Summer Palace

This is at the summer palace and we all enjoyed it very much. It was a LOT of walking for Jim but he made it. This lake is huge and it is man-made. We talked about how it must have felt to be one of the ones "chosen" to dig such a lake and move all the dirt,etc.

Pandas and Summer Palace

Isn't he cute? We had such a good time looking at the pandas. This one was the only one who seemed to be enjoying himself. We spent awhile at the zoo and saw the Red panda as well. Then we went to the Summer Palace and it was beautiful! That is where the Dragon Lady Cixi lived and it was huge. We had a dragon boat ride on the lake and it was just a beautiful sunny day for the first time. We all sighed and said it was too bad that today was not our day to go to the Wall, but our guide told us about a GCT group who came in a couple of days before and they got drenched and had to come back to the hotel from the Forbidden City so at least we didn't have that. So we are just thankful to have a pretty day today and get to see the mountains that surround Beijing and all. It is back to the heat but it was just a pleasant morning. In a short while, we are going to go to the pearl market and then walk to the Temple of Heaven from there and take a cab home.

The mist lifted a bit on our way back down and we got some better photos that you could see the wall much better as it snaked around. Surprise, surprise, the peddlers were up on the wall with their wares. They were all doing a booming business with the ponchos and umbrellas!

Well naturally I would choose a picture where Jim's eyes are shut. It is hard to tell from the thumbnails I have to choose from when I put them on the blog. Anyway, you get the idea. He was having a good time despite the pain and we really did get to enjoy this great adventure.

I guess we were lucky because tonight while we were eating dinner in the hotel, the rain just poured and umbrellas were blowing upwards and the wind was causing everyone to get drenched if they were outside. We were glad it had not rained like that for us at the wall.

Today was the day that Jim and I chose to sit on the front seat of the bus. Thankfully, Steven just told us to sit up front one day only until everyone had had a turn so we thought this was a pretty good day to choose. Let me say, sitting on the front seat puts you right where you can see the traffic and I finally took some photos of the traffic merging every which way. They do come very close to serious accidents but luckily we didn't actually have one. How they can avoid them though is a mystery to us.

The Great Wall

Truly the Great Wall is just that. Great. Even with the rainy day, it is an awesome sight. I remembered my niece Beth telling me that you had two options-that one was more crowded and the other much harder. I now understand! We chose the same path she did as the other way was just solid people. Jim and I walked until we almost reached the 3rd guardpost. By then some of the other tour members had been up to it and said we should not try the last bit and with the fog so thick, you could not see anything up there for the most part. So we were content to have gone that far and held dearly to the rails going back down the steps and slopes. I was so proud of Jim that he did that much! It was not easy for a healthy person much less one with a herniated disc! His trusty cane/seat has just been invaluable. I think everyone on the trip gives him the courage award. But to be on the Great Wall and to see it stretch for miles and the beauty of the area, is just an awesome experience! Steven our guide said the rain adds a mystical quality and it truly does. We naturally would have preferred to see it on a bright sunny day, but you take what you are given and I am just so grateful to have had this experience! We had lunch at the dept store buffet when we finished and it was quite good and gave us longer to shop the markets and stores there at the entrance. We all got the obligatory "I climbed the Great Wall" tshirts and some of the fancy hats and the fake Prada bags. GCT has a deal with a local chop maker and so we had some of those done too. We stopped on the way to the wall at a cloisonne factory -the oldest one in the area and it was very interesting to see how that is made. Their things were beautiful with price tags to match. I did find a really neat small tiger that I will treasure from the trip.

After lunch, we went to the Ming tombs and gardens and it was also something we enjoyed. The misty day was much cooler than we've had on the trip and so it was quite nice. Most of us shed the $1 ponchos we either brought or bought and just let the sprinkles come. The Sacred Way was beautiful with the animals and guards, the grass and landscaping. At the end, I watched a small herd of goats prance around near our bus and the goat man with his stick was keeping them in check.

All over one thing that has surprised me is how much labor is done manually with simple tools. things that we take for granted will be helped along by trench diggers or bulldozers, they usually have a lot of people out just doing it with a shovel. Today we saw about 20 workers sweeping the water from the street using the old straw brooms. It is just an interesting difference.

This is the tail end of the peddlers as we were getting on the bus. It was twice this large just a minute before but I couldn't get the camera ready in time!

