Travel Tips

Here are some things I thought of after my trip.  Maybe they'll help you too.

• Take any liquid lip color in checked baggage.  Bring lipstick and lip balm solid on the plane.
• Consider taking a modest size roller carryon which can transition to checked luggage if needed.  Pack soft side tote/backpack as a backup carryon.
• Limit the size of the larger bag to about 27” to stay under the weight limit.
• Bring baby powder.
• Bring cold medication(s).
• If going on a Columbia/NYU upscale tour, bring nicer travel clothes and have something nicer than jeans for evenings.  Bring decent shoes if I can wear them.
• Consider laundry - focus more on clothes that can be washed and dried, and clothes that will dry quickly if handwashed.  Bring laundry powder packets.
• Bring a lightweight daybag with enough room for camera, sunglasses, bottle of water, sweater, maybe with smaller bag for valuables.  Have a small bag for evenings.

Souvenirs - Items to help my LR feel more Chinese

 Snuff bottle, painted from the inside.  Tiger on both sides, my Chinese name is written in Chinese on the other side.

 Purple pearls.  Very overpriced, and didn't realize I should bargain.  Oops!

 Bamboo scroll

Tiger scroll

Impressions

I hope it's safe to post this now.  I learned that China pretty much orchestrates these trips.  Many are like mine.  Hotel quality varies.  Some add Tibet.  The path is similar for many trips.  They require the tour company to take us to some government factories where they show how pearls, jade, carpets, and silk are made.  And then provide us an opportunity to shop at what might be high prices.  I bought a beautiful pearl necklace and earrings for myself, not realizing I should bargain there too.  So I'm sure I way over paid.  They bargain almost everywhere in China.  We ate in restaurants with our own room often, which means we didn't see a lot of real Chinese people eating out.  We also ate in restaurants where there were no customers but us, Western or Chinese.  They want us to see what they want us to see.  Not how I have ever experienced China before, and not how I want to do it.  It was nice to have everything organized for us, all the internal flights, most meals, hotel checkins, luggage, etc.  Except that I want to see the country as the Chinese see it.  And I wish I could speak Mandarin so I could chat with the people.  Maybe I will have to live there sometime.  Beijing and Xi'an are too polluted.  But Shanghai is pretty nice, somewhat humid which is negative, but the air is much more clear.  Chongqing actually looked kind of nice.

Our Group's Final Dinner

A final western meal in the hotel with the group.  Don't ask me why the final dinner would be western.  The tour company doesn't seem to get the notion of going to China to experience China, not a westernized version of it.  We had a lot of meals in the hotels, or in tourist restaurants where we were sometimes the only ones there, or in restaurants with our own room.  Partly it's an issue of China orchestrated much of these trips so we see the picture they'd like us to see.

 My tourmates:  Wes, Joanne and her mom Ruth

 More tourmates:  Marc and Kristy (the newlyweds), Dick and Pat

 Our Tour Director, Peter, and tourmate Eve

 Tourmates Chris and Dick, Instructor Ding

 Tourmates Sharon, Pia Lindstrom and Jack

The Group Photo.  Newlyweds in front.

Three Gorges Photos

Here are some photos of the Three Gorges along the Yangtze river.

 View from the front of the ship, Victoria Cruise Lines, Victoria Anna.

 One of the new cities, where the displaced people have been moved.  They kept communities together.

 A mountain.

 Mountains after mountains.

 Here you can see the water line, showing the changing level of the water in the gorge.

 There's a covered walkway here along the side of the mountain.

 The rebuilt walkway, being built for tourists along the river.

 The little peak here to the right of the 2 large ones, the one that looks like a little person standing next to the peaks, is called "Goddess Peak".

The color of the water.  Greener in the lesser gorges.  Yellow in the Yangtze.

Pandas

These photos are blurry because it was dark and my camera couldn't deal with it.  But the pandas were so cool so here they are:

Terracotta Soldiers

There is a lot written about this 8th wonder of the world.  And I actually don't know that much.  I know that all the faces on the soldiers are different, representing really people.  They are part of the king's gravesite.  It is fascinating.

Beijing Hutong

The old part of Beijing.  We took a touristy "tricycle" to visit a family.  They had these really large and loud crickets in a cage, because they like the sound.  The family lives in a small house consisting of a few buildings around a lovely courtyard.

 The son raises carrier pigeons.

Two big crickets in a bamboo cage.

Temple of Heaven

I went to the Temple of Heaven for the second time.  So here's what the temple looks like.  The funner part was watching the folks doing "morning exercises" in the park.  Like tai ji.  I joined in, with some members of my group.

To prove I was really there.

Dad, recognize the back of the woman in the skirt?

Three Gorges Dam Ship Locks

I just thought this was such an amazing part of the trip.  My pictures don't really tell the story.  The locks got us from 175 M water level down to 90M, through 5 locks.  If you don't know how this works, you can probably find it somewhere online.  Or I can explain.  But it's neat.  To watch from inside the ship.  And it would've been cool to be able to watch from the top, outside, but they didn't let us hang around the "museum" long enough for that.

