Day 4: May 11th The Great Wall

By 6:20 we were all downstairs having the elaborate Westin breakfast. (There was even ice cream!)

We were all frustrated to find that connecting by wifi using our iPads was not so easy.  The concierge taught us to use the Chinese search engine, baidu.com.  It made things easier if not perfect.  Connection was still very spotty and could usually only be accomplished in the lobby.

We then boarded the bus at 8:00. Someone had asked if we could see the Olympic Bird's Nest so Charlie arranged things with the bus driver so we'd be able to stop by to see it.

This is the Water Cube and the Bird's Nest.  Charlie says the Bird's Nest is too expensive to use so it's now just a tourist attraction.

While we were standing there a fellow came up with this long string kite and we were all captivated. He was selling them for just a dollar a kite.  We didn't bring small American bills because we were told we should just bring large bills to exchange into yuan.  Luckily there were others in our group who did bring smaller denominations of American money so we managed to buy a couple for our granddaughter and our son.

Next stop was the government Jade factory. Charlie said this was the safest place to buy jade.

We were instructed that there were three qualities of jade.

Top:  Jadite

Mid range: Jade

Lowest quality: Jade Stone

80% of jade is from China and is their symbol.

You can tell real jade from plastic by its translucence, heavier weight and cool temperature.  I should also mention the most important thing... PRICE!  It was a LOT more expensive than we bargained for. Even with the Mother's Day special price, it was costly!  Jade bangles (bracelets) are especially prized by Chinese women.

Lunch was Beijing cuisine and Charlie was getting to know our tastes and ordering accordingly.  A wedding was taking place at the restaurant. The bride was beautiful and groom handsome in Western wedding outfits.

Back on the bus for a 45 minute ride to the Great Wall.

Our tour group opted to just climb up to the first tower where crowds of international and Chinese tourists stood (and often pushed) shoulder to shoulder. Art went off on his own to climb up to where most tourists did not go.

I asked Charlie about those locks we saw along the way.  He said couples put them up to lock their love for eternity.  You can see how the stone steps have been indented from the millions of people who have walked on them while holding on to the sides.

There you have it!  Proof that Art climbed up to where very few people attempted to venture. Charlie said there were 1,300 steps. I don't know how many Art climbed up.

He did get a great photo for me though.

Charlie told us that 5,000 laborers died in the 13 years it took to build the wall.

Next stop was a government Bung Fu Chun Pearl Factory store.  The freshwater pearls here are from Lake Kunming where we'd gone the day before.  They showed us how they produce their cultured pearls.  I couldn't understand why their pearls were so expensive when freshwater pearls in the U.S. are much more reasonable.

Charlie said he used to come to this restaurant often and that he asked his cousin to get this group to perform the Gangnam style dance for us.  Charlie had cousins all over China ready to help us.

Our Mongolian dinner was wonderful and our tour group of 15 along with our Uncle Charlie had knitted into a close traveling family.  Maybe it's because we were such a small group, but we got to really care about each other very quickly.

Tomorrow:  Catch a flight to Xian!

Day 3: May 10 Tian'anmen Square, Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace

I am not exaggerating when I say that we arrived in China and hit the ground running.

Art had done laundry as soon as we got into our room the night before.

The breakfast buffet was lavish!  We'd never experienced anything like this before. The myriad selections were mouthwatering and international.

We rushed through breakfast and came down promptly for the 8 AM meeting time in the lobby.  Nobody was there.

That's when we realized we forgot to reset our watches.

Sheesh!

The skies were blue and cloudless.  Needless to say we didn't need all those masks we brought.

Tian'anmen Square can hold half a million people and means Heavenly Peace although that isn't what we think of when we of the West see it.

Israeli premier Netanyahu was in China thanking the country for sheltering 30,000 Jewish refugees during WWII.  We also learned about Feng-Shan Ho who was a Chinese consul general who saved about 2,000 Jewish people during the war by issuing visas until he was ordered to return to China.  He ended up settling in San Francisco after the war and was made ‘Righteous Among the Nations’ in 2001 for his efforts to save thousands of Austrian Jews.

