China: The Financial Giant

The next stop on the trip was Shanghai.  The city serves as the most influential economic, financial, international trade, cultural, science and technology center in East China.  And boy could you feel it when you hit the ground.  Our flight from Tibet landed late in the evening and as usual, our tour guide, David, was waiting to wisk us off to our hotel.  The city has a very impressive skyline and we enjoyed the view driving in.  Soon enough we reached our hotel and got settled in for the night.

We met up early the next day for a full day and started out at the Yuyuan Garden.  As we were walking to the garden, we immediately ran into a group from University of Florida.  Yep, the Gator Nation is everywhere....  But it was fun talking to them.  The group was the study abroad group for architecture students.  The Yuyuan Garden was built by a government officer in the Ming Dynasty for his parents.  It was to be a place for them to relax and enjoy a tranquil and peaceful time in their golden years.  The garden occupies about 5 acres in the middle of old town and it is exactly what Pan envisioned - a peaceful garden retreat full of rockery, ponds, pavilions, and courtyards.

After the gardens and lunch, we decided to venture off the beaten path a bit.  I had researched some things to do for our day on our own and came upon Tianshan Tea Market.  We talked with David and he said we had enough time to fit it in; plus it would be easier for us to do it with them as it wasn't really accessible via subway.  We found the market easily, picked our shop and settled in to try the wares.  The store was the size of a small convenience store and had a try before you buy policy.  Think of a wine bar experience, but make it tea and that's what we had.  We sampled green teas, jasmine tea, oolong tea, ginsing tea, fruit tea and more.  Each time, David would let us know what we were tasting, how best to serve it, and what the beneficial purposes were.  And if he didn't know, a quick conversation with our tea host would confirm it.  We had a wonderful time chatting, sampling, and learning.  Ronnie and I settled on purchasing the fruit tea for the girls and oolong ginsing tea for us.

We then headed to take in some more sights before dinner.  We visited the Shanghai Museum, where David hooked the girls up with the English virtual guides...  why we haven't gotten those before is beyond me.  On our way to dinner, we stopped at the Bund, which is a big river walk with the amazing view of Shanghai's skyline.  The architecture in the Bund is very European and is reflective of the city's importance as a major trading port and a former British settlement. As usual, the girls were a big attraction and may have been more popular than the skyline.  I think most of our time was spent watching people take pictures of and with the girls. 

After dinner, we went to the Portman Acrobatic Show.  A few years ago, I tried to get Holly to watch the Chinese acrobat show with me at Epcot, but she wasn't interested.  She found out exactly what she missed at the show.  We saw the performers spinning plates, juggle with their legs and feet, dancing contortion, climb poles, bungee jump, dive through rolling hoops, and bicycle on a tightrope.  It was so much fun and the girls were absolutely amazed....  and thoroughly exhausted from our day. 

The next day was a free day for us to explore Shanghai on our own, though the weather looked like it would rain.  We had picked up a subway map, some pointers from the concierge and set out for our day.  We decided to let the girls pick our first stop and they chose the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum.  Great choice - lots of room for them to run and play and tons of interactive exhibits.  I don't think we covered but 20% of the museum in the four hours we were there.  We watched an IMax film, played in the kids science area, went through the rainforest, and created an earthquake.  We checked out the webcams from science centers all over the world.  The girls had too much fun.    

Next it was my choice and I wanted to head to the fabric market and do some quick bargaining.  After, we headed to Nanjing Road for dinner and walked to the Bund to take in the skyline at night.  Luckily, the weather had held off for us, so we took the Bund train to the Oriental Pearl TV Tower.  The tower is 468 meters (1,536 feet) tall and is the world's third tallest TV and radio tower.  And the night view from the top was amazing.  The next floor down had a plexiglass floor where you could stand out over the street.  It was getting late so we headed back to the hotel to pack as we had an early flight the next morning. 

Shanghai is also going on the to-do again in China list.  It's a great city with a fantastic vibe -- just makes you want to explore every nook and cranny. 

China: The Roof of the World

When I planned the trip back last year, our conversation went something like this: 

Chris:  So we have Beijing, Xi'an and Shanghai and it's a 9 day trip.
Ronnie:  Okay.
Chris: If we extend a few days, then we can fit in Tibet.  What do you think?
Ronnie:  Might as well, since we'll be on that side of the world anyway.

And with that, we added 3 days to our itinerary to visit Lhasa.  Best.decision.ever!

