First off make sure that you scroll down and see our Tibet update right below this one. Problems with internet access prevented us from updating for awhile. We are at the end of our visit to China and we are both surprised that our expectation was so far from the reality. As expected, the place is huge with well over a billion people, but the many cities that we visited do not seem crowded. All of the lowrise old buildings that you see in our pictures are being replaced with modern skyscrapers. This is happening very quickly. The huge city of Shanghai that we are in now was built in the last 17 years. The locals in Shanghai say that dramatic changes occur here every three years. Everywhere we went in China we saw cranes cover the skyline as far as the eye can see. Think of all of Toronto and it's suburbs covered in modern skyscrapers. That is what a major Chinese city looks like. Ventures in terms of power generation, transportation, economic reform, and agriculture, all seem to be occurring on the same scale. It truly is overwhelming. The scenery down the Yangtze River was magnificent. As an example of the changes occurring on the river the Three Gorges Dam project is being built to generate electricity and improve transportation. This will flood 400 Km of river to make a lake for the reservoir and displace 1.5 million people.

We marched off of the airplane in Tibet, entered the airport, and almost passed out. The effect of the altitude on our bodies was surprising. We needed to walk very slowly and rest frequently in order to get enough oxygen. We saw the effects of altitude sickness on some of the tourists here. It really is no fun. The sun is also very strong at this altitude. We visited Buddhist Jokhang Temple, the Potala Palace, the Summer Palace at Norbulingka and the Sera Monestary. These buildings house many statues of the Buddha as well as ancient libraries. Pilgrams from all over the Tibetan countryside have come here to pray. The emotion they show as they see the sacred artifacts is contagious. They are pure of heart, sincere and friendly. Many of them have never seen a digital camera and are delighted to see their own images! The rugged terrain of Tibet is laden with valuable resources. The desire to harvest these resources is bringing rapid change to the communities. We feel lucky to have seen this unique place and its people when we did. See the monks at the Sera Monastery practice for their exams by clicking here.(3.5 meg).

We are learning a lot about China from the places that we visit and the information provided by our guides. The history is well documented through many dynasties dating back over four thousand years. The accomplishments of the Chinese people over this time period is mind boggling. The trend continues. Large scale construction projects are seen throughout the cities. The government is trying to complete all projects before the start of the 2008 Olympic Games. The rate and the scale of change happening in China surely is unmatched anywhere in the world. This was a totally different place just twenty years ago. Since our last update we have been to the Great Wall, The Ming Tomb, The Summer Palace in Beijing, as well as, the Terra Cotta Warriors and the Provincial History Museum in Xi'an. We have yet to visit Tibet and the Yangtze River before leaving China from Shanghai.

Our first full day in China was a busy one. We started the day with a full Chinese breakfast, then visited Tian'anmen Square and the Forbidden City, former home of the Emperor. He had 3000 wives. They all lived in the rear part of the Forbidden City and were never allowed to leave. We took over fifty pictures there, the place is HUGE! After lunch we visited the Temple of Heaven, then a one hour break, traditional Beijing Duck dinner at a century old restaurant, and a lively performance at the Liyuan Theatre by the Beijing Opera. You can get a small taste of the performance by clicking here.(3.5 meg). Sounds like a lot but our guide, Rose is very organized and professional. Tomorrow we visit the Great Wall.

We are staying in the Ginza district, the upscale shopping center of the city. A person could spend weeks shopping in Tokyo. But what do you do if you are not crazy about shopping? You go to Tokyo Disneyland. We got to the park shortly after opening to find out that ticket sales were suspended due to an excess of people (it was a national holiday weekend!). Luckily, DisneySea, the sister park and our chosen destination was still offering admission. To make a long story short, we waited in lines for hours to spend minutes on the actual attractions. But the people watching, overall atmosphere, and the Disney entertainment made it worthwhile. The train to Tokyo reached speeds just under 300 km/h and took about two hours. I clocked it on my GPS. The same trip by automobile is said to take up to nine hours. See the view from the bullet train by clicking here (3 meg). The variety of food here is unbelievable. We are headed to Beijing China tomorrow.

Three things we notice immediately about the Japanese: They are very quiet, very polite using traditional bows and spoken courtesies, and very well dressed. We arrived in Osaka and made our way by train to Kyoto. You can set your watch by the train service here. Kyoto is the former capital of Japan with many temples and shrines throughout the city and surrounding area. We borrowed bicycles from our hotel and saw several of them on a "three hour tour". We used our JP rail pass to visit Nara. Highlights here were the five storey pagoda, Todaiji Temple, the Great Buddha Hall, lanterns at the Kasuga Shrine, and the sacred deer that seem to believe that they own the whole place. Arigato Gozaimas to Kazuhiro and Toshiko for a traditional Japanese dinner where all of the numerous dishes were oishii ! We leave for Tokyo tomorrow on the Bullet Train. Click on the little pictures to see them better.

To see the places that we were in during the Months of August and September click here.