On May 21st of this year my daughter Sue and I left on United Airlines flight # 857from San Francisco for our 15 day tour of China. It was a tour arranged through United Vacations by Pacific Bestours. The tour included International airfare, all domestic airfares within China, deluxe accomadations, 13 breakfasts, 10 lunches and 4 dinners or Special Dinners, 5 gala events, Shanghai Museum, Great Wall of China, and Ming tombs, a Pedicab tour of Old Beijing City, and sightseeing in Hong Kong.

First let me tell you about the flight. From the West Coast it is a very long flight, and George, my husband and Sue's father had thoughtfully used a bunch of miles to upgrade us to Business Class. And what a blessing that turned out to be!! The seats reclined almost all the way, and we were provided with a lovely packet of amenities such as slippers, eyeshades, toothbrush and paste, ear plugs etc. We had loads of room to stretch out, plus a roomy container next to the window seats for carry on cases and purses. In addition we each had a small television set that we could set up with a choice of about 4 movies and other features.

We arrived a little earlier than our scheduled time of 6 PM the next day at PU Dong airport in Shanghai. Extremely modern two year old facility. No problem going through customs, and a Pacific Bestours guide was right there to pick us up. There were 8 of us on the plane, and we were told the next morning that two more young women would be joining us in Beijing.

On the way in from the airport James, our city guide pointed out all of the modern buildings, and told us lots about the importance of Shanghai to the economy of the country.

We were supposed to be staying at the JC Manderin, a very outstanding hotel, but when we received our tour documents we found we were staying at the Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn. A definite disappointment since it was not a deluxe hotel in my opinion, but was certainly very nice. Instead of being located in a downtown section of Shanghai we were located in a neighborhood with a school, two small grocery stores, which we enjoyed exploring in the early morning, and a convention center with a display of a bright pink Mary Kay car, and many older men and women performing their Tai Chi exercises in the early morning.

The tour included a Western style buffet breakfast daily where there was plenty to eat if you had the time to eat it. Each day, until we reached Hong Kong we asked for a wake up call at 6 AM in order to be ready to tour at 8 AM. A few mornings Sue and I opted for a walk outside around the hotel area instead of, or after, breakfast.

We went to bed that first night around 9 PM after checking out the shops in the hotel. Slept until 2 AM, and then until 4 AM. After that we were up for the day.

I had shown George how to use my computer so that we could exchange email, and that turned out to be a very enjoyable exercise for him and for us. Sue had taken her laptop computer from the office, but it turned out that it was easier to use the Business Center at each hotel than to set hers up with all of the converters etc.

The next day we met Cheng, a lovely woman, who was our travel guide for the entire trip. Each different city we went to we had a local guide, but Cheng was with us until Hong Kong. That first day we enjoyed an all day tour of Shanghai including the impressive Shanghai Museum, where we could wander around with an audio wand to see the Jade, the Costumes of the different regions, the furniture down through the ages etc. Very modern and fine museum.

Every day we had both lunch and dinner Chinese style at a large round table with a big lazy susan in the center where the servers continually kept platters coming with mostly pork dishes. They were not the usual Chinese food we were used to, but we enjoyed them.....in the beginning. After a while two Chinese meals a day got to be too much. We could order either beer, water or coke at meals, and often tea was not served. Soup was served toward the end of the meal, and almost always a small slice of watermelon was for dessert.

We also had a great time visiting the Children's Palace, where some talented Chinese children go after school for extracurricular activities such as dancing and music lessons. The children are darling, and many little ones said "Hello, Bye bye, and Thank You" in English after Sue and I passed out Tootsie Pops.

That night we attended a wonderful acrobat show, but had to be packed and ready to leave the hotel early the next morning.

This was obviously not a vacation....this was a tour. And believe me there is a big difference!

The next morning we left by bus early for our discovery of the remarkable city of Zhouzhuang. This is an amazing 900 year old Song Dynasty town that legend has it, Marco Polo called the "Venice of the East". It seems to be a city set in an area of canals, stone bridges, and picturesque gardens. I got the impression that it is kept that way for tourists, and we were walked along so quickly that I can't remember anyone stopping to buy anything from the street vendors who were everywhere. We walked all around the area, visited one of the oldest homes there, and had our lunch in that town. I had decided early on that I would cut back on my supply of bottled water in order be able to pass up the squat toilets, and amazingly was successful. Sue had to use them a few times, and being 30 years younger than I am, they didn't pose such a challenge for her. After lunch they put us on a Chinese boat, and we floated along the Grand Canal for about an hour plus. We passed many other barge type boats with whole families living on them who had their wash out drying. Our next destination was Suzhou, a thriving commercial area where we checked into the Sheraton Suzhou hotel and towers, with stunning traditional Chinese architechture, pagoda shaped reception hall, and beautifully landscaped gardens, with all the modern ammeninities one could ask for. Even though the hotel seems very new the garden area is undergoing some renovation so their were friendly workmen outside our window. First one, and then three when we finally closed the drapes. It doesn't take us long to catch on:-) Our luggage, which had been collected the night before, met us at our destination.

Even though the luggage was often out of our hands, often for hours, no one ever had a problem with things missing. The bus was small, and it would not have been possible to bring it along on the bus. The buses was all air conditioned and comfortable, though not the large coach I would have preferred.

That evening after dinner we visited the Master of the Nets in the downtown area. This is a series of many performances, given in different parts of a large garden. Since it was dark out by now we couldn't see the gardens, and since there were many other groups there we often stood for these short performances, and by the time we were ready to leave I was ready for a good backrub.

The next morning we left early again to tour both a silk factory, where I bought both of my children a silk comforter. They are similar to a down comforter...light weight, and warm in winter while cool in summer. I think they were good buys, and elected to take them with us rather than shipping them home. Suzhou is the silk capitol, so after the silk factory we visited the silk embroidery factory. The young women employed here embroider set designs on the silk fabric with silk thread, and then they are stretched to fit screens, large and small. Sue purchased a goldfish, and I bought the Panda. They each have the factory seal stamped on them, which is supposed to give it some sense of authenticity. There was no bargaining at either shop, which is a much more comfortable way for me to shop, but not as much fun, of course.

We then returned to Shanghai after lunch to fly to Beijing. We had been told in our documents that there would be an additional fee we had to pay at the airport. That was never asked for. Neither was there a fee asked for when we left China. It was either this flight or some other, where I was given a ticket with a name other than mine to hand in to the boarding clerk at China Airways. Hmmmm....What would have happened if the airplane had gone down? We were served a meal on the plane. Since we don't eat mystery meat, we relished the hard roll, and a cereal bar from the stash we brought along. At the beginning of the flight the flight attendants lined up, and each was introduced. While at the end of the flight over the loudspeaker came strains of "Auld Lang Syne". This happened on each flight and was a little surprising, but a nice touch.

Once in Beijing, in yet another modern airport, we met our local guide, a young girl Tracy. I think Miss Pons was our guide in Suzuoh. This is in addition to the reliable Cheng who guides us through airports etc. We found our bus, after claiming our luggage, and were driven to a truly first class hotel, The Palace in Beijing. I thought from the descriptions it would be just across the street from Tiananmen Square, but not quite. It is located downtown in a very busy and interesting area of the city. Loads of signs promoting the cities designation as Beijing...2008 - Candidate City, and the Olympics logo. And speaking of the Olympics....about four blocks away from the Palace Hotel we came across a wonderful outdoor exhibit of Olympics sculpture. They have closed off a few streets for this exhibition, and it was wonderful. I assume all of the artists were Chinese, but if we hadn't just come across it, we would have missed a great show. It never was mentioned, though we told our group of fellow travelers.

The first evening we were in Beijing we took advantage of an evening off, and ate with Kate and Joe, two soul mates on our voyage, at the Palace Hotel's wonderful coffee shop. Guess what I ordered, a hamburger, and it tasted wonderful! With splendid french fries, of course.

I think this is where we discovered how inexpensive many of the salon treatments were in a first class hotel. While Sue had a massage in one room for about $25 I had a shampoo and blow dry for $12 in the salon. Now that was an experience!! As I sat upright in the chair the stylist poured some shampoo into her hands, and proceeded to work it into my dry hair, and into a thick lather. All this with no water. She repeated this procedure three times, and then when it was good and foamy began to massage my head, neck, and shoulders. It was delicious! After about 15 minutes she did lead me to the shampoo bowl, which was another treat. None of this sitting down, and leaning my head back. The shampoo bowl seemed to be a part of a reclining chair, so my legs were elevated, and all of the shampoo was completely rinsed off, followed of course by more gentle massaging of the scalp. Then a traditional set, and I was ready to face Tianeman Square tomorrow.

Tianeman Square is the largest Square in the world, and was quite crowded with tourists from all countries it seemed, and many Chinese sightseers also. Our guides, Tracy and Cheng were determined that we should not miss a thing, and we didn't miss anything, except the tomb of Mao Tse Tung. There was a long line, and we had to pass it by. Sue was disappointed since she had seen Lenin's Tomb when she was in Moscow almost 20 years ago. In fact in Russia the American students were placed in the front of the long line of people waiting to get in.

It was 95 degrees that day with matching humidity, and believe me we were all wilting. I think this was actually around May 27th, and Beijing is North of Shanghai. For anyone who is going now pack clothes for warm weather, but also pack a sweater or wrap for the bus. After lunch in the top of a revolving restaurant we were back on the bus to see even more of the Summer Palaces, the Temple of Heaven etc. There was no problem taking photos, and no demonstrators. Lots of tourists from many countries, and many Chinese families out for a stroll.

Throughout the trip vendors approached us selling packs of postcards of wherever we were. Since we didn't have an opportunity to look through the cards, and would rather buy cards individually, we always passed them up. Big mistake!! It seems that once you have passed the sight .... other wondrous sights want to sell you their views, and so you lose out on all cards. I was certainly sure that we could pick up any cards we wanted at our last stop, Hong Kong. Wrong again!! They didn't have anything but Hong Kong cards. So, a word to the wise. And if you don't want to deal with a vendor you can buy them at most, if not all the hotels, but in packs.

The next day was a big one. We were finally traveling to the Great Wall of China. I think it was before we reached the Great Wall that we visited the Ming Tombs. It was still 95 degrees or so outside, and as our bus parked in the parking lot I could see it was going to be quite a long walk through a lovely park area filled with statues of animals. When we reached the Ming Tombs we were led down many flights of stairs. Of course all I could think of was, "if it is a long way down....it is going to be a long way up"!! And so it was. No photos allowed there, and since there was little to see that was no big deal to me. Just some big black boxes that they called the Ming Tombs, and as I remember none of the emperors of that dynasty were buried there any longer anyway so we really considered that a waste of time.

When we finally reached the Great Wall we were ready. It was BIG, meaning mostly long in all directions. I had no trouble climbing to the first promenade, and waited there while Sue's new friends, Joanna and Julie from Hawaii climbed and walked for almost an hour. Meanwhile I enjoyed people watching. Especially the young Chinese women in high heels with no backs. I guess the operative word there is YOUNG. There were no broken legs that I could see, or turned ankles so I decided that they knew what they were doing. After we had climbed the Great Wall we payed our respects to the vendors. It is sort of like a large flea market, and you are expected to bargain here. We saw sweatshirts with "I Climbed the Great Wall of China", tee shirts with the same saying, and hats also. When Sue and I teemed up with some others from our small group we got a price for each item. The baseball caps were 75 cents each, the tee shirts $2 each, and the sweatshirts $4 each. I had been warned ahead of time that these things do shrink so while Sue and I are usually a small or a medium we bought extra large. And where we did not I was sorry. Especially with tee shirts. I especially liked the ones that said...."People's Republic of Bicycles", and showed an outline of the country filled with bicycles.

