Monday 11/2 - Qongjing / Xi'an
Awoke to the boat sliding into the main part of Qongjing; immense industrial works and shipping facilities everywhere, in China's largest city....we were given a figure of 31 million. Came in to dock near center of town, marked by a pair of huge golden spires, which our escort told us is in part the local Sheraton. We went to breakfast, passed out gratuities to some staff, paid off the boat, and debarked without incident....except for the usual swarming of peddlers as we hit dry land. I think one of our fellow passengers managed to corner the Qongjing kite market. Thus ended the cruise portion of our tour. As usual, Viking does most things very well indeed, and this time was no exception.
An extremely fluent and entertaining local guide, David, made the bus ride to the Qongjing Zoo go swiftly, through the usual hellacious traffic. The zoo tour was more than I expected. We were probably there an hour, and the zoo itself was impressive, being incorporated with a large park, as usual with many people performing Tai Chi. The pandas....were pandas. Seems strange to watch what is to us North Americans a carnivore perform exactly as an herbivore does (and must), which is to eat without pause. Thus is the curse of vegetarianism, in this rather melancholy example of an evolutionary dead end. The zoo also has a number of the "lesser panda," which is a misleading name, because it has a broader diet, is not endangered, and resembles much more its relative, our own Procyon lotor, the thieving bandit of so many bird feeders and dog dishes here in the States.
We departed the zoo and made the drive to the Qongjing airport, a smaller facility than Shanghai Pudong, but, as usual, "an hour away." From what I had read about internal Chinese air travel, I had a few misgivings, none of which materialized. The plane, a Hainan Airways Boeing 737, was clean, efficient, departed on time, had significantly more legroom than any 737 I've ever ridden in the U.S. (which makes little sense to me, given the smaller stature of most Chinese), and further proved that Chinese food is probably better adapted to serve on airplanes than our cuisine. After an hour's flight, we landed in Xi'an, the ancient capital of China, home to the Qin, Han, and Tang dynasties, and with an intact 10 mile city wall which we never even got to look at....probably my only regret thus far.
We had lunch at the airport, then drove into town and checked into another very impressive 5-star hotel, the Shangri-La, and had an hour and a half before departing to dinner and a Tang Dynasty Show at a local establishment. Dinner was very well done, and the Tang Dynasty show was both colorful and spectacular....although, inevitably, without sufficient cultural referents to completely understand either the music or performance. Then, after a very full and busy day, off to the hotel and bed.
Tuesday - 11/3 - Xi'an / Beijing
Awoke and had coffee in the hotel room. Checked e-mail and went down to the invariably huge, varied, and delicious breakfast buffet we've become used to here. We left our suitcases outside and checked out again, because we'd be flying to Beijing before the day was out.
Then it was off to a spot about 25 km away to where a farmer named Mr. Yang had been digging a well with some neighbors in 1974 and brought up a terra cotta arm. He notified authorities, and by now we have an 8th Wonder of the World.....at least that's what we were told it is.
We spent a beautiful crisp Fall morning touring the various buildings at the site, and everything, including the Warriors, was very impressive. Mr. Yang was even there to personally sign our book, since in retirement he is now employed by the gift shop in this capacity.
We drove back into Xi'an for lunch on the third floor of the dinner theater of the night before, then (an hour) to the airport for the flight on Eastern China Airlines to Beijing. This proved to be the single glitch in our internal air travel in China, since our plane was delayed 1.5 hours. Eventually took off, in a new-seeming Airbus 320 that buzzed like a cheap toy on takeoff and landing. I am reminded of what an acquaintance, a 767 pilot for American, said to me recently- "Boeing has forgotten more about making airplanes than Airbus will ever know."
It was nine-ish by the time we arrived at the Raffles Beijing, which was to be our final -and most impressive- hotel during our tour. We had a late but delicious buffet dinner there before retiring for the night.
Wednesday - 11/4 - Beijing
Up at 0600 for what we knew would be the first of two killer touring days in Beijing. The Raffles has a spectacular breakfast buffet...which by now we almost expected. After breakfast, we boarded the bus for an hour and a half drive to the Great Wall. The tour of the Wall is one of those things that is everything expected and more, no matter how many times it's seen on TV. As on several other occasions, there was plenty of time to cool our heels in someplace with rather high-priced merchandise, in this case the large gift shop / coffee shop.
We drove back from the Wall and found ourselves at lunch after walking through a jade factory, with a brief bash on jade and its manufacture, followed by an enormous showroom featuring jade pieces in all sizes, colors, shapes, and types of jade. We finally ended up in a lunchroom that featured -apart from plentiful and tasty food- the only unlimited complimentary drinks of the tour, including beer and 112 proof rice wine. We speculated that this might have been directed at loosening our pocketbooks when we returned through the jade showroom (and were given about an hour until bus time). As it happened, we had already decided to make a piece of jade our main souvenir of the trip, and were able to find a very nice piece.
We then rode to the Sacred Way of the Ming emperors, the tumuli of these rulers dotting the surrounding landscape. It was a nice walk of about 3/4 km, with much statuary and five-star "happy rooms." This would have been an appropriate way to end the day, but we were then taken to the Olympic facility to view the "Bird's Nest" stadium, etc. Apart from more nice rest rooms, this stop should be omitted as it makes the touring day too long. As it was, all it brought about was a small revolt, resulting in only 11 people in our group of 30 attending dinner that evening, as it was going to be yet another bus ride / return to the hotel.
