Final stop….Shanghai

Finally! Good weather greets us in Shanghai! As we pulled into the busiest shipping harbor in the world, the sun broke out and we finally broke 60 degrees….first time on our trip since Hong Kong. Our room had a beautiful balcony that we had rarely used….mostly because we have an aversion to sitting on snow and ice. The port location shows one of the most impressive skylines anywhere in the world. The picture below shows the west side of the river or “Pudong” side that, up until 20 years ago was farmland. Now, two of the tallest buildings in the world are on this side of the river. The space age building with the balls is the Oriental Pearl tower that is 1535 feet high. The building to the right and rear with the square cut out of it is the World Financial center that is almost as tall and, unlike some of the other tall buildings we have seen on this trip, it has floors all the way to the top. Many other tall towers achieve their height with masts…..this building is truly impressive.


I thought Beijing was something….Shanghai blows it away. Of all of the cities I have been to, I have never seen more tall buildings. The skyline goes on seemingly forever. I counted over 20 buildings that had 60 plus floors. No skyline compares anywhere that I know of.

Someone somewhere is pleading “no more history lessons!!” Sorry about that….I cannot resist the temptation! Shanghai was originally an fishing and textile town that later grew into a shipping port as the Europeans gained concessions in this area. The Treaty of Nanking in 1842 opened this area to trade and the city positively flourished. During the years from 1842 to 1949, Shanghai grew as a financial center as well. In 1949, all foreign investment was halted until the Economic reforms in 1990. Furious activity in the last 20 years has completely remade Shanghai. Population estimates differ mostly due to almost 7 million “floating”workers (our guide used that term for those that have moved to Shanghai to work). Current population numbers over 20 million people. I think I have seen most of them on this trip.

Robert Clarke (brother of sister in law Barbara) and I were talking and we figure that we have been in cities during the last week that total about 100 million in population. This is a big country with an incredibly amount of manpower……we have our competition clearly defined.

Our visits these two days were the Historic water town outside of the city center. The watertown shows how many in Shanghai used to live. It is a series of narrow streets and waterways that are still used in the traditional sense. Farms are all around the area. Shops show most of the traditional (read “non-tourist” )goods that have been bought and sold for hundreds of years. Pat and I took a short water taxi and enjoyed the warm weather.

Later, we walked along the river in the financial district…..you can get a crick in your neck looking up at the skyline. Hard to stop doing that around here.

Saturday morning we disembarked the ship, met up with Barbara and Ken and satisfied our need for speed. Did I forget to mention that Shanghai is also home to the fastest maglev train on the planet? It least it is for now…..just like cars, someone will build something faster soon. Anyway, the maglev runs from down town to the Shanghai airport. This distance is 28 miles and it takes just 7 minutes to make the trip! We reached speeds of 431 Km/hr (266 miles per hour)….wow is this fast. Eat your heart out Nascar!

No trip would be complete without shopping and Shanghai does not disappoint. Nanjing is truly an incredible shopping area that has every high end shop I have ever seen and plenty I have never seen. Income is at an all time high in China.

We have some marathon flying to do tomorrow and our trip will finally be over. Pat and I have been tremendously impressed with the entire trip. We have consistently seen an open and friendly people whether we have been in Hong Kong, Taipei, Seoul, Beijing or Shanghai. We have seen an incredible infrastructure and a vibrant economy everywhere we have looked. We have seen an industrious people that intend to have a prime seat on the world stage. It has both impressed and humbled both of us. We will certainly return to explore more of China.

Sledding in Beijing!

What a nice trip by comparison to the tough cruise we had getting to Seoul. Seas were calm and cold. The wind was manageable and most passengers truly welcomed the change in weather. The sun has been shining but man is it cold! As we docked on the morning of the 15th, we had snow and ice on deck. Tell me again what month this is?


On to history. Sorry for the continuing history lesson but the teaching gene runs deep in my family and I am obligated to express that whenever possible.

We docked near Tianjin. Tianjin is China’s fourth largest city with a population at a paltry 10 million people. Tianjin is a former “treaty port” that is now one of four municipalities under direct rule of the central government. This would be like having New York City being directly controlled by Washington DC. China’s current structure is seemingly haphazard but seems to work for them. Tianjin is about 120 miles away from Beijing which is our destination for the next two days.

