Sunday, June 10, 2012
June 3 - Good Bye to Drew and hello Hong Kong!!
Today is my last day in China with Drew. What an adventure. We had breakfast together and we were off for the airport. Drew back to Tianjin and me, to Hong Kong!!
I promised myself that I was going to be strong when parting with Drew, but those big old tears came creeping up! I am so amazed at how well he has acclimated to the chinese culture, customs, and language. He was an excellent tour guide/navigator!! He truly loves it here and through him, so do I. Without his guidance throughout this trip, I don't know if I would have been able to handle it, unless I was on a canned tour. I was most amazed at his language skills! Very very fun to watch and listen to him speak Mandarin. Very impressive!
Drew got me through customs and saw me off at my gate. I know he is in for a great summer and I am excited for one last day in Hong Kong. Since I have an 8:00 a.m. flight on Tuesday, June 5th, to the States, I stayed at the Airport Marriott Skycity. The anxiety crept in when I knew I had to take the subway downtown to Kowloon to pick up my suits from the tailors and have dinner with Emily on Hong Kong Island!! Oh well, that was tomorrow. Today I just need to get to the Marriott and from the looks of it, buy another suitcase!!
My flight was seemless and I checked in and took the shuttle to a local China shopping mall. Oh my gosh, it was Sunday evening and this place was PACKED! Chinese love the western stores: Coach, Nike, Ralph Lauren, you name it, they got it!! I laughed, I thought I was back in the States!! I found a Samsonite store and bought another suitcase, had a bite to eat, then headed back to the hotel to re-pack all my stuff!! Ufda!! I needed a bigger suitcase. Delta is not going to like me!! One carry-on and one purse/computer bag!! NOT!! Oh well, I will deal with it when I get to the airport!!
Good day and excited for Monday in Hong Kong. Note: it is very hot and humid here!!
I promised myself that I was going to be strong when parting with Drew, but those big old tears came creeping up! I am so amazed at how well he has acclimated to the chinese culture, customs, and language. He was an excellent tour guide/navigator!! He truly loves it here and through him, so do I. Without his guidance throughout this trip, I don't know if I would have been able to handle it, unless I was on a canned tour. I was most amazed at his language skills! Very very fun to watch and listen to him speak Mandarin. Very impressive!
Drew got me through customs and saw me off at my gate. I know he is in for a great summer and I am excited for one last day in Hong Kong. Since I have an 8:00 a.m. flight on Tuesday, June 5th, to the States, I stayed at the Airport Marriott Skycity. The anxiety crept in when I knew I had to take the subway downtown to Kowloon to pick up my suits from the tailors and have dinner with Emily on Hong Kong Island!! Oh well, that was tomorrow. Today I just need to get to the Marriott and from the looks of it, buy another suitcase!!
My flight was seemless and I checked in and took the shuttle to a local China shopping mall. Oh my gosh, it was Sunday evening and this place was PACKED! Chinese love the western stores: Coach, Nike, Ralph Lauren, you name it, they got it!! I laughed, I thought I was back in the States!! I found a Samsonite store and bought another suitcase, had a bite to eat, then headed back to the hotel to re-pack all my stuff!! Ufda!! I needed a bigger suitcase. Delta is not going to like me!! One carry-on and one purse/computer bag!! NOT!! Oh well, I will deal with it when I get to the airport!!
Good day and excited for Monday in Hong Kong. Note: it is very hot and humid here!!
June 2nd - Xi'an
We had a great night sleep. Drew especially enjoyed the shower with the head in the ceiling!! Felt like a rain shower. We had a good breakfast and met our tour guide, Helen, in the lobby. First stop, Walled City. Xi'an used to be the capital of China and this is where the government transacted its business. Hence, the need to be secure and the walled city was built. It was never attacked. The walled city is about 2,000 years old and 4 miles around. The east, west, north and south gates are ornate and beautiful. Inside the walled city are businesses and hotel, which have a restriction that they cannot be any taller than the wall itself. Pretty cool.
