In China now on an ABD and ...

Wow! This is great! So glad you're able to access at least somewhere on the boards! Per Kevin's suggestion, I've posted a link to this thread on the ABD forum!

Wow! Beijing sounds crazy & manic! I hope things calm down once you're out of the big city.

Thanks so much for posting this! I'm looking forward to your updates! :thumbsup2

Sayhello
 
Thanks for posting! We are so excited for our ABD China trip in July! Have a most wonderful time!
 
Beautiful pictures! :goodvibes Great trip report. :thumbsup2 Can't wait for the next installment!
 


Looking forward to reading more, sounds like a great trip! We're hoping to do the Africa ABD in the next year or two.
 


Day 2 of the Adventure

We all met in the lobby at 8 am for our bus ride to Tiananmen Square. Mulan music was playing when we boarded the bus. :rotfl2: On our way there, Daisy and Jennae warned us about the people who would try to sell us everything we didn't need like Mao watches. They taught us how to se "no thank you" in Mandarin (yeah, that didn't really help unless they came to our rescue. :rotfl2: sure enough, as soon as the bus parked, the hawkers descended upon the bus in droves. Quite comical actually.

Oh, we were also told that most Chinese will never see Caucasians except in the movies so don't be surprised if they ask to take photos of various members of the tour ... Especially the blondes and gingers. :rotfl: and yup, one group of young girls wanted their photo taken with the kids on the tour. It was too funny.

This is also where we took our first "family" photo. The square was crowded but not as crowded as it could have been. Today was tomb sweeping day so Daisy thought many were in the subiurbs seeping the tombs of their ancestors. From here we went into the Forbidden City where our guides were quite informative on a variety of historical and cultural items. Daisy and Jennae are hilarious btw. They have great humor.

On our way out of the Forbidden City, we were warned again not to buy anything on our walk back to the bus. Walking back through these people was like walking through a crowd of zombies. They walk with arms outstretched with their merchandise in one hand while chanting their mindless sales pitch. This is where we also saw a lot of disabled and disfigured beggars. It was actually somewhat depressing and disheartening to see some of these people begging.

While waiting for the bus to arrive, a man selling sweet potatoes from his bicycle tried to sell us some but he was also very willing to play along with us and have his photo taken. He was quite a lovely man and laughed when I showed him a photo I had taken of him.

Lunch was at a very interesting restaurant. Another multiple course meal with Peking Duck as our last course. We were all stuffed and we left a lot of food on the table.

We went back to the hotel for our free afternoon. The guides made suggestions on where to go. We decided to look at one of the day markets. We walked around the market and found a few stalls selling scorpion on a stick and meal iris orn a stick. (ask Jennae about her experiences investing these little delacasies)

At 5:30.pm, my dad and I went down to learn calligraphy, make a kite and paint opera masks.

Dinner was served in thle same room as the crafts. Yummy Western meal.

BTW, I am deliberately being vague on some parts of the trip because I believe the surprises should remain surprises

Jennae anD the shadow guests sat our table along with a couple from California

Jennae told us stories about the ABD African tour. I felt badly for her that we kept asking and she answered everything.

Back to the room for another early start tomorrow morning as we bus it to the Great Wall.
 
Outside the Forbidden City
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Inside the Forbidden City
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Nine Dragons
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The men of the tour do their impersonation of a dragon.
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The power of the paddle (it's true ... It has amazing powers!!!)
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Would you like a sweet potato?
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Ummmm .... Yum? I have video of the squirming scorpions.
china12.jpg
 
Some thoughts to those going on this trip later. The guides know where the "four star" toilets are. :goodvibes. However, it's evident right away that 4 stars is not what most western cultures would consider 4 stars. ;)

Our first pit stop in the Forbidden City involved a restroom with many squat toilets and only 2 sit down ones. This is where the tour group women bond.:rotfl: There is NO toilet paper. Before I left home, my mom laughed when I deconstructed a roll of toilet paper and put them in ziplocks. Ha! Came in handy yesterday. So my advice is always have tissues or do what I did... Take the cardboard roll out of a toilet paper roll and you can have the comforts of home. :rotfl2:

My mom went to the toilet at the Summer Palace and walked straight out. She said it was a trench! :scared1:
 
Thank you for sharing this. This ABD is number one on my list of all of them. Although I must say that that last comment about the bathrooms does scare this small bladdered girl...
 
Loving the pictures! I've been to China three times before, one for fun and two to adopt our son and daughter. We are returning in three months for a homeland tour sponsored by the Chinese government! My kids actually travel free! This is the second time China has ever done such a trip!

The internet situation is interesting in China. Glad to hear you can get on the DIS!
 
Loving the pictures! I've been to China three times before, one for fun and two to adopt our son and daughter. We are returning in three months for a homeland tour sponsored by the Chinese government! My kids actually travel free! This is the second time China has ever done such a trip!

The internet situation is interesting in China. Glad to hear you can get on the DIS!

Looking at your signature line. Are you on the ABD China trip 7/15? If so, we'll be with you!
 
