Wednesday, March 23-North Carolina to Beijing

We got up around 5:30 . Dick took our dirty clothes out to the car and we got a bagel and a muffin to eat on the way to the airport. We were there in plenty of time and had a four hour layover in Chicago . The plane left on time and I watched Walk the Line, Prime with Meryl Streep, and Elizabethtown . Finished my book too. We flew over ice floes in the Arctic , Siberia , and mountains that looked like they were covered in grey mold. We arrived in Beijing around 3:30 . We went through three checkpoints where the officials were not the least friendly. We got our checked suitcase and looked around for our tour guide, but then were told she'd probably be waiting outside. We found Jessica, our guide, easily, then Dick went back in to find the other Gate 1 people that hadn't come out yet. Jessica got us to a van that took all our luggage, then onto a bus for the ride to the Best Western Hotel. On the way she told us things about China we might need to know and gave us sheets describing all the tours we could choose to take. At the hotel she took our passports and got us all signed in. The hotel was very pretty with a pool of goldfish and a piano bar in the lobby. We went up to our room on the tenth floor and unwound for a while. The room had three phones including one in the bathroom- and the bathroom had little boxes with toothbrushes, combs, and shower caps instead of the usual moisturizers and such. We unpacked, slept a bit, then watched Imus and Deirdre on the Larry King Show- off all things.

Thursday, March 23- Beijing

We woke up well before 7- in Beijing- which still seemed amazing to us. After showering and organizing the room a bit, we went down to our breakfast. The buffet had just about everything you'd want be you westerner or Chinese. We ate with Jason, also on the Gate 1 tour, who arrived later than we did yesterday.

After breakfast we boarded the bus for our tour- first stop The Temple of Heaven Park, where Jessica said her grandmother went each day to exercise and see her friends. The weather was beautiful and we wandered through the park. At the entrance were kiosks with things for sale. To the right, women (mostly) exercised with streamers, dancing to the music from a tape recorder someone brought. The little girls with the tour joined in and after a while, I did too. Everyone was smiling and encouraging us to join in. Next to them a group of people danced rather formally to ballroom music from someone else's tape recorder. Couldn't talk Dick into joining that, but he did try out a catch game where you simultaneously tossed a suction-cupped ball and caught another on your ‘paddle.' He got good at that really quickly and went as fast as the Chinese who had been doing it before.

Beyond that women (mostly once again) were doing tai chi with swords. It seemed incongruous to see gentle exercise done with a weapon, but it was their custom. People beyond them were standing in threes and fours playing hacky sack with feathered sacks that clicked when they were kicked. All along the sides of a porched building people were playing cards, slapping them down enthusiastically, playing Chinese chess, and singing and playing operatic songs and revolutionary songs. One musician at the end played Jingle Bells and Frere Jaucque for the little blond girls on our tour, Calista and Jaden. Lots of Chinese people wanted to have their children's pictures taken with the girls as well. We walked past the temple which was closed for repairs and back to the bus.

The next stop was at Tianenmen Square with the Forbidden City directly behind. We succumbed to the many peddlers there at that point and got two unofficial Olympic 2008 hats for $1 and two sets (20) postcards also for a dollar. The peddlers were very persistent at most tourist attractions but we didn't buy much and were very pleased with what we got from them and the price we paid. We bought two bottles of water on the bus and enjoyed the warm weather as we walked the square. Long lines of people waited to get into Mao's tomb, but we didn't go there. Chinese people stood outside our circle and Jessica described the various official buildings around the square. When we were free to wander for ten minutes, we were approached by a young man studying English who seemed to know where New Hampshire was and told us we had very old things there- amusing in the light of all the antiquities we saw in China . He had learned a lot of his English, and very much admired Hillary Clinton. He offered to take us to see examples of his calligraphy on display in and art building on the square, but time wouldn't permit that.

We walked into the Forbidden City going from the more public areas into the Emperor's inner sanctum. As we walked and looked, we touched brass studs on the doors and dragons on the decorations for luck as the Chinese did, keeping them polished. Many of the temples and gates were newly refurbished, beautifully painted in preparation for visitors to the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008. The stone floors throughout were fifteen layers deep and 600 years old. We saw the empress's rooms and lots of intricate jade carvings and original furnishings. In its day, The Forbidden City housed emperors, of course, but also the eunuchs and concubines that serviced them in various ways.

The bus drove us around the moats protecting the Forbidden City and to the Wahaha Restaurant. We ate on the third floor, around large tables with revolving Lazy Susans of glass on which the food was placed. Beer and soft drinks were included and we got chicken, noodle, rice, and vegetable dishes plus watermelon for dessert. The hallway to the bathroom had paving slabs with white pebbles between them and the sink was like a waterfall. I was shown to a stall with a regular sit-down toilet, but a Filipina woman on the tour was automatically guided to a squat toilet. We were given hot towel to dry off with after washing.

When we got back to the room around 4, we napped, then ate our snack food for dinner and called it a night fairly early.

Friday, March 24, 2006- Beijing

 Up at 6:30 . We had finished breakfast and were on the bus by 8, but others were later. Our first stop was a jade factory and store. We got a lesson on judging jade- the better the bracelet, the higher pitched the ‘ping' when struck. We saw people carving and polishing jade, then went into a huge store where lots of jade jewelry and carvings were up for purchase. I got Christy a beaded jade bracelet.

On a fairly steep hill a short way from the Great Wall, our bus broke down in the far left lane. We sat there for quite a while, watching cars rush up then manage to avoid us. Several police cars passed us, so evidently helping vehicles in trouble isn't in their job description. The bus driver tried to start the bus a few times, but it became evident something was seriously wrong with it. Eventually one police car passed us and used his loudspeaker to tell us to get over to the right side of the road, but didn't stop to direct traffic to make that easier and safer. Finally the bus was backed into the right lane, though some of the people didn't realize the bus driver was back in the bus and were afraid we were rolling backwards downhill with no one steering.

When we were safely on the side we got out and waited for the bus Jessica had called (already at the wall with its own load of tourists) to come and transport us to the wall. The Chinese man (who grew up in British Guiana ) regaled us with military stories while we waited. We got to the wall and were told the steepest climb was to the left, so we took that route. There were lots of fairly aggressive vendors up on the wall, but we didn't succumb to any pitches. The way was almost constantly uphill and it certainly was warm enough making the climb. Steps varied from very shallow in height to high enough to be quite tiring. Some of the inclines were just steep walkways. Dick took pictures along various points. We climbed as far up as we wanted in about 45 minutes- the little kids on the tour exceeded us- but we managed a good long way.

We got back down with a half hour or so to wait. Part of the time was passed with a young Chinese family who wanted their four year old daughter to speak to us with the English she was learning in school. She did quite well, but it was obvious her father had learned just as much English. He had her ask, “How old are you?” and I forgot Jessica's trick of just telling the Chinese Zodiac sign I was born under and just put my arms widely apart to signal that I was pretty old. I tried to give her an unopened box of peppermint TicTacs, but she wouldn't take them. As I left I said, “Nice to meet you,” and she mimicked it perfectly.

There was a very long traffic snarl as we tried to leave the Wall parking lot and no one took the initiative to try to direct traffic as undoubtedly would have happened in the US . We were driven to a restaurant that had a large China-owned Friendship Store in front. We had another very nice meal- again served on the large rotating Lazy Susan in the center of the table. The last offering was fish with the head still on and tail stuck in. On the way out through the gift store, I bought cloisonné ornaments and a charm.

We were supposed to go to the Ming Tombs afterwards, but with the bus breakdown and traffic snarl, it was 6 before we reached the hotel. Jessica gave everyone chopsticks in a silk sleeve as an apology from Gate 1 for the difficulties of the day and planned the Ming Tomb tour for the following afternoon. We had ordered ‘chops' (Chinese signature seals with carved jade tops) through Jessica in the morning and they were delivered to the hotel that evening. A pretty young Chinese woman was playing western songs on the piano, and I tipped her a dollar after. We emailed Christy, Rob, Chris and Heather from the hotel but paid fifty yen for it, when we thought she had said fifteen.