The walled city sports a very nice looking moat all the way around. If we had more time, it would have been fun to bike around the top of the city wall, about 1 1/2 hours. Hoping Drew goes back this summer and spends some doing that!! Helen is a great tour guide, she knows all the facts and is the Cliff Klavin of Xi'an. We love all the history, tid-pits and facts!! Bricks, mortar, stone, emperors, you name it, she knew it!
Next was a historial museum that Helen thought we would enjoy. NOT!! We just wanted to get to the Warriors!! The museum was quick and we were off to the mountains for the warriors. We first stopped at the "Official" warrior factory where they used the same clay to reproduce the warriors as trinkets. We bought a few souvenirs and then to the three pits of archeological finds. In 1974 a farmer was digging a well and discovered the warriors. Ever since then they have been digging them up. Very interesting and fun to observe. I know the warriors are coming to the Minneapolis institute of Art this fall. It will be fun to revisit them. This was quite the tourist trap and it was packed with people, mostly Chinese. Still a fascinating area.
It was about 1:30 and Drew and I were hungry. Drew had wanted me to try some special noodles called baingo. We found a restaurant that served these one inch wide noodles in a hot broth...did I say hot??? It was hotter than heck in Xi'an and we were having soup!! I pleaded for a cold Coke Lite, but they only had Coke and it was room temp (their version of cold....ugh!) Well, the soup was good and no, it didn't cool me down. When we went to the car to leave, the tire was flat, so after getting that fixed were on our way.
Next was the Wild Goose Pagoda. This Pagoda, is quite old and pretty awesome. It was situated in a round-about and the traffic was quite busy, so we didn't get to go in and took pictures from afar. Next, the hotel for showers and rest before the evening of activities.
Drew spoke with the concierge and got the low-down on a great dumpling restaurant. We grabbed a taxi and headed to the center of the walled city. This area was packed. The bell tower and drum tower were within this area. We had dinner at Xi'an finest dumpling restaurant. We had 18 different kinds and Drew thought he had had better, but I was pleased. It was fun and we laughed!! What a great trip!!
The walled city sports a very nice looking moat all the way around. If we had more time, it would have been fun to bike around the top of the city wall, about 1 1/2 hours. Hoping Drew goes back this summer and spends some doing that!! Helen is a great tour guide, she knows all the facts and is the Cliff Klavin of Xi'an. We love all the history, tid-pits and facts!! Bricks, mortar, stone, emperors, you name it, she knew it!
Next was a historial museum that Helen thought we would enjoy. NOT!! We just wanted to get to the Warriors!! The museum was quick and we were off to the mountains for the warriors. We first stopped at the "Official" warrior factory where they used the same clay to reproduce the warriors as trinkets. We bought a few souvenirs and then to the three pits of archeological finds. In 1974 a farmer was digging a well and discovered the warriors. Ever since then they have been digging them up. Very interesting and fun to observe. I know the warriors are coming to the Minneapolis institute of Art this fall. It will be fun to revisit them. This was quite the tourist trap and it was packed with people, mostly Chinese. Still a fascinating area.
It was about 1:30 and Drew and I were hungry. Drew had wanted me to try some special noodles called baingo. We found a restaurant that served these one inch wide noodles in a hot broth...did I say hot??? It was hotter than heck in Xi'an and we were having soup!! I pleaded for a cold Coke Lite, but they only had Coke and it was room temp (their version of cold....ugh!) Well, the soup was good and no, it didn't cool me down. When we went to the car to leave, the tire was flat, so after getting that fixed were on our way.
Next was the Wild Goose Pagoda. This Pagoda, is quite old and pretty awesome. It was situated in a round-about and the traffic was quite busy, so we didn't get to go in and took pictures from afar. Next, the hotel for showers and rest before the evening of activities.