 

(left) The mountains peeking through the clouds on our plane ride; (right) the view from our room

We left Xi'an bright and early on Saturday, and were awestruck by the mountains out the window during the flight.  When we landed in Tibet, we were immediately struck by the scenery:  plains that stretched out to snow sprinkled granite mountains and big bright blue sky.  We spent the day acclimating to the high altitude (12,000 ft) and learning the do's and don'ts for Westerners visiting Lhasa.  The Chinese government doesn't trust our Western ways of thinking, so there are guards posted every 100 meters, with patrols marching through the markets.  We were cautioned to mind our p's and q's and not take pictures in the general direction of the guards (who were EVERYWHERE). 

The guards in Barkhor Market

Our visit also coincided with the "60th anniversary of the peaceful liberation of Tibet."  To learn more, click here.  Okay, enough politics...  onto the travel part.

The next day we headed out to see some of the sights.  We were still a bit woozy from the altitude, but took it nice and slow.  First up, Norbulingka.  This is a beautiful garden complex which also served as a summer palace for the Dalai Lama.  Our tour guide, Gyatso, guided us through the history of Buddhism in Tibet, while walking the fine line of not talking too much about the political history of Tibet.  That is one of the do's and don'ts for the area... especially for native Tibetans talking with Westerners.  In the afternoon, we saw Jokhang Temple, one of the most holy Buddhist sites in Tibet.   

 

 (Left) Door to the temple at Norbulingka; (right) The Dalai Lama residence at Norbulingka

Jokhang Temple

The next morning brought us more beautiful skies and amazing sights.  We started by visiting a traditional medicine hospital.  All I can say is folk medicine is folk medicine regardless of where you are in the world.   After leaving the hospital, we wandered around the Barkhor market, which surrounds Jokhang Temple.   We saw many people spinning hand held prayer wheels and chanting Tibetan prayers.  Some were locals and others were pilgrims who were walking to Jokhang Temple. 

The pilgrims had walked from their homes to Jokhang Temple, sometimes hundreds of miles, and some of them even walked in a special way to show their devotion: They take three steps, say a prayer, and lie face-down on the ground. Then they stand up, take three more steps and repeat the process. The act of taking a prostrating pilgrimage can take the devotee years to reach the Jokhang from their homes. But they do it, as a sign of devotion and a way to help improve their karma in this life and the next.  We walked with them for a good bit.  They would hold our hands and pray, they would touch the girls on the head and pray for them, but mostly we just walked with them hand in hand and had a lovely, peaceful morning, and an experience we will never forget.

 Walking and praying in Barkhor

Potola Palace

Next stop was Potola Palace and the 2,500+ steps.  The Potola Palace was built as a wedding present from the king to his bride, a princess from the Tang dynasty (from Xi'an). After the fall of the monarchy, it became the home of the Dali Lama and the seat of political power for Tibet (until 1959 that is....)   So we scaled our way up to see the palace.  Again, the girls were troopers, though Gyatso and Ronnie carried them most of the way up.  My legs were fine, but I felt like I was sprinting and couldn't catch my breath; I still think my heart was going to beat out of my chest.  We finally reached the top and were rewarded with one of the most breathtaking sites of the area. 

After touring the palace, we made our way to the Sera Monastery to watch the afternoon debate.  The Sera Monastery is the premiere Buddhist university in Tibet, and is where the current Dalai Lama studied.  It is legendary for their monks debating on the teachings of Buddha and the philosophy of Buddhism.  Walking up to the courtyard, we could hear the murmuring of the crowds and claps of the hands.  But walking in the courtyard provided a whole different scene.   The debates are said to further the monks' comprehension by having them defend their stance on the teaching and will help them to reach more knowledge.  Monks were paired up to debate the topic of the day, with one standing and one sitting. The debater and the questioner hashed out the topic.  In a battle of words, they use a variety of gestures including clapping their hands, pushing their partners for an answer, or plucking their prayer beads to win the virtue of the Buddha.  I've posted a video below, because it is too amazing to not see for yourself.

On our last day in Tibet, we visited Barkhor Market for some last minute shopping and hanging out with the locals.  On the way to the airport was our last stop, a visit with a local family.  Gyatso explained that there were several families living in the one house, but they were all related - sister, cousin, brother.  They treated us to butter tea and some traditional snacks, but then they really treated us by sharing folk songs and dance.  It was fun to watch and the girls joined in a little bit.  It was a great way to end our stay in Tibet.

China: The Ancient Capital

Next up on our itinerary was Xi'an, the ancient capital of China.

