Today we spent our final day in Beijing. We saved the best for last. We visited the great wall after about a hour and a half drive. On the way there we stopped at a cloisonne factory and followed each step in a very elaborate process until we saw the final result. It is a pains taking process that involves six steps each one requiring an artisan to complete. We did buy a vase which will be on display in Montana for all who visit us to see.
Now back to the great wall. We arrived at a small village at the base of a mountain. The great wall runs along the tops of the mountains so up the 1400 steps we went. Upon reaching the top we were treated to one of the wonders of the world. It is hard to imagine how anyone could construct such an edifice with today's equipment much less with the tools available 1000 years ago. The wall snakes its way along the ridge tops from peak to peak. Since it was built for defensive purposes the ridge tops would be the hardest to attack. Even though there was some haze that kept us from seeing it at its best, what we did see was marvelous. The literature says the entire wall was about 5500 kilometers in length. Much of it is in a state of decay. The portion we saw had been refurbished in 1989. It took your breath away to see it wind its way along the mountains. In some of the remote areas we could see there were trees and bushes growing up through path on the top of the wall. Our guide indicated it was wide enough so that eight soldiers could walk shoulder to shoulder.
Tonight we will be on a overnight train from Beijing to Shanghai. Yet another chapter in our adventure. Meanwhile we have checked out of our hotel room and are using a computer loaned to us by the hotel. We will try to post pictures tomorrow.
tomorrow Shanghai.
Chris - As Paul related we finally had a nice enough day to go the the Great Wall. It is awe inspiring and it was almost a perfect day temperature wise to climb the steps. The steps are mostly grouped in 8 or 24 at a time. In China 8 is a lucky number. There was at least one stretch where there were about 100 steps. The steps were even and well spaced and it took about a half hour to climb. It was really a thrill to see the Wall emerge as you turn the corner and it lays out in front of you. It was a very surreal experience and one I wished I could have had the kids along to enjoy. Maybe next time. I can't even imagine how they built the Wall. It rivals how they built the Going to the Sun road in Glacier!
After we got back from there we set out by foot to walk to the old section of Beijing to absorb the feeling of yesteryear. I found the little alleyways and small gray buildings to be more how I imagined Beijing than the metropolitan city with all the high end store that it mostly is today. It's fun to have experienced both sides of Beijing. It's a very interesting city I would like to return to in May when the flowers are blooming. No, not THIS May, but some May.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Day 69 Last Day in Beijing
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Day 68 Beijing Pictures
One of the bridges at the Summer PalaceDay 68 Beijing, China
The ancient glory of Beijing revealed itself to us today. The Forbidden City is a well preserved relic of how the nobility lived and governed the Chinese people. We started at Tianmen Square which serves as a national gathering place. It was a cold and rainy day yet there were thousands of people, mostly Chinese, who milled around the square before entering the Forbidden City. The main gate is located just underneath a picture of Chairman Mao who welcomes you. As an aside, on the opposite end of the square Chairman Mo lies in state in a crystal casket. While we did not visit the building that houses him, we are told he is covered with a flag except for his face which you can see. There was a long line which made our decision even easier.
The entire complex is located on a north south axis which runs the length of the city. Interestingly, the Olympic facilities were constructed along the exact same axis only about five miles to the north. Inside the Forbidden City there are various areas that were available to people of those days depending on their social status. The inner court was reserved for the emperor and his family. The outer court was for the emperors extended family. The next ring moving out was for royalty and well placed people and the most outside ring was for commoners. Only the two most inner rings were within the Forbidden City. The entire grounds are relpeat with Chinese symbolism, much of which would go unnoticed by a westerner just walking thru. The buildings are painted mostly red with decorations. The roofs are yellow which is a symbol of royalty. By contrast the commoners were required to paint their houses grey. There are no trees in the city because they did not want anything to be taller than the royal place. This gives it a very stark appearance. The rain we walked in did not help either.
There were many temples inside that are lined up on the north south axis. It is a stretch to try to imagine how these people lived in such a detached world.
This city was constructed in 1406 and served as the seat of government until 1911. This city only represents the last 500 years of the dynasty.
This is truly a special place.