Instead of going directly back to the hotel Sue and I along with our two new young sisters visited the Silk Alley. It wasn't too far from the hotel, but after such a hectic day too far to walk. Silk Alley was fun. Again loads of vendors. I bargained for a small silk purse, and bought it for $5. It will be an evening purse for me. Then we walked over to the Friendship store which is more like a regular department shop. More expensive, but worth it to me. I was tired of haggling, and wanted to try on a Chinese silk embroidered jacket in peace, without a persistent polite salesperson helping me. I ended up with a great looking black and gold embroidered jacket, and Sue bought the same jacket in red and gold. We taxied back to the hotel, and got ready for the big evening out.

That evening was the much anticipated Peking Duck dinner. There were two cooks preparing the ducks for us at our table. I had never had Peking Duck before, and it was fine. Tasted like "chicken". This was a very nice restaurant, and filled of course with tourists.

It is now Monday, and one week after we have left San Francisco for our adventure in China. We are off to visit the hutongs of Old Beijing. Pacific Bestours has arranged for us to ride in hooded Pedicabs, traditional three wheel taxis through the courtyard homes on streets that are virtually unpaved. We stopped at one home for an arranged home visit. The lady of the house was very gracious, and much to our surprise we sat in the living room along with her 36 inch Sony television, and small, by our standards glass fronted refrigerator. She told us in Chinese how much she enjoyed living in a courtyard with friendly neighbors, and kindly served us warm tea. It was interesting being in a neighborhood rather than another temple or palace.

That afternoon we flew to Xian, home of the Terra cotta warriors. As we landed, and found our local guide and bus we noticed how brown the city was. The air that is.....More later. Cough, cough!!

As soon as we boarded the bus to take us from the airport to the Shangri La Golden Flower hotel the guide, Paul, began to apologize for the pollution and dust in his city. He said it was due to the fact that people and businesses in the city still burned coal to provide energy. It looked foggy outside, but it really wasn't fog it was pollution. Sue, who lives in Los Angeles, and said she had never seen that city, known for being polluted, as smoggy and brown as this city was. But we were here on a mission. We were going to see the Terra Cotta Warriors.

The story of the warriors is that Emperor Qing, pronounced Ching, was the first feudal emperor of unified China, and he wanted to be buried along with his army of soldiers and their horses and carriages etc., for safety in the afterlife.

In March of 1974 three local farmers were digging a well in the area, and came upon some broken pieces of pottery figures without knowing what they were. No one could guess at that time what an artistic treasurehouse lay beneath them. To protect this historic relic the Terra-cotta Army Museum was founded in 1979, and today it is a very huge modern museum with many buildings consisting of the Pits 1, 2, 3, and 4 still being worked upon by archeologists. This is all located in the Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang. The site has so far yielded over 8,000 Terra-cotta warriors and horses, each a unique, finely detailed sculputure.

That morning after breakfast we were picked up by our city guide Paul and our bus driver, and driven first to the Provincial Museum. There we learned all about pottery and bronzes, piece by piece by piece. After two or three cases of this we had really had enough, but it went on for another half hour I am sure. After lunch we were finally driven to the site of the terra cotta warrior museum, and allowed to visit the buildings in order on our own. These modern buildings that the warriors and horses are stored in look as big as football fields, and though there are signs restricting photography the guards didn't stop anyone from taking pictures. You walk around above the area, but can see them quite clearly. And they are amazing. After we had examined the soldiers and the horses etc. we were shown where the official souvenirs of that area were displayed. I bought my husband a figure of a general in the army, distinguished by his hair style and his uniform, around 6 inches high, nicely detailed, for under $10. They have them from tiny figures to life sized figures all over outside the official gift shop.

We also got to meet one of the farmers who found the site in 1974. He was a little old Chinese man who comes to the museum daily to sign the official guide book. Most people did have him sign the book, and left some yuan in his cup. There was an enlarged photograph above where he was sitting showing him with President Clinton some years ago.

After we had finished with the museum gift shop we were warned by Cheng to be very careful going back to the bus. The vendors at this site are very "in your face" and persistent. She warned us to hold our pocketbooks close to us, and just keep walking. The vendors were really so bad that her warnings were appreciated. They were offering a complete set of soldiers and a horse in a box for $1. Some of our people wanted to get one, but no one would stop. All we heard was "one dollar, one dollar" over and over again. When we were safely in the bus, Cheng took $3 from 3 couples and left the bus to go out and deal with them herself. Obviously she was in a much better position to get what we wanted. The one dollar set was very cheap looking, but what can you buy for $1 these days.

That evening we were picked up around 6 PM, and taken to the Tang Dynasty Theater. It is a very beautiful stage show with lovely costumes and a wonderful all girl orchestra playing old Chinese stringed instruments. All around us people were having regular Chinese dinners. Our treat was to come later in the evening. We had very good seats for the show at one of the long tables near the stage. After the show was over they led us upstairs to a special dining room for a special dinner. This was the Dumpling Dinner!! That meal I really liked a lot, even though most of the dumplings were filled with pork. After overeating, me, not Sue, we were taken back to the hotel, and had to get our luggage organized once again, put outside our door before we went to sleep, and left yet another wake up call for 6 AM. Tomorrow we fly off to Guilin, and the wonderous Reed Flute Cave.

We flew South to the green hills of Guilin, and checked into the ever present Sheraton Hotel. The Sheraton has a big presence in China, and one can be found in most major cities. They seem a little fancier in China than in the United States. All Chinese personnel at the front desks speak fluent English to deal with the American tourists.

Each hotel we stayed at during this trip had a Business Center where we usually had no trouble getting through on the Internet to hear the latest from George or Ken, and replied in kind. Around $5 or so an hour. Our correspondents were very funny, and Sue was also very humorous. So much to my surprise when I returned home I found that George had printed each message out, and placed them in a red folder. I think I mentioned before that it has always been against George's religion to touch my Mac computer. Absolutely no interest. However when I pointed out to him that if he just learned to read and send E Mail it would be a lot cheaper than me calling him nightly from China he agreed to try and learn how to turn on the computer etc. I think he has been a secret computer user all along because he learned very fast.

Most of the hotels we stayed in had free safes in our room which I used to place my money and traveler's checks. Of course I then had to remember to remove these important items before we left the hotel for good. I am happy to report that I didn't foul that up.

When we arrived in Guilin after touring the city we were taken to visit the Reed Flute Cave. This is an enormous cave with many stalagmites and stalactites that seem to represent figures or faces or things. The uneven flooring is very slippery, but here everyone seemed to be wearing appropriate footwear. There were colored lights shining in different places to add to the beauty of the cave. We came to one area that was ballroom size, and very attractive. Our guide pointed out to us that Bill Gates of Microsoft had rented that area to entertain almost 100 people at a formal catered banquet. Talk about wanting to make an impression on your guests!! I'd say he succeeded. It is called the Reed Flute Cave, because many of the stalagmites resembles flutes packed closely together, and they add to that impression with music playing.

We completed that day with a dinner, specially prepared for us at the hotel, of western cuisine, and that was followed by a trip by bus to an entertaining cultural performance.

The next day was the much anticipated full day Li River Cruise. We were seated in the air conditioned Chinese cruise boat at tables for six, so our group had to be split up. Sue and I sat with the sisters Joanna and Julie, and our other buddies Kate and Joe. The air conditioning was very welcome as it was another one of those 95 degree days. As we left the bus we were handed a welcome box lunch prepared by the Sheraton Hotel. We had read earlier in the discussion boards about this particular cruise that it was wonderful except for two things, the lunch prepared by the crew, and the condition of the squat toilets. Well, by giving us the lunch box at least we knew we wouldn't have to face one of the problems. The box lunch was great. A great big bottle of water, an orange and an a banana, and a ham and cheese sandwich. Plus a small can of Pringles. When we saw the lunch others were served we knew we were lucky. And believe it or not they came around offering anybody who would partake a glass of snake wine. It was a good sized round bottle with about 3 snakes still in the bottle. There were no takers from our group.

The area we cruised of the Li River was very beautiful surrounded by lovely mountains and much natural beauty in the area. We saw many other cruise ships like ours cruising the River with tourists, and some farmers working the land in quaint country villages. I didn't spend too much time on the top deck, because the sun was so hot, but the scenery was definitely lovely, and the Li River was very clean.

That night we decided on another cafe dinner in the hotel, and again I had a delicious hamburger with french fries. That was to give me the strength to make it up to our room, and fall into bed. Sue was, and is, an angel, and took it upon herself to get us all packed up, bag placed outside our room for our short flight the next morning to the city of Guangzhou, the famous old seaport of Canton.

After our flight to Guangzhou we were met with another guide, and he led us to the bus that would take us around Guangzhou. We were given an overview of the city's elegant temples where we saw many Chinese people with their children as this was Children's Day in China. Sue and I took this opportunity to pass out many more of our 100 Tootsie Pops. We had lunch in a very nice restaurant set in a beautiful park on a lake. Since it was our last meal with our guide Cheng along we insisted she eat with us. It is our understanding that she could not accompany us to Hong Kong, but I do not know why. Cheng was a wonderful guide throughout our entire trip, and was especially helpful to me aiding me on and off the bus. After lunch we stopped at yet another factory store, and then on to the hydrofoil to sail from the Pearl River Delta to nearby Hong Kong. Now rejoined with China, this former British colony remains as vibrant and forward looking as ever.

We said goodbye to Cheng with many thanks, and hugs, wished her well, and told her that we hoped that her city, Beijing was lucky enough to be the host city for the 2008 Olympics, and off we were on the hydrofoil to Hong Kong. We were all in a large area waiting to board, and we noticed a sign that had us all laughing. Along with a sign that said no photographs was another sign "Please do not make a hubbub!!" We really loved that one.

We had thought that the Hydrofoil would be like a Hovercraft, but I think this one was quite a bit slower. When we reached Hong Kong our guide Steven was there to greet us, show us to our bus, and as we sped along told us all about wondrous Hong Kong. He deposited us at a fabulous hotel called the Mandarin Oriental. This one was even lovelier than the Palace Hotel in Beijing located right on the Hong Kong harbor. Of course our room didn't face the harbour, but overlooked a lovely park and a spectacular skyscraper designed by famed architect I. M. Pei. I later found out that it was the Bank of China, and that his father was the first Hong Kong manager of the bank. The guest rooms at the Mandarin Oriental were furnished with meticulous attention to detail to create an atmosphere of quiet elegance and comfort. The toiletries in the bathroom of this hotel were all by Hermes, which certainly did impress me. But it was the grand service, and warmth and helpfulness of the concierge that was the best. Most rooms have balconies, a unique feature in Hong Kong. Breakfast was included, as elsewhere, but was much more elegant.

At dinner that evening with our friends Kate and Joe we suddenly remembered that we had left one small bag on the carousel of the Hydrofoil terminal in Hong Kong. Both Sue and I had forgotten we checked it. She went dashing out to the concierge, and when she came back she said that he said he could help. About 10 minutes later he appeared in the dining room, got Sue's attention, and had our new tour guide on the telephone so Sue could make arrangements with him for us to pick up the bag tomorrow morning before our tour started at 8 AM. To make a long story a little shorter we did retrieve the bag the next morning, and after an inspection by a customs official we were on our way with bag in tow back to the Mandarin Oriental. Whew!! The bag was locked and clearly tagged, but I wondered if the outcome would have been this pleasant in Los Angeles or Philadelphia our home airports. I'd like to think so.

This day, our first one in Hong Kong was a grey overcast day, and not a perfect day to go sightseeing, but it was our only tour in Hong Kong, and only for half a day so we went along. We traveled to the top of Victoria's Peak to see the lovely panorama of the city, but it was fogged in. The guide also took us to the Stanley Market which is very well known for bargains. I bought a lovely fringed silk scarf there while shopping with Julie, one of Sue's buddies, and Sue bought some great jade chopsticks complete with place holders.
We drove through some very nice areas, and then went for a ride on a sanpan boat in the harbor. The fee was was $10 American money, and worth it. The fog had cleared away, and we had an opportunity to see much of the harbor with all the ships and the large floating restaurant, aptly named Jumbo.