This is a view overlooking one of the lock chambers with ships, from above.

Another aerial view.

A bad picture.  But it gives some idea of what it looks like to be in the locks on a ship.  Taken from the balcony of my cabin.

Camera just didn't do well in the locks.  An attempt to show the water level dropping.  The white band is a marker with water levels indicated.  The wall is wet where the water was.

Home

Greetings All!  I am home.  I thought I was ready to come home but now I'm not so sure.  This cold or allergies that has plagued my trip is pretty bad.  Still coughing, congested, and, to top it off, I only slept 2 hrs in 24 on the way home and could only manage 6 hrs last night.  And I have to go to work tomorrow.  I don't even feel like dealing with laundry.  Maybe food.

I have a journal I've been keeping as posts to this blog, after the fact.  And over 200 pictures I just uploaded to my computer.  It's nice to be reunited with all it's capabilities.  If I can manage, I want to review the journal first and clean it up and fill in any gaps and thoughts.  I may post pics to this blog, or I may post them to my Apple space.  Either way, I'll try to get something together in the not-too-distant future to share my trip with you.

What this day before going back to work holds is uncertain at this point.  Probably a nap! And I don't nap.  Maybe work on the photos.  Now that I'm home, I am realizing the amazingness of the trip.  We covered a lot of ground, saw so much, about which I had a lot of impressions and thoughts.  We did it with a wonderful lecturer who really added a lot to the trip, a great tour guide who was with us every step of the way and took great care of us, and really nice, if difficult, bunch of people.  Let's face it, most of the greatest people are tough.  I think I made some friends, some of whom are now in Hong Kong.

China is a really interesting place.  The old of Beijing, mixed with the new, the neon lights, the pollution.  The even worse pollution of Xi'an, with the 8th wonder of the world, the Terracotta Warriors.  To smell the clay ..... The magnificence of the Yangtze River, the controversy of the relocated towns that could never have happened anywhere but in a country where the government has such control over the people.  The gorges are so beautiful.  The Three Gorges dam is an engineering feat, and I had a lot of fun going through the locks in the ship.  I never even knew what locks were!  Shanghai is a great and large city.  So much more modern than Beijing, and huge.  Unfortunately, my bad foot was flaring up by then and I still wasn't feeling great so I didn't see nearly what I would've like to explore there.

Well, that's it for my first morning back in the US.  Stay tuned for trip journal and picture posts.

Hey!
So here I am sitting at the gate waiting to board my flight to Beijing thru Washington DC. It's a beautiful cool day in Boston, and Beijing might be rainy on Wed when we land. All is going well so far, except my lip color, which is liquid, is either in my handbag at home or in the checked luggage. Have something for my travels so if it doesn't turn up I'm confident I can find that in Beijing. Should I worry? Not a big problem but I'm not even off the ground yet. And the right color can be hard to find. Women will understand, most anyway. There is little to say at this point. I can post text via iPhone. Nice! Time to board shortly.

The Day Before

It's Owen Wilson.  Thanks Ken!

Looks like I will have to move my blog.  I discovered that I won't be able to post any photos on this blog via my iPad.  But I have info on another blog app that I hope to have time to setup today.  I have to go see the podiatrist for a final pre-trip evaluation of my foot.  It's doing well.  I rested it a lot this weekend.  But he tends to keep one hanging around there for way too long.  I have some other things to organize, a couple of small errands, and then finish packing.  And a manicure if there's time.  I'm planning to make time.  :)

Some of you know how worried I've been about the weight of my suitcase.  Turns out that when I put a very good approximation of what I'm taking into the same 27" suitcase I've taken to China twice, it weighs 9 lbs less than the max, with some space to spare.  I'm actually a little concerned it's not full enough.  I think I can fix that in China though.  Perhaps add some items here.

Anyway, doing well and will be ready, provided that podiatrist doesn't keep me in his office too long.

I'll either send the new address via email or post here.

Karen

3 Days B4

This is the burdensome aspect of travel. Packing. Did a bunch of laundry this morning, and much is hanging around my pad, as in apartment. Will probably blow off any ironing because, well, yuck. Took care of holding the mail and the paper, paid some bills, started organizing the toiletries and clothes. The foot problem makes shoe decisions easy. Not many options. So I am getting there. Not where I wanted to be, but doin' ok. Gotta download some video for the plane ride. Shanghai something, a silly movie with Jackie Chan and that annoying blond guy, help me here, Ken, was on this afternoon. So got to see a little of the Forbidden City, possibly fake, and listen to some Mandarin. I know enough to know it was at least sort of real. In a few days, I will be at the real Forbidden City, in my big sneakers, listening to real Mandarin. Then some other day, somewhere in the future, maybe I'll be there speaking real Chinese.

Getting ready

Hi All,

This is the first post on karenschinatrip.  And my first post to a blog ever.  Wow!  Maybe as I get ready this weekend, I'll share some of my thoughts.  Right now, I am gearing up for my last day of work before vacation, and a jampacked weekend of trip preparation.  The main question is whether my foot will be ok and support me well in my travels.  It will be a busy weekend.