After finishing our walk thru the Forbidden City by following the north south axis we got back into the car and were off to see the Summer Palace. This was the location of the royal family and all the others from the Forbidden City from April thru October. It is located on a man made lake next to a man made mountain. This is to represent the ying and yang. Water and mountain. The symbolism here is to vast to try to describe. Everything from colors, placement of urns or statues, the number of rooms (nine is a royal number since it is the highest single digit odd number), archways being flat on one side and round on the other, etc, etc...
The most colorful person we learned of is the Dragon Lady. She was the wife of the emperor who died. To maintain power she set up a throne directly behind the real throne separated by a curtain. The next emperor was only five years old so she told him what to do. When he got old enough to think for himself she had him put under house arrest and ran the government herself. She was quite the schemer. All in all is was a day full of very interesting information.
Tomorrow more Beijing.. The Great Wall
Chris - What an interesting day! Paul told you what we did and the background so I'll just add some tidbits and my impressions. Tiamen Square is the largest square in the world and it is enormous with the National Museum (the past) on one side of it and their government building (the future) on the other side. As you face the main gate of the Forbidden City the large picture of Chairman Mao is actually a painting that is replaced every year and weighs 9 tons. The Forbidden City is a grand and majestic complex that is the largest and completed wooden cluster in the world today. The Forbidden City is surrounded by a 10 meter tall wall and a 52 meter wide and 6 meter deep moat, whose bank is lined with bricks. On each corner of the wall stands a corner tower, all of these constitute the strong defensive barrier of the Forbidden City.
Outside of a number of the gates in the Forbidden City and at the Summer Palace area pair of bronze lions. The one on the left is always the male stepping on a ball, while the one on the right touching an infant lion with its claw is the female. The male lion symbolizes dominant rule over the country while the female represents multiplied descendants, both indicating emperor's supreme power. In addition to the many beautiful buildings there are a number of quaint bridges over a river that wanders 2,000 meters in the Forbidden City like a jade ribbon, thus called the Jade Ribbon River. It serves a number of purposes; supplying a water source for fire prevention, draining off the rain, decorating the square, and etc. I did miss flowers and trees that would have softened the buildings but there is an Imperial Gardens near the north gate, so they were able to enjoy greenery. Another interesting point was that in the gift shop there was a nephew of the last Emperor who one day a week you can watch do calligraphy. Practicing calligraphy was a required course in the royal education system in the Qing Dynasty. Today the money from the sale of any of the nephew's calligraphy goes to support the upkeep of the Forbidden City.
On our way to the Summer Palace we were able to see a little more of the city of Beijing. One area of interest to me was Beijing's hutongs (side lanes) that form the skeleton of Old Beijing. Hutongs consist of streets, lanes and alleys and their history can be traced back to the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). Most of the buildings are gray (symbolizing commoners) and the buildings are no more than two stories and mixed in with single story houses. It used to be where the poorer commoners lived but today they have become the chic place to live and are thus quite expensive. It became apparent very early in our walk around the Summer Palace that this is where I would have spent all my time if I had been an Emperor. Three quarters of this extremely vast grounds is a man made lake that via a river runs to the Forbidden city so the Emperor can travel to his Summer Palace by water. The grounds, even on a cold rainy day, were gorgeous. Beautiful quaint stone bridges gracefully spanning willow treed shorelines made for a very serene and picturesque setting. The Dragon Lady Paul referenced had an extremely long (like around 1 kilometer) ornate covered walkway built along the lake so she could walk off her very indulgent dinner every night. She may have been a mean, dragon of a lady...but she had the right idea there. I'd LOVE to return here on a pretty summer day!
Monday, March 29, 2010
Day 67 Beijing Pictures
Scorpians and Sea Horses for dinner
Two hours of these new trees
Day 67 Beijing, China
We left the friendly confines of our ship this morning and headed into the city of Beijing. This is a two and a half hour drive. At least it was for us, of course everybody's driver probably doesn't have to stop four times to ask directions, like ours did.