When we arrived back at the hotel we visited the attractive work out facility and swimming pool. I hate to admit this, but Sue and I had each brought bathing suits, and workout gear, but never once used either. This facility, along with the other parts of the hotel was very impressive. Each treadmill had it's own 14 inch television screen and earphones directly in front of it. Not exactly like where I work out at home daily.

That evening Kate and Joe took us out to dinner at a wonderful restaurant near the hotel. It is called Jimmy's Kitchen, and I would highly recommend it. I had some kind of vegetarian noodle pudding, and pronounced it the best meal I had in China. The wine flowed, as well as good conversation. A perfect evening with old friends we had just met on this trip.

We started out in Shanghai with a party of eight, all of whom came over on the same flight we did. There were Ruth and Norman, who were seated directly in front of us on the airplane, Sue and me, Kate and Joe, who were seated further back in business class, on this flight, and Jane and Fred, who were in coach. We all met at the airport along with our Shanghai guide. The next morning we met Cheng, who would accompany us from then on until Hong Kong. She told us that there were two sisters who would join us in Beijing, and I know that Sue was happy to see them. Joanna, who had recently graduated from medical school, and her sister Julie. Both much closer in age to Sue than the others in our party. We could not have asked for a more congenial group of people. I was the only one from the East Coast, Sue was the only one from the West Coast, the sisters were from Hawaii, and the rest lived in the Midwest. No pests, no pains, everybody was pleasant to everybody, and in that respect Cheng had an easy job. No passports or bags were ever lost. We didn't have any overweight luggage, and nobody got seriously ill. A few upset stomachs that some pills seemed to help. Sue ended up with quite a persistent cough that is just easing up now, that she blames on the pollution of Xian.

The next day, Sunday, June 3, 2001 was the first day we didn't ask for a wake up call. We slept in until 7:30 which was a big treat, and had a whole day to ourselves. Had a great breakfast, and then noticed the multitudes of Filipino young women around the hotel. Many of them were singing where the streets were blocked off having some kind of religious service. We had heard of this before so we were not surprised. They work as servants in many wealthy homes, and on their day off, Sunday, congregate in the park and streets near the Mandarin Oriental hotel to meet with their friends and fellow countrymen for the entire day.

We found our way to the Star Ferry and took it over to Kowloon and Nathan Road, the shopping street. Sue and I both bought some clothes, and a few gifts, without bargaining. I think we were all bargained out by that time. It was very sunny and hot, and we were holding out for afternoon tea at the Peninsula Hotel, very plush around 3 PM. Around 1:30 I was beginning to wilt when I spied a MacDonalds golden arches, and talked Sue into going inside just for a cold, no ice please, diet coke. A little after 3 PM we reached the Peninsula Hotel, and asked to be seated for afternoon tea. Much to our surprise Sue, who was conservatively dressed, but was wearing sandals, was told firmly, by politely, that she couldn't be seated while wearing sandals. Sue with great aplomb told the head waiter that that would be no problem. She asked that I be seated while she changed shoes. I doubt that they believed her, but sure enough a little later after a visit to the ladies room she arrived at the tea room with lovely high heels she had in her bag to try on with something she might wish to buy. The head waiter and the manager checked her out to make sure she passed inspection, and after a short while we were served a delicious afternoon tea. Finger sandwiches, scones with clotted cream and jam, tiny dessert tarts, and a very attractive fresh fruit dessert, along with afternoon tea.

As we made our way back to the Star Ferry we noticed many more Filipino young women, and also a slew of brides. The Marriage Bureau is located right there, and everyone was having their photo taken at that spot.

Onto the Star Ferry again. What a great deal!! Seniors ride free. Seniors just move past the turnstile without anyone challenging them, or at least they didn't challenge me. Full of good food Sue organized the packing for the early morning departure from Hong Kong to Tokyo for a two hour layover, and on to Los Angeles. Since we were leaving the hotel around 6 AM we asked for room service at 5:30 AM, and was told that that would be no problem.

That evening I turned in early while Sue, Joanna and Julie went out on the town. They took the ferry back to Kowloon, and to one of the great hotels where they had a drink from the top of hotel bar, and said their goodbyes.

We left that morning on time with a big bus to take us to Hong Kong airport, about an hour away.

It was a great trip, and I am certainly glad I took it with Sue, who was Ms. Patience herself, and was so helpful with packing, and organizing everything. We enjoyed seeing what we did of China very much, and that is a country that has much to be proud of. They are building everywhere, using bamboo scaffolding on the tallest buildings. We are so used to seeing steel scaffolding that seeing the bamboo was a big surprise.

My thanks to George for making this trip possible, and to Sue for making it such fun.

Sue made this for me, and sent it to me right before our trip.

It is the Chinese character for Happiness!

Sue and Fran's Excellent Adventure in China

On May 21st of this year my daughter Sue and I left on United Airlines flight # 857from San Francisco for our 15 day tour of China. It was a tour arranged through United Vacations by Pacific Bestours. The tour included International airfare, all domestic airfares within China, deluxe accomadations, 13 breakfasts, 10 lunches and 4 dinners or Special Dinners, 5 gala events, Shanghai Museum, Great Wall of China, and Ming tombs, a Pedicab tour of Old Beijing City, and sightseeing in Hong Kong.

First let me tell you about the flight. From the West Coast it is a very long flight, and George, my husband and Sue's father had thoughtfully used a bunch of miles to upgrade us to Business Class. And what a blessing that turned out to be!! The seats reclined almost all the way, and we were provided with a lovely packet of amenities such as slippers, eyeshades, toothbrush and paste, ear plugs etc. We had loads of room to stretch out, plus a roomy container next to the window seats for carry on cases and purses. In addition we each had a small television set that we could set up with a choice of about 4 movies and other features.

We arrived a little earlier than our scheduled time of 6 PM the next day at PU Dong airport in Shanghai. Extremely modern two year old facility. No problem going through customs, and a Pacific Bestours guide was right there to pick us up. There were 8 of us on the plane, and we were told the next morning that two more young women would be joining us in Beijing.

On the way in from the airport James, our city guide pointed out all of the modern buildings, and told us lots about the importance of Shanghai to the economy of the country.

We were supposed to be staying at the JC Manderin, a very outstanding hotel, but when we received our tour documents we found we were staying at the Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn. A definite disappointment since it was not a deluxe hotel in my opinion, but was certainly very nice. Instead of being located in a downtown section of Shanghai we were located in a neighborhood with a school, two small grocery stores, which we enjoyed exploring in the early morning, and a convention center with a display of a bright pink Mary Kay car, and many older men and women performing their Tai Chi exercises in the early morning.

The tour included a Western style buffet breakfast daily where there was plenty to eat if you had the time to eat it. Each day, until we reached Hong Kong we asked for a wake up call at 6 AM in order to be ready to tour at 8 AM. A few mornings Sue and I opted for a walk outside around the hotel area instead of, or after, breakfast.

We went to bed that first night around 9 PM after checking out the shops in the hotel. Slept until 2 AM, and then until 4 AM. After that we were up for the day.

I had shown George how to use my computer so that we could exchange email, and that turned out to be a very enjoyable exercise for him and for us. Sue had taken her laptop computer from the office, but it turned out that it was easier to use the Business Center at each hotel than to set hers up with all of the converters etc.

The next day we met Cheng, a lovely woman, who was our travel guide for the entire trip. Each different city we went to we had a local guide, but Cheng was with us until Hong Kong. That first day we enjoyed an all day tour of Shanghai including the impressive Shanghai Museum, where we could wander around with an audio wand to see the Jade, the Costumes of the different regions, the furniture down through the ages etc. Very modern and fine museum.

Every day we had both lunch and dinner Chinese style at a large round table with a big lazy susan in the center where the servers continually kept platters coming with mostly pork dishes. They were not the usual Chinese food we were used to, but we enjoyed them.....in the beginning. After a while two Chinese meals a day got to be too much. We could order either beer, water or coke at meals, and often tea was not served. Soup was served toward the end of the meal, and almost always a small slice of watermelon was for dessert.

We also had a great time visiting the Children's Palace, where some talented Chinese children go after school for extracurricular activities such as dancing and music lessons. The children are darling, and many little ones said "Hello, Bye bye, and Thank You" in English after Sue and I passed out Tootsie Pops.

That night we attended a wonderful acrobat show, but had to be packed and ready to leave the hotel early the next morning.

This was obviously not a vacation....this was a tour. And believe me there is a big difference!

The next morning we left by bus early for our discovery of the remarkable city of Zhouzhuang. This is an amazing 900 year old Song Dynasty town that legend has it, Marco Polo called the "Venice of the East". It seems to be a city set in an area of canals, stone bridges, and picturesque gardens. I got the impression that it is kept that way for tourists, and we were walked along so quickly that I can't remember anyone stopping to buy anything from the street vendors who were everywhere. We walked all around the area, visited one of the oldest homes there, and had our lunch in that town. I had decided early on that I would cut back on my supply of bottled water in order be able to pass up the squat toilets, and amazingly was successful. Sue had to use them a few times, and being 30 years younger than I am, they didn't pose such a challenge for her. After lunch they put us on a Chinese boat, and we floated along the Grand Canal for about an hour plus. We passed many other barge type boats with whole families living on them who had their wash out drying. Our next destination was Suzhou, a thriving commercial area where we checked into the Sheraton Suzhou hotel and towers, with stunning traditional Chinese architechture, pagoda shaped reception hall, and beautifully landscaped gardens, with all the modern ammeninities one could ask for. Even though the hotel seems very new the garden area is undergoing some renovation so their were friendly workmen outside our window. First one, and then three when we finally closed the drapes. It doesn't take us long to catch on:-) Our luggage, which had been collected the night before, met us at our destination.

Even though the luggage was often out of our hands, often for hours, no one ever had a problem with things missing. The bus was small, and it would not have been possible to bring it along on the bus. The buses was all air conditioned and comfortable, though not the large coach I would have preferred.

That evening after dinner we visited the Master of the Nets in the downtown area. This is a series of many performances, given in different parts of a large garden. Since it was dark out by now we couldn't see the gardens, and since there were many other groups there we often stood for these short performances, and by the time we were ready to leave I was ready for a good backrub.

The next morning we left early again to tour both a silk factory, where I bought both of my children a silk comforter. They are similar to a down comforter...light weight, and warm in winter while cool in summer. I think they were good buys, and elected to take them with us rather than shipping them home. Suzhou is the silk capitol, so after the silk factory we visited the silk embroidery factory. The young women employed here embroider set designs on the silk fabric with silk thread, and then they are stretched to fit screens, large and small. Sue purchased a goldfish, and I bought the Panda. They each have the factory seal stamped on them, which is supposed to give it some sense of authenticity. There was no bargaining at either shop, which is a much more comfortable way for me to shop, but not as much fun, of course.

We then returned to Shanghai after lunch to fly to Beijing. We had been told in our documents that there would be an additional fee we had to pay at the airport. That was never asked for. Neither was there a fee asked for when we left China. It was either this flight or some other, where I was given a ticket with a name other than mine to hand in to the boarding clerk at China Airways. Hmmmm....What would have happened if the airplane had gone down? We were served a meal on the plane. Since we don't eat mystery meat, we relished the hard roll, and a cereal bar from the stash we brought along. At the beginning of the flight the flight attendants lined up, and each was introduced. While at the end of the flight over the loudspeaker came strains of "Auld Lang Syne". This happened on each flight and was a little surprising, but a nice touch.