Our first day we went straight for the Terracotta Soldiers, which technically is funerary art that was buried with the First Emperor of Qin. Once completed, the pits were sealed and families were moved out to the area to protect it and the emperor's mausoleum. As most things happen when time passes, the exact location of the masaulem and the army was forgotten until 1974, when a farmer digging a well found something more in the ground than water.

The sheer size of the pits and area was absolutely amazing. To think that this was all done by hand is completely overwhelming. The soldiers were arranged in flanks exactly like they would be if they were going to war. Our tour guide explained this was because they were the army for the Qin Emperor in the afterlife. A small corner of one of the pits was dedicated to reassembling some of the broken warriors, though no one was working in that area the day we visited.

After the Terracotta Soldiers, we headed for the Shaanxi History Museum. When I first put Xi'an on our itinerary it was for the Terracotta Soldiers. However, what I didn't realize is that Xi'an is the cradle of life for Asia, as it sits in the flood plain of eight regional rivers and Shaanxi Province is the birthplace of the ancient Chinese civilization. Xian City was the capital city in thirteen dynasties which in total lasted over 1,100 years. The Shaanxi Museum is put together very well and showcases the history of the region splendidly. We browsed through the museum quickly, as museums aren't really the girls thing and moved on to our next destinations, the Wild Goose Pagoda and the Tang Dynasty Music and Dance Show.

The next day, we started out by visiting the Great Mosque, one of the oldest, largest and best-preserved Islamic mosques in China.  The mosque was built as a result of Islam being introduced into the area by Arab merchants and travelers from Persia and Afghanistan in the 7th century.   We didn't linger in the Mosque too long as it was threatening to rain and we wanted to press to our next destination, the City Wall.

The first city wall was built during the Tang Dynasty in 600 AD and was expanded during the Ming Dynasty in 1200 AD.  The City Wall is in impeccable shape, though most of the ramparts have been destroyed, the wall itself is intact.  Luckily for us, the rain had disappeared so we could enjoy our visit to the wall.  We rented double seat bicycles and rode around for an hour.

After our bicycle ride, we visited a local Xi'an family for a late lunch.  Their apartment reminded me of ours in Korea, though smaller.  We chatted with our tour guide for a while about life, parenting, and history.  She was really floored by some of the history of America, especially the fact that my mom worked outside of the home and I work outside of the home even after having children.  Our conversation wound around the Civil Rights movement, and the choice that women have to either work or stay at home.  Let me add this disclaimer:  if the women in Xi'an start getting ideas, it's not my fault. 

After lunch, we returned to the hotel, took the girls swimming, packed for our next destination, and rested up for the remainder of the evening.  Unfortunately, our flights were changed to a flight at 0-dark thirty and I left Xi'an wishing I had more time to explore the city.  Guess we'll have to add it to the list when we return to the Great Wall.

China: The Capital City

Like our Thailand trip, our adventure in China is just too big and too varied to fit in one post.  We packed up and left last Saturday for our trip of a lifetime.  We landed in Beijing, collected our baggage, were promptly met by our tour guide, Tina, who swept us off to our hotel to get settled in for the next few days.

We started out bright and early Sunday for a full day:  Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, and a Chinese Kung Fu Show.  Tiananmen Square was very impressive.  I was 11 the summer that the protests happened and the images of "Tank Man" are ingrained in my mind; I remember it being shown over and over again on the news.  The square was originally built as a promenade from Tiananmen gate to the Forbidden City.  It is now the largest city square in the world.  It is flanked by the National Museum of China and Mao's Mausoleum.  Our stroll down the promenade wound up in front of the South gate of the Forbidden City, and under a rather large portrait of Chairman Mao.  The portrait of Mao is 6' tall by 4' wide and is replaced every year.  What was also striking were the sheer numbers of people in line to see Mao's Mausoleum.  Tina explained that Mao is still highly revered in China by the older generation; I asked her about the younger generation and she smiled and said they respect their parents.  Interesting answer I thought. 

We continued on to the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven, learning and seeing a lot of history from Imperial China.  But the interesting part of the afternoon didn't come from the history, it came from the singing in the park.  The older generation gathers at the park surrounding the Temple of Heaven every weekend to sing revolution songs.   On some level it reminded me of Mountain Music Night in North Carolina.  One thing is for sure, you could not mistake the feeling of freedom in the air as they sang their hearts out or the comaraderie that lingered once the song was done. 

Day two promised to be an even more adventurous day with visiting the Ming Tombs and the Great Wall on the agenda.  We started by walking down the Sacred Way, the ornate road which leads to the tombs.  The road  has 18 pairs of stone statues of mythical animals and leads to the Dragon and Phoenix Gate.  From there we went to the Ming Tomb site and toured the Dingling Tomb. 

