China Trip Report 2014

[Cousin Orville]

The Summer Palace

The famed Long Corridor in the Summer Palace

Detail of the Long Corridor

The infamous Marble Boat

A view from the Dragon Boat

The Nine Dragon Screen at Beihai park. Isn't it awesome?!

Gavin proud of his four leaf clover find

The Macua Center near our hotel. Awesome Portuguese-style tilework

Our welcome dinner

 

[DisFan10]

That's interesting. It was the opposite when we were there (much more Asian selections).

By the way, great pics from your second day of private touring. And I agree - Gavin should charge 10 yuan for each photo!

Sorry, I keep forgetting to grab some pictures. They basically have dumplings, buns, fried rice, fried noodles. It's not extensive. The wester selections far outway the Asian options.

 

[sayhello]

Wonderful! The Summer Palace looks really cool!

Is the Nine Dragon Screen painted or mosaic? It's beautiful!

Sayhello

 

[Cousin Orville]

Day 2 Beijing

Our first full day. Today we drove to one of Beijing's Hutongs - the traditional old style neighborhoods. ABD arranged pedicab tour for us. And thankfully it was a different Hutong than the one we visited on our own. Both were very cool. We all hopped in a pedicab and away we went riding through the narrow streets. Three activities were arranged for us - Chinese knot making, the Chinese yo-yo, and paper cutting. We split up so that each group could go into the local homes of each "master". It was neat - if nothing else just to be able to see inside a Chinese home. The activities were cool. I'm not a huge fan of the ABD arts and crafts stuff, but they were fun. You got a chance to be more immersed with the people, and it's a good balance with the major traditional tourist sites sites.

Lunch was at the Noble House. The first of many large, never ending family style Chinese meals. There's so much food. Most was very good. I'm still hoping ABD keeps pushing forward offering better and better food. I'm not disappointed by any of the meals so far. They've all been fine (I'm writing this a couple days ahead), but The meals we've done on our own have been a bit better. However, we're supposed to be hitting a few awesome restaurants later in the trip. Excited! After lunch it was back to the hotel for rest.

We rested and swam a bit prior to dinner. Also headed over to Wangfujing one more time and walked down the alleyways through another street market. There are two markets on Wangfujing as far as I know. One is on the same street the Peninsula is and is only a night market serving all sorts of food. It's probably the more well known street market The other is right off the middle of the pedestrian Wangfujing. It also had food stalls but also various other vendors selling sometimes interesting things... Often junk. But it was fun to walk through.

For dinner it was a group ABD dinner. We boarded the coach and headed over to the Central Business District (CBT) to get to the Royal Restaurant. It was a pretty restaurant. They served Chinese food family style. Again, the food never ended. We also had a demonstration of how to properly serve Chinese tea and were given a sample. It was a fun dinner. They also gave everyone the option to dress up like a Chinese emperor. Gavin looked like the last (child) emperor. All great fun.

Pictures to follow...

 

[Cousin Orville]

Home cooking... Not for us

Practicing our knots.

The yo yo master

Lunch at the Noble House

Dinner and tea ceremony at the Royal Restaurant

 

[DisFan10]

Great pics and another very entertaining installment, Cousin Orville!

I think we had the same yo-yo master! LOL

 

[Theta]

Thank you for the review! I am glued to it.
Are there any teens on your tour? I am wondering if my teens would enjoy this tour to China.

 

[sayhello]

More great pics! I *love* the one of the 2 of you in costume!!

Sayhello

 

[magicgirl]

Your pictures brought back so many memories as I was lucky enough to go on a trip to China last year. It was the most amazing holiday.

 

[disneyphx]

Thanks for bringing back great memories! China was our first ABD and I loved every minute. I read your trip report before heading to SE Asia last year - enjoyed the report. So I am curious how you compare the two trips in the end.....
Our daughter is blond and was 5 on the China trip - lots and lots of photos were requested - we figured out mainly by Chinese who are not from big cities.....she was almost mobbed in Shanghai. She still talks about it "it was just because they don't see blonde hair Mom!"

 

[Cousin Orville]

Day 3 Beijing

Today is the big day! The Great Wall of China. There's a couple different areas of the wall you can visit outside of Beijing. We're going to the Mutianyu section of the wall which is farther away, but is much less crowded and is very dramatic with the wall climbing up and down the mountains. Everyone on the trip was very excited to see one of their "bucket list" items. It was a steep climb from the bus to the gondola which takes you up the mountain to he wall. Then another long steep climb of the gondola to reach the top. Incredible how they must have constructed it. Walk out a ways and suddenly we're face to face with the wall. You can see it snaking up and down the mountains a long way off. Christian and Steven took some pictures of us and let us explore a good long while. No rush. We walked around the wall, up into the towers. Some were easier to climb than others, but it was all amazing. This trip is full of remarkable sites, but certainly this is a highlight.