Once in Beijing, in yet another modern airport, we met our local guide, a young girl Tracy. I think Miss Pons was our guide in Suzuoh. This is in addition to the reliable Cheng who guides us through airports etc. We found our bus, after claiming our luggage, and were driven to a truly first class hotel, The Palace in Beijing. I thought from the descriptions it would be just across the street from Tiananmen Square, but not quite. It is located downtown in a very busy and interesting area of the city. Loads of signs promoting the cities designation as Beijing...2008 - Candidate City, and the Olympics logo. And speaking of the Olympics....about four blocks away from the Palace Hotel we came across a wonderful outdoor exhibit of Olympics sculpture. They have closed off a few streets for this exhibition, and it was wonderful. I assume all of the artists were Chinese, but if we hadn't just come across it, we would have missed a great show. It never was mentioned, though we told our group of fellow travelers.

The first evening we were in Beijing we took advantage of an evening off, and ate with Kate and Joe, two soul mates on our voyage, at the Palace Hotel's wonderful coffee shop. Guess what I ordered, a hamburger, and it tasted wonderful! With splendid french fries, of course.

I think this is where we discovered how inexpensive many of the salon treatments were in a first class hotel. While Sue had a massage in one room for about $25 I had a shampoo and blow dry for $12 in the salon. Now that was an experience!! As I sat upright in the chair the stylist poured some shampoo into her hands, and proceeded to work it into my dry hair, and into a thick lather. All this with no water. She repeated this procedure three times, and then when it was good and foamy began to massage my head, neck, and shoulders. It was delicious! After about 15 minutes she did lead me to the shampoo bowl, which was another treat. None of this sitting down, and leaning my head back. The shampoo bowl seemed to be a part of a reclining chair, so my legs were elevated, and all of the shampoo was completely rinsed off, followed of course by more gentle massaging of the scalp. Then a traditional set, and I was ready to face Tianeman Square tomorrow.

Tianeman Square is the largest Square in the world, and was quite crowded with tourists from all countries it seemed, and many Chinese sightseers also. Our guides, Tracy and Cheng were determined that we should not miss a thing, and we didn't miss anything, except the tomb of Mao Tse Tung. There was a long line, and we had to pass it by. Sue was disappointed since she had seen Lenin's Tomb when she was in Moscow almost 20 years ago. In fact in Russia the American students were placed in the front of the long line of people waiting to get in.

It was 95 degrees that day with matching humidity, and believe me we were all wilting. I think this was actually around May 27th, and Beijing is North of Shanghai. For anyone who is going now pack clothes for warm weather, but also pack a sweater or wrap for the bus. After lunch in the top of a revolving restaurant we were back on the bus to see even more of the Summer Palaces, the Temple of Heaven etc. There was no problem taking photos, and no demonstrators. Lots of tourists from many countries, and many Chinese families out for a stroll.

Throughout the trip vendors approached us selling packs of postcards of wherever we were. Since we didn't have an opportunity to look through the cards, and would rather buy cards individually, we always passed them up. Big mistake!! It seems that once you have passed the sight .... other wondrous sights want to sell you their views, and so you lose out on all cards. I was certainly sure that we could pick up any cards we wanted at our last stop, Hong Kong. Wrong again!! They didn't have anything but Hong Kong cards. So, a word to the wise. And if you don't want to deal with a vendor you can buy them at most, if not all the hotels, but in packs.

The next day was a big one. We were finally traveling to the Great Wall of China. I think it was before we reached the Great Wall that we visited the Ming Tombs. It was still 95 degrees or so outside, and as our bus parked in the parking lot I could see it was going to be quite a long walk through a lovely park area filled with statues of animals. When we reached the Ming Tombs we were led down many flights of stairs. Of course all I could think of was, "if it is a long way down....it is going to be a long way up"!! And so it was. No photos allowed there, and since there was little to see that was no big deal to me. Just some big black boxes that they called the Ming Tombs, and as I remember none of the emperors of that dynasty were buried there any longer anyway so we really considered that a waste of time.

When we finally reached the Great Wall we were ready. It was BIG, meaning mostly long in all directions. I had no trouble climbing to the first promenade, and waited there while Sue's new friends, Joanna and Julie from Hawaii climbed and walked for almost an hour. Meanwhile I enjoyed people watching. Especially the young Chinese women in high heels with no backs. I guess the operative word there is YOUNG. There were no broken legs that I could see, or turned ankles so I decided that they knew what they were doing. After we had climbed the Great Wall we payed our respects to the vendors. It is sort of like a large flea market, and you are expected to bargain here. We saw sweatshirts with "I Climbed the Great Wall of China", tee shirts with the same saying, and hats also. When Sue and I teemed up with some others from our small group we got a price for each item. The baseball caps were 75 cents each, the tee shirts $2 each, and the sweatshirts $4 each. I had been warned ahead of time that these things do shrink so while Sue and I are usually a small or a medium we bought extra large. And where we did not I was sorry. Especially with tee shirts. I especially liked the ones that said...."People's Republic of Bicycles", and showed an outline of the country filled with bicycles.

Instead of going directly back to the hotel Sue and I along with our two new young sisters visited the Silk Alley. It wasn't too far from the hotel, but after such a hectic day too far to walk. Silk Alley was fun. Again loads of vendors. I bargained for a small silk purse, and bought it for $5. It will be an evening purse for me. Then we walked over to the Friendship store which is more like a regular department shop. More expensive, but worth it to me. I was tired of haggling, and wanted to try on a Chinese silk embroidered jacket in peace, without a persistent polite salesperson helping me. I ended up with a great looking black and gold embroidered jacket, and Sue bought the same jacket in red and gold. We taxied back to the hotel, and got ready for the big evening out.

That evening was the much anticipated Peking Duck dinner. There were two cooks preparing the ducks for us at our table. I had never had Peking Duck before, and it was fine. Tasted like "chicken". This was a very nice restaurant, and filled of course with tourists.

It is now Monday, and one week after we have left San Francisco for our adventure in China. We are off to visit the hutongs of Old Beijing. Pacific Bestours has arranged for us to ride in hooded Pedicabs, traditional three wheel taxis through the courtyard homes on streets that are virtually unpaved. We stopped at one home for an arranged home visit. The lady of the house was very gracious, and much to our surprise we sat in the living room along with her 36 inch Sony television, and small, by our standards glass fronted refrigerator. She told us in Chinese how much she enjoyed living in a courtyard with friendly neighbors, and kindly served us warm tea. It was interesting being in a neighborhood rather than another temple or palace.

That afternoon we flew to Xian, home of the Terra cotta warriors. As we landed, and found our local guide and bus we noticed how brown the city was. The air that is.....More later. Cough, cough!!

As soon as we boarded the bus to take us from the airport to the Shangri La Golden Flower hotel the guide, Paul, began to apologize for the pollution and dust in his city. He said it was due to the fact that people and businesses in the city still burned coal to provide energy. It looked foggy outside, but it really wasn't fog it was pollution. Sue, who lives in Los Angeles, and said she had never seen that city, known for being polluted, as smoggy and brown as this city was. But we were here on a mission. We were going to see the Terra Cotta Warriors.

The story of the warriors is that Emperor Qing, pronounced Ching, was the first feudal emperor of unified China, and he wanted to be buried along with his army of soldiers and their horses and carriages etc., for safety in the afterlife.

In March of 1974 three local farmers were digging a well in the area, and came upon some broken pieces of pottery figures without knowing what they were. No one could guess at that time what an artistic treasurehouse lay beneath them. To protect this historic relic the Terra-cotta Army Museum was founded in 1979, and today it is a very huge modern museum with many buildings consisting of the Pits 1, 2, 3, and 4 still being worked upon by archeologists. This is all located in the Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang. The site has so far yielded over 8,000 Terra-cotta warriors and horses, each a unique, finely detailed sculputure.

That morning after breakfast we were picked up by our city guide Paul and our bus driver, and driven first to the Provincial Museum. There we learned all about pottery and bronzes, piece by piece by piece. After two or three cases of this we had really had enough, but it went on for another half hour I am sure. After lunch we were finally driven to the site of the terra cotta warrior museum, and allowed to visit the buildings in order on our own. These modern buildings that the warriors and horses are stored in look as big as football fields, and though there are signs restricting photography the guards didn't stop anyone from taking pictures. You walk around above the area, but can see them quite clearly. And they are amazing. After we had examined the soldiers and the horses etc. we were shown where the official souvenirs of that area were displayed. I bought my husband a figure of a general in the army, distinguished by his hair style and his uniform, around 6 inches high, nicely detailed, for under $10. They have them from tiny figures to life sized figures all over outside the official gift shop.

We also got to meet one of the farmers who found the site in 1974. He was a little old Chinese man who comes to the museum daily to sign the official guide book. Most people did have him sign the book, and left some yuan in his cup. There was an enlarged photograph above where he was sitting showing him with President Clinton some years ago.

After we had finished with the museum gift shop we were warned by Cheng to be very careful going back to the bus. The vendors at this site are very "in your face" and persistent. She warned us to hold our pocketbooks close to us, and just keep walking. The vendors were really so bad that her warnings were appreciated. They were offering a complete set of soldiers and a horse in a box for $1. Some of our people wanted to get one, but no one would stop. All we heard was "one dollar, one dollar" over and over again. When we were safely in the bus, Cheng took $3 from 3 couples and left the bus to go out and deal with them herself. Obviously she was in a much better position to get what we wanted. The one dollar set was very cheap looking, but what can you buy for $1 these days.

That evening we were picked up around 6 PM, and taken to the Tang Dynasty Theater. It is a very beautiful stage show with lovely costumes and a wonderful all girl orchestra playing old Chinese stringed instruments. All around us people were having regular Chinese dinners. Our treat was to come later in the evening. We had very good seats for the show at one of the long tables near the stage. After the show was over they led us upstairs to a special dining room for a special dinner. This was the Dumpling Dinner!! That meal I really liked a lot, even though most of the dumplings were filled with pork. After overeating, me, not Sue, we were taken back to the hotel, and had to get our luggage organized once again, put outside our door before we went to sleep, and left yet another wake up call for 6 AM. Tomorrow we fly off to Guilin, and the wonderous Reed Flute Cave.

We flew South to the green hills of Guilin, and checked into the ever present Sheraton Hotel. The Sheraton has a big presence in China, and one can be found in most major cities. They seem a little fancier in China than in the United States. All Chinese personnel at the front desks speak fluent English to deal with the American tourists.

Each hotel we stayed at during this trip had a Business Center where we usually had no trouble getting through on the Internet to hear the latest from George or Ken, and replied in kind. Around $5 or so an hour. Our correspondents were very funny, and Sue was also very humorous. So much to my surprise when I returned home I found that George had printed each message out, and placed them in a red folder. I think I mentioned before that it has always been against George's religion to touch my Mac computer. Absolutely no interest. However when I pointed out to him that if he just learned to read and send E Mail it would be a lot cheaper than me calling him nightly from China he agreed to try and learn how to turn on the computer etc. I think he has been a secret computer user all along because he learned very fast.

Most of the hotels we stayed in had free safes in our room which I used to place my money and traveler's checks. Of course I then had to remember to remove these important items before we left the hotel for good. I am happy to report that I didn't foul that up.

When we arrived in Guilin after touring the city we were taken to visit the Reed Flute Cave. This is an enormous cave with many stalagmites and stalactites that seem to represent figures or faces or things. The uneven flooring is very slippery, but here everyone seemed to be wearing appropriate footwear. There were colored lights shining in different places to add to the beauty of the cave. We came to one area that was ballroom size, and very attractive. Our guide pointed out to us that Bill Gates of Microsoft had rented that area to entertain almost 100 people at a formal catered banquet. Talk about wanting to make an impression on your guests!! I'd say he succeeded. It is called the Reed Flute Cave, because many of the stalagmites resembles flutes packed closely together, and they add to that impression with music playing.

We completed that day with a dinner, specially prepared for us at the hotel, of western cuisine, and that was followed by a trip by bus to an entertaining cultural performance.