This was at the archeologist's house. He was so interesting. During the Cultural Revolution he was sent to the countryside for 3 years for "re-education".

The peddlers have introduced some new goods along the last few days-it makes it more interesting-pencils, bags and a few other things in addition to the Olympic caps, postcards, and fans. It has gotten to be quite a sport among us to shoo them away or see who can deal the best price if it is something new and even possibly interesting.

We start each day saying "Yee How" which is definitely spelled phonetically for Good Morning so you can imagine it. We make attempts at a few more things but truthfully, I think that is about our best phrase! It is really challenging to be in a land where the signs don't have English subtitles! They are improving because of the olympics, but that is still a year away. We have had great lectures and talks about what life is like here and it has been so interesting.

Fung Fu, Jade and Hutongs

Today was a more restful day and we really enjoyed it. The morning tour was to a Kung Fu school and the kids were just amazing. Then we went to a jade factory where they had beautiful and very expensive jade things, from jewelry to works of art carved in jade. We drove by the Olympic park and buildings that they are building, but it was drizzling rain and foggy so we could not see as well as we'd have liked. We saw the arena where they will hold the opening ceremony on the way in the other day though and it is an awesome structure-shaped like a big birds' nest! It will be fun to watch the olympics next summer and see the places we have been to. The kids from the Kung Fu school will be part of the ceremonies so we may even see them again! We came back to the hotel for a short break and then we went to the Hutong tour which we really enjoyed. The rain had stopped by this time and today was a really nice day temperature -wise. Hopefully, the rain will not show itself tomorrow when we are at the Great Wall. We have been so lucky with the rains in that there have not been many and when we've had them, they have not mattered.
The Hutong tour was so much fun, riding in the pedicabs they call them. I think they are modern day versions of the Rickshaw. Our driver was Chang and he spoke some English and was really nice. We had a long ride through the narrow lanes and houses, by a man-made lake and back. We stopped and had tea with a family in their home in this area. The house was over 200 years old and was very neat to see. The man was a retired archeologist and it was very interesting to ask questions, with Steven being our interpreter, about life and what it had been like to live through so many changes and the revolution in China and all. His wife served us tea and some neat snacks. The other group visited with an artist in his home the same way.

A group of us met and had our free Coke together at the bar area and just talked for an hour or two and that was fun. Then we had a club sandwich in the hotel western restaurant and boy was it good. We just didn't want to see any more spicy food or noodles for today! It was a good day and I feel more rested after the hot and tiring day yesterday.

We are all enjoying this trip so much but think we are in agreement that we wouldn't want to live here. But what a fascinating place to visit and experience! Tomorrow is the thing I have been looking forward to the most-the Great Wall.

Oh by the way, the bargains just keep coming.

Beijing Opera

Tonight we went to the Beijing Opera. It was a delightful performance and we really enjoyed it. It is a combination of drama, music, acrobatics, comedy, you name it. The costumes were neat and it was just a unique experience. It is an art that is dying, according to our guide and only the older generation of Chinese still enjoy it for the most part. We had a dinner before -the food was good but all of us would jump for joy at the sight of a pizza, hamburger, Gutheries, or Byrons! The best thing they had for me tonight was a plate of peanuts steamed or something. Anyway, they tasted just like good peanuts and it was welcome. On the way to the Opera, we experienced a Chinese traffic jam. It brought back memories of Atlanta's traffic only much worse because there are so many more people here. And they just merge almost without looking. Our bus driver is good and he is not very friendly about letting cars, bicycles, or anything get in our way! It pays not to sit on the front seat where you can see such things!!
Jim had a really good day today and enjoyed going to the Forbidden City,etc. He wishes he could be up and going and seeing every nook and cranny but we are both just thankful he can come and see what he can see on this trip. Thank you for your continued prayers for him. Tomorrow we have an easy day-we go to the Kung Fu school and a jade factory and in the afternoon we are taking a Hutong tour in a rickshaw. Steven said it will be no problem for Jim to go on that so that was a pleasant surprise.

More of Tiananman Square and Forbidden City

We had lunch at a nice restaurant. This is such a congenial group to eat with and the meals are all pretty standard with the lazy susan in the middle and they keep bringing out dishes and more dishes,etc. I enjoyed the Crispy Rice which was their specialty but that and the steamed cabbage the most. Here they serve you a drink that is about orange juice size glass and that is all you get unless you pay for more. And water is not drinkable unless it is bottled so we have to pay no matter whether it is water or a Coke. But things are pretty cheap so it is not really a problem-just one of those differences.