The first thing that struck me and in fact lingered the entire day was the smog in the air. It was so bad that looking at buildings only 100 yards away you could definitely see the haze. It is no surprise that the Chinese government had to restrict traffic and certain manufacturing activities prior to and during the Olympic games. The haze began as we departed the ship and stayed with us the entire way into Beijing. No need to worry about the effects of second hand smoke, it would be an improvement.
We are staying in the Grand Hyatt Hotel and I would recommend it to anyone. We met our guide in the lobby after lunch and went to tour the Olympic facilities. This turned out to be mostly walking by the swimming venue called the "Cube" and going in to the "Birds Nest" stadium which hosted the opening and closing ceremonies as well as the track and field events. It is an amazing structure and one the people here should be proud of. Unfortunately, today the stadium is too expensive to use for team sports so it is used mainly for concerts. Our guide indicated that the swimming cube was being remodeled and might be used for office space or other business related activities or possibly housing.
During our drive around the city as well as our drive in from the port we saw a great deal of construction going on. To give an example they have over five "ring roads" each of which forms concentric circles around the city and are constructed to meet the ever increasing traffic demands of this growing city. A "ring road" is what we would call a circle freeway like in Cincinnati I275.
We returned to the hotel and took a short walk to a pedestrian mall which is know to feature local foods. Here we found scorpions on skewers as well as beetles, pigeons, star fish mixed with a smorgasbord of other raw flesh that was unidentifiable. Very interesting but we decided to retire to our hotel for dinner without indulging in the local fare.
Tomorrow we will meet our guide again and either tour the Great Wall or the Forbidden City depending on weather it rains or not.
Chris - Our drive from the ship to the hotel was very bland and quite boring. I had my camera ever ready to snap an interesting picture out the window ... and I took none. In part it was due to the smog which made viewing difficult, not to mention pictures, and it also was because a good majority of the time we were on a highway and on both sides were newly planted trees, I mean like for 2 hours. Once in Beijing it was obvious that this city is MUCH smaller than Shanghai, despite being the capital, and is an interesting blend of newer buildings and some old areas as well. Even some of the newer buildings have a "Temple" style roof to give it a older look. I enjoyed touring the Olympic sites, although I wish we could have viewed the inside of "The Cube", due to my love of swimming and how closely I follow it. I was struck by how amazingly wide and long the promanade down the center of the Olympic grounds was. It looked like it went on for miles. The facilities were a sight to behold and the Chinese are rightfully very proud of their Olympics.
The MVP of Beijing, so far, is Kim Collins (our travel agent) who booked us at The Grand Hyatt Beijing. What a terrific hotel it is! In addition to the beautiful room and lobby there is a terrific spa and an amazing pool. The pool is made of stone (or has the look of stone), is 50 mteres long and is set in a resort tropical setting. It has a waterfalls and 2 hot tubs nestled into the corners of the pool which is shaped like an oblong donut. There is a waterfalls along the way and in the center of the donut a huge fountain. What a beautiful, lush setting...all 3 floors underground, below the lobby. Good thing as it was about 45 degrees today! I also saw a man getting a manicure on a chaise beside the pool. The water was pretty warm and I enjoyed swimming. The other highlight of the hotel was the complimentary "cocktail hour" which ran for two hours and was more like 5 star eating! Paul found a wine he loved and needless to say we stayed quite a while. Good thing he only had to drive the elevator home!
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Day 66 At Sea towards Beijing
Today we spent our last day on the Diamond Princess. Bright and early tomorrow morning we disembark and head into Beijing where we will be spending three days.
It has gotten cold which is something we are unaccustomed to having spent so much time in the South Pacific. There was ice this morning on deck 15. We are transitioning to a much cooler climate but with the outdoor visiting I hope it won't be too cold. I am excited to begin this next leg of our journey but also somewhat sad to leave the comfort of this ship.
With the problems arising out of China over Google and other internet activity we will have to wait and see if this presents any problems with our daily blog. Hopefully we can continue without interruption.
Tomorrow Beijing.