The next day was the much anticipated full day Li River Cruise. We were seated in the air conditioned Chinese cruise boat at tables for six, so our group had to be split up. Sue and I sat with the sisters Joanna and Julie, and our other buddies Kate and Joe. The air conditioning was very welcome as it was another one of those 95 degree days. As we left the bus we were handed a welcome box lunch prepared by the Sheraton Hotel. We had read earlier in the discussion boards about this particular cruise that it was wonderful except for two things, the lunch prepared by the crew, and the condition of the squat toilets. Well, by giving us the lunch box at least we knew we wouldn't have to face one of the problems. The box lunch was great. A great big bottle of water, an orange and an a banana, and a ham and cheese sandwich. Plus a small can of Pringles. When we saw the lunch others were served we knew we were lucky. And believe it or not they came around offering anybody who would partake a glass of snake wine. It was a good sized round bottle with about 3 snakes still in the bottle. There were no takers from our group.

The area we cruised of the Li River was very beautiful surrounded by lovely mountains and much natural beauty in the area. We saw many other cruise ships like ours cruising the River with tourists, and some farmers working the land in quaint country villages. I didn't spend too much time on the top deck, because the sun was so hot, but the scenery was definitely lovely, and the Li River was very clean.

That night we decided on another cafe dinner in the hotel, and again I had a delicious hamburger with french fries. That was to give me the strength to make it up to our room, and fall into bed. Sue was, and is, an angel, and took it upon herself to get us all packed up, bag placed outside our room for our short flight the next morning to the city of Guangzhou, the famous old seaport of Canton.

After our flight to Guangzhou we were met with another guide, and he led us to the bus that would take us around Guangzhou. We were given an overview of the city's elegant temples where we saw many Chinese people with their children as this was Children's Day in China. Sue and I took this opportunity to pass out many more of our 100 Tootsie Pops. We had lunch in a very nice restaurant set in a beautiful park on a lake. Since it was our last meal with our guide Cheng along we insisted she eat with us. It is our understanding that she could not accompany us to Hong Kong, but I do not know why. Cheng was a wonderful guide throughout our entire trip, and was especially helpful to me aiding me on and off the bus. After lunch we stopped at yet another factory store, and then on to the hydrofoil to sail from the Pearl River Delta to nearby Hong Kong. Now rejoined with China, this former British colony remains as vibrant and forward looking as ever.

We said goodbye to Cheng with many thanks, and hugs, wished her well, and told her that we hoped that her city, Beijing was lucky enough to be the host city for the 2008 Olympics, and off we were on the hydrofoil to Hong Kong. We were all in a large area waiting to board, and we noticed a sign that had us all laughing. Along with a sign that said no photographs was another sign "Please do not make a hubbub!!" We really loved that one.

We had thought that the Hydrofoil would be like a Hovercraft, but I think this one was quite a bit slower. When we reached Hong Kong our guide Steven was there to greet us, show us to our bus, and as we sped along told us all about wondrous Hong Kong. He deposited us at a fabulous hotel called the Mandarin Oriental. This one was even lovelier than the Palace Hotel in Beijing located right on the Hong Kong harbor. Of course our room didn't face the harbour, but overlooked a lovely park and a spectacular skyscraper designed by famed architect I. M. Pei. I later found out that it was the Bank of China, and that his father was the first Hong Kong manager of the bank. The guest rooms at the Mandarin Oriental were furnished with meticulous attention to detail to create an atmosphere of quiet elegance and comfort. The toiletries in the bathroom of this hotel were all by Hermes, which certainly did impress me. But it was the grand service, and warmth and helpfulness of the concierge that was the best. Most rooms have balconies, a unique feature in Hong Kong. Breakfast was included, as elsewhere, but was much more elegant.

At dinner that evening with our friends Kate and Joe we suddenly remembered that we had left one small bag on the carousel of the Hydrofoil terminal in Hong Kong. Both Sue and I had forgotten we checked it. She went dashing out to the concierge, and when she came back she said that he said he could help. About 10 minutes later he appeared in the dining room, got Sue's attention, and had our new tour guide on the telephone so Sue could make arrangements with him for us to pick up the bag tomorrow morning before our tour started at 8 AM. To make a long story a little shorter we did retrieve the bag the next morning, and after an inspection by a customs official we were on our way with bag in tow back to the Mandarin Oriental. Whew!! The bag was locked and clearly tagged, but I wondered if the outcome would have been this pleasant in Los Angeles or Philadelphia our home airports. I'd like to think so.

This day, our first one in Hong Kong was a grey overcast day, and not a perfect day to go sightseeing, but it was our only tour in Hong Kong, and only for half a day so we went along. We traveled to the top of Victoria's Peak to see the lovely panorama of the city, but it was fogged in. The guide also took us to the Stanley Market which is very well known for bargains. I bought a lovely fringed silk scarf there while shopping with Julie, one of Sue's buddies, and Sue bought some great jade chopsticks complete with place holders.
We drove through some very nice areas, and then went for a ride on a sanpan boat in the harbor. The fee was was $10 American money, and worth it. The fog had cleared away, and we had an opportunity to see much of the harbor with all the ships and the large floating restaurant, aptly named Jumbo.

When we arrived back at the hotel we visited the attractive work out facility and swimming pool. I hate to admit this, but Sue and I had each brought bathing suits, and workout gear, but never once used either. This facility, along with the other parts of the hotel was very impressive. Each treadmill had it's own 14 inch television screen and earphones directly in front of it. Not exactly like where I work out at home daily.

That evening Kate and Joe took us out to dinner at a wonderful restaurant near the hotel. It is called Jimmy's Kitchen, and I would highly recommend it. I had some kind of vegetarian noodle pudding, and pronounced it the best meal I had in China. The wine flowed, as well as good conversation. A perfect evening with old friends we had just met on this trip.

We started out in Shanghai with a party of eight, all of whom came over on the same flight we did. There were Ruth and Norman, who were seated directly in front of us on the airplane, Sue and me, Kate and Joe, who were seated further back in business class, on this flight, and Jane and Fred, who were in coach. We all met at the airport along with our Shanghai guide. The next morning we met Cheng, who would accompany us from then on until Hong Kong. She told us that there were two sisters who would join us in Beijing, and I know that Sue was happy to see them. Joanna, who had recently graduated from medical school, and her sister Julie. Both much closer in age to Sue than the others in our party.

We could not have asked for a more congenial group of people. I was the only one from the East Coast, Sue was the only one from the West Coast, the sisters were from Hawaii, and the rest lived in the Midwest. No pests, no pains, everybody was pleasant to everybody, and in that respect Cheng had an easy job. No passports or bags were ever lost. We didn't have any overweight luggage, and nobody got seriously ill. A few upset stomachs that some pills seemed to help. Sue ended up with quite a persistent cough that is just easing up now, that she blames on the pollution of Xian.

The next day, Sunday, June 3, 2001 was the first day we didn't ask for a wake up call. We slept in until 7:30 which was a big treat, and had a whole day to ourselves. Had a great breakfast, and then noticed the multitudes of Filipino young women around the hotel. Many of them were singing where the streets were blocked off having some kind of religious service. We had heard of this before so we were not surprised. They work as servants in many wealthy homes, and on their day off, Sunday, congregate in the park and streets near the Mandarin Oriental hotel to meet with their friends and fellow countrymen for the entire day.

We found our way to the Star Ferry and took it over to Kowloon and Nathan Road, the shopping street. Sue and I both bought some clothes, and a few gifts, without bargaining. I think we were all bargained out by that time. It was very sunny and hot, and we were holding out for afternoon tea at the Peninsula Hotel, very plush around 3 PM. Around 1:30 I was beginning to wilt when I spied a MacDonalds golden arches, and talked Sue into going inside just for a cold, no ice please, diet coke. A little after 3 PM we reached the Peninsula Hotel, and asked to be seated for afternoon tea. Much to our surprise Sue, who was conservatively dressed, but was wearing sandals, was told firmly, by politely, that she couldn't be seated while wearing sandals. Sue with great aplomb told the head waiter that that would be no problem. She asked that I be seated while she changed shoes. I doubt that they believed her, but sure enough a little later after a visit to the ladies room she arrived at the tea room with lovely high heels she had in her bag to try on with something she might wish to buy. The head waiter and the manager checked her out to make sure she passed inspection, and after a short while we were served a delicious afternoon tea. Finger sandwiches, scones with clotted cream and jam, tiny dessert tarts, and a very attractive fresh fruit dessert, along with afternoon tea.

As we made our way back to the Star Ferry we noticed many more Filipino young women, and also a slew of brides. The Marriage Bureau is located right there, and everyone was having their photo taken at that spot.

Onto the Star Ferry again. What a great deal!! Seniors ride free. Seniors just move past the turnstile without anyone challenging them, or at least they didn't challenge me. Full of good food Sue organized the packing for the early morning departure from Hong Kong to Tokyo for a two hour layover, and on to Los Angeles. Since we were leaving the hotel around 6 AM we asked for room service at 5:30 AM, and was told that that would be no problem.

That evening I turned in early while Sue, Joanna and Julie went out on the town. They took the ferry back to Kowloon, and to one of the great hotels where they had a drink from the top of hotel bar, and said their goodbyes.

We left that morning on time with a big bus to take us to Hong Kong airport, about an hour away.

It was a great trip, and I am certainly glad I took it with Sue, who was Ms. Patience herself, and was so helpful with packing, and organizing everything. We enjoyed seeing what we did of China very much, and that is a country that has much to be proud of. They are building everywhere, using bamboo scaffolding on the tallest buildings. We are so used to seeing steel scaffolding that seeing the bamboo was a big surprise.

My thanks to George for making this trip possible, and to Sue for making it such fun.

Sue made this for me before we left. It is the Chinese word for Happiness!

Sue and Fran's Excellent Adventure in China

On May 21st of this year my daughter Sue and I left on United Airlines flight # 857from San Francisco for our 15 day tour of China. It was a tour arranged through United Vacations by Pacific Bestours. The tour included International airfare, all domestic airfares within China, deluxe accomadations, 13 breakfasts, 10 lunches and 4 dinners or Special Dinners, 5 gala events, Shanghai Museum, Great Wall of China, and Ming tombs, a Pedicab tour of Old Beijing City, and sightseeing in Hong Kong.

First let me tell you about the flight. From the West Coast it is a very long flight, and George, my husband and Sue's father had thoughtfully used a bunch of miles to upgrade us to Business Class. And what a blessing that turned out to be!! The seats reclined almost all the way, and we were provided with a lovely packet of amenities such as slippers, eyeshades, toothbrush and paste, ear plugs etc. We had loads of room to stretch out, plus a roomy container next to the window seats for carry on cases and purses. In addition we each had a small television set that we could set up with a choice of about 4 movies and other features.

We arrived a little earlier than our scheduled time of 6 PM the next day at PU Dong airport in Shanghai. Extremely modern two year old facility. No problem going through customs, and a Pacific Bestours guide was right there to pick us up. There were 8 of us on the plane, and we were told the next morning that two more young women would be joining us in Beijing.

On the way in from the airport James, our city guide pointed out all of the modern buildings, and told us lots about the importance of Shanghai to the economy of the country.

We were supposed to be staying at the JC Manderin, a very outstanding hotel, but when we received our tour documents we found we were staying at the Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn. A definite disappointment since it was not a deluxe hotel in my opinion, but was certainly very nice. Instead of being located in a downtown section of Shanghai we were located in a neighborhood with a school, two small grocery stores, which we enjoyed exploring in the early morning, and a convention center with a display of a bright pink Mary Kay car, and many older men and women performing their Tai Chi exercises in the early morning.

The tour included a Western style buffet breakfast daily where there was plenty to eat if you had the time to eat it. Each day, until we reached Hong Kong we asked for a wake up call at 6 AM in order to be ready to tour at 8 AM. A few mornings Sue and I opted for a walk outside around the hotel area instead of, or after, breakfast.