I showered and washed some clothes. We used the pot in the room to boil water to carry the next day. Dick called Heather using his calling card.

Saturday, March 25- Beijing

We were up at 7 and ate with a woman and her daughter who were on the first day of their tour. Left at 8:30 for the tour of a HuTong- the old warren like housing areas that are disappearing from the city as urban renewal takes over. We rode in rickshaw powered by bicycles through the cobblestone streets. There were dozens of drivers waiting their turn, many sleeping in their rickshaws while they waited. Our first stop was in a small square that now house eight families. One of the women who lived there had been able to give up her job, being paid by the government to open her house to tourists. In tourist season she served lunch to tourists, but she only answered questions for us. He husband worked for the Air Ministry so they were able to rent the house for $25 a month because the Ministry owned the houses in the HuTong. She had postcards and souvenirs from people from all over the world who had visited her home. The living room had a dining table and four sofas to accommodate her visitors. Her grandmother might also sleep there. We went through her bedroom and the kitchen where the grandmother was preparing food. Her 16 year old daughter had a bedroom in an alcove off the kitchen- very small. In the square we saw the round pieces of coal with holes in them that are used to heat the houses.

Our second HuTong stop was at a park on the interior lake, where retired women in costume danced folk dances with fans and streamers, to the accompaniment of two drummers. I joined them for a little while. Next to the dancing was an exercise park with bars for stretching and mechanical exercise equipment that was much like our more expensive steppers and elliptical joggers. People played card games and chess on tables around the park. The lake was lovely, with weeping willows surrounding it. Aman was swimming out in the center for quite some time, despite the fact that the water had to be pretty cold. Lining the lake on another side were many bars, some of them with Budweiser signs on them.

We went on to the Bell Tower , across fro the Drum Tower . We were told there would be 79 steep, high steps to climb to get to the bell tower, and they certainly were that. The bell was huge, and rung by swinging a bar toward it. The last time it was rung (besides on Chinese New Year) was in 1911. Up at the bell level, and man sat doing paper cuttings. He sold large ones, but also small albums of others. I really liked a book of flowers in vases and chose one with a fish cut out in the vase. But when I asked him the cost of it, he told me the whole book of eight cuttings was 30 yuan (less than $4) so I bought the whole album of what he called his masterpieces.

Our last stop was the teahouse below the bell tower. The pretty young Chinese woman conducting the ceremony showed us how to pour tea into the taller cup to smell it, then cover and upend it into the large drinking bowl. We rubbed the taller cup three times around the rim of the bowl- and drank from it three times- for long life, happiness, and the future. We tried samples of green tea, jasmine tea and rose lichi nut tea- which Dick and I liked best. We went through their gift shop where you could buy tea, the color-changing cups they had, and Peepee boys that she demonstrated by letting it do its thing down the middle of the table. The ‘boy' soaks up water from a dish it's left sitting in, then when boiling water is poured on its head, water is forced out of a small, conveniently placed hole. I bought one for Rob, but the teas were pretty expensive and we passed on those.

The bus stopped at MacDonald's so we could get a very quick meal, then we had a brief stop at the hotel to use the bathroom before leaving on the postponed Ming Tombs tour.

We ate as we drove for an hour to the Tomb site. Thirteen emperors were buried there, but most only had a tower to signify that- and they were often buried away from that to foil tomb robbers. We went to the largest one- which had a palace about the size of ones in The Forbidden City. There were a number of places where people left small bills and coins for their ancestors to pray for them. We saw dishes of gold, silver, jade, and porcelain, jewelry, and crowns recovered from tombs and recreations of silk costumes. There were lots of boisterous little Chinese boys running around. We walked to the forested hill where the actual burial was done, but the area was fenced off. We got back to the bus early, and got off to look at the vendor's booths, but were turned off by the demandingness of the vendors. We got back to the hotel after 6. I bought a Coke Light at the hotel store and had ‘dinner' in the room while watching Batman Forever on HBO. We wrote postcards and confirmed our next two flights.

Sunday, March 26-Beijing

We woke about 9:40 and hurried to dress so we could get down before breakfast closed at 10. There were lots of Chinese babies with their adoptive parents who were from a Spanish speaking country or Italy .

We showered and got ready for a trip to The Dirt Market- about three blocks from the hotel. It was huge- outdoors around the enclosure and a very big enclosure. The whole left outside was filled with booksellers. Inside there were many sellers of jade, ‘antiques'

,' pots, silks, toys, reproductions of terra cotta warriors and Buddhas, food, housewares, handicrafts, and art. It was fun walking through all the stalls. Some of the sellers were pretty pushy when they saw us foreigners and it was necessary to bargain, walk away and be called back to settle on a final price. Often they typed in an amount on a calculator, then you typed in a counter offer, they countered.. and so on until you gave up or settled on a price. It was all done in good nature so it wasn't too awkward. I bought a piece of hand armor with fingernails for Rob, a hair pin for Christy, a red lacquered-looking plaque for the kitchen bookcase. and a very pretty little bottle for Wanda. We almost bought hacky sacks there, but Dick thought we could get them for less elsewhere.

We went back to our room and wrote more postcards and read. Two boys came in to clean and I had to give them the dollar I'd put on the pillow because they didn't take it. Then we went out to get lunch. We walked down a street where Dick said he'd heard women say they got a good meal. We couldn't see anyplace there so went back to a restaurant we'd passed that had pictures of food outside. Waitresses spoke fairly good English. We got chicken with chiles and something the waitress called Chinese sweet potatoes. We took her advice on what tea to order and it turned out to be as expensive as the main dish. Food very hot (spicy) and the chicken was filled with bones, but otherwise it was ok. The waitress covered Dick's jacket on the chair with a sleeve- we guessed to prevent stealing. The back wall was covered with tanks of fish, eels, turtles to choose for eating. A large number of young chefs in caps and maids or waitresses came in, filled their bowls with rice and ate in the other half of the dining room. The whole meal came to 99 yuan- about $12.

We went back to the hotel to read and relax. Dick mailed the postcards. We watched Bridget Jones 2 on HBO and got ready for our exodus to Xian in the morning.

General Impressions of Beijing

Beijing is huge and sprawling with many sections of high rise buildings- lots of them apartments. It was always smoggy. Jessica told us that apartments were cheaper outside the fourth ring road (there are six ring roads now), going from $100,000 inside (with a 70 year lease) to half that outside. Your children can inherit your apartment and the 70 years is then renewed. Jessica has her grandmother living with her.

During the Cultural Revolution Jessica's parents were sent from Beijing to a remote farm. They lived in relative poverty, so when she was born, her grandmother told them to send her to live with her in Beijing . Jessica grew up seeing her parents only a few times. She isn't very bonded with them to this day, but very close to her grandmother.

The one child rule is still popular and enforced, but Jessica and her husband (who owns a bedding store) are allowed to have two since they were both single children themselves. Children do seem to be treasured, beautifully dressed and cared for by mothers, fathers, and grandparents. Lots of children ride on the backs of their parents bicycles and we could see children rollerblading on the circular design in from of the library across from our hotel.

Street vendors at the attractions could be very pushy, but not so bad in the Dirt Market. At one place I was followed for quite a while by a young boy saying, ‘Mama,' whose family sat on a wall and told him who to target. We began to just ignore vendors and beggars or just repeat No thanks, until they left to find another sucker.