Chris - So Long Farewell.... - It goes without saying that I'll miss not being on a cruise ship. I'll obviously miss the water and food but I'll also miss not having the ability to go downstairs and walk and upstairs and swim. If I cruised all the time I'd be VERY fit....hmmmm food for thought. Today walking was a challenge as it was 42 when I went out to walk this morning and I had a hooded sweatshirt type shirt, jeans, gloves and a hooded, wind resistant fleece and it took me a couple of hours after I speed walked to get warm. Fortunately there is an solarium pool. Obviously I prefer to cruise in the sunny and hot South Pacific!! I DO look forward to a little in depth exploring of some cities but do NOT look forward to schlepping luggage. Onward!!
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Day 65 At Sea toward Beijing
As we left Shanghai yesterday we entered the East China Sea and started on our northerly course. Eventually this will take us into the Yellow Sea as we approach Beijing. The Yellow River flows into the sea near Beijing which I suspect is the reason it has developed . The Yangtze River flows into the China Sea near Shanghai which is why it has developed as it has.
We only have one day left on board the Diamond Princess before we begin the next leg of our journey. Cruising has been a great way to see this part of the world. It is especially good in those countries you want to visit but don't want to stay. With a cruise you know where you will be sleeping and the quality of food you will be eating. We have constantly been careful while we were off the ship about what we ate and drank. Now that our cruise is ending we will be forced to eat and drink what is available. Fortunately we have not had any problems from the food or drink and we hope this continues. It will be nice to try some of the local foods, however some of them just don't look appetizing. These are the thoughts that run thru my mind as we prepare to move into the land phase of our little escapade.
Tomorrow another sea day. Our last.
Chris -You Got To Love Family! - I mentioned yesterday how wonderful it was to see Tom, Nancy and Sara, but I didn't tell you how well they took care of us. Upon arriving they exchanged our money for us and gave us a preprogrammed cellphone with all of their numbers should we need them while we're in China. They also had packed a bag for us with the train tickets they purchased for us, as they're cheaper bought in China, and scarves and masks for our trip to Beijing. I appreciated the scarves as I didn't pack one and Beijing was in the mid 40's yesterday, we'll see how it is on Monday. As for the masks, I told them thanks but I thought we'd be OK for three days, Tom told us about the dust storm in Beijing last weekend ... so bad that nobody left the buildings. I did remember seeing pictures on CNN about it and you couldn't see anything. OK, I guess the masks are a good idea. Add dust storm to the ever growing list of potential challenges for our trip. Thanks for taking care of us Nancy, Tom and Sara!
Trivia update - another successful day at trivia. We won both sessions and we'll post a picture of us and our team. We probably have won the most of any team this cruise and our closest competitors are a team we like a lot that sit near us. We have a very friendly rivalry and it's all fun. All for now.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Day 64 Shanghai, China
Experiencing one of the worlds largest and certainly the fastest growing city is a thrill. Even as you near the city you begin to get a feeling for the size and scope of activity this city commands. We took the shuttle bus into the city and were met by my brother in law, Tom, and my niece, Sara. They took us over to the office of City Planning for the city of Shanghai. In there we viewed a scale model of the city as they project it to be in the year 2020. This scale model encompasses about three quarters of the entire floor of this building. I hope the pictures we post do it justice. This is a good example of how organized and coordinated the Chinese people are. They clearly have their eye on the future.
Next we visited the Shanghai World Financial Center building. This is one of the tallest buildings in the world and the tallest in Shanghai, at least for the moment. Here we rode the elevator up to the top of this 492 meter building where we could walk across a glass floor which spans the 100 floor from one side of the building to the other. It is really creepy to be able to look down and see the street and ground below, although it made me feel better to be inside instead of the window washers we saw who were just descending the building to begin their job. As uncomfortable as it was for us to feel the building sway beneath us we at least knew someone else had it worse.
From the top of this building we could see the constantly expanding landscape of this fascinating city. There is construction going on all over the place. This is in part due to the opening of the worlds Expo at the end of April. The Chinese are very proud of this and are determined to show the same level of accomplishment as they did for the Olympics. From what we saw they should be proud.
After we left the building we were able to meet up with my sister Nancy who along with her family have been residents of Shanghai for 14 years. It was good to see her as she was just returning from a business trip to India. We will be back to see more of this city in about 5 days after we finish the cruise and spend a few days in Beijing.