After a quick lunch, it was time for the highlight of our day - the Great Wall of China.  We headed for the Badaling section, which is the best preserved but most visited section.  We couldn't have ordered more perfect weather for our climb. And yes, it was a climb; some areas were so steep that the steps really should have been called a ladder. The girls did really well and climbed most of the way up the section, finally giving up at 1/4 mile left to the top.  Ronnie pressed on while Tina and I rested with the girls and took in the view.

The wall wiped us out, as I had imagined, and luckily, I had the foresight to plan a down day for us.  We slept in and laid around the room, finally getting motivated to go out and do some exploring on our own.  First up, some Communist kitsch.  While browsing Lonley Planet's website, I found an article on Pyongyang Art Studio.  Being that we are interested in all things Jonger, we couldn't resist going to see.  After getting good and lost, though we found a McDonald's for the girls to eat at, we finally stumbled onto the store.  The studio is the "gift shop" of Koryo Tours, a tour company that specializes in taking Westerners to North Korea.  It was very interesting to see the propaganda posters, especially those that depict the US as the "Evil Empire."  It was even more enlightening to talk with the folks at Koryo about their impressions of Pyongyang and the Korean Peninsula relationship.

Later in the day, we visited the Panjiayuan "Dirt Market" and the Hongqiao Pearl Market for some light shopping.  Panjiayuan is a large flea market and you can find all sorts of neat things for sale.  Since we were there on a weekday, a lot of the vendors were closed, but it was still fun to browse.  After we had our fill of teapots, jade, and junk, we headed for the Pearl Market.  We wheeled and dealed for some shoes and other trinkets. Half the fun of shopping here is the bargaining - "No way, that costs X." "No, nevermind, I'll go see the other vendor down/up stairs."  Ronnie and our finances would be in serious trouble if I could shop like that all the time.  Most the time I'm only bargaining to see what I can get an item for, not because I need it but because I like the game of how cheap can I get it.  At the end of the day, we were out of the market with money still in our pockets and some fun things in our backpack.   

Our last day in Beijing was spent visiting the Beijing Zoo and the Summer Palace.  The girls loved seeing the pandas and we met a lovely older gentleman at the zoo.  He was a volunteer who spoke broken English, but he was thrilled to share the story of the pandas and the research with the girls, complete with his own photo album.  We discovered that he taught himself English once it was announced that Beijing would host the Olympics, because he knew there would be lots of visitors to the zoo and he wanted to show off his pandas.  Tina mentioned that it was surprising how much English he spoke because most of the older generation hasn't bothered to learn English at all; he laughed and said it kept his mind sharp as a spear and him younger. 

We made our way to the Summer Palace in the afternoon.  The Summer Palace was the "vacation spot" for the Emperor and is what Camp David wishes it could be.  The grounds and buildings are beautifully done, with a full lake at it's disposal.  We enjoyed walking around, though the girls were mobbed with paparazzi several times while there. 

  

Yeah, the paparazzi...  see, American children are a spectacle of sorts in Asia.  Now, add to that the fact that Holly is fair with blonde-ish hair and blue eyes and Sarah has silky light brown hair with really big eyes and you have a full fledged media attack.  Here is a video Ronnie took of the girls.  It all started rather innocuously with an Asian woman asking if she can take a picture with the girls.  The video is what it escalated into.  

So after the girls got their Red Carpet treatment, and a quick trip to the Olympic site with more paparazzi action, it was time to bid farewell to Beijing.  I wish we had just a little more time because there were some other sites I wanted to see, but Ronnie and I both agree that a return trip with a more robust Great Walk hike is in our future. 

China: On Your Mark - Get Set - Go!!!!!

We leave for China tomorrow!!!!! To say I am excited that it's finally here is an understatement. We have been planning this trip since last August, made the final tweaks to it in November, and paid cash for it in January. It is the trip of a lifetime for us, and I just know it will be one of the highlight when I'm 60 and talking to my grandchildren about the we did when their mom was their age.

Some folks have asked what all are we doing, so here is a quick rundown:

Beijing for 5 Days: Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, a Chinese Kung Fu Show at Red Theatre, climbing the China Great Wall - Badaling section, the Ming Tomb, Summer Palace, and the Pandas in Beijing Zoo.

Xi'an for 3 days: Terracotta Soldiers, Big Wild Goose Pagoda, the City Wall, Cantonese Cooking Class, Islamic Great Mosque, and the Hanyangling Museum.

