Dorothy & Hal Fones

Testing Windows 7

Windows 7 appears to be smother than Vista was in the beta stage. However, drivers, as with Vista, are a problem.

Looking forward to a full package.

Even most of the airports are new - this is the "other" airport in Shanghai.
I was scolded by the gards for taking pictures inside the security area.

A local farmers market in Shanghai

You would think these pictures were taken from the plane - but no - it was from our hotel room!

China's "Wall Sreet"
Shanghai, China

Buildings in Down town Shanghai
Most have been constructed in the past 5 years
There is still massive construction taking place.

Some new condominiums in Beijing. This is very typical throughout China - I think I have never seen so much comstruction in one country.

This is a new stadium, one that will be used in the summer Olympics. The opening and closing ceremony for the Olympics will, I am sure, be outstanding and worth making a special effort to see.

The next day, after lunch we went to see a Traditional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture Demonstration. Here we had yet another opportunity to purchase local medicine for those ailments that still plagued our tour group. After dinner we had a late flight to Hong Kong.

Hong Kong is a truly amazing city. It is older but much more western than mainland China. The skyscrapers will give you vertigo. The tallest building in China is here – 81 stories. They are building one now that will be taller still. The cost of living here is extremely high. An apartment in a high rise building can cost as much as $20,000 US Dollars a month. We are told that most of the time companies pay this rent for their senior executives. WOW!

We stayed at the Waterfall Hotel. This is the largest man made waterfall in the world. It is 50 meters high, 75 meters wide and lasts for 15 minutes. They are very proud of this project. As we were watching the waterfall, a little girl came up to Hal, patted him on the belly and said "Happy Buda". Hal bought a couple of roses from her and smiled.

Li River

Even on the river there are people trying to sell their wares.

Li River, Guilin

In Xian we visited the City Wall

In Xian we visited the Lacquer Ware Factory
We saw how everything is done by hand.

The Best of Intensions

When we started this trip I had intended to keep a daily diary of our adventures along with pictures and post them on the blog. I had the best of intensions but unfortunately like most well intended tasks, it was not completed as planned. We are presently in Hong Kong and part of our group will return to the states in 2 days. Nine of us will go on the Thailand. Hal is not feeling well tonight so we decided to stay in and not go to the laser light show this time. We can try to make it tomorrow. Tomorrow we free to do what we please. Probably most of the group will SHOP till thy DROP.

Tonight I will try to post some of the highlights of the trip so far. I realize some of the posts may be out of order so please forgive the ramblings. The whole time we were in Mainland China my blog was blocked. Now, here in Hong Kong I can reach the blog but not my e-mail form my Yahoo site. E-mail will download through Outlook but much of the internet is a challenge here.

and then we went to the Tang Dynasty Dinner Show in the evening

In Xian we saw the Terra Cotta Army and the museum. it's unbelievable but every one of these soldiers is different. The Emporor wanted to be sure he returned in his next life with a suitable army so all these statues were burried with him in his tumb. There are unopened areas of the soldiers because oned these were uncovered, they lost their color and now appear to be plain grey. They want to find a way to perserve the color before uncovering any more of hte statues.

Of Course there was a trip to see the Giant Pandas

We went to the Stilwell Museum - his former home and headquarters to leard about General Stilwell and hte Flying Tigers. The Chinese people homd the General in great regard. He built roads and fought with the Chinese prople against the Japanese invasion of China.

With all our members “cured of their ills” and properly fleeced we moved on to visit Chongquin then on to Xian.

Hal and Harris celebrated their birthdays on board the ship. Both were born on the same date, September 7. The was a cake for each and ice cream. We don’t get many sweets here so the cake and ice cream was a real treat for everyone.

Before leaving the ship we went on an excursion a tributary of the Yangtze. We boarded “Pea Pod” boats and had to be pulled over the shallow areas by “trackers”. In years past these men, living in settlements up the river, used to be naked but today they are fully dresses when pulling the boats over the rocks. OH WELL!

Apartment of relocated couple

We had the opportunity to visit an apartment that will be flooded when the Dam is fully complete and also one of the condominiums that a relocated family moved into. What a difference. I thought living in Mexico could be “primitive” at times but these people were living in apartments that barely could be called living quarters. The new condos are small but offer much better living conditions. There will be another 1.4 MILLION people relocated once the dam in completed. There will be 108 sites of cultural and historical importance lost. The Dam will provide 15% of China’s energy, reduce the severity of flooding by 90% and allow passage of 10,000-ton ships to Chongqing. For the people of China, this is certainly a project to be proud of.

