Day 7 ~ Boarding the Ship

Ready for the ship transfer by 11 we all waited in the lobby for the buses. Regent hosted their passengers in Beijing at the Peninsula, so there were a number of passengers waiting to board. There was  bit of a crush on the first few buses, so we hung back to avoid the mad dash. It was almost a 3 hour transfer to Tianjin via bus with a planned "happy" stop in the middle. Alas, no toilets at all... just holes, but I did survive. Since there is never any paper in the bathrooms, I  was prepared, but there are usually one of two stalls with real toilets, but not this time. Back on the bus for the rest of the trip with an hour or so ETA.

Approaching the port of Tianjin we were amazed to see how huge the area is - the roads (deserted) looked as wide as runways, and there was no other traffic. It took close to 20 minutes to get from the entrance of the port to reach the ship. Then there was Chinese Immigration, and our "face to face" inspection while the immigration police inspect your passport, look at you, look back at your passport, and back at you... actually this can go on for 2 minutes or so; thank heavens I had the same hair color as in my passport photo or I'd still be in Tianjin! Additionally,  two copies of our passports with all sorts of official looking red stamps with the date hand written by the inspector. So now you have three critical pieces of identification. They keep one of the stamped copies, give back one stamped copy, and then stamp your passport! And we're told to guard the stamped copy as if it was your passport!

Finally aboard the ship, a little lunch, a little wine, and everything looks better! Hallelujah! Bags that were shipped by Luggage Free have been delivered to the cabin before our bags from the hotel. Wow! That's service! Little do they know there will be one more bag on the return. Unpack, hang up, organize and we settle into our home for the next 18 days. Life is good, champagne is good and we're under way!

Day 6 ~ Forbidden City

Originally we had planned to tour Beijing on the 19th, along with the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven and one of the famous Hutongs, but Sonja recommended that we reverse the schedule as the weather was expected to deteriorate, and deteriorate it did! It snowed! And snowed, then snowed some more! Holy Toledo did it snow. Big fluffy flakes that accumulated quickly. Thank heaven the hotel had umbrellas in each room, one was put to good use on the 20th of February. First snow for this Florida girl in a long time and it was beautiful to look at, but not so much to muck through. Sonja picked us up at 9am and we headed over to Tiananmen  Square with Mao's portrait over the entrance to the Forbidden City (Gate of Heavenly Peace), it's HUGE, and will hold up to 1million...  we stood right about where the student confronted the tank; but the incident was never mentioned by the guide. From what we understand, the Chinese people are unaware of the attempted rebellion, there just wasn't any mention in any communication channel - and most of the young people today hadn't been born! The Square was packed as the New Year was still being celebrated (total of 7 days, and in some cases 14, as with the tailors). We made our way to the underground walkway that saved us from crossing 10 lanes of traffic, and to the main ticket office... still snowing. I had been dreaming of this for years! The Forbidden City, featured in so many of the novels I've loved, the beauty of the architecture and the chance to see how the Emperors lived... We entered the Meridian Gate, stomped through the snow, made it to the Hall of Supreme Harmony and climbed the steps, walked around the Hall of Supreme Harmony and climbed down the steps on the other side (it you stuck to the middle of the steps, it wasn't too slippery, but there were THOUSANDS of Chinese, with no sense of personal space, but saw no other  tourists.  Ok so I could walk you through the climbing up and down the Hall of Middle Harmony, Hall of Preserving Harmony, but we were getting a bit testy - NOTHING was open for viewing. I guess it was a snow day for the Forbidden City! From one end to the other, up and down, being pushed and shoved, and nothing but stairs and buildings. Yes, yes, we did see magnificent architecture, with incredible Feng Shui, exquisitely decorated buildings, the bronze vats, the marble dragons, the magnificent lions, snow and steps... but, I was so disappointed! Obviously a bad day to visit the City.

But we salvaged the day - we took our guide and driver to lunch at the Quanjude restaurant established in 1864 - now a chain through out Beijing - it is THE place for Peking Duck! And it was delicious!

It has stopped snowing by the time we left the restaurant, and with our tummies full, Sonja and Bill took us to one of the most famous Hutongs, Nanluogu Xiang - nothing like a little shopping therapy to put on in a better humor.  It was a mostly pedestrian street (note the mostly) with about 5 blocks of little shops, restaurants, street vendors. I had my chop designed and found a lion hat for Erin, our granddaughter... it was a grand day after all!