Beijing, as you may know, is the current capital of China but only the most recent. Beijing became the capital in 1421 when the emperor, Zhu Di decreed it. Roughly translated, Beijing means “Northern Capital.” The former capital was Nanjing which (you guessed it) means “Southern Capital.” The Chinese are nothing if not logical. Most of what we looked forward to seeing were buildings and sites constructed during the Ming Dynasty which lasted for around 600 years ending in 1644 when the last dynasty, Qing took over.

In 1911 the Qing were thrown out and a power struggle ensued over the next 38 years with the communists finally winning in 1949.

Pat, Ken and I booked a private tour for the two days that we were there. We had a heavy itinerary of great things to see and had to get going early to get everything in. Like so much else in China, everything is under government control. Passing through customers took an extra two hours. Apparently our ship’s captain has had a few run-ins with the Chinese and we were told that this kind of arbitrary delay is par for the course with the Chinese. We met our tour guide, Carol, who spoke passable English and was really a joy to have along as a guide. Carol’s name is actually “Lui si di” which means “father loves mother.”

As I said at the beginning of the entry, Beijing is very cold this time of year. We headed for the Great Wall and wanted to take the tram ride to the top for a better view. Because of the snow and wind, the tram was shut down and we had to walk up to a lower access area to get a view of the wall. The great wall is the largest building in all of human history. Contrary to popular belief, the wall cannot be seen from space but it is still pretty darn big. Most of the sections of the wall that tourists see were constructed during the Ming dynasty.

After that, we went on to the Ming Tomb which is an enormous area of buildings and burial sites that put the pyramids to shame. The Chinese truly have always built on a grand scale.

After a stay overnight, we went to Tiananmen square. Westerners all know the significance of the pro-democracy demonstrations that took place in 1989 but many young Chinese know very little about it. All around the square you can seen police and surveillance cameras….it is unlikely that any significant gathering of demonstrators will sneak up on the square again.

After looking over the square (which can hold over 1,000,000 people), we began the progression through Tiananmen gate towards the Forbidden City. There are four gates that one must progress through before you finally reach the Forbidden City.

The Forbidden City was built during the Ming dynasty. Common people were not allowed in the city and it remained closed until the last Qing Emperor was removed in 1911. As one passes through the gates the buildings become larger and more impressive. The massive resources that were used to support the emperor in luxury are truly staggering. The Forbidden City is comprised of over 800 buildings and well over 8,000 rooms. Too much to see on our visit.

Our last stop on tour was the Temple of the Heavens. This is a beautiful set of buildings where the people and the emperor would go to pray during certain times of the year for favorable harvests. Today it is more than just a beautiful building. We found the park full of people (retired people were told by our guide) that go there for exercise. We saw huge groups of people dancing to music…a local gentleman invited Pat to dance with him…naturally she accepted. No way will you get me to dance but Pat enjoyed it. We saw hundreds of people playing cards and I remember lots of money changing hands…Everyone was having a great time.

Finally we were on our way back to Tianjin and the ship. China has a powerful, national ambition that is not hampered by a bickering congress and is not concerned what the dissenting opinion might be. They are formidable in their scope and vision and have a history of completing long, involved projects. Having said that, we noticed a “have and have not” society in the making. Beijing is still a city of bicycles but there are many that are driving Mercedes right alongside of them. All seem to realize that if you know the right people, you can make a great living in China….if not, get on the Schwinn and head to work.

To sum up, our tour was really eye-opening. Our Tour guide Carol and her fearless driver Bei Tao were a pleasure to work with. I highly recommend them and will post contact information in a future entry once I receive contact information from Carol.

On to our final stop of Shanghai!

I’m a Seoul Man!

I stole that from someone…hmm…can’t remember who. Maybe I’m channeling John Belushi…


Anyway, no Nagasaki post because no Nagasaki. As my brother in law, Ken, says….”Nagasaki was a no glow.” Ken was doing some channeling of his own….my father-in-law was famous for bad puns and even worse jokes.