Some days I am good with chopsticks and some days I am still struggling. I'm not sure how they keep from having arthritis in their fingers when they get to our age!
Well, we are off to the Beijing opera and meal beforehand. It has been a really good day.

Forbidden City

The colors in the buildings are just incredible. There are so many rooms and after awhile, it all gets to look alike and I was more impressed with just the sheer enormity of it and the beauty of it, the craftmanship,etc. We only went in the political area, the living area, and the area where the concubines lived. But just that much took us 3 hours and we were all sweaty and tired and ready to call it a great visit. Just the idea that we were there was awesome to me.

Forbidden City

Here we are in Tiananmen Square. All I can say is, wow. Both Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City are just huge. It was actually a sunny day but the haze/pollution is still bad and it is difficult if not impossible to get the camera to show it in all its glory. We were fortunate in that today was cooler than they have been having. Now understand, that means it was not 102 but more like 95 or so. They tell us the smog is good today and how cool it is so we were just thankful that we were there today. Also, the crowds were really low today. We had been warned about the thousands of people and while there were a lot, it was not crammed and we were thankful for that as well. The hawkers were all over and we are all getting pretty good at fending them off.

approaching the bus

This is looking back at the airport as I got ready to get on the bus. It was at about 2 PM so was mid day essentially.

Tomorrow we go to the Forbidden City and all and is one of our most strenuous days. Glad Jim can have a wheelchair so he can enjoy it too.

Jim had a wild ride across the tarmac in the wheelchair too

Jim was getting onto the shuttle bus after arriving in Beijing. We were on one of those flights where you had to go out and up the stairs out on the tarmac. He said they took him around planes and all sorts of things on his way to the plane. Thank goodness for the wheelchairs! This trip is still very difficult for him but the wheelchairs have made a huge difference where they have had them.

We had a group dinner here in the hotel tonight and had Peking duck along with jelly fish (no takers there except for the obligatory one bite so we can say we have tried it. We'd tried it before so got to pass tonight!), Chinese dates, a fish (with eyeball looking at us),etc. We all had such a good time talking about our plane flight. Allen wrote a better account of it than I did. I asked Steven if he had ever experienced that before and he said "no, never". We enjoyed teasing him because on the way to the airport he was telling us about how GCT evaluates the program directors. Now they are not just expected to get Excellent ratings about their own performance, but the entire trip evaluation is figured in. He said he is responsible for hotels, rooms, buses, everything including the weather. So we all grinned at him and told him he was responsible for the wild plane ride. He has a great sense of humor. Allen posted a photo of the stewardess on the airlines. They have the most beautiful uniforms and they introduce themselves and bow at the beginning of the flight. We all laughed and said no one stood and said goodbye to us after that wild ride!

On our way back from the dinner, Jim and I tried to go in what we thought was our room and our key kept saying "no". Finally the door opened and a Chinese man looked very confused. But he was not as confused as we were-it was our room number from the last hotel! I had to go back down to the desk and ask what our room number was. The guy at the desk didn't speak English too well and kept saying "what is your room number". I finally held up my name tag and he smiled and typed in my name and wrote down the room number.

By the way, today reminded us all that we need to tell you all that we love you! Can you tell the plane ride really was that bad???

sky as we arrived in Beijing

We were heading to the bus and it was very eerie looking. By the time we almost reached the bus, the rain started.

WILD RIDE TO BEIJING

Well, we had the scariest plane ride most of us have ever been on today. The plane was full and the air turbulant. About 30 minutes out of Beijing, the plane hit turbulance and it bounced around and dropped like crazy and then all at once, it just plummeted. To say it was terrifying is putting it mildly! After that one wild drop, it seemed to level off and we only encountered another brief spell right before we landed. But the entire plane (at least the Americans on board) all clapped and cheered when we touched down!! I'm not kidding. It was very scary and would you believe, I forgot to take my Ativan that I take before flying???? See if I ever do that again. ha.

Anyway, we did get here and it gave us all a new appreciation for life. As we arrived, got our luggage together and ready for the porters, then we exited to find the bus. The sky looked like a tornado weather in Alabama and those from other parts of the country expressed what it looked like in their homes. Just as we approached the bus, the bottom fell out and it poured rain. However, the local guide, Leo, said that they needed rain and it would clear the smog and tomorrow will be nice for the day at the Forbidden City,etc. If so, it will have been worth it. It has been really hot here, he said, and he said the rain should help lower it a bit.

