A week in China is not enough! It was so great to be there, but there is just no way that anyone could possibly see it all and appreciate/reflect upon it in such a short time. It was enough however to get a sense of the places we visited and gather enough info to dig a little deeper into the history and culture of the country. Like Japan and all of the places we will visit on this trip, China has a long a rich history that shines a very bright light on just how young the history of the post colonial U.S. is.

We took an early flight from Shanghai to Beijing and jumped right into our packed schedule of sights to see. We went to the Summer Temple, one of several temples we visited that was, like almost all the temples we saw, just immense in scale. It was set on a massive lake that was frozen over and open to ice skaters of which there were hundreds.

We also went to the Temple of Heaven. Outside of it was a park where mostly senior citizens were doing their daily morning exercise and socializing. Tai Chi, dancing, aerobics, gymnastics, foot feather,  and a dozen other exercises done on permanently installed machines. It was a lively and colorful scene. The kids jumped right in and got a short workout alongside new friends.

Tiananmen Square, larger than Red Square in Moscow, was an incredible sight. Our guide, even after direct questioning about what happened there, just sung the praises of Mao and ignored any inquiries on the subject. It wasn’t like she was pro-govt, but more like she was being monitored and towing the party line in regard to the subject. Forget that Mao was responsible for the deaths of millions of people, he was a “great guy”. To her credit, she did however have a bit of a different story to tell in confidence. There were lots of guards, police and security everywhere we went and it did feel a tad oppressive and like every move anyone makes is being monitored. Cameras everywhere. And lots of them. We were told not to photograph any police or guards but they had no problem taking pictures of the females in our group with their iPhones. When they did we took the liberty of returning the gesture and snapping pics of them. 

Also on the agenda were The Forbidden City and Ming’s Tomb. All just so epic in scale and beauty it got a tad numbing. I wish we had a day in each place just to sit and absorb it a bit but I guess that’s what ship time is for. 

On our last full day we made our way to the Great Wall. Getting there we drove through many oddly deserted towns. Not sure if everyone was away for Chinese New Year or it was just that nobody lived there. Much of it looked and felt like cold war eastern block Europe. Grey and drab.

We got to visit The Wall on a good clear, crisp, cold day and visibility was great. That seemed to be a big deal to our guide so I guess it can be as polluted there as in the city sometimes. We had days while in Beijing where the air quality index was 280. On the smokiest days during the wildfires in Seattle last summer the air quality was around 175-180 and that was really awful. A reading of 280 looks like a thick fog and visibility is very low. 

Temps in Beijing were around freezing most of the time we were there and I was glad to have my Seattle winter gear on hand. We went with just backpacks and very few items of clothing so by the end, all of our gear, especially mine, politely put, had a life and aura of its own. And for this new life form, we wish we had been given an extra room. And speaking of rooms…Our hotel in Beijing was quite nice, but the room heater was set to broil and was what felt like around 90F. We turned it off but it just kept resetting. I mention this because I somehow managed to forget a few things like deodorant, which for whatever reason you cannot find in any convenience store in China. So our few items of well used/recycled clothing items got baked each night while we slept. I made an attempt with Hazel’s Tom’s of Maine Honeysuckle natural deodorant, which is honestly like throwing a matador in the ring with a toothpick. But I digress…

The Great Wall is impressive in its scale and construction. The Chinese sort of own that. Cities are massive, high-tech, temples are massive and beautiful, meals are events. The wall is the cake topper. It’s over 13,000 miles long through mountainous terrain. Even if you made it up onto the wall good luck walking or running up or along it for very long. It’s the original StairMaster and it remains permanently on “Expert” mode. It was challenging to traverse even a relatively small section of it, and certainly a drop in the bucket considering its length. I felt grateful to be there with Hazel and Atticus and know they appreciated it. Atticus and I got to play catch on two sections of the wall as part of our project to toss a baseball in each country we visit. More on that in the “BASEBALL” section of this site. 

We flew from Beijing to Hong Kong to meet Megan who traveled there with the ship. It was warm and tropical upon arrival, so the puffy coats were jettisoned and we jumped into short sleeves and pants and headed to dinner. Our port was on the Kowloon side across from Hong Kong’s main island so the view of the HK skyline was phenomenal! Meg had a full itinerary for us having spent the previous day hiking and getting the lay of the land. We headed out to a recommended Dim Sum restaurant to which we sadly arrived to a closed sign. Chinese New Year strikes again! We asked a local woman where we might find some legit local food and she led us on a five block journey to a great spot that served the local specialty Hong Kong chicken. The place was packed with local families and did not disappoint. Night market shopping followed and in the process of bargaining for Rubik’s cubes, we made an offer that was apparently too low and the merchant swore at us and threw the cubes at the ground. It was a funny bit of theatre and effective I suppose since after that display I paid her final offer. The story was worth the extra dollar. 

Our last day in HK was spent walking around, seeing the sights, enjoying the sounds and smells of the city, and navigating around New Year’s parade revelers staking out their spots. We ate egg tarts, had great coffee, dumplings, street peking duck, visited temples and walked and walked and walked. Then we ate some more. On our way back to the ship Atty jumped in on some pick-up basketball at a city court in the square of several apartment buildings. 

I would love to spend more time in Hong Kong. It reminded me of San Francisco and there was so much to see. Now we are a day away from Vietnam. The temps and humidity keep inching up and it feels good! We love Vietnam and look forward to exploring new parts of the country, and of course eating the incredible food!