Drew spoke with the concierge and got the low-down on a great dumpling restaurant. We grabbed a taxi and headed to the center of the walled city. This area was packed. The bell tower and drum tower were within this area. We had dinner at Xi'an finest dumpling restaurant. We had 18 different kinds and Drew thought he had had better, but I was pleased. It was fun and we laughed!! What a great trip!!
June 1 - Xi'an and Travel Day
Drew had a test this morning in Tianjin. It was the end of his first week of school and 1st exam. After his exam he took a taxi to the train station (gotta love the bullet train) for Beijing. From the Beijing train station he took the subway for 1 hour to the airport where we hooked up at the airport counter for a 6:00 flight. The flight was 2 1/2 hours. It started to rain, so our flight was delayed for 45 minutes. The plane was packed with a group from Spain.....oh my gosh, they were crazy and loud!! Party party party!! Drew and I laughed at how they were clapping on the flight and talking non-stop!! I was ready for a cocktail!! We prayed they weren't at the Xi'an Hilton!!
Our flights from Hong Kong, Shanghia, Tianjin, Beijing and now Xi'an were all on East China Air. All flights were packed, reasonably priced and booked several days before. Air travel in China is safe, efficient, and inexpensive, whether you book 30 days or 30 minutes before your flight. Very impressive. US could take a lesson!!
We finally arrived in Xi'an after an hour taxi ride to the hotel. The Xi'an airport is beautiful, but on the outskirts of Xi'an. The meter in the taxi went up every 100 feet, we laughed, once again we were in for a ride!! We arrived at out five star hotel, Hilton. The entire trip we booked our hotel rooms through Expedia.com. The Hilton was $100 a night, plus breakfast!! I love Expedia!! I think our taxi ride cost more than our first night of lodging!! We laughed and knew it was out of our control, and just enjoyed the ride!! Our hotel was within the old wall city and awesome!! The wall is lighted up at night and certainly a site to be seen. We were excited to tour the next day. At the Hilton the concierge had tour guides ready with private drivers. We booked the Terracotta Warriors, Pagoda, and Walled City. Drew and I decided that after a late afternoon nap we would hit the Muslim Market, bell tower, drum tower and try some local food. Drew did some research and this area is known for their dumplings (aka potstickers). We booked and went to bed!!
Our flights from Hong Kong, Shanghia, Tianjin, Beijing and now Xi'an were all on East China Air. All flights were packed, reasonably priced and booked several days before. Air travel in China is safe, efficient, and inexpensive, whether you book 30 days or 30 minutes before your flight. Very impressive. US could take a lesson!!
We finally arrived in Xi'an after an hour taxi ride to the hotel. The Xi'an airport is beautiful, but on the outskirts of Xi'an. The meter in the taxi went up every 100 feet, we laughed, once again we were in for a ride!! We arrived at out five star hotel, Hilton. The entire trip we booked our hotel rooms through Expedia.com. The Hilton was $100 a night, plus breakfast!! I love Expedia!! I think our taxi ride cost more than our first night of lodging!! We laughed and knew it was out of our control, and just enjoyed the ride!! Our hotel was within the old wall city and awesome!! The wall is lighted up at night and certainly a site to be seen. We were excited to tour the next day. At the Hilton the concierge had tour guides ready with private drivers. We booked the Terracotta Warriors, Pagoda, and Walled City. Drew and I decided that after a late afternoon nap we would hit the Muslim Market, bell tower, drum tower and try some local food. Drew did some research and this area is known for their dumplings (aka potstickers). We booked and went to bed!!
May 31- Lazy Day
Today is a lazy day. I have been traveling for 14 days straight and I needed a down day. I took the day off from sightseeing and traveling and stayed at the hotel, needlepointed, read and watched HBO.
Coming over to China was going to be adventure food wise. Most hotel's serve a breakfast buffet, which includes a western menu (eggs/bacon), chinese buffet (porridge and dim sum), and Japanese soups and vegetables. Always fun to explore. Lunch was usually some type of noodle, pasta, soup, rice or crazy dish. Dinner too. Drew tried to expose me to many different things, from frogs to BQ crickets, raw hanging chickens and ducks, and unidentifiable vegetables. It was fun to experiment!