This hotel is really nice-our rooms are average rooms and much smaller than the last two hotels. But there is a grocery nearby and ATM and all things we need. Allen is in the room next door. So we are settling in. Will send along the few photos I took today. I liked the airline stewardess dresses so managed to get a photo of them today.

In the garden at the Small Goose Pagoda

On Xi'an City wall

Xi'an City Wall Day

Today was a fun day. We went and walked along the old city wall with its towers and beautiful scenery. I will try to post some photos of it as a picture is worth a thousand words. But it is a pretty place. Then we went to a lacquer furniture factory which was hot and could have been left out as far as most of us are concerned. After that though, we went to the Small Goose Pagoda and it was just so interesting and lovely. The gardens were wonderful and peaceful and you could hear and see some new birds which was fun. In one of the shops, they had Roy Ball prints....the other prints were Chinese farmers so I'm not sure what the deal was. I tried to ask but the guides didn't know. I'll try to put a photo on of that.

For lunch we went to a revolving restaurant on the top of one of the 5 star hotels but it doesn't revolve at lunchtime. But it was still a pretty place to eat and a good meal. Then we came back to our hotel. Allen and I went down to the market at the muslin area and had a great time looking and trying our bargaining skills. I think Allen has already told you about my big success. Actually, I could have gotten a North Face fake Goretex jacket with zip out polar lining. His final offer was 200 yuans which was about$30. Allen convinced me if it was a fake North Face, I could count on the Goretex being fake as well....but it was a nice looking jacket! lol. I looked for Tiger stuff as next year, I think, is the year of the tiger. This year is the year of the pig and not especially collectible for us. I did see some cloisonne gamecocks.....but passed them by. Anyway, it is great fun and we all compared our stories when we got back. We had a free drink (Coke-so good after a hot outing) downstairs which most of us took advantage of after our strenuous bargaining!

Jim has not had a good day-he has hurt pretty badly so he came back and has been in bed all afternoon. Hopefully he will feel better tomorrow for our flying but he will have a wheelchair at the airport. Also, Steven said we can rent a wheelchair at the Forbidden City so that was huge news. Jim made it to the top of this wall and he said where we are going, the first level of the Great Wall is not much taller so I hope he can make it to the top as he wants to so much. He has endured much but he has also enjoyed the trip and seeing what he can.
Will try to go post some photos and hope it works.

Room with a view-our hotel room here has a wall of glass into the bathroom.

Terra Cotta Army Wow

Wow. That is the first thing that comes to my mind when I think of seeing this. One of the farmers that discovered this was signing books in the souvenir shop which was neat. This museum is truly wonderful. What a great job they are doing of preserving the find and no telling what they will uncover as they continue to excavate the area. At any rate, we loved it. Jim had a wheelchair and his own personal "guide" and that was wonderful. It made for a super day. After spending several hours at this museum, we went to lunch at a local restaurant which was really good. Their specialty is sugared potatoes. These are like irish potatoes with a cruist of caramelized sugar on them. It is most unusual and good. The chef demonstrated making noodles without any knives and it was like watching a master pizza maker throw the crust! Of course, the restaurant had its little stalls of merchants on the way to the restrooms. We are getting more used to handling this anyway and it can be quite amusing sometimes.

On the way back to Xi'an from lunch, we stopped at a local primary school that GCT helps sponsor. The children were delightful and we really enjoyed it. The rural schools are much different than the urban schools and it was a very interesting presentation. And they were very interested in Chris, our little boy on the tour. He is really cute and so well behaved that we all just love him. The students asked his name and what he liked to do,etc. It was fun.

After we got back to Xi'an we rested awhile and then Jim, Allen and I struck out walking. We actually walked a long way to the Drum Tower and the Bell Tower. We were just able to do it slowly where Jim could go and then stop and rest. It worked and this was something he really wanted to do. I will try to post photos of some of this.

One thing that is funny is that when we try to communicate with children, whether it be in the home hosted meal earlier or today at the school, one of the questions that just naturally pops off our lips is "Do you have brothers and sisters." With China's one child policy, the children seem really lost when we ask them that-as if they don't fathom the idea. It is interesting.