Bicycles and rickshaws were everywhere, but there was a large variety of cars, too- VW's, Land Rovers, Jeeps, Citroens, Audis, Hyundais, Toyotas (but not as many because there's still bad feeling toward Japan among the Chinese), and a scattering of American auto9mobiles. The Chinese manufacture a tiny car as well.

There were lots of uniformed people around, mostly police or army, but also doormen and parking attendants.

The street vendors sold sliced pineapple. Tangerines, corn on the cob, and grilled meat on carts.

There were very few, if any, fat people. Even the older people exercise. We saw one elderly guy doing a split up along the trunk of a tree. Others held onto bars and did kicks or used the exercise equipment like exercise bikes, rowing machines- all out in the parks.

The officials at the airport were pretty much the only somewhat unfriendly people we encountered. On the whole the Chinese seem to be happy and contented with progress. Women retire at 55 and men at 60, so recreation for those people is somewhat routinized and encouraged. We saw very few people with any kind of handicap.

Kida are allowed a lot of freedom in Beijing . Large numbers of kids around 10 meet at MacDonalds and sit outside eating and socializing. The city is considered very safe, and people are not allowed guns, but of course, you could get cheated in shopping transactions.

The hotel was larger than we expected with two larger than twin, smaller that double, beds. They had a decorative cover just at the foot of the bed and very firm mattresses. Duvets covered the beds. The bed lamps were almost too dim to read by. There was a small table with tow armchairs by the window. The TV sat on an extension of the desk and had CNN and HBO. We had a mirrored alcove with small stocked fridge and electric hotpot with tea cups and jasmine tea bags. The two closets lit up when the door was opened. The bathroom was nice with green sparkly counters. There was a good shower and a clothesline. The Best Western was very satisfactory and Dick liked the hard mattresses.

The hygiene certainly isn't what Westerners are used to. The prevailing smell outdoors- not everywhere, but meeting you often- seems like a combination of sewage and onions. People spit often, considered a way of getting poisons out of your body. Tissues are unknown and people use the pick and flick, or hold one nostril and honk methods of cleaning their noses. The squat toilets seem like a bad idea hygienically too, but since people seem to practice squatting as they watch checker games on the street, etc. maybe their aim is better than ours.

Our time in Beijing was a good introduction to China . We learned a lot from Jessica and became more comfortable with the language barriers (got more creative with our gestures, etc.) It wasn't a pretty city, but so interesting that it didn't matter.

Monday, March 27-Beijing to Xian

We got up at 6 and down to breakfast quickly. Jessica was back early from her first airport run and we left about 7:15 . We talked to Jessica about lots of things as we went to the airport. Some of the people had given her a hard time because she didn't have long enough shopping stops and couldn't tell them where to find knock-off shoes from a designer that one of their daughters wanted. We assured her she had gone above and beyond the call of duty and that some Americans feel privileged and expect far too much. She saw us all the way to the security gates where we hugged her good-bye. It was sad to leave her. She was a gem.

We had two hours until our flight so we read. I slept a bit during the two hour flight to Xian. We tried to get money from an ATM while we waited for our luggage, but had no luck. We finally went upstairs and got a taxi quickly. We had the name of the Canaan International Hotel written down, along with maps Dick got from the internet, and after one mistaken stop at the wrong hotel, our driver got us to the hotel in about an hour. We checked in and the porter took us and our luggage up to Room 1412.

We got settled in then went out to walk around. Xian had lots of tiny stores, but unlike those in Beijing , these were very open and easy to see into. The whole front opened onto the street and it was neat to see all the things for sale. An area near our appeared to be the Chinese medicine shopping area with all kinds of glass tubing and bottles and stores of dried medicinal offerings. The Chinese Medicine Hospital was in the neighborhood too, so that made sense. Other small stores sold wire fencing and hardware.

We went back for the camera, then ate at Dico's across the main street near us. We had chicken and fries and learned two unique things about Chinese fast food. First if you have two orders of fries, they give you one, then bring you another later so both are nice and hot, and second, probably as part of their crusade to get everyone working, you don't bus your own trays. Someone does that- as well as patrolling the restaurant for possible violence?? We saw a lot of people doing very minor bits of work, like standing in the doorway of dress shops and encouraging you to come in. Another part of the working policy called for a lot of handwork instead of using machines- and the workers often seemed to be on break if no one was supervising.

After eating we walked back up the ‘Chinese medicine' street through a gate and found the steps up to the wall. Xian is the only city with its whole protective wall in tact- 8 ½ miles of it. You had to pay an admission to go up and we knew we couldn't do it justice then, so we walked along the streets once more. There were lots of people walking around, as well as women selling corn on the cob and watermelon. We had ice cream at Dico's and went back to the hotel.

We found ourselves out of toilet paper so called the desk and had some delivered. Beside the toilet was a wastebasket for throwing toilet paper, which was common in China , and I guess they wanted to discourage people from using much by rationing it. We watched the one English language station for a while. We found Xian to be more like the usual cities with lots to see around the hotel. Our hotel area in Beijing didn't have much to offer besides the Dirt Market.

The Canaan International Hotel was older, but fine for us. We had a large room with queen bed, TV, computer and monitor, table and chairs, hotpot and tea, and a basket of reasonably price Coke ($.50) and cookies ($.16). The bathroom had a large counter and large stall shower.

The hotel restaurant had such delicacies as marinated goose head, marinated pig trotter (stomach- not as bad as your imagination might guess), marinated honeycomb tripe, jellyfish in chili oil, preserved pig ear, chicken gizzard and celery, savory dog meat, spicy hog skin and agaric, broiled shark fin with vegetables, greasy-back shrimp, quick dried chive squid in XO sauce, scallion flavored fish head, sizzling eel with onion, and cuttlefish with celery and sour pepper. Not only that but they prided themselves in being very knowledgeable nutritionists and would look and you and order the food they thought you needed. Needless to say, Dico's became a favorite with us.

Tuesday, March 28-Xian

We got up at 7 and went for breakfast on the fourth floor. The food was hard to decipher and I got something that looked like a piece of dried beef but turned out to be really fishy and filled with bones. I ended up eating watermelon, yellow cake and hot Tang. Tried some carrot thing Dick got and something like boiled peanuts, but wasn't crazy about either. He managed to eat a more balanced meal. While we were eating I looked like a tapestry auction was going on with some Chinese men that sat in rows in front of the presenter.

After breakfast, we went to the business desk to ask about tours to see the Terra Cotta Warriors. They told us we could catch the one that morning and made a call to reserve a place for us. They called a taxi to take us to the gathering place and we waited in the lobby. While I was standing there a cute little eight year old girl with a drum turned and did a concert just for me. Her proud father spoke what English he could, and of course encouraged her to talk. I was at least able to say ‘shi shi' as Jessica had taught us for thank you.

The taxi took us to a mini bus filled with Chinese men and two couples. The guide spoke in Chinese for ten or fifteen minutes, then said in English, “We'll be stopping at the Museum of the First Quinn Emperor first,” which was typical of the amount of info we got in English for each stop. The museum held some very nice examples of the Terra Cotta Warriors and the man who discovered then was sitting at a table, selling his book and giving autographs for a price.

Next we stopped at another jade store where we wandered quickly through and waited outside where there was a manufacturer of new terra cotta warriors displaying his wares- some without heads, so we guessed you could pick the body and head you liked best.

Our next stop was the Xian Incident Museum or Ling Tong Museum- which was more a park than museum. You climbed stairs up a mountain where Chiang Kai Shek had hidden, looking at military equipment from that era- canons, jeeps, and planes from both the Japanese and Chinese sides of the fighting. The battle there brought the Nationalists under Chiang Kai Shek and the Communists together to fight against the invading Japanese. A man who looked like Chiang sat at a desk with his military attaché so that people could take pictures.