We went to bed that first night around 9 PM after checking out the shops in the hotel. Slept until 2 AM, and then until 4 AM. After that we were up for the day.

I had shown George how to use my computer so that we could exchange email, and that turned out to be a very enjoyable exercise for him and for us. Sue had taken her laptop computer from the office, but it turned out that it was easier to use the Business Center at each hotel than to set hers up with all of the converters etc.

The next day we met Cheng, a lovely woman, who was our travel guide for the entire trip. Each different city we went to we had a local guide, but Cheng was with us until Hong Kong. That first day we enjoyed an all day tour of Shanghai including the impressive Shanghai Museum, where we could wander around with an audio wand to see the Jade, the Costumes of the different regions, the furniture down through the ages etc. Very modern and fine museum.

Every day we had both lunch and dinner Chinese style at a large round table with a big lazy susan in the center where the servers continually kept platters coming with mostly pork dishes. They were not the usual Chinese food we were used to, but we enjoyed them.....in the beginning. After a while two Chinese meals a day got to be too much. We could order either beer, water or coke at meals, and often tea was not served. Soup was served toward the end of the meal, and almost always a small slice of watermelon was for dessert.

We also had a great time visiting the Children's Palace, where some talented Chinese children go after school for extracurricular activities such as dancing and music lessons. The children are darling, and many little ones said "Hello, Bye bye, and Thank You" in English after Sue and I passed out Tootsie Pops.

That night we attended a wonderful acrobat show, but had to be packed and ready to leave the hotel early the next morning.

This was obviously not a vacation....this was a tour. And believe me there is a big difference!

The next morning we left by bus early for our discovery of the remarkable city of Zhouzhuang. This is an amazing 900 year old Song Dynasty town that legend has it, Marco Polo called the "Venice of the East". It seems to be a city set in an area of canals, stone bridges, and picturesque gardens. I got the impression that it is kept that way for tourists, and we were walked along so quickly that I can't remember anyone stopping to buy anything from the street vendors who were everywhere. We walked all around the area, visited one of the oldest homes there, and had our lunch in that town. I had decided early on that I would cut back on my supply of bottled water in order be able to pass up the squat toilets, and amazingly was successful. Sue had to use them a few times, and being 30 years younger than I am, they didn't pose such a challenge for her. After lunch they put us on a Chinese boat, and we floated along the Grand Canal for about an hour plus. We passed many other barge type boats with whole families living on them who had their wash out drying. Our next destination was Suzhou, a thriving commercial area where we checked into the Sheraton Suzhou hotel and towers, with stunning traditional Chinese architechture, pagoda shaped reception hall, and beautifully landscaped gardens, with all the modern ammeninities one could ask for. Even though the hotel seems very new the garden area is undergoing some renovation so their were friendly workmen outside our window. First one, and then three when we finally closed the drapes. It doesn't take us long to catch on:-) Our luggage, which had been collected the night before, met us at our destination.

Even though the luggage was often out of our hands, often for hours, no one ever had a problem with things missing. The bus was small, and it would not have been possible to bring it along on the bus. The buses was all air conditioned and comfortable, though not the large coach I would have preferred.

That evening after dinner we visited the Master of the Nets in the downtown area. This is a series of many performances, given in different parts of a large garden. Since it was dark out by now we couldn't see the gardens, and since there were many other groups there we often stood for these short performances, and by the time we were ready to leave I was ready for a good backrub.

The next morning we left early again to tour both a silk factory, where I bought both of my children a silk comforter. They are similar to a down comforter...light weight, and warm in winter while cool in summer. I think they were good buys, and elected to take them with us rather than shipping them home. Suzhou is the silk capitol, so after the silk factory we visited the silk embroidery factory. The young women employed here embroider set designs on the silk fabric with silk thread, and then they are stretched to fit screens, large and small. Sue purchased a goldfish, and I bought the Panda. They each have the factory seal stamped on them, which is supposed to give it some sense of authenticity. There was no bargaining at either shop, which is a much more comfortable way for me to shop, but not as much fun, of course.

We then returned to Shanghai after lunch to fly to Beijing. We had been told in our documents that there would be an additional fee we had to pay at the airport. That was never asked for. Neither was there a fee asked for when we left China. It was either this flight or some other, where I was given a ticket with a name other than mine to hand in to the boarding clerk at China Airways. Hmmmm....What would have happened if the airplane had gone down? We were served a meal on the plane. Since we don't eat mystery meat, we relished the hard roll, and a cereal bar from the stash we brought along. At the beginning of the flight the flight attendants lined up, and each was introduced. While at the end of the flight over the loudspeaker came strains of "Auld Lang Syne". This happened on each flight and was a little surprising, but a nice touch.

Once in Beijing, in yet another modern airport, we met our local guide, a young girl Tracy. I think Miss Pons was our guide in Suzuoh. This is in addition to the reliable Cheng who guides us through airports etc. We found our bus, after claiming our luggage, and were driven to a truly first class hotel, The Palace in Beijing. I thought from the descriptions it would be just across the street from Tiananmen Square, but not quite. It is located downtown in a very busy and interesting area of the city. Loads of signs promoting the cities designation as Beijing...2008 - Candidate City, and the Olympics logo. And speaking of the Olympics....about four blocks away from the Palace Hotel we came across a wonderful outdoor exhibit of Olympics sculpture. They have closed off a few streets for this exhibition, and it was wonderful. I assume all of the artists were Chinese, but if we hadn't just come across it, we would have missed a great show. It never was mentioned, though we told our group of fellow travelers.

The first evening we were in Beijing we took advantage of an evening off, and ate with Kate and Joe, two soul mates on our voyage, at the Palace Hotel's wonderful coffee shop. Guess what I ordered, a hamburger, and it tasted wonderful! With splendid french fries, of course.

I think this is where we discovered how inexpensive many of the salon treatments were in a first class hotel. While Sue had a massage in one room for about $25 I had a shampoo and blow dry for $12 in the salon. Now that was an experience!! As I sat upright in the chair the stylist poured some shampoo into her hands, and proceeded to work it into my dry hair, and into a thick lather. All this with no water. She repeated this procedure three times, and then when it was good and foamy began to massage my head, neck, and shoulders. It was delicious! After about 15 minutes she did lead me to the shampoo bowl, which was another treat. None of this sitting down, and leaning my head back. The shampoo bowl seemed to be a part of a reclining chair, so my legs were elevated, and all of the shampoo was completely rinsed off, followed of course by more gentle massaging of the scalp. Then a traditional set, and I was ready to face Tianeman Square tomorrow.

Tianeman Square is the largest Square in the world, and was quite crowded with tourists from all countries it seemed, and many Chinese sightseers also. Our guides, Tracy and Cheng were determined that we should not miss a thing, and we didn't miss anything, except the tomb of Mao Tse Tung. There was a long line, and we had to pass it by. Sue was disappointed since she had seen Lenin's Tomb when she was in Moscow almost 20 years ago. In fact in Russia the American students were placed in the front of the long line of people waiting to get in.

It was 95 degrees that day with matching humidity, and believe me we were all wilting. I think this was actually around May 27th, and Beijing is North of Shanghai. For anyone who is going now pack clothes for warm weather, but also pack a sweater or wrap for the bus. After lunch in the top of a revolving restaurant we were back on the bus to see even more of the Summer Palaces, the Temple of Heaven etc. There was no problem taking photos, and no demonstrators. Lots of tourists from many countries, and many Chinese families out for a stroll.

Throughout the trip vendors approached us selling packs of postcards of wherever we were. Since we didn't have an opportunity to look through the cards, and would rather buy cards individually, we always passed them up. Big mistake!! It seems that once you have passed the sight .... other wondrous sights want to sell you their views, and so you lose out on all cards. I was certainly sure that we could pick up any cards we wanted at our last stop, Hong Kong. Wrong again!! They didn't have anything but Hong Kong cards. So, a word to the wise. And if you don't want to deal with a vendor you can buy them at most, if not all the hotels, but in packs.

The next day was a big one. We were finally traveling to the Great Wall of China. I think it was before we reached the Great Wall that we visited the Ming Tombs. It was still 95 degrees or so outside, and as our bus parked in the parking lot I could see it was going to be quite a long walk through a lovely park area filled with statues of animals. When we reached the Ming Tombs we were led down many flights of stairs. Of course all I could think of was, "if it is a long way down....it is going to be a long way up"!! And so it was. No photos allowed there, and since there was little to see that was no big deal to me. Just some big black boxes that they called the Ming Tombs, and as I remember none of the emperors of that dynasty were buried there any longer anyway so we really considered that a waste of time.

When we finally reached the Great Wall we were ready. It was BIG, meaning mostly long in all directions. I had no trouble climbing to the first promenade, and waited there while Sue's new friends, Joanna and Julie from Hawaii climbed and walked for almost an hour. Meanwhile I enjoyed people watching. Especially the young Chinese women in high heels with no backs. I guess the operative word there is YOUNG. There were no broken legs that I could see, or turned ankles so I decided that they knew what they were doing. After we had climbed the Great Wall we payed our respects to the vendors. It is sort of like a large flea market, and you are expected to bargain here. We saw sweatshirts with "I Climbed the Great Wall of China", tee shirts with the same saying, and hats also. When Sue and I teemed up with some others from our small group we got a price for each item. The baseball caps were 75 cents each, the tee shirts $2 each, and the sweatshirts $4 each. I had been warned ahead of time that these things do shrink so while Sue and I are usually a small or a medium we bought extra large. And where we did not I was sorry. Especially with tee shirts. I especially liked the ones that said...."People's Republic of Bicycles", and showed an outline of the country filled with bicycles.

Instead of going directly back to the hotel Sue and I along with our two new young sisters visited the Silk Alley. It wasn't too far from the hotel, but after such a hectic day too far to walk. Silk Alley was fun. Again loads of vendors. I bargained for a small silk purse, and bought it for $5. It will be an evening purse for me. Then we walked over to the Friendship store which is more like a regular department shop. More expensive, but worth it to me. I was tired of haggling, and wanted to try on a Chinese silk embroidered jacket in peace, without a persistent polite salesperson helping me. I ended up with a great looking black and gold embroidered jacket, and Sue bought the same jacket in red and gold. We taxied back to the hotel, and got ready for the big evening out.

That evening was the much anticipated Peking Duck dinner. There were two cooks preparing the ducks for us at our table. I had never had Peking Duck before, and it was fine. Tasted like "chicken". This was a very nice restaurant, and filled of course with tourists.

It is now Monday, and one week after we have left San Francisco for our adventure in China. We are off to visit the hutongs of Old Beijing. Pacific Bestours has arranged for us to ride in hooded Pedicabs, traditional three wheel taxis through the courtyard homes on streets that are virtually unpaved. We stopped at one home for an arranged home visit. The lady of the house was very gracious, and much to our surprise we sat in the living room along with her 36 inch Sony television, and small, by our standards glass fronted refrigerator. She told us in Chinese how much she enjoyed living in a courtyard with friendly neighbors, and kindly served us warm tea. It was interesting being in a neighborhood rather than another temple or palace.

That afternoon we flew to Xian, home of the Terra cotta warriors. As we landed, and found our local guide and bus we noticed how brown the city was. The air that is.....More later. Cough, cough!!

As soon as we boarded the bus to take us from the airport to the Shangri La Golden Flower hotel the guide, Paul, began to apologize for the pollution and dust in his city. He said it was due to the fact that people and businesses in the city still burned coal to provide energy. It looked foggy outside, but it really wasn't fog it was pollution. Sue, who lives in Los Angeles, and said she had never seen that city, known for being polluted, as smoggy and brown as this city was. But we were here on a mission. We were going to see the Terra Cotta Warriors.

The story of the warriors is that Emperor Qing, pronounced Ching, was the first feudal emperor of unified China, and he wanted to be buried along with his army of soldiers and their horses and carriages etc., for safety in the afterlife.