I've read stories about the Forbidden City, but the awesome size of the place surprised me.  I guess just the sound of Forbidden makes it an intriguing place.  The Forbidden City was home to the Emperor and one and a half times larger than Tian'anmen Square.

Through rather grimy glass we could make out the rooms the Emperor, wife, concubines, eunuchs, and other royal retainers lived in.

These roof water spouts caught our eyes.  They reminded us of gargoyles you see in England.

We were told that these creatures are not really dragons, but mythical creatures with the scales of a fish, body of a snake, face of a horse, claw of a bird, etc.  Red and yellow are predominant colors.  Red keeps evil away.  Yellow denotes power.

The Forbidden City was built between 1406 to 1420 and consists of 980 buildings.  It is a World Heritage Site.

 Like other countries of the world, there was a moat surrounding the area.  It was bigger than what we've seen elsewhere.

Charlie told us these were Chinese cherry blossoms.

After all that walking, we were ready for lunch!

Charlie said this restaurant had the best Peking (or Beijing) duck.

The problem was Charlie ordered so MUCH food for us that by the time the Beijing Duck arrived, we were stuffed.  He did tell us to save room, but we were hungry and ate too much at the start.

Charlie never ate.  He was paying attention to what our food preferences were and how much we were consuming.  He also got to know what we liked to drink.

Ummm.... I was rather liking the Chinese beer.

Don't tell mom.

I'm getting exhausted just thinking about this day.  Right after lunch we were on our way to the Temple of Heaven where the Emperor prayed for his people.

Here's the Temple of Heaven's Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests!  Darn it! I forgot what the symbolism of those three tiers are surrounding the hall.

And here's the inside of the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests.  The Emperor had to fast for three days before coming here to pray for a good agricultural season.

Back on the bus and on to the Summer Palace next to Kunming Lake which was a resort of the Empress Tzu Hsi.  She had this lake excavated to farm fresh water pearls for jewelry and skin lotions.

The top photo is of a Buddhist Temple of Longevity on the left and a Llama temple on the right.

The bottom photo is of Kunming Lake.  There are 17 arches on the bridge because when the Emperor stands in the middle there are 9 arches on each side and 9 is the imperial number.

This was a wonderfully cool walkway with painted panels along the top.  Each panel is of a different scene in the area.

I rather liked the wildflowers growing on the roofs.

Another huge meal as Charlie adjusted his understanding of what our food tastes were.  This evening we were trying Shu Zhong Xian Beijing cuisine.  Everything was scrumptious! We all wondered how much weight we'd be gaining on this trip. Then again with all the walking we were doing, we didn't feel all that bad about eating so much.

This was actually the first day of our touring and we were exhausted when we collapsed on our beds that night.

Day 1 and 2: May 8 and 9 Hawaii to Inchon to Beijing

After much anticipation, the day arrived for us to leave for China.

John (John's Taxi) is the fellow who takes us to the airport if there're no family or friends available to drive us. We left the house at 9 AM, Wednesday.

Once at Honolulu Airport we were met by Derek of Air and Sea Travel who gave us all directions, tickets and passports with visas.

I'm thinking... "Did I forget something?"

Korean Airlines was really fabulous!  I was surprised that the seats seemed lower so I didn't get to use the leg rest I'd bought and carefully stored in my back pack.  There was very nice leg room and great food.  It was a 10 hour flight to Incheon, South Korea.  I watched two movies.  One of my tour mates said she watched three!  I DID NOT sleep!

Art found these NO JET LAG pills on the REI website.  They were about $14.00.  We followed the directions as carefully as we could.

It felt wonderful to touch down at Incheon where we had a one and a half hour lay-over. 

It was now Thursday and technically Day 2 of our trip.

We stopped at the Korea Traditional Cultural Experience Center and promised to return on our way back to Hawaii.

 

Our two hour flight to Beijing was uneventful and they fed us again!  We arrived at 8:15 PM.

Air and Sea Tour's Derek told us that Charlie Wang would be our tour guide in China and that he would remind us of Kung Fu Panda. I confess we all smiled happily when we met him.