Here in Xi'an the clothes are drying much faster in our rooms than in Shanghai. That is great as we were getting worried.
I will stop and post some photos. I give up. I have tried every way I know how to get the photos to post tonight and they just won't come up. I'll try again tomorrow.

On to Xian

Today was a long hot day but we made it safely to Xian, home of the terracotta warriors. But today, we left about 10:30 for the plane ride from Shanghai to Xian. It was a sunny day but you could barely tell it through the haze. All our luggage was weighed together as a group and was taken from us at 9AM and we didn't see it until we got in our rooms. That was nice. Security was much easier than other flights. Steven got Jim a wheelchair for the airport and that is huge help. He also said we can pay about $7 tomorrow at the Terracotta warriors place and have one so we will definitely do that. Jim has had to walk a lot-just getting out of bus and into stations or such is a lot of walking. His trusty cane is huge help. He could not do the trip without it. The plane ride was uneventful and they even had an auction for a free plane ticket on their airlines and money goes to help their charity. So that was neat to watch. After we arrived in Xian, we went to the Bell Tower and toured that. It is very near our hotel. Our hotel is very near some of the little shopping alleys-I spotted a genuine uh huh North Face Goretex Jacket.....Anyway, it will be fun to be close enough to be able to shop some in the next day or two. Then we went for a Dumpling meal that was provided. It was not the greatest for me as so much had onions in it, but they made special ones for me, such as they were! I did get to try several that we knew would not have anything so it was a good discovery event. I did find out that I actually like saki. Scary. That is rice wine and as you know, I do not drink so it was a surprise to sample it and actually like the taste.

The hotel here is right in the middle of all the major stuff so that is awesome. When we are not touring, we can go some places on our own and have some fun. There are street peddlers here too so we all have to watch our purses,etc carefully. Our friend Richard almost got pickpocketed at the grocery store last night. He had on the travelsmith pants that had a zipper inside the pocket and the guy got it half way down when it stuck. He said if it had been regular khakis, it would have been gone. So we all have to stay very vigilant.

I'm going to make this quick tonight and not put any photos. Our internet is free here so that will help us be able to use it more easily. And Allen can take it to his room to work on it as well. The hotel is nice-hard beds but most unusual room. There is a glass wall beside the bed that looks into the bathtub or shower or anything else going on in the bathroom..... Thank goodness it does have a curtain you can draw so you can have some privacy! lol.

Suzhou

Today we traveled by several modes of transportation on our journey to Suzhou and back. First our bus took us to the train station and we got to experience why it is called mass transit! We went into waiting room 4 which you had to have a ticket to enter. This photo was made on the platform as we were starting to get on the train. I have a photo of room 4 but that doesn't do it justice. The sheer number of people in one place was definitely a Discovery Experience, as GCT likes to say. The train itself was wonderful and brand new and modern. The ride only took 35 minutes but the bus ride home in the afternoon took 2 hours. It was fast! After we exited the train (we had 2 minutes to do so) we managed to get across a street and dodge the cars, bicycles, buses, etc. They do not stop! All of this involved a LOT of walking for Jim. I can't say enough about how stoic he has been to go and do on this trip. Everyone is so impressed and I certainly am. He could not have done it without the trusty cane seat. It attracts attention everywhere because it is so unique. Ok back to Suzhou. We took a canal ride and it was a very different view of life. The boat was fun and we all really did enjoy this tour.

Then we went to lunch in the buffet restaurant at the silk factory. Afterwards, we toured the silk factory and saw the silkworms eating the mulberry leaves and all the stages -very interesting. Then we got to shop in their sales rooms -surprise, surprise! Actually, their things were just lovely and it is a good thing for most bank accounts that we had a limited time there. I did manage to do some damage in the allotted time. From there, we went to the famous gardens there but honestly, they were not as nice as the ones in Shanghai and it was so humid that we were all just dripping and not terribly interested. But the way in and back to the bus was a short lane of shops full of assorted wonderful buys. I, myself, got a "genuine" fake North Face backpack. We did not bring a backpack on this trip and have missed it when we go out for the day so for $12, this works great. We are all enjoying the Mao watches and the fans and the post cards and the hats that the "salespeople" crowd around us to sell us. Barbara, you asked about the shopping. We are managing to find things to shop for but to be honest, we do where the bus takes us. The city is huge and there is something about going into a store and not being able to read the prices or even the signs at all......sort of takes the thrill of the hunt out of things!