Afterwards we ate at the Schoolhouse - converted from an old schoolhouse. Lunch was fine. Nothing amazing. Pre ordered sandwiches, but well made. After lunch and driving back to the hotel, we stopped off to see the Olympic stadium - the Bird's Nest. The bus essentially stopped on the side of the road, we got out and took a pic of the stadium on the other side of the road partially blocked by another building. The reason I mention it, is if you want to get a better view, you'll need to arrange a visit their on your own. But it was a view that I think most ppl will be fine with. After we got back, we rested for a couple hrs before going out to dinner on our own.

Speaking of dinner, tonight we're heading to Capital M. Thanks Disfan10 for the suggestion. It's higher end. Owned by the same group that owns M on the Bund where we will be eating in Shanghai. Capital M comes up on some pretty cool awards list. One had it as one of the top 10 restaurants in Asia. It was an adventure getting there. I'll preface it by saying it was all worth it, but was an adventure getting there. I was somewhat prepared for troubles because the reviews on tripadvisor mentioned similar issues. I had a print off from the restaurant for directions and a map in Chinese to give to the driver. I tried to use Uber again, but nothing was available, so we opted for a taxi. The doorman at the peninsula asked where we were eating. He speaks English well and we've had brief conversations in the past. He seemed to know the restaurant and told the driver. I confirmed with the doorman that the taxi driver knew the restaurant and I was assured he did... You can see where this is going. Well thank goodness for international data plans and google maps. I could tell he was turning north when he should have turned south. Eventually he pulled over in a Hutong restaurant. Definitely not Capital M. Some guys sitting outside the restaurant came over and pointed to the restaurant showing the international sign for eating. I showed the taxi driver my iPhone with google maps pulled up and indicated where I wanted to go. Not here. It's just south of Tienamen Square, so it should be easy. In fact considering it's a major restaurant and has a prime location, I'm surprised it's not known by the taxi drivers. For a moment I thought the driver and the guys outside the taxi were trying to convince us to eat there. Maybe they were to some degree, but I think it was an honest mistake or miscommunication somewhere down the line. There was no way we were going to exit the cab. I didn't see any other cabs around. It would be a pain getting back. After a couple minutes of looking at my phone and the Capital M print off, the driver eventually figured it out and started heading back in the right direction. He drove past Tienamen which (history aside) looked amazing, and dropped us off a couple blocks from the restaurant. Apparently the last block is pedestrian only. That ended up not being 100% true, but i didn't want to push the issue. I was happy to be so close. I was prepared to pay some hefty cab fee, but it ended up being about $4. Good. With google maps we walked the rest of the way which took a couple minutes. There is a major pedestrian area right by the restaurant which is actually pretty cool. Wish we had gotten there earlier. It's a reconstructed old Beijing street with complete streetcars. It was a tiny bit like main st or more buena vista st... with the days gone by trolleys dinging up and down the street. Unfortunately we were already 20 min late for our reservations so we had to go straight to Capital M. It took a minute to find (again with the aid of google maps). Finally we arrived on the third floor and were seated no problem. They even saved us a table by the window which I requested. They also have a balcony but it had been raining earlier. Surely it has one of the best views in Beijing. It overlooks the Southern Gate just south of Tienamen. The gate is beautiful lit up at night. The restaurant was full so reservations are a must. And it is a bit fancy, but I don't think it's too upscale for kids. In fact not only were there a few others families with young children, but they actually had a children's menu. Gavin had chicken fingers, and I had a king prawn app and salted leg of lamb for my entree. We took a break after dinner and stepped out onto the balcony and took some pictures of the beautifully lit up gate before going back in for a lemon soufflé. (It wasn't really a soufflé... More of a light creamy almost mouse). Regardless, it was great. Gavin loved it too. Going back home was uneventful. There were taxis right outside the restaurant and we just gave them our hotel card and off we went. Now would I recommend others to do what we did? I think it depends on your comfort level of traveling. It's probably not for the novice. But had I insisted on giving the driver the map from capital m's website in the first place, I don't think we would have had a problem. I also still think anyone needs an international data plan for their phone if they do really anything away from the group for google maps. You have that and you're covered. Awesome awesome meal. I hope m on the Bund is as good. P Oh, we also saw a Chinese man proposing to his girlfriend at the table next to ours as we were being shown our table. I saw him get down on one knee and hold up the ring as we approached. So I held Gavin back a bit before getting to our table to not spoil the moment for him. He had a violinist playing and she said yes. Everyone clapped. It was really cool. We spoke to Steven later about it and he was surprised to hear they were Chinese as Chinese generally do not propose. Anyway, all things considered it was a great day. More pictures to come.

 

[Cousin Orville]

Thank you for the review! I am glued to it.
Are there any teens on your tour? I am wondering if my teens would enjoy this morning.

Thanks for the kind words. There are many teens from 13 up to 18 on our trip. Everyone seems to be having a great time. (Gavin told me this deserves a happy face on the beach). I'm sure your teens would love it. We're in Chengdu as I type this and so far there's really been a nice variety of activities.

 

[Cousin Orville]

Thanks for bringing back great memories! China was our first ABD and I loved every minute. I read your trip report before heading to SE Asia last year - enjoyed the report. So I am curious how you compare the two trips in the end.....
Our daughter is blond and was 5 on the China trip - lots and lots of photos were requested - we figured out mainly by Chinese who are not from big cities.....she was almost mobbed in Shanghai. She still talks about it "it was just because they don't see blonde hair Mom!"

