China - Part 1 - Beijing

Nehou!  That’s Hello from China!

Things are getting serious now.  I have to buy new clothes because I am growing out of the ones I brought!  It’s bad.  When one restaurant closes on this ship another one opens.  I try to eat lite but then I blow it with a homemade scone that is out of this world with dollop of clotted cream and some jelly and a little cup of tea!  AHhhhhh…

Anyway, we sailed away from Japan and as you can tell from that post and the pictures, it was a blast.  Our next stop was Beijing (Xingang) and that was fabulous.  We had booked our own tour (an overnight stay with tours both days) through the internet which saved us a bundle.  Included were tours to the Great Wall, Tian’anmen Square, the Ming tombs and the Temple of Heaven.  Sherry, our English speaking guide (she called it Chinglish) was entertaining and knowledgeable.  It was a long drive tho to the wall – 3 hours.  But she kept us talking and regaled us with local info then fed us lunch.  So when we arrived at the wall I was chagrined!  As many of you know I just recovered from knee surgery.  However, I refused to be shown up by the 70 somethings who were trudging up ahead of me.  So off we went on steps that were, at times, 1 foot high and then 3 feet high!  Somebody had too much Saki when they were building those steps!  So every few levels we could rest but it was a trek and the pictures will show it. We made it almost to the top but then there really isn’t a top as it goes over the mountain. We rested and shopped cause at every stop there is shopping.

Next stop - the Ming Tombs.  That was a pretty amazing tour and it was easy to visualize the culture and creativeness of the Ming dynasties.   Our hotel was a spectacular 5* with a king size bed and beautiful view.  Although Hank and I are celebrating our 36^th Anniversary - we were waaaay to tired to go out on the town. It was enough that we were in the middle of this fabulous cultural experience! The next am it was up at dawn and off on another adventure to the Forbidden City, Tian’anmen Square and the Temple of Heaven.  First though, Sherry had a surprise for us.  We got to take the rickshaws into the local area and actually enter a private home.  It was cool and supposed to be the most expensive home in the area.  Well it was - but it sorely needed some work. The Forbidden City and the T square are huge and across the street from each other so we started at one end and walked all the way through.  My legs were useless by then but there was so much to capture that I got over it. The Temple of heaven was closed that day so we went to a Tea Ceremony which was awesome!  The beautiful tea lady showed us the proper way to brew 5 kinds of tea and they were lovely.  Of course we ended buying some but it’s easy to see why the Chinese have a yen (lol) for tea!  Actually the money here is Yuan. We are trying something new by including the pictures in this blog so we hope it works!

    

These are the great wall pics before the steepness….

           

Ok my idea of including pictures is taking way to long so will put them in separate post.

Tomorrow we are looking forward to some restful sea days and some sun bathing.  We have been on our journey for 19 days and still have not had a good tanning day.  I need my Vitamin D! We miss you all so much and can’t wait to share this great adventure in person.

Hugs for now.

Maryann

Ditto Ditto….. smile, smile!  This is an unbelievable, once in a life time, fab trip.  Can’t believe we are actually here.  Can’t wait to see you all and share in person about some of the experiences we have had here.  Please ask us about an older gentleman getting arrested in front of us at the T Square in Beijing, the movie I accidently took of myself walking up the Great Wall, the knock off shopping in Shanghai, walking though alley ways and a fantastic Tapenyake dinner we had, also in Shanghai.  We are now 1/3 through our trip, and it seems like it has been months since we were in Russia, yet we still have a long way to go.  We will be in Hong Kong tomorrow…… Can’t wait!  Saw lots of little dogs that were loved pets, in Shanghai. This was way cool because that means the likelyhood that we ever ate dog, without knowing was less, than what could be, I hope.  (Oh BeeZoo, Mommy misses you).  As many of you may know, going to the Great Wall of China was …. Yes “was” on my bucket list.  Wow, so beautiful, and I had such a euphoric feeling, way cool.  I hope that you all know, that I have each and every one of you in my thoughts and heart, as I am experiencing this part of the world, and truly wish you were here experiencing this adventure with us.  I have taken sooooo many pictures, it would make your head spin looking at them.  Wish we could post more pictures on the blog, but it takes soooo much internet time, (that we have to pay for), and it takes about 3 or more minutes for each picture to post.  So, can’t wait to share with all of you, our pictures and stories in person when we return the 2^nd of December.

Miss you all so much, Hugs and Kisses!!! Xoxoxo  Robin, October 18, 2010.  Ciao for now.