Guilin

April 1
Shanghai to Guilin

After an early start from the hotel we made a stop at an embroidery "museum" which had not only a women doing intricate satin embroidery but also many rooms full of framed embroidery works -- old and new. (The pictures are in the Shanghai section -- confusion reigns.)  The old ones were often fragments of garments, often the back panel of a man's top, sometimes the sleeves or cuffs. All were covered with exquisite, intricate embroidery. Guess what! We could have purchased them! Well, we did not. There was also some lovely old furniture for sale -- we did not purchase any of that either. Then we sat down to yet another vast Chinese meal -- and then on to the airport for our flight to Guilin. Two o'clock flight; two hour flight -- we checked into the Shangri La in time for another big buffet meal -- we certainly aren't going to go home hungry. The Shangri La is another 4-star, lovely hotel. Our accommodations have been first rate. Now that we are back on the mainland we are very aware of the smoking that is prevalent in China -- dining rooms, shops, parks, streets -- everywhere but in the old pagodas made of wood.

April 2
Guilin

After buffet breakfast at the hotel we hot an early start for the bus ride to the dock, where we boarded a tourist boat -- upper deck seating six on benches either side of a table with checked plastic cover. Also full of smoking Chinese! And a few kids who were not smoking. There were 31 of us and another 60 or so people. We saw at least 8 boats of this size starting out down the Li River for our 4 hour cruise. In the first boat was the grandson of Chang Kai-Shek who had come to Guilin to pay homage to his ancestors. We never saw the dignitary but the River was heavily patrolled by police of some sort and a full-scale escort entourage of about 8 vehicles with sirens and blinking lights at the front and rear accompanied him to the pier and away from it at the end of the tour.

The mountains through which we passed were very impressive, rising straight up from the plain and immediately dropping straight down, with visible layers following the loops. Unique. However our pictures won't be terribly impressive since the mist and overcast made them almost invisible.


Buffet lunch of pedestrian quality was served on board -- the people watching was pretty good, though!  Check out the dishwashers on the stern of the boat:



The people-watching on shore, on board, and on other boats was the best part. We got a few pictures of people cooking on the sterns of the river boats, of women washing teacups on the stern of our boat -- but our scenery pictures will be pretty much pale grey.

Then to the airport for the flight to Hong Kong. This flight was only an hour, but with all the bus travel and waiting around we didn't get to the hotel until 9 -- we skipped dinner and just fell into bed.

Nanjing to Shanghai

March 30
Nanjing to Shanghai



Disembarkation day! We left our home afloat early in the morning and boarded our bus to Shanghai. Our first stop was at The Fisherman's Garden, a modest sized garden with water and viewing pavillions. Gardens in China are less about flowers and more about atmosphere, serenity, peaceful spaces and views that change with your aspect. And many are extremely modest in size. Our second stop was at the silk factory where we saw the silk manufacfturing process -- we learned about the worms, cocoons, pupae, moths, but didn't see these in real life. But the process itself was fascinating enough -- much handwork involved as the cocoons are sorted, graded, unwound and twisted. It is all done by hand in hot water -- labor intensive, for sure. Weaving the fabric is the same as any other fabric with pierced piano rolls that dictate the pattern. Somehow or other the silk got dyed, but we didn't see that.



Stretching th batt to make
comforter filling

 

Soaking the cocoons in hot
water and coaxing the dead
pupae out

  At the end of the tour we watched as four women took the corners of silk batts which started out as 14 inch squares and stretched them to a gossamer sheet that covered a queen size frame -- 40 or so of these made a quilt batt. All done by hand.

We ended up in the store -- no haggling -- but lots of silk items of excellent quality for sale. Naturally we bought some! The store was huge by any standards, gigantic for China. One can never have too many silk blouses, can one?

Back on the bus, we arrived in Shanghai about 5:15 and checked in to the Westin -- another elegant hotel. We had a couple of hours of free time before dinner (imagine!) -- an elegant and extensive buffet at The Westin -- then Jimmy took us on a walking tour to the waterfront (Bund) to see the famous lit buildings of Shanghai. It is a real feast for the eyes as the near shore is old buildings, the far shore is all new buildings, and the tour boats as they pass by are all lit as well. Unbelievable! A tripod and a cable release would have been an asset. I tried to brace the camera on a lamp post with only marginal success.


The Bund on the old side of river



A tour boat with the new bank behind



Another tour boat in front of new buildings


March 31
Shanghai

Left the hotel at 8:15 for our first tour -- fabulous garden in the middle of Shanghai. It was originally a private garden which was confiscated by the PRC, left open to the people but allowed to deteriorate as
 maintenance was ignored. Then after the Cultural Revolution when China was opened to tourism the gardens were restored and are now maintained -- though still open without charge to the people of Shanghai. The park outside the formal garden was full of people in the early morning: doing their Tai Chi or taking their pet birds for a walk (in tiny bamboo cages) which they"d hung on wires surrounding a central plaza where their owners sat and visited.

A wall in the garden -- the
serpentine shape is of a dragon

 The gardens and structures are simply lovely -- skillfully designed to seem larger than they actually are, with much attention to changing views as you make your way around and through the gardens. Ming dynasty furniture in the pavillions and interesting cultural idiosyncracies like separate paths for men and women, stone bridges with shallow steps so that women with bound feet and long skirts could negotiate them, make for fascinating vistas. The park was a beehive of vendors (Rolexes, strap on roller skates, tchotchkes of all sorts) by the time we left. We climbed on our bus and crossed the river to Pudong, where we enjoyed yet another huge Chinese lunch and toured extensive embroidery exhibits -- both old and new. Excruciating hand work -- often years to complete. It must be a dying art, of course.

