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BEIJING

We arrived in Beijing, China on October 10, 2008. We stayed in the Capital Hotel. We went to Tienanmen Square 3 times. It was about 4 blocks from our hotel. We went once at night, once during the day, and once at sunrise for the offical flag-raising ceremony. We also visited the Forbidden City, the Great Wall of China, the Summer Palace, and the Temple of Heaven. We also visited a cloisonne workshop and saw the Bird's Nest & Water Cube from the 2008 Olympics. We visited 2 local hutongs which are narrow alleyways that are neighborhoods often with public restrooms and took a moonlight boat ride on a local lake. On October 13, 2008, we departed Beijing for Harbin near the Russian border.

Nov 2, 2008

Photos: 288

HARBIN

We flew from Beijing to Harbin on October 13, 2008. We arrived at 6:30pm & went to dinner before checking in at the Harbin Shangri-la Hotel. The next morning following a buffet breakfast, we went to the Siberian Tiger Park whose mission is to study, breed, release & ultimately save the Manchurian tiger from extinction. After lunch at a local restaurant, we went to Harbin Polarland, an aquarium that also has arctic wolves, arctic foxes, penquins, sea lions, seals, polar bears, and beluga whales. We attended the sea lion show and the beluga whale show. On the way back to the hotel, we made a brief stop at the Church of Saint Sophia, a Russian Orthodox Church built in 1907. That evening we went to a dumpling restaurant and then took a walk along the pedestrian walking/shopping street. The next morning, the local Chinese people were out in force along the river behind the hotel doing a variety of exercises. Another buffet breakfast before departing for the airport and our flight to Xi'an.

Nov 1, 2008

Photos: 126

XI'AN

On October 15th, we flew from Harbin to Xi'an with a stop over in Qingdao (also known as Tsingtao, same as the beer). Xi'an translates to Western Peaceful City. We stayed in the Golden Flower Shangri-la Hotel. Xi'an is the home of the famous Museum of Terracotta Warriors and Horses of Qin Shihuang. We also ventured inside the city walls to the Muslim Market near the Drum Tower. We attended the Tang Dynasty Theater for a show featuring music, instruments & costumes historically researched to the Tang Dynasty from 618-907AD. We visited the Little Wild Goose Pagoda, the Xi'an History Museum, and the Jade Arts & Crafts Center before departing for Chengdu on October 17th.

Oct 31, 2008

Photos: 195

CHENGDU

On October 17th, we flew to Chengdu in the Sichuan province. Sichuan means "4 roads or 4 rivers" Chengdu means "Become a Capital." We stayed at the Jin Jiang Hotel. On the 18th, we spent the day at Giant Panda Research & Breeding Center & Museum. That evening, we walked through the bird & fish market, then spent some time exploring a downtown modern grocery store. The following day, we spent the morning at the Chengdu Zoo. Watching the people was as interesting as watching the animals. That afternoon we walked to Tianfu Square, one of only 2 squares in all of China with a statue of Chairman Mao. We spent a couple hours people-watching and wandered back to our hotel past the Peoples Park and along the river. That evening we attended the Sichuan performance that included fantastic costumes, shadow puppets & the famous "Changing of the Masks." On October 20th, we visited the Qingyang Gong Temple, the oldest & most extensive Taoist temple in the Chengdu area before departing for Guilin.

Oct 30, 2008

Photos: 272

GUILIN

We arrived in Guilin at 6:35pm on October 20, 2008. After a 40 minute bus ride, we arrived at our hotel and had dinner in the restaurant. From our balcony we took pictures of the lake. The next day, we went on a 4 hour cruise on the Li River. The scenery was amazing. We started out in the rain but the weather improved as we went. Beautiful peaks, small boats & rafts, water buffalo, cormorant fishermen, people washing clothes, tending to their cattle & working rice paddies.A buffet lunch was cooked & served on board. We walked around for about an hour in the small village where we docked. Then we went to Fubo Hill where we climbed 354 steps to the top for a panoramic view of Guilin. From there we went to the airport for our flight to Shanghai.

Oct 29, 2008

Photos: 140

SHANGHAI

Our flight to Shanghai landed at 10:20pm on October 21, 2008. We checked into our hotel at 11:30pm. The next day we visited the Jade Buddha Temple.Then the group went to a silk art gallery. While the group shopped for various silk products, we crossed the road and hung around in a neighborhood seeing real life in Shanghai. Following lunch we went to The Bund which is Shanghai's very modern waterfront. The skyscrapers there are magnificent. After that we went to the Shanghai Museum which is one of the first class museums in the world. Our time was limited so we concentrated on China's minority populations, currency, calligraphy & painting, furniture & bronze. That evening we had our farewell dinner with our group and then attended the Shanghai acrobats show. When we returned to our hotel after the show, we went walking on the nearby streets to see the neon lights of Shanghai. On October 23, 2008, we flew from Shanghai to Chicago (13.5 hours) then home to BWI airport..

Oct 28, 2008

Photos: 183

Faces of China

During our 2 weeks in China, we were fascinated by the many faces of the Chinese people who were warm & friendly to us. From young babies to senior citizens and every one in between, this is a sampling of some of the Faces of China.

Oct 27, 2008

Photos: 137

Hilde and Larry
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