CHINA, THE END

         Well, the trip was over. From Shanghai, after the rest of the party returned, we flew from there to Narita Airport in Japan and then on home. John and I hadn’t made any arrangements to get from Sea-Tac to home. John sprung for a taxi which was about $45 back then. Didn’t matter, we were tired, we wanted to be home and in our very own house and bed.

One topic I did not address was the traffic. You know how we mark our roads and there are lanes and you stay in your lane? Well, they may mark their roads, but no one stays in any one lane. If you are in the center, then you can usually go the fastest. Then there are however many lanes can fit between there and the group of motorbike riders. Sometimes those are several bikes wide. Then, you have the bicycle riders, lots and lots of them, who are several or more bikes adjacent each other. I would no more try driving in China than I would jump off a building and expect to fly. Of course, there is a sidewalk for the walkers, but I’m not sure I’d feel too terribly safe. One afternoon, I swear the only way our bus was able to move was that the driver had smeared Crisco down both sides…that’s actually how close were on each side. Absolutely amazing…and scary.

Then, there’s the fact Beijing was preparing for the Olympics in 2008. Lots of building going on. We say the “nest” building which I think is where the opening and closing ceremonies were. We were also told they would build in the space of the next two years three subways to move people about…THREE…3…, and we can’t even get a fast train here in a reasonable amount of time. 

Now there are some things I left out of the previous posts, either because I didn’t remember where and exactly when. So, I’m looking back at the photos today and posting either the photos I really liked or photos of whatever it was I forgot.

            I loved this rocking chair. It was on top of a roof in Lijiang…made me chuckle.

          In Lijiang, they don’t remove the trees, they just build around them.

            Notice the painting, rockwork—no mortar, window screens and roof.  Someone’s home.

           This is a photo of the work I requested. In Naxi it is supposed to say something like Haley Autumn, beloved granddaughter. I thought I put the meaning on the back of the frame, but it seems to have disappeared.

            I chose this photo of one of the couples on the trip, mainly so you could see all the food on the lazy Susan.

           Everyone in China has a job. This woman was sweeping the side of the freeway with a homemade broom. We were also told not to provide beggars with any money whatsoever. The government takes care of them and they don’t need it. Let me tell you, there were some sights I’ll never forget…what appeared to be a father holding a severely crippled child and begging. I wanted to empty out my bag. It wasn’t the only instance of begging with children and I wondered sometimes if the parent, if that’s who it was, had deliberately injured or taught the child to look so horrible…only word for it. Our guides made sure we kept to the rules.

           These are tree stumps that an artisan(s) carved and changed to create what looks like either a turkey or a peacock in the first photo.  There’s a bird’s head in the low middle of the second photo, but I couldn’t decide if it was a peacock or something else.

           I loved some of the people we saw and took photos when possible.

           Shanghai and the Pearl Tower from the Bund.

           Building in Shanghai…no tools like here. John and Buck couldn’t believe the scaffolding was bamboo and the building was many stories high.

           Electricity is very expensive, so you see sights like this all over Shanghai. Clothes are washed using a washer and then hung outside your apartment on a line until dry. We saw all kinds of clothing.

Needs no explanation.

Chinese language translated into English often made me/us laugh. The ones that caught my fancy are here.

And, there you have it, a 17-day trip to China with two of those days spent travelling to and from. And, may I say the International Date Line still confuses the hell out of me. I know it’s supposed to make sense and probably does, but it’s just really hard to wrap my head around the fact that in one second, it’s Tuesday and the next it’s Wednesday or whatever days it happens to be when you pass over.

I’d also like to add a few more comments about the trip. It was the best trip ever…the trip of a lifetime. All 16 people were agreeable and fun and I believe we all enjoyed each other. There were also banquets and I mentioned a couple of them. We only had to dress up for the last one which was in Shanghai. In addition, the Chinese give you stuff. I have a couple of dishes hanging on my wall which were gifts. Each night, in most hotels, there were papercuts on our pillows. I framed five of them and they hang on my wall...just noticed the multiple colored ones have faded. We also bought money cats. Supposedly if you put one of these by your entrance, you’ll receive money…still waiting!!! (photos below)

So, that’s it, as much of it as I can remember. I’m sure there are many more files housed in this old 286, but they haven’t managed to rise up to the surface so I can access. Maybe I’ll have to do an addendum if something really interesting comes up. And, if you want to spend time with my scrapbooks and photos, let me know.

 

CHINA, DAYS 13-15

         When we arrived in Shanghai, we knew our trip was almost finished. It was at this point we could extend our visit for two days and go to the Suzhou to see the Fisherman’s Net Garden and a silk factory. Or, we could elect to stay in Shanghai for two days at the HengSheng Peninsula International Hotel. Only the hotel and breakfast were included in the charges…all other meals were at your own discretion.