There were just 15 of us but Charlie came with this huge luxurious bus.  Apparently our tour group was supposed to number 24, but for many reasons including H9N7, people had dropped out.

It was a 45 minute bus trip and about 10:00 PM by the time we got to the very fancy 5 star Westin hotel in Beijing.  Charlie gave us our room key cards and instructions for the following day.

We're Motel 6 type people so very unused to upscale hotels.

You had to use your key card to get the elevator to move.  That took us a while to learn.

Actually, the prices of hotel stays in China are a whole lot more reasonable than in Japan... or Hawaii.

The rooms were HUGE!  The feature we found especially interesting was the window from the bathroom to the sleeping area.  It does have blinds should you desire to be private.

Every room in China would have a pot to boil water and two bottles of water, except in Hong Kong.  We were warned never to drink the tap water since our systems weren't used to it.  We would also be given bottled water on the buses during the tour.

This was a very promising start to our trip.  By the time we unpacked and got organized it was after midnight.

When I woke up in the morning, I looked at the bedside clock.  It was 3 AM!!!  That's when I knew that the NO JET LAG pills did not work.

Ah well.... we were in China and ready for a new adventure!

Overpacking?

Written on:  May 3, 2013

Yes, I know we're experienced travelers.  However, I'd been hearing so much about the uncleanliness of conditions in China from the air to the water to the bird flu that it made me uneasy even after the reassurances from Air & Sea Tour.

"You're overdoing it," said Art with a shake of his head.

"The tour person said they don't have CVS in China." I reminded him.

Then our son called to ask how our preparations were going for our trip.

"Mom is totally overpacking," Art tattled on me. "She's got a third of her suitcase filled with everything from the drugstore."

I sent Jon a photo of my drugstore supplies that I bought and the things the hospital gave us.

"First of all, why do you have things in boxes," admonished Jon.  You don't need the whole box.  You're going to be there for only 16 days.  The oral rehydration packets are unnecessary.  They give those to cholera victims.  Airborne won't protect you.  Why are you packing TWO bags of Ricola?"

And so on and so forth.

So I repacked and reduced what I'm bringing.  I didn't tell him about the masks, the big bottle of hand santizer or the anti-bacterial wipes I'm also bringing.

One of the most important things I'm bringing is my travel journal.  I've filled quite a few from our travels in the past few years.  I write in it every night.

I also carry a little notebook to jot down information as we travel throughout the day.  They are invaluable when I'm writing my blog posts later and putting together our travel album.

And now the clothes.....

POSTSCRIPT:
Thank you so much for all your kind comments, everybody!  I'm now sorting though 18 GB (approximately 4,500) photos and videos and getting organized back home in Hawaii.  I'm working on blog posts of the trip and putting together our digital photo album.  I'm afraid I'll be tied up for a length of time before I can catch up with all your adventures.  Please forgive me and know I am thinking about you.

I tried to take a peek at the blog in China, but blogs and Facebook are verboten there.  It felt weird to be cut off from all of you.  Sigh...

Have a wonderful, peaceful Memorial Day everybody.

Problems of Flying When You're Short (er)

One of the problems of living in Hawaii are the long flight times to get to Asia or the mainland U.S.

Being shorter my knees start to hurt and then there's that threat of DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis).  This is the formation of a  blood clot in a vein usually in the legs that can travel up to the lungs.

Sometimes I'll pull out my backpack and put my foot on it, but it isn't the perfect solution.

Recently I found an inflatable footrest at Bed, Bath and Beyond for $16.99.  With my $5.00 off coupon, it was worth trying.

 I can't wait to try it on the way to China.

If it works, I'll get another one for Mom to use on our next trip together.

POSTSCRIPT:  (Written today on May 26th)

I am still so very jet-lagged and am madly going through our photos so I can start posting our trip journal in another couple of days.  I got up at 9:30 this morning and only because a friend called.  Good grief!

I had the inflatable foot rest ready to use in my backpack.  However, would you believe I didn't need to?  I swear the Korean Airlines seats are lower!  Art thinks it's my imagination but my feet were flat on the ground and my knees didn't start to hurt.  I'll have to see what the flights are like to the mainland later this year.
 