Speaking of shopping, we went to the grocery store/market next to our hotel tonight to get assorted things to make a light supper in our room. It is truly an experience to go to the grocery here. The deli had cooked chicken feet or you could go buy them uncooked across the aisle. We have had fun guessing at the flavor of some things and there is just so much unusual stuff for sale in them. There is a clothing and other stuff store attached to the grocery store-it is a really big one. Anyway it was fun until we paid and went to the door and wondered why there was a huge crowd at the door. Then we realized it was pouring rain and lightning to beat the band. Now if you know me, you know that I am very afraid of lightning! So we waited inside for about 10 min with no signs of it letting up. Allen found a way to go part way under a big overhang. Then my caring son, the physics teacher, put his arm around me and assured me that I was safe among all those tall buildings and we made a dash for it!

Well have gone on much too long so will post another photo and head to bed. On to Xian tomorrow. Steven has assured us our luggage is being weighed as a group so not to worry!

second try

photos

Another smoggy morning in Shanghai

I think our blogs today may well sound like we don't like Shanghai-with the smog and the abundance of salesmen....but really, it is a beautiful city! They need to do something about the smog as photos are impossible to make it look that way as it is so hazy but it has so many really wonderful new modern buildings with great architecture.

We had a long and fun filled day. We started off by going to a silk rug factory. They make all the rugs by hand and are lovely, to say the least, both is beauty and price. However, I did manage to finally succumb to one of these shopping experiences and got a really pretty small rug that is being shipped. It is my birthday present, Jim says. Then we went to a market and looked at the pigs feet and eels and crabs and crayfish. We bought fruit to take to our hosts at our home hosted meal. We had a great time there. The 16 yr old grandaughter wanted to practice her English so she helped us all out. I don't know how anyone could lose weight on this trip!! I admit to being one of the pickiest eaters on the planet, but I have been stuffed royally at ever turn. I've tried things like jellyfish, steamed pumpkin, tofu, bamboo, taro and it is amazingly tasty. And especially at the home hosted meal, it was impolite not to try a little of each one. We are getting quite adept at chopsticks! Our home hosted meal was in a new high rise apt and was very nice. Then we went to the Bund and that was the haven for the salesmen. But the view was beautiful and we enjoyed the visit there but it was long enough.

Then we came back to the hotel for a short time before leaving for dinner and the acrobatic show tonight. More food and a wonderful show! It is late and we leave early tomorrow so I will not post many photos but believe me, those people could bend and twist and balance so that we all got tired just watching! They even juggle so we felt it was made for Allen to enjoy.

Jim is such a trooper and he has gritted his teeth and gone for it on every thing we do. I know the pain has been incredible but I also think he has enjoyed the trip too. We see places at every turn where we'd be out exploring if he could walk and enjoy, but we are just happy to be here and to see and enjoy what we can. And who knows, the heat and humidity is such that we are probably better off not trying to cram more in!

Our Program Director Steven is terrific and our Shanghai guide Agnes is also awesome. We have been very lucky so far and are just having a great time. We have to pack tomorrow to fly the next day and we have spread out all over the room. But Steven insists that we should not worry about weight for planes so we are taking him at his word.
Will try to post this and then post a photo or two.

Delaney, Emily, and Dalton, we miss you and and are thinking about you when we see things like the goldfish at the gardens and the kites flying. We will have a lot to tell you about!
Meg and Becky, thanks for the notes as we enjoy hearing from you.

Morning in SHanghi photos

From our hotel room, you can see people doing Tai Chi across the street. We have really pretty views from our windows but the city is so smoggy that photos don't come out well. So far I think my favorite food was lemon fish that was sweet. I feel sure that the food will get very old for me before the two weeks is out, but it is fun to sample now.

Photos of Shanghai

First full day in Shanghai

OK.....we are getting strange characters when we try to log into the blog over here and Allen tinkered with it and now we have Chinese. We are not very fluent with our Chinese yet.....hmmm...so we just guess at the right buttons to push. So far they seem to be working. Anyway, we had a great tour today. We went to the Yu Gardens which were beautiful, but unfortunately, it chose that time to rain. It was so humid and hot that the rain was not all that bad except for trying to take photos. Naturally, this afternoon when we went to the museum, the sun came out. But regardless, we enjoyed the tour of the gardens with huge goldfish and beautiful plants. Allen's blog gives a bit of detail as to why it is laid out the way it is, but it was fun. Jim did incredibly well on the tour. It was a LOT of walking and since it was raining, we did not dawdle like we do on a lot of the tours. I worried about him and I am sure he was in a lot of pain, but he managed and was a real trooper.