Back to the facts. Seamanship is a lot like pilotage in that the elements will affect your rate of travel and course. We left Taipei and had approximately 36 hours to travel roughly 612 nautical miles. This should ordinarily be no problem since our ship can easily make 20 plus knots in the right conditions. This of course before the terrible weather that we encountered for the last 2 days straight. We were pushing into a 30 knot headwind and sea swells that were at least 8-10 meters high. The best speed we could make in this weather (apparently just under gale force winds) was 12 knots. Needless to say…no way we were going to be able to stay on schedule. Thank god the captain made an executive decision and changed course for Seoul. As soon as he did, our cruise became more enjoyable. We avoided both the storm in the Sea of Japan and the myriad barf bags placed at every nook and cranny in the ship!

Okay. On to Seoul. Like everywhere else in Asia we have been, the Metro system is clean, well organized and cheap. It was roughly two dollars each to travel all the way into Seoul from Incheon which is about an hour and a half trip….quite a bargain. We did a little shopping in the Itaewon district of Seoul. I don’t usually get excited by shopping but there were a lot of great bargains down there and Pat talked me into getting some shirts made by a custom tailor. Genetic mutants are generally hard to fit with off-the-rack clothing so I thought I would give it a try. I bought a whole slew of shirts for a great price. Pat was very pleased with herself…..she also got her “purse fix” and picked up another stylish bag to add to the collection.

We also visited Gyeongbokkung Castle complex. Built at the beginning of the Joseon Dynasty in 1394, this is just a beautiful artifact or what the Koreans call a “cultural asset” and one of few that still stand in Seoul.

WWII and later the Korean conflict pretty much flattened Seoul so most of the city now is quite modern. General MacArthur is considered a god here by the Koreans. I heard a story from a local that South Korea was so poor after the Korean war that the government decreed that the work day would be 18 hours and the school day would be 14 hours. This was the governments reaction to the widespread poverty at the time and has probably contributed to Korea’s rebirth…….a turnaround so staggering that post war Japan is probably the only other country that could compare. Today, Koreans still have one of the longest work days in the world. We found the Korean people to be extremely polite and understanding of ignorant foreigners in their midst.

That’s all the Seoul I have……

Okay…I promise no more bad puns in the next post.

Beijing is next!

Pat's point of view from Seoul

This is the first chance I have had to say that Hong Kong was fabulous, but the beginning of the cruise was AWFUL! We were in a storm on the China Seas (doesn’t that sound romantic?)and this boat really rocked and rolled! Everyone was running to the purser for seasick pills! The third day I really felt bad and missed Taipei, but after that it’s been great.


The dining on this cruise has been top notch. We went to the specialty restaurants a couple of times, but there is good food all over. We have breakfast in our stateroom each morning. There is a good cappuchino machine available 24 hrs, plus afternoon tea, etc.,etc.

We missed Nagasaki due to the weather, so we’re in Korea for two days. They have a wonderful rail and metro system (with at least 7000 stairs) so we spent today in Seoul. Tomorrow Iteawan and Inchon. (More stairs)

Had to buy gloves and hat, it’s very cold here and will be in Beijing as well. Having a great time and will post more later. Time to eat again!

Pat

High Seas and arrival in Taipei!

Wow, what a trip. We departed Hong Kong Sunday evening right into the teeth of a nasty storm. Winds were 25 to 30 knots with a forward speed of 14.5 knots adds up to a wind of 40 to 45 knots on deck. The swell and the whitecaps totaled about a 25 to 30 foot seas. Our relatives (who are on their 63rd cruise) said that this one tied for the roughest they had been in.


Anyway, Pat is down for the count and I have headed into Taipei. Without getting too boring, Taiwan has an interesting history. First discovered by the Portuguese in 1544, they gave Taiwan it’s first name… “Formosa” for “beautiful Island.” The Dutch East India company established a foothold in the 1620’s using Taipei as a port for trade between China and Japan. China controlled the port from 1662 until 1895 when the Chinese were defeated by the Japanese Navy in the first Sino-Japanese war. Japan would rule Taiwan until the end of WWII when General Chiang Kai-shek and Dr. Sun Yat-sen fled the communist takeover of China and took about 1 million soldiers, intellectuals and business leaders. During the next 40years, Taiwan has become a global leader in manufacturing and business and now has a population of over 6.5MM. The region is still under dispute with China today.

Enough history, on to the sights. Today, we wanted to see the “Taipei 101 building which, until recently was the tallest building in the world. It is now second to the one in Dubai. We also wanted to visit the National Palace museum and the Longshan Temple.