Once back at the Peninsula, we tracked down the cruise desk for "pre-checkin", getting the required two copies of our passports and were advised to put out our suitcases by 11pm for transfer to the ship. Tomorrow we board Regent Seven Seas Voyager, I can't wait to settle in and unpack!

Day 5 ~ Great Wall of China. Chinese New Year's Day

We had arranged to meet our guide, Sonja, from "Tours by Locals" at 9:30am for the 1 1/2 hour ride to the Wall. As we were getting ready to leave the room, we saw a troupe of Lion Dancers getting ready to enter the lobby. Drums beating, cymbals clanging, bells ringing with yellow and red lions dancing toward the entrance. We descended to the lobby as the lions started jumping, dancing, cavorting and celebrating with various acrobatic tricks to scare away the evil spirits and bringing good luck to us all for the year of the Ram (or goat, or sheep - seems they are all synonymous to the Chinese). We took photos, and posed for pictures with the lions before heading off with Sonja and "Bill" our driver. This was New Year's Day and one of the most important holidays to the Chinese - a time when they "go home" to spend time with their families, back to their roots for a day of gathering and sharing traditions. I felt guilty that we were taking both Sonja and Bill away from their families, but would not have missed the Wall for anything, what an experience! I'm not sure what I expected, but we passed hundreds of thousands of new trees, all dormant, but planted row by row and quite a variety!  It won't be long before the countryside around Beijing is forested with bright green, eventually helping control the pollution. The small towns we passed along the way had the sidewalks in front of their stores filled with stacks and stacks of red, yellow and orange boxes waiting to be sold to the celebrants for the New Year's festivities. There were so many boxes and so many stores, it didn't seem possible to sell everything on display!

We were dropped at the entrance to the Great Wall, Sonja picked up our tickets and we were on our way. We had chosen the Mutianyu access as an easier access to the Wall with less walking... HA! We walked thru about 1 1/2 miles of street stalls as we steadily walked upward and onward and still we walked on. The souvenir stands displayed Chinese Army Hats, T-shirts, huge fur hats (wolf?), ear flap hats, stalls with coffee, hot chocolate, water, snacks... it was cold!  We reached the junction where you either started climbing the trail to the Great Wall, or you continued to climb up to the available enclosed gondolas, but we were still climbing the two sets of steps trying to reach the ticket booth! Ah, but wait there's more! There was probably another 5 minutes of climbing steps and inclines before reaching the cable cars, followed by some deep breathing and gasping for air... it wasn't cold anymore! Throughout the climb, you would catch glimpses of the wall snaking its way through the surrounding hills and up the mountain, just like the pictures! It was spectacular. First built during the Northern Qi Dynasty in the 6th century it's been restored and rebuilt throughout history and it offers some of the most unforgettable views of towers winding across the forest and mountains. They say on a clear day you can see the deserts of Mongolia... we didn't see Mongolia, but the view was spectacular. The ride up to the top was uneventful other than John's screams. Once we got off the gondolas, there was even more climbing... and several more ascents and levels before we actually made it to the to the top of wall. The last push to the top was a series of steps, each with about 15 inch risers. And once you finally made it, you spent your time trying to keep your balance as nothing was even! You were either on an incline or decline, or tilting to one side or the other. Big stairs, little stairs, up and down but no level ground to be found. We didn't walk any great distance along the wall, but did the touristy thing for about an hour taking pictures of the Wall and each other and simply marveling at the massive structure as the Wall snaked below us, above us, until it faded into the distant hills on the horizon. There were arrow niches and drains about every 4 yards between the towers; it seemed impregnable, but we understand from our guide that it was only challenged twice, and both times it failed... I'm pretty sure that I've read that it's the only man-made structures on earth that can be seen from space.

On our descent we encountered a Chinese couple, probably in their 60's or 70's that were coming down the walking trail just below the cable car turn around... through gestures we determined they had walked up and were in the process of walking down! Holy Toledo! I can't imagine. We were all exhausted even with the cable car and ready for nice toddy! Happy New Year! 