For dinner, we went out with some nice folks we met on the trip to an Outback Steak House right in the complex of buildings that included the Raffles. Perhaps it was time for a change; we ate and returned to our rooms about 2000 and relaxed before bed, hoping for a good night's rest before one last marathon day of touring.
Thursday - 11/5 - Beijing
Arose about 0600, made coffee and checked e-mail, then went down to the Raffles' super buffet breakfast.
Afterward a very brief bus ride down Chang'an Avenue brought us to the South end of Tienanmen square (quian men = front gate) amidst a horde of vendors. Crossing the street and going through security filtered out quite a few of the vendors, although some were more or less surreptitiously plying their wares in the square itself. The Chinese had formed a line that we were told averaged three hours to enter the Mao-soleum that is the only building in the square, to view the remains. The only other structure besides a flagpole is a monument to the nation's heroes. A long walk, but I suppose now we can all say we've walked across the world's largest square.
We crossed Chang'an Avenue via an underpass, and found ourselves at the Tiananmen gate of the Forbidden City. Extensive and massive describe the Forbidden City, with red the predominant color. The secondary color struck me as yellow, present in the decorative tile work. Given all the massive governmental buildings, the residential area of the Emperor and his family struck me as strangely anticlimactic.
The Imperial Garden is directly connected to the Forbidden City, and we moved through it to the "back exit" at the North end of the complex, and then walked to our bus, and then proceeded to lunch on the third floor of a five-star hotel at an excellent buffet. The hotel was also hosting some sort of 60th anniversary soiree for the PLA Air Force. Lots of uniforms with stars on the epaulettes, of an Air Force that -I reflect- has never fought a war.
After lunch, we drove to the Summer Palace, about 20 km West of Beijing, the last long walk of our tour. It was quite pleasant, and must have been more so when the Emperor and his entourage had it to themselves. As it was, there were plenty of people, and I can only imagine what it must be like during the height of the tourist season.
We drove back to the hotel, and had about an hour before departing for our farewell dinner and the Peking Opera. On the way to dinner, I asked our escort about the continuation of the Romanized spelling "Peking" for the duck and the opera, and as I expected, they have become fixed terms, and so do not follow the current pinyin rendition of "Beijing."
The Peking Duck dinner was quite good, although apart from the duck, the best courses were the two soups that were served...the rest of the dishes were so-so, compared to a lot of the Chinese food we've had.
The Peking Opera was performed in a theater in the same building. The performance itself reminded me in many ways of the Tang Dynasty show in Xi'an, while being altogether different in tone and content. This performance I would describe as a combination of slapstick, pantomime and acrobatics in a mythological context. Extremely entertaining, while the content was, of course, entirely inaccessible to me as a Westerner.
We then returned to the Raffles Hotel and bed.
Friday 11/6 - Beijing / Chicago
Up at 0600 for one last fling at the Raffles' extraordinary breakfast buffet. We would have the day to ourselves until 1330, apart from having our bags in the hall by 1200, then it would be off to the airport.
We met with John & Carol for breakfast and planned a foray to the Xiushui Silk Market. About 0930 we got a cab, and after a bewildering and circuitous 20 minute ride costing about $3, (get used to these in Chinese cities) ended up at the market. The Silk Market was amazing, cacaphonous, uproarious, a continuous verbal assault from vendors of every kind of merchandise, packed into >6 floors. When a suitable booth had been located, one shook off the three or four salesgirls from other booths who were hanging on, then the bargaining started. Fun, fun, fun. We bargained hard, and came away with two pairs of gloves from one vendor and two scarves from another. Spent some money, and had a hugely entertaining time. It's sort of like a completely immersive interactive video game. We were in there less than an hour and a half, and it felt like getting a graduate degree in shopping mania. After a much shorter cab ride back to the hotel (once again, given the way traffic works, this is normal), we set our bags in the hall and began to put things in order for our departure.
We settled our account at the Raffles and left on time at 1330, moving through very heavy traffic to the Beijing airport. Arriving about 20 minutes late, we still had plenty of time to get checked in and move through customs, immigration, and security. The small security girl was particularly entertaining as she attempted to wand a six and a half foot round-eye standing on a 6" pedestal. I'd give money for a video of that one.
While waiting, I spend the last of our RMB on chocolate at the duty-free, and we chatted with people we had met on our trip, and in all likelihood would never see again. Our plane boarded on schedule, accompanied by the usual early queuing up and stressed behavior coming from people.... who already know they've got a seat. We had very good seats, and can recommend United's Economy Plus wholeheartedly. The plane landed early at Chicago's O'Hare, and then taxied interminably until we finally deplaned at the far end of Terminal 5.
There's a new Customs Hall since our last arrival in Terminal 5, and.....it's worse. Our tax dollars at work again. We moved smoothly through baggage and turning over the Customs form, then moved to the curb outside and were picked up by the hotel shuttle in about 20 minutes. Arriving at the hotel, we went immediately to our car, loaded it, and departed Chicago. After stopping in Dwight for some dinner, we arrived home about 2100, to find everything in one piece, and large areas of the house carpeted by the Fall invasion of Asian ladybugs. I reflected that the previous 17 days in Asia had been much more fun, ran the vacuum through the worst of it and went to bed.
This concludes our China travels. This journal has been edited, largely for removal of personal references that may be uncalled-for....but probably not. I will attempt to insert suitable referential links as time allows- JA
....go to Part I
....go to Part II
....go to Part III
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