Guilin reminded us the most of Taiwan when we lived there. Just seeing the town, the many storefronts with wares, big bags of rice, people congregating and the many bicycles, "battery" scooters, and variety of street life. The only difference is that...
Day 15- Disembarkation, Airport hassles and Guilin
Disembarkation was amazingly slow. The boat pulled up to a floating dock, inch by slow inch, and finally the ropes were thrown out. That took about ½ hour to edge to the dock. BTW, the dock is floating because the water table changes from season to ...
Day 14- On the Yangtze - Shibaozhai Pagoda, heavy bargaining
We were out again, bright and early to walk to the Shibaozhai Pagoda, a well-known attraction that is a 12-tier wooden pavilion about 400 years old (Ming Dynasty) built against the mountain but exceeding its height by three tiers.To get there, we walke...
Day 13 - On the Yangze - Shennv Stream
Our only excursion today started nice and early, at 7:45. Walked through several ships and docks (they all park next to either on the docks so often you have to go through a couple of them) to get to our destination--small sightseeing boats which took...
Day 12 - On the Yangtze - the Three Gorges Dam
Relaxing on our cruise this morning, we had a lesiurely breakfast, and then went to a lecture on Chinese traditional medicine. Dr. "Tony" onboard is both a martial arts person who leads Tai Chi at 7 in the morning (we haven't made it yet...!), and the...
Day 11 - Shanghai to Yichang and our cruise begins
After a little extra time this morning to pack and have our last delicious breakfast at the Waldorf- Astoria, we started our journey towards Yichang and the Three Gorges and famous dam. At the airport we made friends with a Chinese gentleman who spoke...
Day 10 - Shanghai
We are in love with our hotel (see yesterday's post), and the food is wonderful. Breakfasts are luxurious (high quality tea and coffee), beautifully made omelets, and lots of interesting fresh fruit, to say nothing of the variety of breads, Chinese fo...
Day 8 - Xi'an to Suzhou - Chinese Gardens
Today was primarily a travel day but finished with some beauty and tranquility. We flew from Xi'an to Shanghai and from the airport in Shanghai were bused to the city of Suzhou, another so-called smailler Chinese city (around 10 million). There, we we...
Day 9 - Suzhou to Shanghai - Silk and Sampans
There was a lot of bus riding today with several stops along the way to Shanghai. Suzhou is known for four things as we wrote yesterday--beautiful women (Jim is enjoying that one!), beautiful gardens, canals, and silk. Our first stop was at a silk em...
Day 7 - Xi'an - Terracotta Warriors and Dumplings
Finally, the eighth wonder of the world--the Terracotta Warriors! Although we've seen pictures, getting up close and seeing the vast archaeological site is more than impressive. Actually there are 4 buildings with digging sites. The first is the lar...
Jim and Wendy Damoulakis
A journal of our major travels
Scandinavia and Iceland
July 2024
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Jordan and Israel
May 2023
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London and Scotland
Sep 2022
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Machu Picchu and Galapagos
May 2019
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Portugal and Spain
September 2018
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Southwest US
September 2017
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China
June -July 2015