We had lunch at a small restaurant where they served tea in clear plastic cups. The waitress suggested we would need two dishes, so we ordered chicken and noodles and pork and pineapple, which turned out to be much more than we needed. The pork came with noodles but no pineapple and the chicken was in little balls with rice, we thought. One of the Chinese men on our tour got into a loud argument with a waitress over what she gave him. We guessed he was one of the Chinese officials that Jessica had talked about as being very self-important. I used my first squat toilet after eating- not a great experience.

Our next tour stop was at the Hau Qing Hot Springs where ancient emperors and important dignitaries used to go to bathe. There was a separate pool for the Empresses and one for the more common people- none of them very large and in various stages of disrepair over the many passing years. There were beautiful grounds spread over a large area. We saw the room where the actual Xian Incident Agreement was signed.

Then we went to the Tomb Area Temples where we saw a reenactment of a burial celebration with colorful dancers- beautifully dressed women and men as warriors, some with animal masks. There were beautiful statues and gardens over the large area. Many of our group chose to sit and watch the dancing after lots of exercise at the other stops.

Close by we finally saw what we had joined the tour to see- The Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor, the three pits holding the Terra Cotta Warriors. The first pit was spectacular, rows and rows of warriors and horses. The buildings were built as the excavation was underway to protect the warriors they unearthed. The first building was huge and surrounded the pits so you could look down from all angles. Some of the finest examples were in glass cases with signs telling that they were stable boys, warriors, etc. We went to the Third Pit next, known as the Command Pit because it held only about 68 warriors and many bronze weapons. The Second Pit was still under excavation and you could see pieces of the statues in newly opened areas. We had walked from the gate, down a garden like wide path and on the way out, we were crowded by vendors selling sets of five cast warriors. We kept walking until the price came down to six dollars (they really like getting Americans money), then were offered a second set for two dollars and I couldn't resist, but have no idea what I'll do with two sets. More vendors were at the bus parking area and I bought a string of decorated felt butterflies for about two dollars, talking the woman down enough to please myself.

We did another shopping stop at a Chinese food store with grocery specialties from the area. We didn't buy anything- partly because we couldn't tell what much of it was, but some of the Chinese people did and we saw the tour guide get his cut afterwards.

The bus had a flat tire on the way back. The driver had filled it as we started out so we were a bit suspicious from the start. Anyway the guide flagged down a tour bus that was able to take four from our bus. We stood by the side of the road, watching a Chinese tourmate eat peanuts then just throw the empty bag down. Littering is very common. Workers, often women, with brooms and face masks clean up city streets on a regular basis, but the sides of rivers, back streets in villages, and road sides are often covered in litter. At any rate the jack for our bus didn't work right and eventually they borrowed one from another passing tour bus, changed the tire and we were on or way home. We recognized the city gate we came in and the road we had walked the previous night, and we let off first at our hotel's street.
We used the bathroom, then went to Dico's for chocolate sundaes again. A cute note in our room said, “Dear Daniels.\, My name is Xin and I am from the hotel reservation department. I apologise that our staff, for the time being, don't speak English we. In case there is a language barrier, I would like to help you whenever in need.” He/she gave us phone information for day and night and closed with “Have a nice day.”

We watched TV, washed out a few things and called it a night.

Wednesday, March 29- Xian

We wake each morning around 7:30 to the sound of martial music calling the children to school from their surrounding apartments. From our balcony we can hear the commanding sounds of the announcements of the day, then watch the children square off and go through their callisthenic programs to music- led by children in front. When that's over they run in groups into the school. Lots of the school children wear red kerchiefs showing their membership in the youth Communist party group.

We showered and went out. We bought three cupcakes/muffins at a storefront for 50 cents, then an ear of corn for 12 cents We found an ATM where we could get money using our VISA card. We've found very few places that take charge cards, but that's in part because we've tended to shop at bazaars and buy street food and fast food. We went to Dico's where Dick got chicken egg drop soup and I had a coke to go with my corn. It was an unconventional breakfast but better than the previous day's by my standards. We had seen the previous night that it was ok to bring food into the restaurant as long as you bought something there. We got water and iced tea at the hotel shop and used our bathroom.

Then we walked to the East Gate and paid our admission to the wall. We climbed up and walked around for about two hours. The weather was sunny and warm, as it had been almost all the time so far. On either side of the wall they were constructing stone walkways and planting gardens with benches for people to sit and enjoy. Dick took lots of pictures of the painstaking handwork that went into all the construction. By the temple near where we went up, we saw old defense equipment to scale walls, battering rams and canons. We walked through the temple building but there wasn't much to see there. We climbed back down and sat on a wall by the road, Dick taking pictures of bikes carrying various loads- towering piles of cardboard and styrofoam.

After a rest and bathroom break at the hotel, we went to lunch at KFC- which are all over the place along with MacDonalds. I got wings unintentionally- language barriers even there- and Dick got a wrap he really liked. Again we got our second packet of fries, hot and crisp, delivered to our table after we had eaten the first. We walked further up the street and found a long food market in a large temple area. We walked through seeing all kinds of ‘meat' including stomachs we saw being washed out, turtles, eels, squid, all kinds of fish, fish heads, and snails of various sorts. It was very interesting in a yucchy sort of way. We got back to the hotel about three and put my pj top out on the balcony to speed drying. We could hear noises from a pre or primary school but couldn't see it. I got peanuts (pignuts) flavored with cinnamon, anise seed, licorice, and fennel which were very good.

After five we went out for dinner. The meat being sold by street vendors looked like it could be squid so we passed on it and went back to KFC. I managed to get a chicken thigh this time and Dick got another wrap. We got cones- mine with a chocolate peanut dip. We walked slowly back to the hotel, smiling at all the girls outside stores who tried to lure us in. We had found Xian to be very friendly. The night was spent packing to leave and Dick called Heather.

Thursday, March 30- Xian to Chengdu

We were up at 7, washed, packed and ready to go quite early. Check out took a little while so they could check our room for sodas drunk, etc. We got straight into a taxi from there and to the airport. Lots of people were cleaning the roads with brooms, some even in the middle of the busy road. We had lots of time to kill so we read and dozed by our check-in counter. A half hour before the flight we checked in, got our frequent flier miles, and tried to check in for the Shanghai flight, but we have to do it later. We had ice cream for breakfast while waiting at the gate, then another when the flight was delayed.

The flight was short and uneventful. They served sandwiches. At the airport I used the bathroom- American type- then spotted Heather waiting outside the gate. I got our luggage off the conveyor belt while Dick said his hellos. We took a cab to her apartment which is in a modern building with nice gardens between the buildings. She has a balcony- handy for drying clothes- and a clothes washer. The furniture came with her sublease and is nice. We went down to the local supermarket and bought groceries and bread. I finished the book I was reading and Heather made a vegetable tofu stir fry that we ate with the fruit and nut bread.

Heather went off to teach her class (English conversation for Chinese medical students) and make arrangements to get airline tickets to fly to Jiuzhaigou Nature Reserve. We had to space out our withdrawals because you could only get 2000 yuan per day and the tickets (4) cost 6000. I did laundry and Dick washed dishes. So ended our first day in Chengdu with us in the bed past the glass partition and Heather camped out on the sofa.

Friday, March 31-Chengdu

We got up at 7, showered and then waited to get a taxi for when banks would be open. We got 4000 yuan from an ATM to pay for Jiuzhaigou airline tickets. Heather got us funny green glutinous balls with peanut stuff inside. We had them with rose tea at The Coffee Beanery. Heather used that place for internet and studying, lingering over a cup of coffee or two while she writes papers, etc. She talked to the man who was getting our airline tickets, then had to take the bus back to her apartment because she forgot her passport. She took the passports and money to him afterwards.

We sat and deleted mail, then sent a quick note to Christy, Rob, Bob, Chris and the Zubers. The connection was lost a bunch of times but we got it off eventually. Heather got back in a couple of hours and we left, making arrangements to meet her there at 7:30 for an 8 o'clock dinner. She went to work on a take home test that was due and we took a taxi back to her apartment.