Shanghai is an impressive moder city that rivals any in the world and I am looking forward to returning to spend more time here and get a deeper understanding of the day to day lives of these interesting people.
Tomorrow a sea day.
Chris - Family! - It was fabulous to get to Shanghai and meet up with Tom, Sara and Nancy! It will be great to be able to experience this beautiful city with our own personal tour guides for five days when we come back. Today was a day to get an overall view and feeling for Shanghai. As Paul mentioned the model of the city was very impressive. Shanghai is New York times three in people and wayyyyy more in land mass, maybe by 6 or more! When Nancy and her family moved here in 1997 there were only a few skyscrapers, today there are 3400! This city has certainly grown up. It was fun to see it from the vantage point we did on the 100th floor of the Financial Center, which looks like a bottle opener in design. I think it has the tallest observatory floor in the world. And yes, I did ride the elevator all the way up. A walk on the wild side for me! In addition to beautiful buildings, Shanghai has made a commitment to trees and parks. It is very green and the parks, gardens and plantings are very well maintained and many are sculptured. Add the Huangpu River to the landscape as in winds through the metropolitan area and you have a very beautiful city. I really look forward to coming back and exploring it more. I particularly look forward to returning and spending time with Nancy, Tom and Sara who we wished we saw more of.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Day 63 At Sea toward Shanghi, China
First I want to explain that we have had a terrible time trying to get online and once online often the emails would fail to send. Loading the previous days pictures took four failed attempts until they were finally loaded this evening. It is very frustrating to lose contact and not be able to post on our blog. This has become a nightly ritual that causes us to reflect on our day and the experiences we have had. It will be interesting to reread the blog once we have completed our trip. I am sure we will come away from the trip with some strong impressions. Once we have reread the blog these impressions may change as we are reminded of the earlier parts of the experience.
Today we are in the South China Sea looking forward to our visit to Shanghai where we will meet my sister and brother in law. The sea today was rough but not nearly what we experienced earlier in our travels. We have been seeing a great deal of nautical traffic as we approach one of the busiest ports in the world.
Tomorrow Shanghai, China.
Chris - Japan Lite - I was curious after we were in Okinawa why it wasn't like the Japan I had always envisioned. So I did some research today and found out that Okinawa in location to most of Japan is like Key West to the United States. Japan is made up of 4 main islands and then a series of little islands that trail off to the south, the Ryukyu Islands. Okinawa is located on the most southern of the Ryukyu Islands. It was American until 1972 when it again became Japanese. Growing up a lot of what I heard about Japan was about Okinawa, with it's military base and significance to WWII. Okinawa's sultry climate and languid lifestyle creates the most exotic place in Japan. It is more like a South Sea Island than the rest of Japan and serves as a vacation paradise for them. That certainly explains why it was so laid back there when I had envisioned the frantic pace of a big city, much like Tokyo. Another tidbit about Japan. A lot of what we saw in the trinket stores and on advertising pieces had almost a cartoon type look to everything. There were endless little dolls and characters similar to "Hello Kitty" on everything! At least they looked cheery and fun. Almost all the souvenirs were either those doll like characters or packaged fruits or cookies, many of them looking very exotic with vivid colors.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Day 62 Okinawa, Japan
Today we had our first and only stop in Japan. Okinawa was significantly involved in WW II when the Japanese occupied the area. After the war the US controlled it until 1972 when it reverted back to Japanese control.
Today we were treated to Japanese immigration and control. This consisted of having them analyze our fingerprints this morning and at lunch time the entire ship had to file past a camera that was equipped to detect if anyone had a fever. If we would have had a fever we would have been required to stay on the ship. Well we passed the test which means that Interpol has not yet loaded our fingerprints on the international database.
We visited the Shurijo Castle which overlooks the harbor. This was the home of the ruler since about the 1400's. It is always entertaining to see troops of westerners have to remove their shoes to enter a special building. After the castle we were off to their shopping district. This was like so many we have seen in our travels.
I found Okinawan to be a nice place and in my mind it probably suffers from following so many other cities on our trip. It is a nice civilized city with a seemingly healthy economy. The people are cordial and welcoming. There were no swarms of people following us around which moves it up on the list. I was surprised that they will not accept US money and they drive on the left side of the road since the US had such a long presence here with a major military installation.