Day 4 ~ Chinese New Year's Eve

We slept well and got up at our usual time - 6:30 am; wow, the time change couldn't be this easy, could it? (More to come) We had the day on our own and after a sumptuous buffet we dressed for the elements - much colder than Florida - and sallied forth to explore. We headed for Wangfujing Street, the pedestrian street close to the hotel. The Apple store was on the corner, there were tea shops, a traditional Chinese pharmacy (didn't recognize a thing! All jars of herbs labeled with Chinese characters.), high end department stores with Gucci, Tiffany, Prada, etc, supermarkets, foreign language book store, Bank of China and street food including scorpions, sea horses and star fish on a stick - living! And any number of unrecognizable delicacies Patti & John did not try. There was red everywhere and everyone wore a touch of red for the New Year. On either side and above each doorway there were red banners with auspicious wishes for the New Year. There were boxes of candies, traditional sweets and drinks available for sale everywhere. Red lanterns were hung in sets of two or more above doorways, or entrances to buildings. I found a silk store with the most incredible rainbow of colors and patterns it would have been hard to chose, but I had my heart set on a dove grey and found the perfect color. I'd planned on  having a dress made but unfortunately the tailors were off from Feb 15 to March 1. Oh well, we'll see what they can do back home. We headed back to the hotel, made reservations for a special New Year's dinner, left a message for our friends the Murphy's  and promptly fell asleep, missed the reservations, but had a grand reunion in the lobby bar over cocktails and planned our tour to the Great Wall the following day. 

Day 2/3

Of course it was confusing! I had no idea what time it was or exactly where we were... 20 hours in all, with a 14 hour flight to NRT, then a layover and 4 hour flight to PEK. So a little nap, a little dinner with Continental and Chinese option and 3 movies, and we land shell shocked for a two hour layover, then onto Beijing. Arrival at Beijing was a surprise, but I'm not sure what I expected. I've read way too many spy novels, good guys vs bad guys stuff. It was very bright, very modern, very clean and huge! Made ready for the Olympics, it was one of the best airports I've been in. We arrived about 10:30 pm, so there weren't huge crowds, and even Immigrations was a pleasant surprise... much easier than entering Russia, and no apparent "minders". It was fantastic to see a gentleman dressed in topcoat and tie from the Peninsula Hotel there to guide and assist us to the car with our luggage. Considering the time of evening, and being close to Chinese New Year,  the traffic was minimal and the drive much faster than we'd expected. I missed the Rolls Royce pick up, though the BMW 700 series was quite acceptable. We were met in the lobby by the Concierge, and check formalities were done in our room; fast, convenient, and professional, making us feel at home. After a few minutes of settling in, we were toast!

Day 1

Party girl and boy of yesterday are a couple of party poopers tonight. After a 3:15 unexpected wake up call - we're exhausted. I made good use of the time to solve Saturday's Suduko, take a few things out of the suitcase, and run a mental list of what I still need to pack. Sorry, I really don't know how to pack light; I always want a few options. Back to bed at 5am and was able to sleep in till 7am. There was plenty of time to finish up the last minute details - trash, dishes, changing sheets and breakfast before closing the suitcases and heading to the airport with COATS! Haven't done that in ages! Flew to DCA, transferred to an airport hotel close to IAD, and dang, it was COLD! Early dinner and a few minutes of SNL 40th before crashing. It's going to be a long flight tomorrow... ANA, to NRT, lay over then on to PEK, and ready for the next chapter.

Luggage Free!

It still hasn’t sunk in... we’re going to CHINA! Like in 4 days. All the planning, all the researching, all the anticipation is almost unbearable. We did something we’ve never done before. We are shipping luggage! I’m delighted – I get to pack all the of my “fancy” cruise clothes that I’d like, extra shoes and all sorts of things I’d have to leave at home. Flying domestic then international, both with different weight limitation is frustrating – one bag domestic up to 50 lbs, and then magically I can have two bags up to 70 lbs on the international flight, but I can’t get there from here! Luggage Free was recommended by Regent Seven Seas Cruises, and I decided to take the plunge! They couldn’t have been more accommodating, convenient to use and courteous. You can book on line (www.luggagefree.com), but since I had a million questions, I picked up the phone and called them at 800-361-6871. Depending on your destination, they will tell you when they need to pick up your luggage to make it to your destination on time, but you choose a specific time for the pick up with a one hour window. I had asked for pick up between 10am-11am, and right on the money, the doorbell rang at 10:05! Perfect. You receive on pick up confirmation via email and then emails as the bags make their way along the route. Ft. Lauderdale, Memphis, Anchorage, Inchon... and today they are at customs. Bags are insured for $1000 complimentary insurance, and you can purchase additional insurance is you wish. They are covered with protective luggage wrapping, Luggage Free completes all the Customs Documentation, and you only pay for what you pack... in other words, you are charged by the pound. AND, you are not charged until the trip is completed and you are 100% satisfied. Best of all, you don’t have to hassle with the extra bags or excess luggage charges. Oh, and PERX can offer you a $25 gift card!

Just a few more days and we’ll be on the way. I can’t wait! Next stop, Beijing!