In March of 1974 three local farmers were digging a well in the area, and came upon some broken pieces of pottery figures without knowing what they were. No one could guess at that time what an artistic treasurehouse lay beneath them. To protect this historic relic the Terra-cotta Army Museum was founded in 1979, and today it is a very huge modern museum with many buildings consisting of the Pits 1, 2, 3, and 4 still being worked upon by archeologists. This is all located in the Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang. The site has so far yielded over 8,000 Terra-cotta warriors and horses, each a unique, finely detailed sculputure.

That morning after breakfast we were picked up by our city guide Paul and our bus driver, and driven first to the Provincial Museum. There we learned all about pottery and bronzes, piece by piece by piece. After two or three cases of this we had really had enough, but it went on for another half hour I am sure. After lunch we were finally driven to the site of the terra cotta warrior museum, and allowed to visit the buildings in order on our own. These modern buildings that the warriors and horses are stored in look as big as football fields, and though there are signs restricting photography the guards didn't stop anyone from taking pictures. You walk around above the area, but can see them quite clearly. And they are amazing. After we had examined the soldiers and the horses etc. we were shown where the official souvenirs of that area were displayed. I bought my husband a figure of a general in the army, distinguished by his hair style and his uniform, around 6 inches high, nicely detailed, for under $10. They have them from tiny figures to life sized figures all over outside the official gift shop.

We also got to meet one of the farmers who found the site in 1974. He was a little old Chinese man who comes to the museum daily to sign the official guide book. Most people did have him sign the book, and left some yuan in his cup. There was an enlarged photograph above where he was sitting showing him with President Clinton some years ago.

After we had finished with the museum gift shop we were warned by Cheng to be very careful going back to the bus. The vendors at this site are very "in your face" and persistent. She warned us to hold our pocketbooks close to us, and just keep walking. The vendors were really so bad that her warnings were appreciated. They were offering a complete set of soldiers and a horse in a box for $1. Some of our people wanted to get one, but no one would stop. All we heard was "one dollar, one dollar" over and over again. When we were safely in the bus, Cheng took $3 from 3 couples and left the bus to go out and deal with them herself. Obviously she was in a much better position to get what we wanted. The one dollar set was very cheap looking, but what can you buy for $1 these days.

That evening we were picked up around 6 PM, and taken to the Tang Dynasty Theater. It is a very beautiful stage show with lovely costumes and a wonderful all girl orchestra playing old Chinese stringed instruments. All around us people were having regular Chinese dinners. Our treat was to come later in the evening. We had very good seats for the show at one of the long tables near the stage. After the show was over they led us upstairs to a special dining room for a special dinner. This was the Dumpling Dinner!! That meal I really liked a lot, even though most of the dumplings were filled with pork. After overeating, me, not Sue, we were taken back to the hotel, and had to get our luggage organized once again, put outside our door before we went to sleep, and left yet another wake up call for 6 AM. Tomorrow we fly off to Guilin, and the wonderous Reed Flute Cave.

We flew South to the green hills of Guilin, and checked into the ever present Sheraton Hotel. The Sheraton has a big presence in China, and one can be found in most major cities. They seem a little fancier in China than in the United States. All Chinese personnel at the front desks speak fluent English to deal with the American tourists.

Each hotel we stayed at during this trip had a Business Center where we usually had no trouble getting through on the Internet to hear the latest from George or Ken, and replied in kind. Around $5 or so an hour. Our correspondents were very funny, and Sue was also very humorous. So much to my surprise when I returned home I found that George had printed each message out, and placed them in a red folder. I think I mentioned before that it has always been against George's religion to touch my Mac computer. Absolutely no interest. However when I pointed out to him that if he just learned to read and send E Mail it would be a lot cheaper than me calling him nightly from China he agreed to try and learn how to turn on the computer etc. I think he has been a secret computer user all along because he learned very fast.

Most of the hotels we stayed in had free safes in our room which I used to place my money and traveler's checks. Of course I then had to remember to remove these important items before we left the hotel for good. I am happy to report that I didn't foul that up.

When we arrived in Guilin after touring the city we were taken to visit the Reed Flute Cave. This is an enormous cave with many stalagmites and stalactites that seem to represent figures or faces or things. The uneven flooring is very slippery, but here everyone seemed to be wearing appropriate footwear. There were colored lights shining in different places to add to the beauty of the cave. We came to one area that was ballroom size, and very attractive. Our guide pointed out to us that Bill Gates of Microsoft had rented that area to entertain almost 100 people at a formal catered banquet. Talk about wanting to make an impression on your guests!! I'd say he succeeded. It is called the Reed Flute Cave, because many of the stalagmites resembles flutes packed closely together, and they add to that impression with music playing.

We completed that day with a dinner, specially prepared for us at the hotel, of western cuisine, and that was followed by a trip by bus to an entertaining cultural performance.

The next day was the much anticipated full day Li River Cruise. We were seated in the air conditioned Chinese cruise boat at tables for six, so our group had to be split up. Sue and I sat with the sisters Joanna and Julie, and our other buddies Kate and Joe. The air conditioning was very welcome as it was another one of those 95 degree days. As we left the bus we were handed a welcome box lunch prepared by the Sheraton Hotel. We had read earlier in the discussion boards about this particular cruise that it was wonderful except for two things, the lunch prepared by the crew, and the condition of the squat toilets. Well, by giving us the lunch box at least we knew we wouldn't have to face one of the problems. The box lunch was great. A great big bottle of water, an orange and an a banana, and a ham and cheese sandwich. Plus a small can of Pringles. When we saw the lunch others were served we knew we were lucky. And believe it or not they came around offering anybody who would partake a glass of snake wine. It was a good sized round bottle with about 3 snakes still in the bottle. There were no takers from our group.

The area we cruised of the Li River was very beautiful surrounded by lovely mountains and much natural beauty in the area. We saw many other cruise ships like ours cruising the River with tourists, and some farmers working the land in quaint country villages. I didn't spend too much time on the top deck, because the sun was so hot, but the scenery was definitely lovely, and the Li River was very clean.

That night we decided on another cafe dinner in the hotel, and again I had a delicious hamburger with french fries. That was to give me the strength to make it up to our room, and fall into bed. Sue was, and is, an angel, and took it upon herself to get us all packed up, bag placed outside our room for our short flight the next morning to the city of Guangzhou, the famous old seaport of Canton.

After our flight to Guangzhou we were met with another guide, and he led us to the bus that would take us around Guangzhou. We were given an overview of the city's elegant temples where we saw many Chinese people with their children as this was Children's Day in China. Sue and I took this opportunity to pass out many more of our 100 Tootsie Pops. We had lunch in a very nice restaurant set in a beautiful park on a lake. Since it was our last meal with our guide Cheng along we insisted she eat with us. It is our understanding that she could not accompany us to Hong Kong, but I do not know why. Cheng was a wonderful guide throughout our entire trip, and was especially helpful to me aiding me on and off the bus. After lunch we stopped at yet another factory store, and then on to the hydrofoil to sail from the Pearl River Delta to nearby Hong Kong. Now rejoined with China, this former British colony remains as vibrant and forward looking as ever.

We said goodbye to Cheng with many thanks, and hugs, wished her well, and told her that we hoped that her city, Beijing was lucky enough to be the host city for the 2008 Olympics, and off we were on the hydrofoil to Hong Kong. We were all in a large area waiting to board, and we noticed a sign that had us all laughing. Along with a sign that said no photographs was another sign "Please do not make a hubbub!!" We really loved that one.

We had thought that the Hydrofoil would be like a Hovercraft, but I think this one was quite a bit slower. When we reached Hong Kong our guide Steven was there to greet us, show us to our bus, and as we sped along told us all about wondrous Hong Kong. He deposited us at a fabulous hotel called the Mandarin Oriental. This one was even lovelier than the Palace Hotel in Beijing located right on the Hong Kong harbor. Of course our room didn't face the harbour, but overlooked a lovely park and a spectacular skyscraper designed by famed architect I. M. Pei. I later found out that it was the Bank of China, and that his father was the first Hong Kong manager of the bank. The guest rooms at the Mandarin Oriental were furnished with meticulous attention to detail to create an atmosphere of quiet elegance and comfort. The toiletries in the bathroom of this hotel were all by Hermes, which certainly did impress me. But it was the grand service, and warmth and helpfulness of the concierge that was the best. Most rooms have balconies, a unique feature in Hong Kong. Breakfast was included, as elsewhere, but was much more elegant.

At dinner that evening with our friends Kate and Joe we suddenly remembered that we had left one small bag on the carousel of the Hydrofoil terminal in Hong Kong. Both Sue and I had forgotten we checked it. She went dashing out to the concierge, and when she came back she said that he said he could help. About 10 minutes later he appeared in the dining room, got Sue's attention, and had our new tour guide on the telephone so Sue could make arrangements with him for us to pick up the bag tomorrow morning before our tour started at 8 AM. To make a long story a little shorter we did retrieve the bag the next morning, and after an inspection by a customs official we were on our way with bag in tow back to the Mandarin Oriental. Whew!! The bag was locked and clearly tagged, but I wondered if the outcome would have been this pleasant in Los Angeles or Philadelphia our home airports. I'd like to think so.

This day, our first one in Hong Kong was a grey overcast day, and not a perfect day to go sightseeing, but it was our only tour in Hong Kong, and only for half a day so we went along. We traveled to the top of Victoria's Peak to see the lovely panorama of the city, but it was fogged in. The guide also took us to the Stanley Market which is very well known for bargains. I bought a lovely fringed silk scarf there while shopping with Julie, one of Sue's buddies, and Sue bought some great jade chopsticks complete with place holders.
We drove through some very nice areas, and then went for a ride on a sanpan boat in the harbor. The fee was was $10 American money, and worth it. The fog had cleared away, and we had an opportunity to see much of the harbor with all the ships and the large floating restaurant, aptly named Jumbo.

When we arrived back at the hotel we visited the attractive work out facility and swimming pool. I hate to admit this, but Sue and I had each brought bathing suits, and workout gear, but never once used either. This facility, along with the other parts of the hotel was very impressive. Each treadmill had it's own 14 inch television screen and earphones directly in front of it. Not exactly like where I work out at home daily.

That evening Kate and Joe took us out to dinner at a wonderful restaurant near the hotel. It is called Jimmy's Kitchen, and I would highly recommend it. I had some kind of vegetarian noodle pudding, and pronounced it the best meal I had in China. The wine flowed, as well as good conversation. A perfect evening with old friends we had just met on this trip.

We started out in Shanghai with a party of eight, all of whom came over on the same flight we did. There were Ruth and Norman, who were seated directly in front of us on the airplane, Sue and me, Kate and Joe, who were seated further back in business class, on this flight, and Jane and Fred, who were in coach. We all met at the airport along with our Shanghai guide. The next morning we met Cheng, who would accompany us from then on until Hong Kong. She told us that there were two sisters who would join us in Beijing, and I know that Sue was happy to see them. Joanna, who had recently graduated from medical school, and her sister Julie. Both much closer in age to Sue than the others in our party.

Continued for one short more page.

Sue and Fran's Excellent Adventure in China

On May 21st of this year my daughter Sue and I left on United Airlines flight # 857from San Francisco for our 15 day tour of China. It was a tour arranged through United Vacations by Pacific Bestours. The tour included International airfare, all domestic airfares within China, deluxe accomadations, 13 breakfasts, 10 lunches and 4 dinners or Special Dinners, 5 gala events, Shanghai Museum, Great Wall of China, and Ming tombs, a Pedicab tour of Old Beijing City, and sightseeing in Hong Kong.

First let me tell you about the flight. From the West Coast it is a very long flight, and George, my husband and Sue's father had thoughtfully used a bunch of miles to upgrade us to Business Class. And what a blessing that turned out to be!! The seats reclined almost all the way, and we were provided with a lovely packet of amenities such as slippers, eyeshades, toothbrush and paste, ear plugs etc. We had loads of room to stretch out, plus a roomy container next to the window seats for carry on cases and purses. In addition we each had a small television set that we could set up with a choice of about 4 movies and other features.