Emboidery uses both hands

Only the emperor wears yellow

Then to the Shanghai Museum, which is a lovely, modern building with extensive displays of coins, jade, painting, ceramics, furniture, and more. We even had an audio tour by a native English speaker -- we could have spent several more hours there than were alloted. Back to the hotel, where we had an hour or so before we went off to dinner on our bus -- guess what, another Chinese giant lazy Susan with multiple dishes, chopsticks, et al. After gorging ourselves again, we went off to the Chinese acrobat show -- gravity defying tumbling, tower building, magicians, and entertainers. It was spectacular, of course.

This marked the end of our regular China tour -- tomorrow starts our extension to Guilin and Hong Kong. Can't move these pix!

Birds "out for a walk"



Yueyang to Jinhua

Day 11 -- March 26 Yueyang (You-er-young)



Today’s excursion was a visit to the Yueyang Tower. This was an interesting but hardly significant tour -- the park is very pretty and the three-story tower nice, but it was, in the end, just another old tower. I haven’t gotten the differences between towers and pagodas and temples and such into my brain -- guess I’ll have to do that when I have a minute -- or longer. At the tower we visited the tea room for silver needle tea. Much ado . . .

Lots of school kids of junior/senior high age in school uniforms swarmed over the park. The mayor was expected, as well, though we left before his arrival. We were all surprised that these field trips were taking place on a Saturday and have no insight into whether they were optional or required. The kids were enjoying themselves and many pictures were taken on both sides. Oh yes, there were groups of cute younger students, as well -- cub scout age boys, etc.

I’m sounding negative, but the continued emphasis on superstition, good luck issues, lucky numbers and dates does wear a bit on my western pragmatism.


Day 12 -- March 27
Wuhan

Our 9 a.m. departure today led to the Hubei Provincial History Museum. Since it is Sunday, the museum grounds were swarming with people out for an early spring holiday. The usual chaotic traffic and macho jockeying for position as cars and buses plied the too-narrow streets continued in spades. Nose-to-nose buses refused to give ground -- and one can almost see why, as there is no gracious way to let another pass. The usual rule of cars and buses in ascendance prevails -- pedestrians are targets, horns assert right of way. And the rules of the road vary from city to city just as they do in the US.

In the afternoon we went on a walking tour of Wuhan. People watching was great, and the Walmart a highlight. We were all impressed by the huge open bins of food (including chicken legs, duck legs, thousand year-old eggs(!)) -- we watched as the butchers wore masks to cut the meat and then the stuff went unwrapped into the open bins that customers pawed through with their bare hands. We tasted some milk drink on the street that was being given away as samples -- it was thick as if it might have been cultured, but didn’t taste as tangy as yoghurt might have. Who knows?

Day 13 -- March 28
Jingdezhen

Full day bus tour of Jingdezhen, historical home of the Chinese porcelain industry -- and still where the really nice stuff is made. 2-hour bus ride to the city where even the lamp posts are made of blue and white porcelain culminated in tour of ancient porcelain site with similarly ancient porcelain artisans working on ancient wheels set in the ground -- which they turned with a stick, no foot pedals here. Beautiful hand techniques in use and stunning results -- with stunning numbers of failures as the wares were broken in the firing process. Each step in the process was done by one person who repeated the same step over and over -- Henry Ford would have been proud but the rest of us would have gone nuts, I fear. All of the artisans are in their 70s -- you wonder who will take over the demonstrations when they die. One young man was working on four electric powered wheels at the end -- he could easily take over the throwing, but I wonder if he will . . .


The finished works were eggshell thin -- no buying here, they’d never make it home. Of course the museum/factory will ship for you!

After another sumptuous Chinese banquet lunch in a hotel, we went to the street market -- an uncountable number of small and large stores with local and imported wares of various quality and price. Haggling and bargaining, of course.

Another big dinner on board -- must have gained 10 or so pounds!

After dinner the crew presented their cabaret show: three or four musical productions, singer (Libby, our river guide), magician. They were very good, and well worth staying up for -- showtime was at 9:30, after the wait staff finished their dining room duties.

Day 14 -- March 29
Mt. Jiuhua

Disembarkation briefing, followed by lecture on Buddhism. We’ll have an early lunch so we can board the buses again for our tour of the Buddhist temple.

The trip up the mountain, as advertised, was narrow and twisty (99 turns, according to the guide) and the switchbacks were really tight. But Chinese drivers are ever alert and ready with the horn to defend their position. Egad! But the monastery and temple at the top were something special. Here is where that Buddha with a bazillion arms resides. And we saw monks reciting and performing some ceremony (since it was afternoon, the ceremony was for the dead, not the living) -- they must have felt like some sort of display pieces as we all stared in at them. Much burning incense and chanting, bowing and kneeling. To the uninitiated it was incomprehensible, of course. It is still amazing that they build these elaborate structures in such inhospitable places -- vertical walls are important. Fortunately they are of granite. And the truly faithful must climb up the mountain on foot, not ride in the comfort of a bus. It’s about 4000 feet straight up, should you feel inclined.  (Incline is a good choice of words.)

We all returned home to the ship tired, dusty, dirty and ready for showers. It was, however, the nicest day, weatherwise, that we’ve had: sunny, the sky almost blue -- the altitude obviously a factor as we were above much of the pollution which afflicts China. Our farewell dinner was a traditional Chinese affair celebrated with friends we’ve made on board: Judy and Jim McDivitt, Grace and David Dyss, Marilyn and Lowell Keairns. Back to our cabin to pack all our stuff and have the bags out in the hall tonight -- or by 6a.m. latest. Tomorrow we’ll be in Shanghai.