China also had a lot of American restaurants, DQ, McDonald, KFC and Starbucks. I stayed away from western restaurants, but today, broke down and went to a KFC AFTER going to the local grocery store, which just happened to be the basement of a building. The grocery store basically did NOT have one identifiable item to eat, except for Coke Lite! On the way home I went past a KFC and read the menu and it was very chinese. I had rice and chicken. Not bad. $4.00
I called it an early evening and was excited to hook up with Drew at the Beijing airport tomorrow. He had a test in the morning and then he was going to catch the bullet train to Beijing airport. We would meet near China Eastern Air counter and leave for a weekend in Xi'an.
Coming over to China was going to be adventure food wise. Most hotel's serve a breakfast buffet, which includes a western menu (eggs/bacon), chinese buffet (porridge and dim sum), and Japanese soups and vegetables. Always fun to explore. Lunch was usually some type of noodle, pasta, soup, rice or crazy dish. Dinner too. Drew tried to expose me to many different things, from frogs to BQ crickets, raw hanging chickens and ducks, and unidentifiable vegetables. It was fun to experiment!
China also had a lot of American restaurants, DQ, McDonald, KFC and Starbucks. I stayed away from western restaurants, but today, broke down and went to a KFC AFTER going to the local grocery store, which just happened to be the basement of a building. The grocery store basically did NOT have one identifiable item to eat, except for Coke Lite! On the way home I went past a KFC and read the menu and it was very chinese. I had rice and chicken. Not bad. $4.00
I called it an early evening and was excited to hook up with Drew at the Beijing airport tomorrow. He had a test in the morning and then he was going to catch the bullet train to Beijing airport. We would meet near China Eastern Air counter and leave for a weekend in Xi'an.
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Thursday, May 31, 2012
May 30th - The highlight of my trip!! the Great Wall!!
When the alarm went off at 7:00 a.m., I jumped out of bed, showered, tried calling Bootsie (aka Paul) and headed downstairs for my Ho Jo breakfast. At 8:30 Leo was in the lobby and ready to go!! First stop, the Cloisinne Ware Factory. As you can see from the pictures, these beautiful pieces of art are made in Beijing. My parents had brought me back a vase several years ago when they were visiting China. The colors are vibrant and I learned that many of the vases, plates, etc... have the Country's flower - peony - on them. Also two magpie birds. When asked what their state bird was, Leo did not know, but thought might be the magpie?? The state fruit is the peach because it brings happiness. Just a little trivia for those Cliff Clavin's of the world!
Well, I couldn't get out of the factory without buying a couple of things, but I was pleased with what I purchased and thought I could squeeze them into my suitcase without too much problem.
Next stop, the Great Wall. We drove about an hour out of the city to the mountains to the Badaling area. The Great Wall is over 2000 years old and was built to keep the people from the north (Mongolians) from entering and taking over the country. The wall was magnificent!!!!!!!!!!!! Truly unbelievable!!!!!!! I was awed beyond words and took a lot of pictures. The place was packed with tourists from all over!! I had my picture taken more on this day than my wedding day!! Everyone wanted their picture taken with me, more so than in any other place in China. I posed with men from Pakistan, women from India, girls from china and a baby from Sweden. They had never seen fair hair and skin with freckles before and they all thought it was wild!! But I had fun too! I walked the Great Wall for several miles and believe you me, it was hard work! The slope was about 45 degrees and it was steeeeeep. The stairs were all uneven, some big, some small. I have walked down the Rocky Mountain National Park mountains numerous times in Estes Park, and this does not even come close to the steepness of hat terrain. Unbelievable!! Awesome and breathtaking!! I just stood their and soaked it in. Amazing!!