After the gardens, we went to lunch at a local restaurant where we all tried our skills at chop sticks and new foods. We fared well with both. Steven our Program Director (no, not his Chinese name) told us what each thing was and we sat at a big round table with a lazy susan in the middle and it was great fun. He has been great about checking for garlic and onion and I've tried several new foods already. I'm not so sure what they were, but I tried them and liked several!

Tonight we have an included welcome dinner here at the hotel. It is a most unusual Grand Circle group in that we have more varied ages than we usually do. Our most senior member is 93. Yes, and quite spry and lovely. She is on the trip with her daughter and grandson who is about Allen's age. Then there is a dad and daughter, and a family with grandmother, son and wife and their little boy! His name is Christopher and he is so well behaved and is fun to have on the group. There are many people age-wise in between so is not your typical group but I think it will make it even more special for us.

Did I mention it is humid....well, folks, let me tell you. Alabama does not have the market cornered on the humidity department! But so far we are all taking it in good humor. But clothes don't dry very fast, even in the air conditioned hotel room.

This afternoon we went to the Shanghai Museum of Art and History which was a wonderful museum. They had a wheelchair for Jim and it worked so well. We really enjoyed our two our visit there. They have some beautiful things!

The restaurant was the floor above an embroidery studio where the art is all embroidered by hand. It was incredible.

Well, I am going to try to post some photos. No telling where they will come out or how, but I am going to try!

First morning in Shanghai

We slept well but woke up early-obviously we are not adjusted yet to the time. When it is 7AM in Auburn, it is 8 PM here. So basically, just figure if it is morning there, it is nighttime here and vice versa.
We had an interesting flight path to get here. We went over the artic circle. The pilot said we were going over the north pole -not sure if we actually did that or not but we didn't fly over the Pacific like I had expected. However we got here, it is a long way.
Today we start our tour and get to meet the rest of the group, some didn't get in til late last night. Will write tonight and hope to include a few photos.

We've arrived-weary but happy

This is not acting quite right as I write this tonight so forgive me if it comes out weird. Our flight was delayed an hour, the tvs were on the fritz, but it still was about as good a flight as one that long can be. Jim has fared very well so far though not without pain. We did get wheelchairs in all airports and I have to say, it is rather like having him in a wheelchair at Disney World. We three got taken straight through security, straight to the gates, picked back up at gates and taken to the next gate, and taken straight through all the passport controls, etc at the end. yea! It isn't worth it because of his pain, but looking at the bright side.... We went to the grocery store across from our hotel and that is an adventure in culture. Canned Cokes were 25 cents a piece so that was good news. It was rather fun to see what was in their deli section. I'm not sure what all it was, but we decided we'd better off eating at the hotel restaurant. It was quite nice. We are on the 18th floor and have a pretty view and Allen's room is next door. Tomorrow we start our sightseeing and I hope to post some photos. TOnight we are all too tired.

OFF WE GO!

We have made it as far as our hotel in Atlanta. Our flight tomorrow is at 7:25 AM Eastern time so even with staying at a hotel near the airport, we will have to get up early and catch their shuttle over to the airport. I think we have to catch the 4:30 one. There was a big traffic backup on I85 for road construction so we were glad that we were not having to be here at a particular time. Allen has called and it looks like his flight from Dulles will be delayed. Hopefully, he will make it in with no problems. Jim's friend from work at Bellsouth, Ibrahim, is coming to visit for awhile after work which is nice and Jim is looking forward to seeing him. Hopefully this entry will work and we are getting the blog under way!

THREE BURTONS GO TO CHINA AND JAPAN

Well, the time is almost here for us to leave for China. I am creating this blog so that we can stay in touch on this special trip. Jim has a herniated disc and walking is painful. We have a cane with a folding seat attached that we hope will make it easier for him to get around and be able to enjoy the trip.

Here we are at Monticello on a visit to Virginia this spring. We were lucky enough to find a wheelchair for Jim which made the day easier. We had beautiful flowers and wonderful spring weather.