I'm sure I'll give a comparison at the end since there's several similarities and I'm sure many people will be looking and considering both.... Long flights, Asia, 12 days. Big ticket items to see like the Great Wall and Ankor Wat. So far I'm having a blast here in China and feel that they're both equally fun, but full of amazing differences.

 

[Cousin Orville]

 

[DisFan10]

You're very welcome, Cousin Orville! I'm glad you enjoyed Capital M, but what an ordeal getting there! It probably wasn't funny for you at the time, but your story made me laugh. I guess you now know how an Amazing Race team feels when they get a clueless taxi driver.

Great pics at the Great Wall! Did you guys learn how to make noodles at the Schoolhouse?

 

[Calfan]

Love the Great Wall pics. Gave me goosebumps. This trip is definitely making its way back to the top of my must-do ABD list.

 

[Cousin Orville]

You're very welcome, Cousin Orville! I'm glad you enjoyed Capital M, but what an ordeal getting there! It probably wasn't funny for you at the time, but your story made me laugh. I guess you now know how an Amazing Race team feels when they get a clueless taxi driver.

Great pics at the Great Wall! Did you guys learn how to make noodles at the Schoolhouse?

Haha! It was exactly like a scene out of amazing race except I was lucky enough to have google maps on my phone.

We did not see the noodle making experience.... Next time.

 

[Cousin Orville]

Day 4 Beijing to Chengdu

So today we leave Beijing, but not before visiting another bucket list site - the Forbidden City and Tienamen Square. This trip is jam packed with places I've been longing to see including these two. We started off in the morning in Tienamen Square. This is very close to the 25th anniversary so it was interesting to be here today. If you do go on this trip I recommend reading up on 20th century Chinese history. It's a little complicated with its rise of the Communitst party, occupation during WWII, civil war, significant issues in the 50's and 60's, and eventual transition to this balance of communism and capitalism. However, it helps give perspective of what's going on today. Anyway... Security was very tight. The normal entrance into the square ABD takes suddenly closed and we were told to (semi) rush down to the next entrance before it closed. It was open, but you had to enter through security. Some people had to have bags checked. Some had to drink from their water bottles to prove they're safe. Once we got in it was fine. There were lots of soldiers and police officers (obvious and not obvious). But otherwise as long as you were not doing anything crazy it was nice place to walk around. There were many tourists looking around - mostly other Chinese. There were few if any other Westerners. We walked through the square down to the other side towards Mao's portrait and the Forbidden City.

The Forbidden City was spectacular and immense. We walked through all the major courtyards passing by buildings of increasing importance. You can tell the importance by the number of mini mythical creatures resting on the corners of the roofs. 5 for accessory imperial personal, 7 for the empress and 9 (the most powerful number) for the emperor. All the roofs are golden to symbolize the emperor's direct ties to the heavens. It's an impressive home. In the forbidden city is another 9 Dragon screen. There 3 Nine Dragon Screens (Beihai Park, Forbidden City, and one in another city). The two we had a chance to see were beautiful, but the Beihai Park screen was the best. It's actually has two sides (front/back) and the ceramic work is more polished. Anyway, the Forbidden City is gorgeous and has been another highlight. By the way today was beautiful. It rained a bit last night... Not bad, but it must have "washes away" the pollution haze. Temperature has been pretty good too.

For lunch we went to a local restaurant and had another family style Chinese meal. This included Peking duck. Not quite up there with Made in China or Huang Ting, but still tasty. After lunch was the flight the Chengdu.

Once in Chengdu, we went straight to dinner. Chengdu is the capital of Szechuan province know for their spicy food. I was still full from lunch, but sampled most of what was offered. At the end of dinner Christian passed around the tongue numbing peppers for anyone who wanted to try. Sounds spicy hot right? That's what I thought. Basically you put these small peppers under your tongue and a minute later your tongue starts to tingle and go a little numb. Reminded me of pop rocks. Not exactly the same, but much closer to that than some ridiculously hot pepper. Most everyone over 10yo tried it.

We finally arrived at the Ritz Carlton in Chengdu. It's atop a high rise building.. Floors 23-41. The hotel is beautiful. All marble floors imported from Italy or so we were told. The rooms are amazing. Wifi relability was mixed. The views from the room were awesome. You could see the lit up bustling city below with all the other high rises with their own light show. One of the buildings had a light show that looked like rain was falling down its sides. Another had multicolors dancing around. Another had large lit up Chinese characters scrolling down the side. Gavin was dying to go swim, so we went to the pool. Like the rooms, it overlooked beautiful lit up Chengdu. The one weird thing is they require you where a swim cap. They have washed swim caps you can borrow... But still annoying. The swim was really cool though.

Pictures coming up next...

 

[Cousin Orville]

The Nine Dragon Screen

Carving the Peking Duck

Arriving in Chengdu

 

[sayhello]

Wow! The view from your hotel room is just amazing!!! Did you get any video of the light shows?

You're definitely bumping this trip back up to the top of my "must do" list!

Sayhello