Since we had already visited a silk factory (and I have the pants and shirt to prove it, even though I cannot remember where and when on the trip we did so) and since we were extremely tired, we thought we’d just hang out in Shanghai and amuse ourselves…John, Claudia, Buck and me. One other reason for staying in Shanghai was to do our shopping. By this time, I had bought very few souvenirs and may I suggest you don’t wait until the very last of a journey like this. I was so tired I could hardly think and actually purchased very little in Shanghai

In case you haven’t picked up on the fact the Chinese really didn’t want us out and about on our very own, that’s a fact. Our first day alone, a young woman showed up to be our tour guide in Shanghai. She wasn’t actually a tour guide, but a secretary at the local government office who had been “shanghaied” to guide us around and make sure we saw the various sights. I cannot remember for sure, but I believe she came with a car and driver. In any case, she was a very nice young woman who not only took us around, but told us a bit about her life. Here she is with John and Buck and me and Claudia. (photos 1-2)

She still lived with her parents and had been “forced” to move three different times because Shanghai was growing so quickly. The government would decide this particular area was ready for an upgrade and voila, the people who lived there would be relocated. It didn’t sound as though she had a young man, and she was most pleasant. We tried to get her to eat lunch with us, but she refused and ate with the driver. I believe rules and regulations prevented both her and the driver from joining us.

I believe she talked a bit about the Bund and we wandered around the area. It has dozens of historical buildings lining the Huangpu River. This area once was home to banks and trading houses from the United Kingdom, France, the US, Italy, Russia, Germany, Japan, Netherlands and Belgium. In addition, there were the Russian and British consultants, a newspaper, the Shanghai and masonic Clubs. (photos 3-5)

Then we moved on to the Huangpu Park which is at the northern end of the Bund. It is the oldest and smallest park in the city and the site of a large monument to the People’s heros. It is many feet long and commemorates the peoples who assisted in freeing China from foreign occupation...I've only posted a few photos of the monument here. It contains the Bund Historical Museum which documents Bund History utilizing old photos. I don’t believe we went inside this museum. (photos 6-8)

          It was after this we went to some district in Shanghai. I don't remember much about it, but think it was where we had lunch that day. I'm sharing the photos I liked from there even though I don't seem to have a lot of information to about them. Where it appears people are praying, there was some sort of shrine. (photos 9-16)

Then it was on to the Oriental Pearl Tower which is 1,536 feet high, the world’s sixth and China’s second tallest TV and radio tower. The base is supported by three seven 25 foot slanting stanchions. There are 11 steel spheres strung vertically through the center of three 30 foot wide columns. The entire structure is placed on green grass and is supposed to provide the appearance of pearls shining on a jade plate. The double-decker elevators can hold up to 50 people and move up and down at approximately 25 feet per second. The elevator attendants provide information in English and Chinese as the elevator climbs ¼ of a mile. I took so many photos from the top of this tower of Shanghai. It is also an extremely popular destination illustrated by the Disney park-like waiting lines which were empty the day we were there. The photos following the structure (which, I'm sorry to say reminds me of a penis) were taken from the top.  (photos 17-26)

We were taken to the Shanghai Museum. This place was absolutely amazing and we could have probably spent a couple of days there. As it was, I have 10 hand-outs about, “Chinese Calligraphy, Chinese Ceramics, Chinse Ethnic Minorities’ Arts and Crafts, Chines Bronzes, Ancient Chinese Currencies, Ancient Chinese Sculpture, Chinese Painting, Ancient Chinese jade, Ancient Chinese Seals, and Chinese Ming and Qing Furniture.” Each hand-out was for a gallery that contained pertinent items. What I came away with was trying to wrap my mind around items on display that dated back to the 16^th-11^th Century BC…and perhaps even further back than that. Another figure I saw was 3,000 years. How does something made so long ago still look as though you could take it out of the case and use it for whatever purpose it was originally made. Absolutely amazing. (photos 27-31)

After we were dropped off back at hour hotel, we had a little quiet time and then decided to go out to dinner. John decided he just wanted to stay in, so Claudia, Buck and I ventured forth. We ended up in some little street and I think I remember we had pizza. As we sat there talking, laughing and eating, a number of Chinese parents stopped to ask if their children could practice English with us. We agreed and that was fun.

The following day, we were, indeed on our very own. I don’t now remember how we got about the city, but we must have used cabs. We rode the Shanghai Maglev Train out to the airport and back, although that's not how we got to the airport when it was time to leave. Now, I would have expected to have felt the gravitational forces of the train moving when it got up to 268 miles an hour, but it was as smooth as silk. The only way you knew you were going fast was to look out the windows and see the landscape as a blur. The ticket stubs in my scrapbook indicate the charge was 30 yuan and 50 yuan. I don’t know what the yuan to dollar ratio was then, but today it would be $4 and change to $7 and change. Why Seattle couldn’t come up with something like this eons ago, I have no idea. (photos 32-36)

Now, it was time to do some shopping. We went to the Shanghai No. 1 Department Store. I was really interested in getting some shoes and thought they’d be ever so much cheaper there…nope, didn’t buy a single pair. It was at that point, however, that I realized I hadn’t bought AJ a Wolong Panda shirt. I went looking and found one that would work just fine. And, it did, until he put it in the washer. When it came out it was just a plain white t-shirt. And, the people in the store were very intersted in m aking sales. If  you walked away, they would follow and try to convince you to bargain and make a purchase. I did end up buying a necklace of red coral. (Photo 37)

        I did purchase a couple of things here, but not the major amount I had figured I would do. And, while I've written about and shared photos of this China trip, there are other memories and photos I would like to share with y'all. I'll do that in the next couple of posts, but they won't be on a day by day schedule. They'll just be memories and photos that didn't fit in the previous posts.