| Submitted by: Mark Nowak United States |
| Submission Date: 04 February 2005 |
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Traveller: You can get anything you want in Hong Kong.
Me: It sounds like Heaven.
Miroslaw: Maybe it is.
I recently returned from a two-week vacation to China and Hong Kong. The tour was arranged through Trans Global Tours which contracted out Inter Pacific Tours International (IPI) which worked with China's China International Travel Services (CITS).
The tour included round trip international airfare via Northwest Airlines, local air and ground transportation, accommodations, most meals, a tour director, local guides, baggage handling, group visa and departure taxes. I signed on for all optional dinner/entertainment packages and the optional Shanghai pre-tour add-on. The final bill was for $3238.00. While on the trip, I spent about another $300. Armed with various brochures and printouts of the wealth of knowledge I collected and compiled from the more than generous people on the net (much of which I did not have time to read before I left), I felt confident I wouldn't be completely lost when I reached China. As far as luggage went, I had my backback and a sort of rolling duffel bag that could be carried by hand or via a shoulder strap.
Monday, March 14, 1994
I took Northwest flight 5 to Tokyo's Narita airport from Chicago at 12:35 PM. This was undoubtedly the longest flight of my life. We followed the sun across the sky in constant daylight for some 13 hours and arrived around 5:00 PM. In all that time they managed to show three movies -- none of which would I have chosen to see even at bargain prices: 'The Beverly Hillbillies,' 'For Love or Money' and 'Grumpy Old Men.' I tried to sleep through the last one (it was either that or kill myself). They fed us often enough, and I was glad I was able to get a good start in Robin Cook's _Vital_Signs_.
Tuesday, March 15 -- SHANGHAI
Having crossed the international dateline, I found myself in Tuesday. We got off the plane and onto a runway where a people mover took us to the terminal. After some slight confusion, I found the gate for my connecting flight to Shanghai. Northwest flight 7 was scheduled to take off at 5:55 PM from gate 49. It was another 747.
There were two IPI groups on the flight. Tony Kang, who was to be our tour director throughout our stay, came around, introduced himself and checked us off on his list. He was coming from LA. His home was just miles away from January's earthquake there. Only about half of the people in his group would be visiting Shanghai, so in Shanghai there would only be 22 of us. When we reached Beijing, the size of our group would grow to 42. We had little IPI buttons that we were supposed to wear with our names and the number which indicated our place in the group (we lined up in numerical order coming in and out of China to go through passport control) to keep us from getting lost and so that we could learn each other's names easier. I wore mine as little as possible because whenever I put it on I felt like an official sheep.
Baa-a-a. Baa-a-a. Flying into Shanghai in the evening lacked the brilliance of flying into your average city in the U.S. Throughout my stay it became fairly obvious how the 1/20 of the world which is the U.S. could use 80% of its energy. When we landed and got our luggage together, I noticed a family in our group with 4 children that even I -- despite heavy resistance -- had to find adorable. Mr. Walsh, an orthodontist, and Mrs. Walsh, a doctor, had Allison (11), Ryan (10), Lauren (8) and Austin (6) with them. The Walshes were from St. Louis.
After the children, I was the next youngest member of the group at 27. Miroslaw, a guy who had come from Poland at my age, was next at 36. After that, I'd say the average age was probably around 60. Miroslaw was glad to find another person in the group who spoke Polish. I didn't believe just how much Polish I ended up speaking on a vacation to China. Miroslaw is also from Chicago and has a wife and a 6 month old daughter. He said she didn't want to come because of the long flight.
We stacked our luggage outside the airport building and waited for transportation to our hotel. The surroundings reminded me a lot of Poland, but most places somewhere between the Thirld World and the United States remind me of Poland. Our bus soon arrived and took us to the Windsor Evergreen Hotel. Our luggage followed on a separate bus. The city wasn't very lit up, but there were plenty of people about. On the way to the hotel we met our local guide, Mr. Yu. Mr. Li would be our driver during our stay in town. Town? Shanghai has over 13 million residents and another 2 million in transient population. Just what this means would be apparent tomorrow during our tour of the city. We were told that China itself has 1.3 billion people.
We checked into our rooms and waited for our bags to be delivered before going to bed. I was in Room 1316 which meant that I was in building 1 on the third floor. I found it interesting that you had to insert your key chain into a slot by the door to turn the power on in your room. I thought it was a pretty clever energy saving idea. Before turning in, I saw the end of a movie about Hong Kong filmmakers on the TV in my room.
Wednesday, March 16 -- Yu Garden, The Bund, Longhua Temple & Pagoda
We had an American buffet breakfast. In fact, all our breakfasts in China were American buffets, and we only stayed in three and four star hotels. I never had reason to complain about our accommodations. We all got on the bus and headed out into the city for a day of touring. I was amazed at the sheer numbers of people everywhere and all the bicylces I saw in use. It was quite a sight. You'd often see more than one person on the same bike. Unfortunately, you'd also see people wearing what looked like thick surgical masks for protection from the polluted air. I was always amazed that even in the morning I couldn't get a breath of fresh air in Shanghai. After a while I started wondering what long term exposure to the air might do.