We read, slept and generally rested, then went out to find a great looking street not far away that we had seen in the taxi. It had a great decorated gate and wonderful buildings beyond. We found it easily. About halfway down the street on the right was the entrance to a park. Just inside it were arches decorated for the Olympics with the ‘Friendlies' as the Beijing 2008 mascots are called. There were a few little stores for refreshments and a lake you could boat on. There were lots of middle school kids- some with jackets that said just that in English- around and lots of them said ‘Hello' to us then giggled away. It was good fun. We went back to the street and found that another park was at the end of the street. We crossed the road to it, then a bridge over the river. There were signs naming trees and lots of beautiful side paths into secluded sitting areas.

Again there were lots of friendly parents and grandparents urging their tots to say hello and wave. We got two ice cream bars for $.50 and wandered around the park for a while. Then we went back to Heather's apartment to do laundry, rest, and pack for the next adventure.

We were dressed up (for our limited wardrobes) and ready to get a taxi back to the coffee house in plenty of time. It took a while to get a taxi because it was rush hour. We showed him a card from the coffee house so we'd get to the right place and off he went, weaving in and out of traffic like a maniac, even into oncoming traffic. It was probably the scariest taxi ride I'd ever had. But we made it to Sizuan University where he confirmed with the guards that it was the place on the card, and off he went. We didn't recognize anything, but began walking in the direction we thought was right, asking people at restaurants along the way if they knew where The Coffee Beanery was. Eventually we got people who were sure, and did find the place after a fifteen minute or so walk.

Heather was just finishing her test. We walked with her another twenty minutes or so to the Namaste Indian Restaurant, stopping to buy pineapple on sticks on the way. Her German friend and Diane were already there. After waiting for Olivia for a while, we ordered a variety of things- fish, chicken and mutton entrees and vegetarian salads and roast veggies. Olivia showed up fairly late, but we learned lately that she had been hit by a bus and actually passed out, so she went to her apartment to rest, then joined us. We had a pleasant time. The food was spicy hot, but ok. We got back to Heather's apartment after 10. We went to bed, but she went back out for food- mostly spicy tofu- to eat on the trip to Jiuzhaigou.

Saturday, April 1, Chengdu to Jiuzhaigou

We got up around 4:30 and I showered. Dick packed a backpack and I had my purse packed with my things. We got a taxi easily, but Dick found he had forgotten his camera and went back up for it. We got to the terminal in plenty of time, but then found that local flights such as we were taking, took off from the old terminal building. We walked outside to the far terminal. Heather had a knife in her backpack so had to check it. The flight left in good time and took only forty minutes (as compared to 12 hours on a bus). They gave us a bottle of water and a package of cookies. We took a bus from the airport- for just the four of us- and chose the Heye Yingbinguin Hotel from Heather's Lonely Planet Guidebook. The man who drove us over hung around for quite a while to make sure all went well- or something. It cost 290 yuan a night ($35) and had two double beds. So Olivia managed to finagle them staying in the room too for an additional 120 yuan. Strangely enough, the bathrooms in the rooms were fine, but the public one on the first floor was a very smelly squatter.

We packed a bag with lunch things and were on a bus into Jiuzhaigou (Joe sigh go') park by 11. We took the left fork in the road first and saw Promising Bright Bay Waterfall, Long Lake , and Mulit-Colored Lake- amazing greens, blues, and turquoises. None of the bus guides spoke English, but a young guide with a group from Singapore educated us about what we were seeing. From there we went to the central visitor's area and walked through the gift shop. They had two buffets upstairs, both fairly expensive by Chinese standards- so we ate the food we'd brought up- bread, Heather's stir fry, peanuts and trail mix.

We went up the right fork after lunch. We saw the Pearl Shoals Waterfall and a marshy area with rows of small falls and Mirror Lake . Along one of the trails, a woman in Tibetan costume offered some of her bread for the trail mix Heather had put together, so we all tried that.

We walked on to Colorful Lake which was very pretty- crystal clear with trunks of trees very visible under the water. Heather meditated while we talked. We caught the last bus down at 4 o'clock which was lucky because we didn't know buses stopped running then. The bus was filled with Tibetan workers, many in colorful costumes. They were very friendly and attempted to communicate with all of us scattered through the bus. Some were dozing but most seemed to be happily talking to their friends.

When we got back to the hotel- which was just outside the park entrance and gift shop- we rested for a little while, then decided to go out in search of food that everyone could eat. The restaurant in the hotel had an all Chinese menu and no one who spoke English. The one at the end of the hotel had pig's ears and tentacles and other things we couldn't identify. We tried another with no luck, then wandered into the town. In the marketplace people were cooking skewers of meat, tofu, and potatoes on grills. The first one was run by a beautiful Tibetan woman and her husband with their very cute four year old daughter along. We sat down on little plastic stools and pointed at what we wanted. The meat turned out to be yak, much like any other beef, dipped in oil then rolled in black and red pepper. It was very hot, but good. The potatoes were similarly seasoned, so I drank iced tea between bites. The parents encouraged their daughter to speak English to us and referred to me as grandmother. I gave her a box of Tic Tacs. It was a fun way to do dinner. When we finished, they simply counted up how many empty wooden skewers we had sitting in front of us, at 1 yuan (about 12 cents) each and we paid that amount. We wandered further along the village road and the girls got fruit and we got peanuts.

Dick and I left to go back to the hotel and try to figure out how to get the room lights on. Finally we got one to read and write by. But when Heather came back, she immediately went to the lightswitch panel on our bedtable (just like in Xian but we didn't even see it) and the problem was completely solved. So we read till we were too tired to focus and went to sleep.

Sunday, April2- Jiuzhaigou

We were up around 8 and on the bus into the park by 9. It was a poor night's sleep, but the day found us wide awake. We took the bus back to Colorful Lake , then walked a trail two guards told us not to past the Panda Falls to Panda Lake . We saw small stands of bamboo and evidence that pandas had stripped them, but no Pandas. When we climbed the steep stairs besides the falls, we found that the path had been gated. With a little difficulty, we climbed over the lake and joined the people at Panda Lake . Many of the young Chinese girls there were putting on Tibetan costumes and having their pictures taken by the lake. Dick took some bird pictures including one with an incredible crest that it could raise and lower at will. At that point we separated and the girls continued on to another lake.

We took the bus back to Pearl Shoals and walked down the other side to see the waterfall. It was a very pretty walk from that direction. Dick took pictures then we climbed back the original way and took the bus to Shugheng Village . At the entry there was a Tibetan Buddhist Temple with Prayer Wheels and Flags and small tissue squares that are also used in their religion to send off prayers. We walked around the temple, then headed into the village. The street in the center was very steep and lined with shops. We saw, but didn't go into the museum, which had two stuffed yaks on either side of the door. Dick took a lot of pictures of the houses up there.

Then we headed back down and shopped on the way. Prices seemed incredibly cheap. Dick got a leather cowboy hat- common Tibetan headware- for $5. I got four shawls for 25 yuan each- a little over $3- and two colorful backpacks for Rob's girls. Dick got a similarly colorful apron for Michelle.

We crossed the road and took a trail that went through wetlands with lots of little waterfalls falling from natural earthen dams. The weather was perfect once again. There were lots of colorful butterflies and Dick got a few pictures of them. We caught the bus back to Heye and got back to the hotel around 3. We read and tried to sleep, then got up around 5 to eat.

We went back to the village market and got sweet potatoes and Pepsi, then sat at the same stall. Dick stuck to tofu, since he had forgotten to pack his medications, and I had yak. Dick took pictures of the woman at the stall and her daughter, my Tibetan granddaughter. A woman came next to us and accidentally sat on the bag of sweet potatoes and we all laughed. When we finished and paid our pittance we walked through the stalls eating our sweet potatoes and I bought combs make from yak or elk horn. Dick got a banana.