While on board we passed through the new ship locks at the Three Gorges Dam. The people of China are so very proud of this project. This is the world’s largest dam. It’s nearly 4 times the size of Hoover Dam. The construction took 15-18 years. It is substantially complete now – I think there is just one more turbine to install. They have had to relocate the people that lived and farmed along the river. I’m not talking about just a few people having to be moved. The government relocated 1.3 MILLION people. There are whole cities that have been flooded and are still under water. The government gave all the people money to relocate. They had a choice of moving to another area or moving into a new condominium project. The government virtually gave them the condo and a pension. Of course the pension is not really enough to live it up on but most manage to get by. Many of the people find ways to supplement their pension by selling local products to tourists. There are a lot of “hawkers” on the streets trying to push their wares. The farmers had 2 acres of subsistence farming on the edge of he YANGZIE River. The government gave them a new condo to live in, $1500 cash and a family allowance of $13.00 a month. We were shocked – they were happy.

From Shanghai we boarded a cruise ship to cruise the Yangtze River. We visited the Three Gorges Dam Project. We were on board for 5 nights and we all were well fleeced by the ships “Doctor”. After demonstrations of Message, Reflexology, Acupuncture, Acupressure, and herbal medicine, we found we had an amazing number of ailing people in our group. Unfortunately, Hal did get a scratch on his leg in Shanghai and with the swelling in his legs and ankles, it got infected. Five treatments of Acupuncture, Acupressure, intravenous natural medication and $2580.00 later, Hal’s scratch was CURED! I opted for the full body and foot messages.

Lunch with a local "Senior Citizen"

Before leaving Shangai we went to one of the Senior Centers where retired people can “hang out”. We meet such lovely people there. They gave us a fashion show and played music and sang. Later we went to one of their homes for lunch.

For lunch it was on to the silk factory. The silk factory was interesting. We saw how hard the little silk worms have to work to produce that beautiful silk thread we often take for granted

The next day in Shanghai we took a train to Suzhou. It wasn’t the bullet train but it was never the less VERY FAST. In Suzhou we rode in boats through the canals. People living on the canal were seen washing clothes, and doing regular house hold chores. The canals run throughout the town similar to Venice (I am told…. Since I have never been to Venice, I wouldn’t know).

The evening was spent on a river cruise to admire the lights of the city from the boat. The financial area of Shanghai is much like our Wall Street. Where Beijing is the political center of China, Shanghai is the financial center. The tall skyscrapers are amazing!!! It seems almost everything has been built within the past 5 years. There is so much construction going on in China that every where you look there are office buildings reaching to the heavens and condominiums in clusters large enough to be a city within each complex.

The next day in Shanghai, we visited the Shanghai Museum then the Carpet Factory. We had already been exposed to a similar factory in Turkey so we were prepared for the onslaught of salesmen. Several in the group were caught up in the excitement of the beautiful silk carpets but we managed to escape empty handed.

After lunch was a tour of the Bund / Jade Budda Temple.

After the Kongfu School visit we flew to Shanghai. That night we saw an Acrobatic Show. I was not too excited about Acrobatics but these folks were really good. They were so entertaining. We all enjoyed the performance.

I know I mentioned the Kongfu School before but this was the last stop we made in Beijing and probably one of the most memorable. The children were outstanding and very serious about their future. They all wanted to be the next Jacky Chan. One I talked to will be competing in the 2008 Olympics.

The students at the Kung Fu School range in age from very young – maybe 6 or 7 to about 18. The students are preparing for the New Year Celebration and also the Summer Olympics in 2008. Some of the older students will be in the Olympics. We watched a remarkable demonstration – I am sure the pictures will not begin to justify the performances.

After dinner we finally had free time to do as we pleased – go out on the town etc. I think we all collapsed, passed out and slept until the next day.

After lunch we continued on to the Ming emperor’s burial grounds. This is a most peaceful area. There are large stone statures of humans and animals that stand guard over the grounds. A mile plus walk through these gardens and we are off to the Kung Fu School.

Hal decided it would be best for him to ride through the grounds.