Tomorrow a sea day.
Chris - Okinawa was very much a metropolitan city with not much beauty or distinction. It was very clean and the Japanese people are very efficient. All our exposures with the people of Japan were positive experiences, starting with the quick and very organized thermal imaging of every passenger and crew to the efficient check in at the Shurijo Castle. The market was very impressive. Yes, it sold food and a variety of items like lots others we've visited, but none were as clean, as orderly, as calm as the one in Okinawa. The market was extremely large, all under roof and had large aisles that allowed for you to walk leisurely along and see all the booths without feeling hassled in any way. Unlike other markets, the food section didn't smell, despite the presence of LOTS of exposed meat. That meat included exotic fish, pigs head and various other meat I couldn't even identify. One thing that was puzzling to me was that all afternoon I looked for a flag, any flag, that I could photograph. I usually take a picture of the flag from each country and city/state (if they have it), but I couldn't see ANY flag today. Where was the Japanese flag....nowhere in site, even at the City and official buildings? There were flag poles everywhere but not one flag anywhere on the 45 minute drive into the city and around the city....interesting. When I asked the guide why, all she said was , "sorry I didn't take you to see a flag." Obviously I told her it wasn't disappointed with her, just curious why there were no flags. She didn't answer why. Too bad that we don't get to see any other ports or places in Japan, I would have liked that. Hummmm, maybe we need "world adventure, part 2" :)
Day 61 Taipei, Taiwan
Well we are back. We had very spotty internet service yesterday due to the fact we receive our signals from a satellite. Supposedly sun spots have something to do with the outage. I think it has something to do with global warming, like all the other problems we experience.
Anyway, we spent the day in Taipei, which had the feeling of a large metropolitan city much like many of the others we have visited. While there we saw the changing of the guard at the Royal palace then visited a museum of antiquities. The museum was shoulder to shoulder people all trying to listen to their own tour guide thru a sporadically workable headset. I can only take so much carved Jade and ancient Chinese pottery. Leaving the museum we were off to the Chang Hi Sheck memorial. I found it to be a tribute to propaganda. I was amused to hear our guide talk about all the learned people that disappeared under his rule and when I questioned why build a shrine to someone like this he evaded the question and said he was a great man. All we saw there was awards that were given to him from leaders from around the world and pictures of him and his wife from his early days to the end of his life.
We then got a chance to drive to the Taipei 101 building which is the second largest building in the world. The Taiwanese are very proud of this building as a symbol of their country and what it can accomplish.
Then it was back to the ship to get on our way to Okinawa, Japan tomorrow.
Chris - I found Taiwan, or the part we saw, to be a beautiful mixture of green mountains, shrines and metropolitan cities. You'd look up to a mountain and occasionally there'd be a temple or shrine perched high up in the mountain. Quite a beautiful, serene sight. Taipei looked like a lot of other metropolitan cities, but interspersed with the buildings are monuments, shrines, temples or memorials. The city was very lush with an abundance of trees and flowers. They had palm trees with flower patterns in the median of the streets which softened the feel of the busy city. It was also apparent that there was a lot of American influence in this busy city. There was a 7 - 11 on almost every corner, literally. They are open 24 hours a day and it was one of the first things our tour guide told us about. We also saw the likes of McDonald's, Pizza Hut, Blockbuster, Coke etc. All in all I was very impressed with the beauty and look of Taiwan.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
No service
We had no service last night and will not have service again until 10 pm tonight. We will post again then. We have to go thru Japanese imigration this morning. Must run.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Day 60 more Hong Kong Pictures
Building Bamboo scafolding, eating Dim Sum, Harbor at night, two tourists and a pig neclace.
Day 60 At Sea toward Taiwan
Well we are now at day 60. It seems to have gone so fast. Today was the typical sea day with my usual routine.
It has been an interesting experience to have seen so many new places and glimpsed into the lives of the peoples from these countries. There are stark differences between how we live and what we take for granted and the way some of these people live. I would put Australia and New Zealand on par with the US. Slightly behind I would put Singapore and Hong Kong and a little behind them Bangkok. Then I would place the Society, Cook and Polynesian islands next. Finally, there is Cambodia and Viet Nam.