It was a cloudy, smoggy, foggy day and I could see smoke billowing from smoke stacks in the distance. The streets were congested, but somehow we made progress. It seems that the more I travel the less I have to complain about traffic in the U.S. There was construction everywhere. Buildings were being torn down and new ones were quickly being built. It was surprising to see that the scaffolding used was all bamboo all over the city regardless of how high the buildings were. At one point we heard lots of firecrackers and witnessed the release of balloons at what was apparently a ground breaking ceremony at a construction site. The streets were fairly narrow and many were lined with sycamore trees that I'm sure add to the beauty of the streets in the warmer months.
We made our way to the Old City and Yu Garden where we were beseiged by people selling postcards (10 for a dollar) and various trinkets which often seem like junk (official dust collectors) to me. I noticed Miroslaw actually seeking these people out. It sounded like he was looking for some 'action' so to speak and wanted to know where he could find it. The nearby tea house and garden were beautiful. When Mr. Yu asked what the rocks under one little house looked like, I was the only one who said, 'Clouds.' The was meant to look like a house in the clouds. Mr. Yu told me most people don't see it until they're told.
We then made our way to the Bund, Shanghai's waterfront, from which we could make out the new television tower under construction on the other side of the Huangpu River. The area is known as Shanghai's old 'Wall Street.' We could see many ships on the river as well, and strolling along the riverwalk to the restaurant for lunch was nice. Just outside the restaurant there were a number of beggars. We were told not to give them anything because the city doesn't want to encourage that kind of behavior.
Lunch. Well, the time had come to eat Chinese food, and I knew there would be no avoiding it. All my friends know I don't like Chinese food, and I was prepared to stick out two weeks of it. I expected to lose weight during the trip and had brought chocolate candy bars to supplement my diet for the duration. However, I found myself eating quite a bit. Forks were provided for those who wanted them usually, but I always turned them down deciding to do as the Romans (Chinese in this case). I was surprised at the sheer number of dishes provided. Much of the time we didn't even know what we were eating. We couldn't come to a consensus on just what some dishes were. I was amazed that somehow each meal seemed to hold new surprises and that I was enjoying them. There was all kinds of meat -- beef, poultry, venison, mutton, fish, etc. (that etc. scared me sometimes -- eel, cat, dog, snake among others were possibilities). Just about every vegetable I could think of and some I'd never heard of were served. Desert would often consist of some kind of fruit like oranges. Tea was pretty much always served and Chinese beer was usually served. Sometimes we'd have the option of having a Coke or a Sprite or some kind of artificial orange drink. I did miss sugar though. Salt, pepper and soy sauce were also noticeably absent from most Chinese meals. Breakfasts were always all American.
Afterwards, we visited a silk factory where we could see material being made. A little fashion show was put on for us. This, of course, was followed by a spending frenzy by some of the group. But who am to complain of it means attractive women parading outfits in front of me?
We then visited the Longhua Temple and Pagoda. It was quite an experience for me to explore a Buddhist Temple. The smell of incense filled the air and worshippers were present praying. It was also here that the kids arouse a great deal of interest from the locals. I'm sure it's not every day that a family of six comes along in a country where there is a one-child rule.
Before dinner, we stopped in a jade factory (somehow all the factories we visited had stores -- imagine the luck in that). I lost interest fairly quickly and waited outside. Miroslaw came out, but he was quickly pulled back inside by a woman. Apparently, he had reached up to pick up some kind of jade deer. The antlers weren't part of the deer and being loose fell. One of them broke on impact with the floor. They wanted him to pay for the whole deer. He said he'd only pay for an antler since it wasn't part of the deer. They just let him go. Actually, it almost seemed like some kind of booby trap because you have to reach up for the deer, and it's not apparent that you have to watch out for the antlers.
Miroslaw was carrying around so much camera equipment people were starting to refer to him as the photographer. The expression of being 'shangaied' refers to the formerly widespread use of securing sailors for voyages to the Orient. These men were often knocked out or drugged and woke up to find themselves as forced labor on board sailing vessels.
The buffet dinner was quite good. We were able to (actually we had to) pick out our own meat and vegetables for the cooks to individually prepare for us. They were quite skilled. The food was moving faster than my eyes could follow and just how they kept it off the floor was a neat trick.
After dinner, most if not all of us attended a spectacular acrobatic show that featured just about all child performers. There was one act that I was completely amazed by. A girl of about 11 years old ended up balancing some 17 glasses containing fluid and two plates on her nose. Two young girls would hand her two glasses at a time. The she rolled on the floor without dropping anything. I was impressed, but she wasn't done yet. The two attending girls each brought her a ladder. Then this girl somehow climbed up these separate ladders without falling and without dropping the construction balancing on her nose. Once she was on top, I figured she'd just come down, but no. |
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