Once I found Leo, we headed back down the road to Beijing and stopped at a jade factory and had lunch. Very interesting to see the workers and products. I did buy a little budda just cuz it reminded me of Mike Budka from work!! Hahahaha
Next stop was the Ming Tombs from 13 emperors, the most extensive burial complex of any China dynasty. The site chosen by the same Emperor of the Forbidden City, designated this location for his family. Again, architecture fairly similar and well preserved.
Next was the Beijing Olympic site. I got a chance to see the infamous Bird's Nest. The area was beautiful and still well preserved.
I retuned to my hotel and was exhausted after the days hike!! I didn't want to eat n the hotel restaurant because it was buffet, so after a rest I headed out to a local grocery store for a soup carton of noodles. The grocery store didn't have anything I could identify to eat, except for diet coke. So that is what I bought. On the way back to the hotel I saw a KFC and said no way!! I looked a little closer and the menu was all chinese food (good thing they had pictures), so I went in and ordered chicken and rice. So embarrassed I went to a KFC, but it wasn't bad and fairly cheap!! Beats the $76 buffet in the hotel any day!!
Well, tomorrow is a free day. I think I am going to loaf round, pack my suitcase and relax most of the day. On Friday I am going to meet Drew in the Beijing airport for one last weekend with him. We are flying to Xi'an to see the terracotta warriors and have some good food and laughs before I go home. I am going to miss him, but he is in for a great summer in China!!
Good Night!!
Well, I couldn't get out of the factory without buying a couple of things, but I was pleased with what I purchased and thought I could squeeze them into my suitcase without too much problem.
Next stop, the Great Wall. We drove about an hour out of the city to the mountains to the Badaling area. The Great Wall is over 2000 years old and was built to keep the people from the north (Mongolians) from entering and taking over the country. The wall was magnificent!!!!!!!!!!!! Truly unbelievable!!!!!!! I was awed beyond words and took a lot of pictures. The place was packed with tourists from all over!! I had my picture taken more on this day than my wedding day!! Everyone wanted their picture taken with me, more so than in any other place in China. I posed with men from Pakistan, women from India, girls from china and a baby from Sweden. They had never seen fair hair and skin with freckles before and they all thought it was wild!! But I had fun too! I walked the Great Wall for several miles and believe you me, it was hard work! The slope was about 45 degrees and it was steeeeeep. The stairs were all uneven, some big, some small. I have walked down the Rocky Mountain National Park mountains numerous times in Estes Park, and this does not even come close to the steepness of hat terrain. Unbelievable!! Awesome and breathtaking!! I just stood their and soaked it in. Amazing!!
Once I found Leo, we headed back down the road to Beijing and stopped at a jade factory and had lunch. Very interesting to see the workers and products. I did buy a little budda just cuz it reminded me of Mike Budka from work!! Hahahaha
Next stop was the Ming Tombs from 13 emperors, the most extensive burial complex of any China dynasty. The site chosen by the same Emperor of the Forbidden City, designated this location for his family. Again, architecture fairly similar and well preserved.
Next was the Beijing Olympic site. I got a chance to see the infamous Bird's Nest. The area was beautiful and still well preserved.
I retuned to my hotel and was exhausted after the days hike!! I didn't want to eat n the hotel restaurant because it was buffet, so after a rest I headed out to a local grocery store for a soup carton of noodles. The grocery store didn't have anything I could identify to eat, except for diet coke. So that is what I bought. On the way back to the hotel I saw a KFC and said no way!! I looked a little closer and the menu was all chinese food (good thing they had pictures), so I went in and ordered chicken and rice. So embarrassed I went to a KFC, but it wasn't bad and fairly cheap!! Beats the $76 buffet in the hotel any day!!
Well, tomorrow is a free day. I think I am going to loaf round, pack my suitcase and relax most of the day. On Friday I am going to meet Drew in the Beijing airport for one last weekend with him. We are flying to Xi'an to see the terracotta warriors and have some good food and laughs before I go home. I am going to miss him, but he is in for a great summer in China!!
Good Night!!
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
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