What separates these countries from each other in my mind is the quality of life and their infrastructure. In Cambodia and Viet Nam it appears to be a day to day existence for most of the people. There is a growing class of white collar workers but they are in the minority. Then rest of the people are organized into family units where everyone works and they all live together. I can't imagine that they are able to foresee any changes in their future. There does seem to be investment in the education of the children but it was impossible for us to tell how effective that is and what that prepares them to do.
There is a distinct feeling of personal responsibility that each of these people has. They know that they must make it work for themselves. You don't see any over weight people at all. They seem to be a very industrious lot and could get much done if there were more mechanization and things were done on a larger scale. Unfortunately, that would put a lot of people out of work and create bigger problems. So they are relegated to continue to utilize their manpower in inefficient ways.
A little rambling about perspective as we prepare to see Taiwan tomorrow.
Chris - "Where's the sun!" This is the first day in a very, long time that it has been cool. It was very overcast and got cooler as the day wore on as we're headed north. I did spend my morning reading and enjoying the air and water out the back, but after walking, spent the rest of the day inside. For the first time I actually went to some of the activities, besides trivia, that happen around the ship. I wandered through an "everything $10 sale" heard the tail end of a jade talk and lost a few dollars at the "dicey" horse racing. Looks like I'm STILL not lucky, guess that doesn't change with age. I even swam for an hour in the covered solarium pool, as my normal pool was way to cold with the wind. Certainly a little different than the other sea days where I spend the entire day outside, usually toasty warm in the shade. It still was a nice opportunity to unwind after two full days of sightseeing. I'm looking forward to Taiwan tomorrow.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Day 59 Hong Kong Day 2
Today was our second day in Hong Kong and we made the best of it. First we climbed aboard the tender to get to shore since we were no longer dockside but anchored in the harbor. Then off in a Hong Kong taxi to Stanley market. The taxis are easy to spot as they all have a white top and a red body. Stanley market is a very civilized market where vendors offer all hinds of dry goods, electronics and souvenirs. There are no food items for sale here as in most other market we have visited along our trip. After cruising thru the shops with a few small purchases we jumped into another taxi who took us to Aberdeen. This is a small fishing village. Or it used to be. Today the harbor is still loaded with the old style boats and sampans but now there is a flotilla of luxury yachts as well. We rode thru the harbor in a small sampan to see the boats and then were dropped off at "Jumbo" which is a famous floating restaurant. After a somewhat Chinese meal we rode back to the pier and grabbed a taxi back to catch our tender to return to the ship.
If there is a global slowdown you cannot tell from Hong Kong. There is still a great deal of construction going on and alot of it is very high end construction. The weather was nice and made for a very enjoyable day.
We have weighed anchor and are off toward Taiwan after another day at sea tomorrow.
Chris - We spent the day in a couple of our favorite spots on Hong Kong Island. Stanley Market still has great buys and I particularly like the linen clothing. I bought a linen dress last time I was here (1987) and it lasted until last year when it went to Good Will, when I was cleaning out the house. I bought 2 linen blouses this time, lets hope they at least make it a year or two! The market is as I remembered it but there are so many similar markets now, it's not that unusual anymore. I do like the merchandise better in Stanley though. The town of Stanley has certainly grown up and they have a nice waterfront area with little restaurants and shops. The drive to Stanley was gorgeous, with overlooks of water and large hills, the flowers and trees were lovely. Aberdeen, as Paul said, is a fishing village where you can see all kinds of boats. It has a "neighborhood", that we cruised through, where people live on their boats. Some gorgeous and some boats you're surprised are still afloat. I love touring around there. The main difference to me since the last time we were here, was the tremendous buildup of condo/apartments surrounding the Aberdeen harbor. The condos/apartments are mostly high rise and look well maintained. It certainly changes the look of the "sleepy" little fishing village. I know it's Paul's birthday on Tuesday, but I did find something I want for my birthday in August. I'll put the picture up so you all can see it and maybe pool your money and buy it for me. We enjoyed Hong Kong and the many things to do there.