Air and Sea China Tour Luncheon

(Post written on Saturday, April 27th)

With the H9N7 bird flu problem going on in China, it was with some trepidation that I was looking toward our trip in about a week and a half.  I wondered if they might cancel it.

When I spoke to our son, Jon who is studying international epidemiology in Baltimore he said, "Mom, there are 1.2 billion people in China and I think 18 deaths so far.  I would go, but just be careful and take the necessary precautions."

Suddenly Jon laughed and said, "Mom...It doesn't really matter where you go, does it?  You just like being with people and getting to know them.  Dad will love seeing all the new places."

We drove into Honolulu to the Mandalay restaurant for the Air and Sea Tour orientation luncheon.

As we entered the building we met a couple named Richard and Janet.  I could already tell we were going to enjoy spending time with them.

We were the first ones at the Chinese restaurant.

Derek arrived from Air and Sea.  He brought our lanyards with our names attached along with a detailed instruction booklet detailing what to expect, do and bring.

When I asked about the bird flu Derek reassured us repeating what Jon had said that we should be fine just taking the usual precautions and that Air and Sea was following the CDC's (Centers for Disease Control) recommendations.

In the midst of Derek's instructions a large party downstairs began with a lion dance.

It was fun to watch children feeding money to the dancing lion.

Derek warned us not to expect American type Chinese food in China.  He wanted us to understand that the food would be blander and that we might be craving McDonalds by the end of the trip when we reached Hong Kong.

However, he advised us to enjoy the culture and the differences and not worry because they would be handling everything.  Our tour guide in China would be Charlie Wang who Derek said would remind us of Kung Fu Panda.

Derek also warned us to leave our smartphones at home to prevent possible data charges. 

He said easily accessible free wifi would be available at most of the hotels for laptops or tablets.

Air and Sea would provide us with bottled water every day as well as most of the meals.

After meeting several of the people at our table, we were feeling excited about spending time with so many of these friendly travelers. 

Derek suggested we start exercising and getting used to walking quite a bit because the Forbidden Palace would require us to wear out our walking shoes.

He also said we could wear shorts, jeans, gym shoes and whatever we wear in Hawaii.

With a happy farewell wave to everyone, we all looked forward to seeing each other again at the airport for our departure.  (And oh yes, I forgot to mention that we ate way too much delicious American-type Chinese food at the luncheon.)

Trip to China Worries

(Post written on April 14th)

I'm actually writing this post in April before our trip to China in May.  As always, I don't like to broadcast when we're gone since you just don't know who might take advantage of our absence.  We are very aware that burglars are always watching.  There's no longer much to steal in the house, but I wouldn't want anyone coming in to have a look either.

As I write this I'm feeling quite worried.  There have been 11 deaths from the H9N7 bird flu.  There's no human to human transmission YET, but who knows anything for sure.  H9N7 is in Beijing and Shanghai where we will be.  There's also extremely bad smog.  Mom is frantic about our going.

We haven't told her yet that my cousin, who was going to go with us has cancelled taking the trip.  I'm hoping his mom will delay telling my mom for as long as possible because it's going to freak her out.

I've written to my cousin who works in Shanghai and he says he has to work there so there's no choice.  However, he would advise us not to go for just sight seeing.

After we told him that we would be going anyway, he advised us not to go near any poultry or animals.  We've also been warned by others not to drink the water, not to breathe the polluted air, not to use the chopsticks at the restaurants, and so on and so forth.  

We'll be going to an orientation luncheon in a couple of weeks.  I hope their reassurance can calm me down a bit more.

Helpful Idea

My friend, Myrtle just sent me another hint that I thought was rather interesting to pass on to you.

Put your car keys beside your bed at night.  

If you hear a noise outside your home or someone trying to get in your

house, just press the panic button for your car. The alarm will be set off,

and the horn will continue to sound until either you turn it off or the car

battery dies.   