After making and deal for a car with “Mr. Tu” who was a very friendly guy….for some reason, he had red teeth…never did figure that one out. We headed off to the museum. The Museum was enormous. We probably needed a couple of days to go through it properly. The key impression I was left with the length of time China has been an organized civilization. I looked at pottery that comes from the “Neolithic” age that was well over 6000 years old and in great shape. Like most other Asian attractions I have seen so far…very clean and very beautiful.

The Taipei 101 tower, like many other super tall buildings is not yet economically viable (or so we were told) but you could have fooled me. We saw a tidal wave of people everywhere. We ate in the food court that probably had 25 different restaurants that ranged from McDonalds to cuisine from Singapore. Just amazing.

The views from the observation deck were again, stunning….

The last stop of the day was the Longshan Temple that was built in 1738 and has really been kept in great condition. Apparently this is not so true of many of the temples found around China. Many have declined over the years. It is a Beautiful Temple with classic Chinese architecture….where did the find the time to do all of the carving?? We seemed to have come at a good time and were watching some sort of gathering..never could figure out what it was.

Pat is feeling better as we speak. Tomorrow at sea and a massage for Pat. Next stop Nagasaki!

Lots of Shopping and Great Mexican Food?

After a very brief rest, Pat and I hit the streets with Ken and Barb. Barb is a planner and had scheduled a busy afternoon for us.

Hong Kong is mountainous and very tall buildings are built on the sides of these steep hills. I could get an attack of vertigo just looking out my window if I lived in one of these buildings. After a brief ride on the historic Star Ferry we took the Victoria Peak Railway up to the top of Victoria Peak. This is the steepest cable car route in the world. On some sections, the incline is 35 degrees. The views are outstanding. This is the view from the top which is crammed with….you guessed it! Shopping!

On to the central area of Hong Kong Island. This is one of the many shopping areas in Hong Kong. Main streets are packed with high-end, name brand stores. On the side streets are stalls that are crammed together where you will find some of the bargains that Hong Kong is famous for. Pat went to a favorite stop on Barbs and fed her “purse addiction” …she bought about four more. I can just see the baggage charges now!!

Time to eat….Where to go for the best Mexican Food? Wan Chai is an area that has night club after night club. It’s also home to Agave which had great Margaritas and surprisingly good Mexican Food. It has a great view on to a busy street where you can watch the girls at the clubs rope the customers in. As we were told several times, women were welcome too……Pat wasn’t buying that one either.

All for Now. On to the Stanley Market tomorrow!



Chris and Pat

Welcome To Hong Kong

We made it….a little tired but excited about exploring an entirely new place.

Three different plane rides and a total of 21 hours in the air, another 6 or 7 in airports and we are on our way to lunch. One of the best kept lunch secrets in town is…wait for it….the YMCA. Yup, that’s right the YMCA! We are talking about the Salisbury Restaurant on the 4th floor of the YMCA building. Apparently, the locals know this well but we are among few Caucasian tourists there. My brother in law, Ken and his wife, Barb, discovered this place years ago and they are dead on. Great food! We highly recommend it. Pat will give you more about the food in her post later on.

First, lessons learned flying to Hong Kong. It takes a long time to get here! Do whatever you have to do to fly business class. Take out a second mortgage, tap into the kids college fund or use up all of those dusty frequent flyer miles on an upgrade. Anyway, do it. A grueling 16 hour flight was really pretty enjoyable. Cathay Pacific was the carrier. They do a terrific job and we both arrived pampered, well fed and refreshed. Pat and I both watched about 3 movies and had time to spare for reading, solving the health care debate etc.

Well that’s all for now. More later as we dig into Hong Kong during the day today.

Sitting at the Memphis Airport

This blogging thing is new to me....I live in the stone age, clearly,  and am finally joining the "revolution."

Pat and I are here at the Memphis airport ready to begin our journey. 

This work / vacation relationship can be interesting.  Many times, work is going smoothly and I don't feel a great need to take a vacation.  Other times, like now for example, I cannot wait to go away.  This crazy car business could not be more stressful right now.  Recalls are driving all of us nuts .....my people are having breakdowns....perfect time for us to get away.

Anyway, look for photos and brief descriptions of our trip to China.

Chris and Pat