We walked back to the hotel and found Heather and Olivia, who had already bought our bus tickets to Songpan for 7:15 the next day. They went off to a Tibetan restaurant to eat. We showered and tried to find an English TV channel, then began packing for tomorrow. The girls returned and showered and we all called it a day pretty early, though workmen or partiers were noisy behind the hotel for quite a while. We slept using two quilts, like the girls had, and it worked much better than the night before.

Monday, April 3-Jiuzhaigou to Songpan

We got up just after 6, got a refund of the key deposit and walked right out to a taxi to the bus station. We waited a little while, then were directed onto a bus which left about fifteen minutes early. Unfortunately it left a woman behind so they called and the driver had to go back and pick her up. At that point we left at about the right time. We thought it was a three hour ride, but even with stopping at a shrine for the woman to pray and throw up dozens of little tissue prayer flags and to pick up passengers, we arrived in Songpan in two hours. The bus ride was fine, although people often opened the windows to spit out. I slept some which made it even shorter.

When we left the bus, we were immediately approached by Emma who owned a popular restaurant. She walked us past the restaurant and over to the Songpan Traffic Hotel which she said was popular with horse trekkers. She talked with the young women who ran it and cleaned rooms, and we got two room, each with two twin beds and bathrooms for only 90 yen. We used the bathrooms and went out so they could continue cleaning.

After breakfast at Emma's (muesli and fruit for me, oatmeal and fruit for Dick, hot milk with honey for Olivia, tomato soup for Heather- all for $4), we walked the main street of Songpan. The second half of the city was walled in two fairly long stretches. There was a nice statue at the entry to the walled part and Dick took a picture of a costumed Slavic looking woman there- who then dickered about the price for taking her picture. She asked 10 yuan and got 5. Many of the people were in local costume, very colorful Tibetans and Tibetan monks in their robes. Lots of the very cute children said ‘hi' as we passed. The Mongolian people who inhabited the area had naturally rosy cheeks and darker skin than the Chinese in Beijing and more eastern areas. We saw puppies for sale, hopefully as pets. There was a big rally going on and Olivia, who was studying Chinese politics dived right in. At first no one wanted to tell her what was going on because they suspected she was a reporter from a rival viewpoint. But then she was told it was a political hearing on Tibetan concerns and given a paper outlining their concerns. When she returned back to the area, she got to talk to the people sitting at the table and found that one of the women was from their university in Chengdu .

From there we walked through the food market. We saw lots of vegetables but also chickens- live and being ‘processed.' The girl bought raw peanuts for us. It was an ‘earthy' place to say the least, but interesting. A man who was welding a metal frame offered to let Olivia do some welding and she was tickled to do it, having learned to weld from a friend in her hometown.

At the town square they were firing off hundreds of firecrackers and we were told it was celebrating the opening of a new restaurant. Heather and Olivia were contacted by two horse trekkers and decided to do a one day trip. We ate lunch in their room- tofu, dates, and peanuts. We got toilet paper then found the hotel supplied it.

We went out again and the girls arranged their horse trek for 8:30 then next morning. We walked high above the west side of the city to a Buddhist Monastery. Neat small fields were terraced into the hillside and people were preparing fields by hand. I found a piece of broken pottery that I'll consider Ming pottery. But layers of dirt on the hillside do seem to show activity from earlier eras. When we got down, we went into a teahouse which was outdoors but with tables under awnings. Mostly men played Chinese chess and mahjong. We had bottomless cups of green tea.

We walked back down the main street and got a couple of sticks of pumpkin balls with sesame seeds that were very good. Olivia bought fruit like lichees- with a leathery shell and green grape-like fruit inside and a large black seed. We climbed up on the wall, but found no way to get down at the end, so retraced our steps to where we had seen some school girls go down. Children seemed to do their homework everywhere, from outside on the steps of temples to small desks at the backs of their parents' stores. Olivia and Heather bought fruit to give to the Tibetan monks who were begging on a bridge between sections of the city.

An old man motioned that he wanted his picture taken with Dick, then held out his hand for pay. I bought cross stitched insoles (mostly because they were such a curiosity) for 45 yuan- more than I really wanted to pay but the girl had made them herself. I got a chocolate cookie with black sesame seeds which was very good. Heather looked for pants to wear for her trek, but decided just to use my windpants over her longjohns. They went off shopping for their lunch on the trek, thinking that as vegetarians they wouldn't want to eat what was offered on the trek.

We walked back to the hotel. Dick showered. Then we couldn't get a bedlamp to light and the girls had more bulbs out, so Heather got the woman on duty to put in new bulbs and start their water heating so they could shower. We ignored the water that seeped into the bathroom every time we flushed, turned on our electric under blanket and called it a night.

Tuesday, April 4-Songpan

It snowed a little last night and the mountain sides were white behind the hotel. We gave the girls gloves and hats and they went off, but they were still at the trek center when we went out for breakfast. We stayed with them until they left, then went on to Emma's for breakfast. I exchanged a book we'd finished with Emma's collection and the one I got turned out to be by an Upper Valley (NH) psychologist I had heard speak. She also has postcards and souvenirs sent to her from people who had passed through her place, so it's fun to look around and read messages. I had hot milk and honey, but otherwise we ordered the usual. We made arrangements with Emma for the ride to the airport in the morning around 7 and she had the Toyota SUV sitting right outside her restaurant. We went back to the hotel and read with the under blanket on until it warmed up a bit.

We went out and walked the wall again, getting pictures of children and Tibetan women below. We walked down to where we were the day before and took pictures of temples and a very ornate old bridge with animal carvings. We wandered more streets we hadn't traveled before and crossed the river behind the hotel on a suspension bridge. We were trying to find a temple we saw from our window, but found ourselves in a residential area where we felt like intruders, so went back across. The sides of the river were filled with refuse as many areas were.

We wandered more getting very fresh bread from a baker- fresh from the oven and a fudgesicle, by mistake, so got another ice cream bar too. With peanuts, that made our lunch. Dick rested for a while at the hotel, but I had things to buy, so went back out. I met Heather and Olivia, just back from their trek, which was cold but they enjoyed very much. I got the camera from them and took a picture of the group. I went on and got a couple of Chinese bras (Olivia says for years the Chinese women were classy so now it's their turn to be trashy and the bras are pretty wild), some socks for Dick, two Tibetan hangings with pockets, and another pair of insoles- embroidered this time. I saw a military drill and took pictures of children in a schoolyard.

I went back to the hotel and we went out for dinner about 5 and met the girls at the square by the wall. On the way we saw Emma and I got my picture taken with her. They took us to their favorite restaurant- the one they ate at last night. It was just a little open store with several tables in front and the cooking area open in the back. A husband and wife did the cooking- running out to buy ingredients after we ordered. The girls ordered a soup with tofu, a spicy tofu dish and a chicken dish for me. I still have the same opinion of tofu and my chicken was the usual with lots of little bones, but the meal was ok. We later saw on a Chinese news program (on China Channel 9) that the Chinese are importing a lot of chicken from the US which works out really well because Americans like breasts, legs, and thigh, while Chinese like wings, backs, necks, and claws. So I guess most of the chicken I had there was from the center two imports. But I did see a girl in Songpan with three chicken claws on a stick- yum! Olivia paid for that meal as a thank you which was very nice of her.

We walked back up the street to buy bread and chocolate cookies, but Dick decided not to get bread. We were back in the room by 7 and took baths- using the hot water to help warm the room. We had learned to accommodate to the leaky toilet by using the plastic sandals in the room to go in and out, but not to walk in the room itself. I began the book I got at Emma's which was very good. We packed our stuff up once more to be ready for the next morning.Heather and Olivia met some people from their school who had been off on a three day trek.