This tip came from a neighborhood watch coordinator. Next time you come home for the night and you start to put your keys away, think of this: It's a

security alarm system that you probably already have and requires no

installation. Test it. It will go off from most everywhere inside your house

and will keep honking until your battery runs down or until you reset it

with the button on the key fob chain. It works if you park in your driveway

or garage.   

It's just rather comforting to know you have something at your disposal that could call your neighbors attention.

Wine Stain on His t-Shirt

Art was pouring a bit of wine for mom.  She and I have wine for dinner on alternating nights mixed with carbonated water.

When Art saw the wine stain, he was aghast!  He doesn't like his white t-shirts to be marred by any spots.  I immediately looked up how to get rid of wine stains on my iPhone.

Art first tried to clean the red wine stain off using Dawn dish soap.  It turned the wine stain to a deeper Dawn blue.  Then he tried baking soda and vinegar which didn't work either, but in retrospect he thinks he didn't do it long enough.

Finally he mixed hand soap and hydrogen peroxide and soaked the front of his t-shirt with it for a few minutes before rinsing it off. That did it!

You can't even see where the spot is anymore.

Actually, I wasn't all that upset about it since it was a Training t-shirt and not a Finisher t-shirt.  However, I'm not the one that came in #10 in his age group at the Great Aloha Run.

What is Charm Anyway?

Art and I were having a conversation about what makes people appear charming.  What is charm anyway?  We thought about people we are drawn to.  I guess our definition of charm is that special something that makes you want to spend time with someone.

We came up with a few ideas.

First and foremost is that perception certain people give of being interested in you.  They ask questions and show an appreciation for what you're willing to share about yourself.  Then they share of themselves as well.

It's not how physically attractive a person is.  Charm makes everybody beautiful.

Vivacity.  I think a charming person shows enthusiasm, energy, life.

Charming people smile warmly and meet your eyes.

Another part of charm is an interest in a lot of subjects that they are happy to share.

I believe a little touch is something that makes a friendly connection.  I put an emphasis here on little because not all cultures would appreciate it. As a teacher (in the U.S.), I made myself remember to shake a parent's hand or give a friendly touch at conferences or meetings.

Our charming Tiffany

I admit I'm very biased in this, but I think my daughter is very charming.  She is always trying to do nice things for people.  Her face lights up when she talks to anyone and she is quick to convey an interest in their well-being.  She listens intently to what is being shared and responds with caring.

What do you think charm is?

What Does WD40 Really Do?

A good friend of mine sent me a Forwarded E-mail purporting that WD40 would do a number of things including taking stains off of stainless steel sinks, removing lipstick stains, cleaning leather dashboards, etc.   These uses proved to be false.

I have this rather unsightly safety bar in our bathtub wall that's been annoying me for a while.  It was supposed to be stainless steel. We bought the safety bar at Home Depot and it doesn't even get much water splashed on it.

I sprayed WD40 on it and even scrubbed it for quite a while.  It didn't do much of anything.

This shower dial in our guest bathroom has also annoyed me forever with its water stains.  So I decided to spray it too.

You know... It did work for a while.  The water stains disappeared, but I think it's only because of the petroleum in WD40. 

Still, a light coating of oil does make it better to look at.

The Forwarded E-mail said the big surprise is that WD40's main ingredient is fish oil.

I decided I'd better check with SNOPES.

Fish oil is not the main ingredient.  However, though it doesn't do some of the things it is purported to do by that e-mail, it does do a number of other things according to the WD40 manufacturer.

It protects silver from tarnishing.
Removes road tar and grime from cars.
Loosens stubborn zippers.
Untangles jewelry chains.
Keeps scissors working smoothly.
Keeps terra cotta/ceramic garden pots from oxidizing.
Spraying umbrella stems makes it open and close easier.
Keeps pigeons off the balcony because they hate the smell.  (I wish I could spray it on my roof.)
Removes all traces of duct tape.
Removes bugs from car grills and bumpers.
Keeps saws and tools rust free.
Removes black scuff marks from kitchen floors.
Lubricates electric fans.
ETC.

So now that I've got the can out, I'm looking at the door hinges.  I've also sprayed my silver jewelry.  Now the pigeons won't land on me.  Then again, will I be able to stand the smell too?