Nope, going on a homeland tour through the department of adoption in China. They started a grant program for adopted chinese children to return for a tour that includes the usual tourist sites, plus adoptees foster families, orphanages, and finding site visits.

The ABD trip looks amazing! Guilin is my favorite place on Earth...you will fall in love with China!
 
Some thoughts to those going on this trip later. The guides know where the "four star" toilets are. :goodvibes. However, it's evident right away that 4 stars is not what most western cultures would consider 4 stars. ;)

Our first pit stop in the Forbidden City involved a restroom with many squat toilets and only 2 sit down ones. This is where the tour group women bond.:rotfl: There is NO toilet paper. Before I left home, my mom laughed when I deconstructed a roll of toilet paper and put them in ziplocks. Ha! Came in handy yesterday. So my advice is always have tissues or do what I did... Take the cardboard roll out of a toilet paper roll and you can have the comforts of home. :rotfl2:

My mom went to the toilet at the Summer Palace and walked straight out. She said it was a trench! :scared1:

:scared1::scared1::scared1: And I scratch China off the places to go list.

I'm so the ugly American I guess. :guilty: I was even horrified by the Pete's reports of the Disneyland Paris' bathrooms. The things we take for granted. And what a diversity of culture.
 
We really take for granted western toilets and tp. One of my most memorable travel experiences was in a bathroom in Russia. Nothing more than a trench, no such thing as stalls. There was a little old lady in a corner selling sheets of magazines to use as tp. She just stood there as I tried to do my business.

It's very difficult to both pull down your pants, yet pull up your pant legs. I bet she still talks about that funny American who gave up and just took off her pants. :rotfl2:
 
thank you so much for posting about your adventure!

I'm glad you had a wonderful experiance with Air Canada. I have never flown with them because I had a bad experiance with rude Air Canada employees when I worked at the airport years ago and I told one of the employees that I would never fly with their airline. It's great to hear that your flight crew was very nice and went out of their way to make you comfortable and have as much fun as you can on such a long flight!

Susan

Air Canada ground agents are notoriously difficult, but the crews in the air are usually very nice.

the ground agents seem to think that smiling is not part of their job description, but in the air, the staff is completely different.

Don't let the "think inside the box" ground agents deter you from their flights.
And if you fly business class, theirs is very nice (what they call 'executive first').
 
:scared1::scared1::scared1: And I scratch China off the places to go list.

I'm so the ugly American I guess. :guilty: I was even horrified by the Pete's reports of the Disneyland Paris' bathrooms. The things we take for granted. And what a diversity of culture.

i think everyone should go to china at least once (and japan, vietnam, thailand, hong kong and the rest of asia).
It's so completely different from anything you will ever experience.
Not to mention beautiful.
But there are lots of beautiful places in the world, but culturally asia is so different (and the asian countries different from each other).

And if you're going, probably a very nice way to go is with ABD. Based on the hotel this group is staying in, it's clear they put you in the best of the best.
And with ABD running interference for you, you'll enjoy it much more so than if you try to do china on your own.

We do go on our own because we go there on business. China is one of the more difficult countries to navigate on your own (for a whole host of reasons).
Which is why an organized tour is definitely the way to see it comfortably.
And based on what i've read here so far, clearly ABD is an excellent choice for anyone who wants a taste of china.
 
Well, I had a nice wordy report but the dodgy wifi at the airport ate it up. We're waiting for our flight to Chengdu.

ABD is the way to travel to China if you are nervous about toilets and food. They chec kout everything and you know that the food they give you is safe and the toilets are within reason. Yesterday, our bus was caught in a traffic jam in the countryside and we made a highway pit stop. The guides warned us that this was not a "happy house" so only go if you were desperate. So far, the guides have taken extremely good care of all of us.

I'll try to post about yesterday's trip to the Great Wall and today's pedicab tour of the Hutong when I get a more reliable connection.

BTW, I've only managed to connect here by using my Boingo mobile account. It works here!
 
Well, I had a nice wordy report but the dodgy wifi at the airport ate it up. We're waiting for our flight to Chengdu.

ABD is the way to travel to China if you are nervous about toilets and food. They chec kout everything and you know that the food they give you is safe and the toilets are within reason. Yesterday, our bus was caught in a traffic jam in the countryside and we made a highway pit stop. The guides warned us that this was not a "happy house" so only go if you were desperate. So far, the guides have taken extremely good care of all of us.

I'll try to post about yesterday's trip to the Great Wall and today's pedicab tour of the Hutong when I get a more reliable connection.

BTW, I've only managed to connect here by using my Boingo mobile account. It works here!
That's one reason I was quite happy to take the ABD add-on in the Med. Italy, while apparently not as bad as China in the toilet department, is not what I'm used to (Even some of the nice bathrooms, you have a toilet, but there's no seat on the bowl! And other places just have the squat toilets.) ABD is really good at finding the best bathrooms available. I freely admit I'm a spoiled American, and don't really want to get *that* authentic when it comes to the bathroom!

Really looking forward to your reports on the Great Wall and your pedicab tour! They sound wonderful.

Sayhello
 

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