Wednesday, April 5-Songpan to Chengdu

We were up at 6, had breakfast at Emma's and were ready to leave around 7 for the airport. A young man rode in the back. He had just gotten his license and was going to drive on the way back for practice. The plane left pretty much on time and was a quick flight as before. We got a taxi at the airport that wasn't supposed to do pickups there, so a woman yelled at him for quite a while. Heather had to correct his course a few times, but we got fairly directly to her apartment. Olivia told us that a cab driver told her he hated that she could speak Chinese because when they saw her, they thought they could really get away with overcharges. It was another exciting drive to the apartment.

Heather thought she knew of a hostel nearby that she had never been to, but was a place we could get tickets for the Panda Breeding Ground tour. She had an address and asked someone at a news kiosk and they directed us down a street. We never saw a building with the right number, so asked a young guy, who asked a woman, and we found it was down a dirt alleyway through almost a hutong like area, very much older and hidden away from the bustle of Chengdu 's main streets. The youth hostel was nice and we bought our tour tickets and were told to join the tour at 7:30 the next day. We shopped, then did laundry while Heather napped.

We went out to dinner, taking a cab to Ginli where the Wichou Temple was. It was a very neat street, much like the one in Chengdu that Dick and I had walked earlier. We had pizzas and Heather had a salad and I treated since I felt like the party pooper who wanted good old American-type food. Afterwards we walked by the carts and stores and bought a couple of peepee boys for Heather and Olivia, a slingshot, and a set of baby chopsticks. The vendors were doing and selling calligraphy, toffee sculptures (like we saw them doing in Disney World), portraits, and paper cut stick puppets. We paid admission and walked into the temple area. We saw life-sized painted statues of warriors from the Three Kingdom War. There were beautiful gardens, flowering azaleas and camellias, sculptures, and koi in ponds that people fed.

From there we walked to Heather's university, through the Tibetan area of the city where Heather bought pears to give to beggars (mostly women) and was mobbed by them while another woman shook her head disapprovingly. I bought one of the cheap plastic zipper bags we'd seen around to put all our accumulated gifts in for the trip back. We walked through the campus where clothes hung from almost every dormitory window- as they did from most apartments all over China . Students were playing basketball, badminton, and ping pong- all outside. We took the bus back, stopping a bit from Heather's. She got two books on Chinese medicine. We bought pumpkin balls, fresh water chestnuts (that people sit slicing with razor blade cutters), pears and another loaf of the good dark fruit and nut bread. We came home and ate. I packed gifts into the new bag. We had hot chocolate and read.

Thursday, April 6- Chengdu

We got up around 6:30 and were on our way to the hostel by 7. I washed out a few things first including the wind pants Heather used for riding. At the entry to the hostel alley, a driver asked if we were there for the panda tour and indicated that his van was the one we'd signed up for. Dick found his receipt, but remembered throwing the tickets in the trash- so he had to go back and get them out and walk back to the van. We were joined by two German couples whose grown children spoke mostly English. The drive to the panda breeding area took about 40 minute, with the driver dodging all manner of transport on the way.

We walked up to the area for adult pandas and saw three that were lounging around then came down to feed right in front of us. Dick took a short video with the camera and you can even hear the crunching. We walked to the ‘yearling' section where the young ones were playing a bit. Then we saw a very small baby panda who was moving slowly over a bridge between trees. A woman with mask and gown appeared to be photographing its every move.

We had the opportunity to have a photo taken with the young pandas for $50 which went to find the place- and since it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, we did it. I had to put on booties and gloves and we waited quite a while for them to swing the bridge around so Dick and I could walk over. A keeper came out with a pail full of bamboo shoots and the pandas knew that was their signal to go over to the carved wooden bench where they lay, one on each side and munched away. I walked slowly to behind the bench and at first just touched their arms, but as they kept ignoring me, I moved in a bit and put my arms more or less around them. It was a very neat experience and Dick got some good pictures. No one else did it from our group.

Then they took us to see the red pandas, which looked more like raccoons than pandas, but were rusty orange and very cute. We went past the baby again then on to the museum. It had exhibits showing growth, habitat, eating habits, mating, and prenatal development. It also had breeding statistics from pandas all over the world. Only about a third of those born make it to maturity. We went up to see the insects on the second floor, but just did a quick walk-through.

We walked around a little more, through all the panda souvenir sellers outside the park, then got on the bus and were back in Chengdu by 11.

We decide to walk again through the ornate shopping street and park that we had visited before, but turned left a street early and found ourselves back in the hostel region- but at least we recognized where we were and how to get back. We ate at a restaurant on the road to the left of Heather's. It was hard communicating again. First we tried to pick things from the menu, but then saw people going down to where food was displayed and pointing at what they wanted, and we figured that would work better for us. We chose potatoes, possibly bamboo shoots, and green beans with ginger, plus a larger than we wanted bottle of Pepsi. Then they brought us our original menu-chosen dish plus a second bowl of another which we refused.

After that we did find our way to the street and Qintai Lu Park and walked down the shopping street and cross the bridge into the park. We got ice creams and then people watched. We both had a second ice cream and I bought popcorn which turned out to be sweet. Back at Heather's we showered and packed. Heather got back around 4 and we ate before going to her class around 6:45 .

It was a short walk to the medical university. We sat at old fashioned, two-seater, desks. Heather went back for notes she'd forgotten and a young student came to practice her English with us. Heather introduced us as her parents then we both told them something we wanted to. Dick talked about working with Chinese in his job and I did a brief recap of my life. Then we answered questions- everything from our travels, to recuperating after having babies. To our opinion of Taiwan not being part of China . It was a fun time and the students were younger than I expected, overwhelmingly female and very cute.

We left at their break time and walked back to Heather's apartment. We got ready for bed and continued packing. Heather went from the university to get Kate and got back about 10:20 .

And with that, Chengdu was, as Dick put it, Chengdone.

Friday, April7-Chengdu to Shanghai

We were both awake at 6:20 before the alarm went off. We got ready trying not to wake Heather and Kate who were sleeping on the floor. Heather gave us a bag of food, candies and a Diet Coke for me. She helped us get a taxi and directed him to the airport. We tried to get on an earlier flight but didn't make it. I finished my book and couldn't find an English Language book at the airport stores.

We left and arrived to the bagpipe strains of ‘Amazing Grace” on the plane's PA. I slept a bit during the flight. We took the MagLev (Magnetic Levitating) Train which went at top speeds of 431 k/hr. We got a taxi at the train station and the taxi driver charged us 300 yuan instead of 30 for the ride and we didn't know if Shanghai was just that much more expensive than the other cities in China . But we found we had been gypped. He found the hotel easily and we got in and up to our room quickly. We stayed at the Metropole Hotel which was built in the 30's but had an excellent location just two blocks off the Bund. The room was just fine, with a queen sized (softer) bed and decent bathroom.

We walked to the riverfront Bund area and walked along the broad walkway along the river. We watched barges go by, some very low in the water with their loads. We walked to the end of the walkway and went to the lower level where there were very nice gardens and arbors. The day was beautiful- the warmest yet- but very hazy.

Back at the hotel, we read about Shanghai in the English Yellow Pages book which had the best maps we had seen and good tourist information- as well as information for people setting up businesses or moving to Shanghai .

We walked to Grandmother's Restaurant about a block away and had sweet and sour pork, rice and bok choy- one of the best meals we had had in China . Dick called Heather to tell her we had arrived safely and we played Travel Scrabble. Then we watched Disney's Haunted Mansion with Eddie Murphy and called it a day once more.