We arrived a little earlier than our scheduled time of 6 PM the next day at PU Dong airport in Shanghai. Extremely modern two year old facility. No problem going through customs, and a Pacific Bestours guide was right there to pick us up. There were 8 of us on the plane, and we were told the next morning that two more young women would be joining us in Beijing.

On the way in from the airport James, our city guide pointed out all of the modern buildings, and told us lots about the importance of Shanghai to the economy of the country.

We were supposed to be staying at the JC Manderin, a very outstanding hotel, but when we received our tour documents we found we were staying at the Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn. A definite disappointment since it was not a deluxe hotel in my opinion, but was certainly very nice. Instead of being located in a downtown section of Shanghai we were located in a neighborhood with a school, two small grocery stores, which we enjoyed exploring in the early morning, and a convention center with a display of a bright pink Mary Kay car, and many older men and women performing their Tai Chi exercises in the early morning.

The tour included a Western style buffet breakfast daily where there was plenty to eat if you had the time to eat it. Each day, until we reached Hong Kong we asked for a wake up call at 6 AM in order to be ready to tour at 8 AM. A few mornings Sue and I opted for a walk outside around the hotel area instead of, or after, breakfast.

We went to bed that first night around 9 PM after checking out the shops in the hotel. Slept until 2 AM, and then until 4 AM. After that we were up for the day.

I had shown George how to use my computer so that we could exchange email, and that turned out to be a very enjoyable exercise for him and for us. Sue had taken her laptop computer from the office, but it turned out that it was easier to use the Business Center at each hotel than to set hers up with all of the converters etc.

The next day we met Cheng, a lovely woman, who was our travel guide for the entire trip. Each different city we went to we had a local guide, but Cheng was with us until Hong Kong. That first day we enjoyed an all day tour of Shanghai including the impressive Shanghai Museum, where we could wander around with an audio wand to see the Jade, the Costumes of the different regions, the furniture down through the ages etc. Very modern and fine museum.

Every day we had both lunch and dinner Chinese style at a large round table with a big lazy susan in the center where the servers continually kept platters coming with mostly pork dishes. They were not the usual Chinese food we were used to, but we enjoyed them.....in the beginning. After a while two Chinese meals a day got to be too much. We could order either beer, water or coke at meals, and often tea was not served. Soup was served toward the end of the meal, and almost always a small slice of watermelon was for dessert.

We also had a great time visiting the Children's Palace, where some talented Chinese children go after school for extracurricular activities such as dancing and music lessons. The children are darling, and many little ones said "Hello, Bye bye, and Thank You" in English after Sue and I passed out Tootsie Pops.

That night we attended a wonderful acrobat show, but had to be packed and ready to leave the hotel early the next morning.

This was obviously not a vacation....this was a tour. And believe me there is a big difference!

The next morning we left by bus early for our discovery of the remarkable city of Zhouzhuang. This is an amazing 900 year old Song Dynasty town that legend has it, Marco Polo called the "Venice of the East". It seems to be a city set in an area of canals, stone bridges, and picturesque gardens. I got the impression that it is kept that way for tourists, and we were walked along so quickly that I can't remember anyone stopping to buy anything from the street vendors who were everywhere. We walked all around the area, visited one of the oldest homes there, and had our lunch in that town. I had decided early on that I would cut back on my supply of bottled water in order be able to pass up the squat toilets, and amazingly was successful. Sue had to use them a few times, and being 30 years younger than I am, they didn't pose such a challenge for her. After lunch they put us on a Chinese boat, and we floated along the Grand Canal for about an hour plus. We passed many other barge type boats with whole families living on them who had their wash out drying. Our next destination was Suzhou, a thriving commercial area where we checked into the Sheraton Suzhou hotel and towers, with stunning traditional Chinese architechture, pagoda shaped reception hall, and beautifully landscaped gardens, with all the modern ammeninities one could ask for. Even though the hotel seems very new the garden area is undergoing some renovation so their were friendly workmen outside our window. First one, and then three when we finally closed the drapes. It doesn't take us long to catch on:-) Our luggage, which had been collected the night before, met us at our destination.

Even though the luggage was often out of our hands, often for hours, no one ever had a problem with things missing. The bus was small, and it would not have been possible to bring it along on the bus. The buses was all air conditioned and comfortable, though not the large coach I would have preferred.

That evening after dinner we visited the Master of the Nets in the downtown area. This is a series of many performances, given in different parts of a large garden. Since it was dark out by now we couldn't see the gardens, and since there were many other groups there we often stood for these short performances, and by the time we were ready to leave I was ready for a good backrub.

The next morning we left early again to tour both a silk factory, where I bought both of my children a silk comforter. They are similar to a down comforter...light weight, and warm in winter while cool in summer. I think they were good buys, and elected to take them with us rather than shipping them home. Suzhou is the silk capitol, so after the silk factory we visited the silk embroidery factory. The young women employed here embroider set designs on the silk fabric with silk thread, and then they are stretched to fit screens, large and small. Sue purchased a goldfish, and I bought the Panda. They each have the factory seal stamped on them, which is supposed to give it some sense of authenticity. There was no bargaining at either shop, which is a much more comfortable way for me to shop, but not as much fun, of course.

We then returned to Shanghai after lunch to fly to Beijing. We had been told in our documents that there would be an additional fee we had to pay at the airport. That was never asked for. Neither was there a fee asked for when we left China. It was either this flight or some other, where I was given a ticket with a name other than mine to hand in to the boarding clerk at China Airways. Hmmmm....What would have happened if the airplane had gone down? We were served a meal on the plane. Since we don't eat mystery meat, we relished the hard roll, and a cereal bar from the stash we brought along. At the beginning of the flight the flight attendants lined up, and each was introduced. While at the end of the flight over the loudspeaker came strains of "Auld Lang Syne". This happened on each flight and was a little surprising, but a nice touch.

Once in Beijing, in yet another modern airport, we met our local guide, a young girl Tracy. I think Miss Pons was our guide in Suzuoh. This is in addition to the reliable Cheng who guides us through airports etc. We found our bus, after claiming our luggage, and were driven to a truly first class hotel, The Palace in Beijing. I thought from the descriptions it would be just across the street from Tiananmen Square, but not quite. It is located downtown in a very busy and interesting area of the city. Loads of signs promoting the cities designation as Beijing...2008 - Candidate City, and the Olympics logo. And speaking of the Olympics....about four blocks away from the Palace Hotel we came across a wonderful outdoor exhibit of Olympics sculpture. They have closed off a few streets for this exhibition, and it was wonderful. I assume all of the artists were Chinese, but if we hadn't just come across it, we would have missed a great show. It never was mentioned, though we told our group of fellow travelers.

The first evening we were in Beijing we took advantage of an evening off, and ate with Kate and Joe, two soul mates on our voyage, at the Palace Hotel's wonderful coffee shop. Guess what I ordered, a hamburger, and it tasted wonderful! With splendid french fries, of course.

I think this is where we discovered how inexpensive many of the salon treatments were in a first class hotel. While Sue had a massage in one room for about $25 I had a shampoo and blow dry for $12 in the salon. Now that was an experience!! As I sat upright in the chair the stylist poured some shampoo into her hands, and proceeded to work it into my dry hair, and into a thick lather. All this with no water. She repeated this procedure three times, and then when it was good and foamy began to massage my head, neck, and shoulders. It was delicious! After about 15 minutes she did lead me to the shampoo bowl, which was another treat. None of this sitting down, and leaning my head back. The shampoo bowl seemed to be a part of a reclining chair, so my legs were elevated, and all of the shampoo was completely rinsed off, followed of course by more gentle massaging of the scalp. Then a traditional set, and I was ready to face Tianeman Square tomorrow.

Tianeman Square is the largest Square in the world, and was quite crowded with tourists from all countries it seemed, and many Chinese sightseers also. Our guides, Tracy and Cheng were determined that we should not miss a thing, and we didn't miss anything, except the tomb of Mao Tse Tung. There was a long line, and we had to pass it by. Sue was disappointed since she had seen Lenin's Tomb when she was in Moscow almost 20 years ago. In fact in Russia the American students were placed in the front of the long line of people waiting to get in.

It was 95 degrees that day with matching humidity, and believe me we were all wilting. I think this was actually around May 27th, and Beijing is North of Shanghai. For anyone who is going now pack clothes for warm weather, but also pack a sweater or wrap for the bus. After lunch in the top of a revolving restaurant we were back on the bus to see even more of the Summer Palaces, the Temple of Heaven etc. There was no problem taking photos, and no demonstrators. Lots of tourists from many countries, and many Chinese families out for a stroll.

Throughout the trip vendors approached us selling packs of postcards of wherever we were. Since we didn't have an opportunity to look through the cards, and would rather buy cards individually, we always passed them up. Big mistake!! It seems that once you have passed the sight .... other wondrous sights want to sell you their views, and so you lose out on all cards. I was certainly sure that we could pick up any cards we wanted at our last stop, Hong Kong. Wrong again!! They didn't have anything but Hong Kong cards. So, a word to the wise. And if you don't want to deal with a vendor you can buy them at most, if not all the hotels, but in packs.

The next day was a big one. We were finally traveling to the Great Wall of China. I think it was before we reached the Great Wall that we visited the Ming Tombs. It was still 95 degrees or so outside, and as our bus parked in the parking lot I could see it was going to be quite a long walk through a lovely park area filled with statues of animals. When we reached the Ming Tombs we were led down many flights of stairs. Of course all I could think of was, "if it is a long way down....it is going to be a long way up"!! And so it was. No photos allowed there, and since there was little to see that was no big deal to me. Just some big black boxes that they called the Ming Tombs, and as I remember none of the emperors of that dynasty were buried there any longer anyway so we really considered that a waste of time.

When we finally reached the Great Wall we were ready. It was BIG, meaning mostly long in all directions. I had no trouble climbing to the first promenade, and waited there while Sue's new friends, Joanna and Julie from Hawaii climbed and walked for almost an hour. Meanwhile I enjoyed people watching. Especially the young Chinese women in high heels with no backs. I guess the operative word there is YOUNG. There were no broken legs that I could see, or turned ankles so I decided that they knew what they were doing. After we had climbed the Great Wall we payed our respects to the vendors. It is sort of like a large flea market, and you are expected to bargain here. We saw sweatshirts with "I Climbed the Great Wall of China", tee shirts with the same saying, and hats also. When Sue and I teemed up with some others from our small group we got a price for each item. The baseball caps were 75 cents each, the tee shirts $2 each, and the sweatshirts $4 each. I had been warned ahead of time that these things do shrink so while Sue and I are usually a small or a medium we bought extra large. And where we did not I was sorry. Especially with tee shirts. I especially liked the ones that said...."People's Republic of Bicycles", and showed an outline of the country filled with bicycles.

Instead of going directly back to the hotel Sue and I along with our two new young sisters visited the Silk Alley. It wasn't too far from the hotel, but after such a hectic day too far to walk. Silk Alley was fun. Again loads of vendors. I bargained for a small silk purse, and bought it for $5. It will be an evening purse for me. Then we walked over to the Friendship store which is more like a regular department shop. More expensive, but worth it to me. I was tired of haggling, and wanted to try on a Chinese silk embroidered jacket in peace, without a persistent polite salesperson helping me. I ended up with a great looking black and gold embroidered jacket, and Sue bought the same jacket in red and gold. We taxied back to the hotel, and got ready for the big evening out.

That evening was the much anticipated Peking Duck dinner. There were two cooks preparing the ducks for us at our table. I had never had Peking Duck before, and it was fine. Tasted like "chicken". This was a very nice restaurant, and filled of course with tourists.