Lhasa, Tibet for 3 days: the Tibet Museum, Carpet Factory, the Jokhang Temple, Barkhor street market, Tibetan Traditional Medicine Hospital, Potola Palace, Sera Monastery, and the Norbulingka Park.

Shanghai for 2 days: the Shanghai Museum, the Yuyuan Garden, Nanjing Road and the famous Bund area, and the Portman Acrobatic Show at the Shanghai Centre Theatre.

Hong Kong for 3 days: Star Ferry, Victoria's Peak, Avenue of the Stars, Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade, Symphony of the Stars, Hong Kong DisneyLand.

Needless to say, we are going to need a vacation from our vacation.



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Mothers Day Break

So, this is a hold up, I missed one post.   I was so busy editing the China notes, that I completely forgot to finalize this one.  Blogger had been messing up before I left for China, so this has been out in draft for a while.  Ooooppps!   Better late than never though.  Without further ado, I'll let you read the post that almost never was. 

With all this travel I'm planning, the last thing you think we would do is go out of town for the weekend right.  Yeah....  no, I am all about getting some sights in. Especially when there are good friends involved in the fun. This weekend was Mother's Day weekend and the Lotus Lantern festival in Seoul.   I couldn't not go to the lantern festival, and really, is there anything better than letting your kids make a mess that someone else has to pick up (well kinda). 

We packed up and headed to Seoul Friday night, with the intentions of meeting up for dinner with our friends the Milks.  As usual, traffic was horrid and Ronnie didn't get there until later, so we opted to eat dinner in and meet up in the morning.  This time, we stayed at the Marriott across the Han from Yongsan because there was no room in the Dragon Hill Lodge for us. 

Saturday morning, we grabbed some breakfast and headed to meet the Milks.  I convinced Ronnie to let me peak in the Chosun Gift Shop.... boy was that a mistake.  I found a beautiful mahogany wood bar from the Philippines.  I have been wanting one of these bars for a while, but most of them that I found were too Asian for my home and wouldn't blend well with my other furniture.  Not that I wanted it to be all matchy-matchy, but I did want something that would go nicely.  And that it does.  Ronnie took one look and gave me the green light.

Since buying a piece of furniture wasn't on my list, it pushed us back a little on getting our day of exploration started.  Jenn and I decided that the Seoul city bus tour would be the best way to get us all over town. We grabbed some lunch and hopped on the bus.  Before we knew it, we were at our first stop, the Namsangol Hanok Village.  This is a traditional village that has five restored Korean houses and a pavilion.  We had so much fun exploring the village and taking in the sights.  And before we knew it, it was time to get back on the bus. 

The next stop was the N Seoul Tower on Namsan.  The tower is 236.7 m (777 ft) in height (from the base), but tops out at 479.7 m (1,574 ft) above sea level because of it's location on the mountain.  We got off the bus and hiked up the hill to the tower entrance and made our way to the top.  Unfortunately, it was a hazy day (as usual) but we were able to see south to the Han and north to the Blue House.  The second best thing about the tower is the bathroom, which face the outside of the tower so you can enjoy the view. 

 (left) N Seoul Tower; (right) view from the top

(left) Locks of love at the tower; (right) Paparazzi

Since it was getting later in the day, we hopped back on the bus and made our way to Jongno to get some dinner and a good seat for the parade. We lucked out and had a perfect view, though one of the city cops decided to stand in front of us most of the time (Epic fail on their part).  We got the girls settled in for the parade, and Jenn and I made our way to Insadong and picked up some street cart snacks for the parade. The girls enjoyed the parade and were gifted lanterns by the participants.   It was getting late, so we made our way to the subway and headed on back to our rooms.

 
Sunday we decided to sleep in and be lazy rather than running around town (school isn't out yet here).   We played at the Dragon Hill playground, mulled around the Yongsan BX and eventually headed home early afternoon. 

Biiiii-cycle Biiii-cycle Biiiii-cycle

Holly wants to ride her Biii-cycle.  She wants to ride her bike.

Sarah wants to ride her Bii-cycle.  She wants to ride it where we like.....

I just love Queen.  We have bicycle riders!!!!    Holly has been teetering along without training wheels for some time now.  We took them off last summer and have been working on keeping her up.  Finally, something has clicked and now off she goes without any help or hesitation. 

So yesterday, Sarah saw Holly riding without her training wheels and declared that she too shall ride her bike without training wheels.   When we got home today, Ronnie took the wheels off for her.   She's still a little wobbly, but doing great otherwise.  



They are growing up way too fast!