Saturday, April 8- Shanghai

We got up fairly late and ate our Chengdu bread for breakfast. Then we walked to the Yuyuan area, past the flower-topped Bund Building which became our landmark for finding the hotel. The district seemed to specialize in shops for dressmakers with dye stores and button and trim stores. We bought things in stores where everything was 5 yuan or 2 yuan and got T-shirts- five for 170 yuan. Dick had forgotten to take his pills so we came back around 11:30 . The day was already very warm.

The second time we went out we ate at MacDonalds near the Yuyuan Market. Again we had ordering problems when I got six packages of McNuggets (which sounded like McNiggets when the Chinese guy said it) instead of one sixpack. We got it straightened out and ate in the noisy, busy restaurant. We found an enclosed part of the market that we hadn't seen before and I finally got the feathery hackysacks I wanted on a booth outside it. I got several more small gifts and Dick got T-shirts for Michelle and Rick. He got sneakers and a belt for himself. We watched street vendors (with just an open-up case or pushcart) close up shop as an official van drove slowly down the street. We walked in a neat park where children played (roller skating and riding little bikes).

After resting in the hotel we went back out and checked prices and locations of the one hour river boat tours and walked to the other end of the walkway. People, including a very young boy, were flying kites. We bought an orange soda and a man collecting bottles asked for ours before we were finished. People took pictures of us sitting on the railing. We went down in a different place from before, where there was a pedestrian tunnel under the river- but it was quite expensive and we couldn't see what the attraction was- though it was supposed to show Shanghai 's history or something. The road crossing tunnel there had pictures of Van Gogh paintings. We came back along a very busy street with vendors all along (some selling Groucho glasses with blow out mustaches that I wish I'd bought).

We cleaned up at the hotel and went to Grandmother's restaurant. This time we had a fairly spicy chicken, shrimp, tofu and peanut dish with pumpkin and lily (very sweet tasting) and a bowl of rice.

We went out to see the night lights over the river. The historic buildings of the Bund were beautifully illuminated, as was our flower tower. But in Pudong (across the river) they had great changing colorful displays-flowers, birds, fireworks. The tourist boats on the river were decked with colorful lights too. A man selling postcards told Dick he remembered him with a dragon T-shirt yesterday and we were amazed he could remember that- but didn't buy any postcards from him. Other vendors sold illuminated souvenirs and one vendor wore illuminated roller skates.

Back in the hotel, we watched the end of Hope Floats and then Octopussy. We heard but didn't see fireworks.

Sunday, April 9-Shanghai

We got up around 9, showered and washed clothes. We had bread for breakfast. We took a taxi almost to the Shanghai Museum We walked through the Bronze and Sculpture Galleries, then saw the Cezanne to Pollock special exhibit with a neat Miro and Chagall. We saw the Ceramic Gallery on the second floor, then had water and looked at Munch and Museum art books in the Tea Room. The third floor had the seals (chops) and calligraphy exhibits. On the top floor we saw jade, including some very old pieces, furniture, and costumes from various ethnic groups of China . We also saw a great special exhibition of gems collected by a man who retired from Apple Computer and made this his hobby. He had some wonderful specimens and art pieces. Dick took lots of pictures at the museum- where permitted- and I made notes on them.

We ate lunch at the Museum Restaurant. We both had fried rice- Dick's with vegetables and shrimp and mine with ham and pineapple. They were much less spicy than food elsewhere and lots of Westerners were eating there. From the museum we walked to the People's Park & Square. Lots of people were feeding the doves (pigeons to us) Dick tried a few pictures of birds and we just enjoyed the sunny day and people watching.

We walked over elevated crosswalks and found Fuzhou Street (where the hotel was located) and walked the length of it, looking for the international bookstore. I bought 3 silk scarves for presents (50 yuan) on the way. We got all the way to the hotel, going into a few bookstores that had only Chinese and English language learning books. This road was know ad the intellectual road with lots of bookstores, computer stores, office supply stores and the like.

We watched One Fine Day on Star TV, then went to Grandmother's Restaurant (where the waitstaff knows us and smiles when we walk in by now) and had a beef and curry dish with pumpkin and lily again. After eating, we walked down to the Bund and three blocks down, then around the blocks and back to the hotel. It had bwegun to rain a little in the evening and rained harder now, but was still quite warm.

We watched Alien VS Predator, mostly to keep us awake until 11 sop we could begin adjusting to the time changes to come.

Monday, April 10-Shanghai

We woke to rain. We walked down Fuzhou and found the International Bookstore, but it didn't open until 9:30 . I got a roll in a convenience store and Dick got more money from an ATM. We climbed to the fourth floor of the bookstore, looking for English Language books and I found one there, but Dick gave up and went down first. Dick found English classic books on the first floor and a French book about Confucius's family, so we were both happy. We walked back to the hotel, buying pears for breakfast.

I went back out to shop at the Friendship (Chinese Governemnt) Store but found the prices very high so walked on to the Yuyuan Market area again. I got an apron, two silk tops, calligraphy brushes, caps for Dick to give as gifts, and gum. I stopped at MacDonalds and got a chocolate covered ice cream cone, then got a baguette for Dick.

We watched the end of When Harry Met Sally, then read and slept, waiting for the rain to lessen. Finally we went out and it did indeed lessen as we walked. We walked along the governmental buildings of The Bund, then crossed the river and walked along, but we were in the area between the two branches coming in so didn't see the modern buildings of Pudong. We recrossed the river and walked back along. We spoke to a young Chinese man who told us it was supposed to be sunny on Tuesday. We bought candy covered fruit on a stick which was a lot like red candy apples, but it had a strange strawberry-looking fruit that was pithy and full of seeds. We got back to the hotel around 5 and watched a documentary about an unconventional Chinese children's book writer who educated his son because he felt the schools were brutal on him.

We went out to Grandmother's again and had the sweet and sour pork we liked a lot and braised eggplant which turned out to be very good as well. Dick showered and we watched The Ref about taking hostages with Dennis Leary and Kevin Spacey then an odd movie, Gattaca, about a man who takes another's genetic profile ( a man who's paralyzed but has the correct genetic profile)- scrubbing all his skins cells each day and being careful not to shed eyelashes or hairs. He becomes an astronaut and is almost found out before his big flight. By then we had stayed up the proscribed amount of time longer than usual, so were happy to go to sleep.

Tuesday, April 11-Shanghai-Chicago-Raleigh-Ash

We got up around 8:30 and were ready by 9:30 , but decided to wait a little so watched a documentary about a man with a mysterious snake bite in Chinese hospital. We left at 10 and put our luggage in a storage room. We sat and ate watermelon at the riverfront. We got tickets for the 11:30 boat cruise and helpful people waved us to the correct place to board the boat. We took one of the older looking wooden boats, and even though it was foggy, we enjoyed the ride.

We were back by 11:30 so headed to Grandmother's Restaurant for a double header- sweet and sour pork AND chicken, shrimp, tofu, peanut dish. We had sweet and sour soup which was good, and I managed to mess up my traveling attire with the pork. We went to the hotel and got our luggage and took a bus we had made reservations on to the airport. The bus was ten minutes early leaving our hotel but had long waits at other stops. We saw the MagLev train as we approached the airport. We checked our bags and proceeded through the airport.

We went through various checkpoints requiring various forms. We even had to fill out cards to leave the country. We had some Chinese currency left, so looked in the stores, but everything was very expensive including the Hagen Das ice cream bars. Dick went to change money and it was well past the first boarding calls when he got back. We stashed our bags in the compartments, then moved to three central seats so Dick could lie down- but it was a mistake for me because I didn't have anything to lean on to sleep. I watched parts of Nanny McPhee, The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe, and Sideways. Then I saw the whole of The Producers. I wasn't feeling very tired by 2. We flew over Japan , Southern Alaska , WA, MT, and MN. We were in Chicago by 6 AM our biological clock, but PM Chicago time.