Next we are off to the Great Wall. Here we were allowed to climb as high as we wanted. The wall was a marvel. We learned that it is also a monument to the many people who died building the wall. The bodies of those passed were berried in the wall. Hal and I climbed a good ways up, took lots of pictures then decided a cold beer was in order so we walked back to the café to wait for the bus with others on the trip who felt the need of beer at that time. The beer here is very good. It is stronger than our American beer and we found out that the Chinese business men must know how to drink and hold their liquor. Many business deals are conducted over drinks and they must be able to keep a clear head.

Day 5 of Trip – Beijing

Today was another FULL day – I don’t know why I thought this was going to be a leisurely trip through China. The days are so full that all we can do at the end of the day is collapse on our beds.

Day 5 starts with a trip to the Cloisonne Factory. Here they make enamelware. They start with copper vases, plates, etc and cut strips of metal that they glue to the piece. Then they paint enamel colors on the artwork and bake it. The artwork is truly beautiful and I couldn’t get away without getting at least a small plate that shows an example of the art form.

Hal just couldn't resist trying his hand at the painting. It's harder than it looks. We didn't win any prizes.

The day second day in Beijing we decided to take it easy so we made a trip to Walmart. We would have had lunch but we couldn't understand the food in the cafe so we had ice cream and sodas. The store is much like the ones in the states - no surprises there. we did a lot of people watching then walked back to the hotel.

That evening we took a trip to the Beiging Opera. The presentation was wonderfully different but it was shocking to hear the voices. I will try to post a video clip of the opera but I am not sure I can do it from here. It is very difficult to get onto the blog to post nad I cannot read anything as far as directions or which buttons I am punching so a lot of this is guess work. I apologize for the spelling errors in advance. I have no way of proofing my posts.

This young man was one of hte stars of hte Opera. We were able to watch as the actors put on their makeup. In times past women were not allowed to participate so men played the parts of men. I think that is why the voices of the women are high pitched enough to break the wine glasses.

I have not posted for several days. We have been on the move nad there has been NO TIME to catch up. I am hopeful that I will ba able to post some of the great pictures later today. I also intend to blog more about our trip. We are presently in Shinghia nad on out way to the silk factory. Till later.

Day One in Beijing

After a long flight from Seattle and a reasonable good night sleep we started our first day in Beijing. After a briefing of what to expect on this tour we headed through downtown Beijing to Tiananmen Square. Although the tour guides refer to Tiananmen Square as gaining world wide fame over “the incident” they never go into the cause and effect of that “incident”. We have not pressed for information – probably because we are too “chicken” to ask. We are constantly aware that there is a different point of view here and it is best to observe and not confront.

On our way to the Square, I was surprised to see how progressive the city is. There are approximately 14,000,000 people that reside in Beijing and another 3,000,000 that are transient at any point in time. The city appears to be much like any big city. Lots of high rise buildings, office buildings and SMOG. Housing is expensive here but there are lots of high rise apartment buildings and the architecture is similar to that in large US cities, however, many of the buildings have a different “flair” to the designs.

Tiananmen Square is a large open square surrounded by museums and state buildings. There were so many street vendors that it was hard to actually SEE anything. Much of our time was taken up with learning to say “NO!” and “I don’t want any”. Of course no mater how we say it they don’t appear to understand and they just continue to badger us. We ended up with enough “stuff” to start our own business just trying to get away from them.

Not much was said about the students of Tiananmen Square. Just that here is where the “incident” was. Next we went across the street and into the Forbidden City. Here we saw architecture that was centuries old and toured the museums and the residence and gardens of the Emperors.

The day required quite a bit of walking and the weather, although not as hot as it could have been, was very warm and humid. Hal got dehydrated on the walk back to the bus but after a local merchant ran across the street with a bottle of ice water he managed to recover quite nicely. He man was perceptive and kind. We then went to lunch.

After lunch we rode in Pedi cabs through a typical middle class neighborhood of the old town. We stopped for tea with one of the families in the area. The husband had a hobby of paper cutting and did beautiful work. This trade has been passed down through his family for many generations. I couldn’t pass up purchasing a “good luck” piece.

We got back to the hotel just in time to freshen up for our welcoming dinner of Peking duck and other traditional foods. A long day for sure!

We have a very interesting group of people. Ages and backgrounds vary but all seem to be quite agreeable. The people of China that we have encountered so far seem to be warm and gentle. I have been impressed with how polite and kind they have been to us. Tomorrow we have a free day and then we will go to the Beijing Opera in the evening.