely been on the move, much more so than we would have ever guessed.
Our "national guide", who took the English name of "Mark", met us outside the arrivals area right after we picked up our luggage. He was with us for the whole 23 days while "local guides" also led us in each location after Beijing. Mark was great, very patient, organized and cheerful.
Sinorama is apparently owned by a Chinese Canadian person and is a big company, sending many Canadian tourists to China each year. It seems that they can offer such good prices by volume buying. We had already been assigned to Bus 4 and Table 12. Whether it was on a bus, train, plane, or boat, we traveled with the same group of 24 people for the whole trip. Sinorama had 10 such groups arriving in Beijing at the same time. We'd see and chat with the other groups in big restaurants or in the hotel lobbies or at tourist sites, but we never had any organized interaction with them.
For each meal, the group of 24 was divided into 3 groups of 8 so we ate with the same group of 8 for every organized meal. Breakfast was always a buffet so we could eat at any table but otherwise all the tables were marked with our group number. Having always traveled before on our own, we were hesitant about this arrangement but it worked out just fine. Our group of 24 was always punctual and cheerful, with a couple of notable exceptions, and our dinner companions were great. Frank & Kathy, Kevin and Mary, and Ram and Nazeera were very amiable and lots of fun. We're glad we met them. In the end, we chose to eat breakfast with them too whenever we could, even when it wasn't required. Most of the people in our group of 24 were about our age and retired or close to it.
Over the course of the trip, we learned that, as we had suspected, there are pros and cons to this type of travel. We would never have seen so much at such a low price with so little effort on our part if we hadn't gone on a group tour. However, there was also never any real need to interact with the local people to find hotels, restaurants, sites of interest or to figure out how to get around the country. We spoke mostly with the tour guides and the others in the group, not with local people. We had no need to mangle the language and do weird pantomimes to get where we wanted to go. It's a bit more like going to the zoo and a bit less like traveling through the wilderness. As part of a group, you are always on the group schedule and not on your own. If you want more or less time at any site, or want to leave the hotel earlier or later, it's not happening. The walking pace is also much slower than our normal rate, since all levels of health and fitness have to be accommodated.
However, it worked out great and gave us as much of a taste of China as we wanted. We may do a group tour again, but only when it's the best option. For example, this might be the way to tour the pyramids of Egypt or the wilderness of Africa, but we would never go this way to Europe or Australia.
Anyway, Mark got us all on the bus and away we went to the Beijing Lijingwan Hotel for a welcome dinner and some sleep. All of our hotels were 5 star and were some of the best hotels we've ever stayed in. We could never have afforded these hotels if travelling on our own.
Although everyone was way overtired, I think we all had trouble sleeping for quite a few days due to the time difference. Jet lag is a bitch.
Monday, April 1, 2013
Last Day in Vietnam
Tuesday, April 2nd 2013 Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
The night before last, we all went to a good Indian restaurant (above) on the main backpacker street, Bui Vien. As we were sitting there, I thought I recognized a couple that walked by. Later, just as Dylan and Kasumi had gotten into a cab, a British guy ran up to us. We had met him and his girlfriend at our hotel in Sapa in northern Vietnam and had also ran into them on the street in Hoi An. They had just finished eating in the same restaurant moments before we went in. Then they were sitting on the balcony overlooking the street at Stella, a restaurant and bar, when they saw us walk by, so he ran down to say hello. Small world on the tourist trail.
Yesterday we walked through the park between Pham Ngu Lao and Le Loi streets to get to the Ho Chi Minh City Museum. The translation of the park rules into English includes some oddities, like making sure you're not engaging in evil business like fortune-telling in the park.
The museum wasn't all that interesting but on the lawn they did have the jet from which bombs were dropped onto the Presidential Palace by a renegade South Vietnamese pilot. He was ordered to drop bombs on approaching North Vietnamese troops near the end of the war. However, he was actually a North Vietnamese agent. When he took off, he flew over the palace and bombed it instead. He landed safely and was imprisoned but still lives in the city where he is a revered hero of the American war.
It was really hot and sunny again yesterday so we had a late lunch in the Vincom Centre, a big modern downtown shopping mall, which has great AC. Afterward we went over to Dylan and Kasumi's hotel to see the place. It's a nice modest hotel where their room, including breakfast and laundry, costs $350 a month.
There are several terraces outdoors there, including this one on the roof.
In every direction, all you can see is city. HCMC is huge.
Last night, after happy hour in our hotel room, we all went to Stella for dinner. Stella is a good restaurant and bar with pool tables and dart boards.
The 2nd floor terrace is a great place to watch all the action on the street.
As we walked down Bui Vien to the alley leading over to Pham Ngu Lao about 10 pm, we could see lots of tourists partying. Everybody sits right on the street on little plastic chairs and stools, drinking cheap beer. This is a typical Monday night, not really too busy.
Today we had a late breakfast at the rooftop restaurant and started packing for our trip home. We arranged to pay for an extra half day so we can delay checkout until 6 pm. We'll spend the afternoon staying cool in our room, resting up for the trip ahead. From the time we got up this morning until we get into our own beds at home will be over 50 hours, if all goes well, and 12 time zones. It's blazing hot out on the street and we've seen everything we want to see here. We don't mind just resting for the afternoon.
Dylan works this afternoon and then we'll all go out for dinner after checkout. We should taxi out to the airport by 9 pm. There, we'll say goodbye to Dylan and Kasumi. Our first flight leaves for Seoul at 11:40 pm. We arrive there at around 6 am local time and leave at 11 am for Chicago. Because of the time difference, we'll get to Chicago earlier than when we left, at 9:40 am tomorrow. Then our flight to Ottawa leaves at 2:40 pm and arrives at 5:36 pm. Anita's brother Tim, who is home for awhile, will be there to pick us up. He's already warned us by email to be prepared for reverse culture shock and we're sure he's right.
It will take a while to get accustomed to life in Canada again. It will be good to be home but there are a lot of things about southeast Asia that we'll miss. Travels with Anita will resume somewhere in the year ahead.
It was really hot and sunny again yesterday so we had a late lunch in the Vincom Centre, a big modern downtown shopping mall, which has great AC. Afterward we went over to Dylan and Kasumi's hotel to see the place. It's a nice modest hotel where their room, including breakfast and laundry, costs $350 a month.
Today we had a late breakfast at the rooftop restaurant and started packing for our trip home. We arranged to pay for an extra half day so we can delay checkout until 6 pm. We'll spend the afternoon staying cool in our room, resting up for the trip ahead. From the time we got up this morning until we get into our own beds at home will be over 50 hours, if all goes well, and 12 time zones. It's blazing hot out on the street and we've seen everything we want to see here. We don't mind just resting for the afternoon.
Dylan works this afternoon and then we'll all go out for dinner after checkout. We should taxi out to the airport by 9 pm. There, we'll say goodbye to Dylan and Kasumi. Our first flight leaves for Seoul at 11:40 pm. We arrive there at around 6 am local time and leave at 11 am for Chicago. Because of the time difference, we'll get to Chicago earlier than when we left, at 9:40 am tomorrow. Then our flight to Ottawa leaves at 2:40 pm and arrives at 5:36 pm. Anita's brother Tim, who is home for awhile, will be there to pick us up. He's already warned us by email to be prepared for reverse culture shock and we're sure he's right.
It will take a while to get accustomed to life in Canada again. It will be good to be home but there are a lot of things about southeast Asia that we'll miss. Travels with Anita will resume somewhere in the year ahead.
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