Joe and Sally in China: Part I

大家好！Hello everyone!
It has been 20 days since my last post and I've been super-busy traveling with my parents. For this blog, we have a guest author; my father Joe Thomas! Enjoy!

Will try to keep this short and interesting, but doubt either of those will happen since we have spent about 15 action packed days in this exciting country of 1.3 billion people. TJ dropped us off at the Gig Harbor shuttle and a mere 36 hours of travel later we met up with Brad in the Beijing Airport. Since that time we have traveled by airplane, bus, overnight train (17 hour trip from Xi'An to Shanghai that included the 9:30 am darkness of the solar eclipse), big boats, little boats, bamboo boats, 10 passenger electric cart, 2 passenger "beng beng che", crowded but very efficient subways, numerous reasonably priced taxis (varying degrees of white knuckle trips through seeming uncontrolled traffic of the big cities, little cities and countryside) and finally uncounted miles of walking to experience China up close and personal.

Airplane in Hong Kong- Transfer 1 of 3 on trip to Beijing!	River cruise on Bamboo boat in Yangshuo
Playing cards with our friend on an overnight train from Xi'an to Shanghai	Crowded Subway in Beijing

The sights we have seen have included spectacular must-see sights in Beijing, Xi'An and Shanghai: The Summer Palace (an amazing summer destination for the emperor and one of my favorite spots), the 2008 Olympics Park (sight of the Bird's Nest and Water Cube), Tianneman Square and the Forbidden City (jam packed with people), the Temple of Heaven (a beautiful place of worship, although the sacrificial animals probably did not think so), the Lama Temple (including many practicing Budhists burning incense as they worship), a tour to the Great Wall (included stops at an underground Ming tomb, a jade factory, a silk factory and the incredible hike along the great wall, which included the more touristy, but fun, chair lift up and toboggan ride back down to the bus), the amazing Terracotta Warrior Museum in Xi'An (a spectacular combination of history, discovery and ongoing archeological work that one must experience to really appreciate), the Bell Tower and Drum Tower (where Brad signaled the beginning of the day by ringing the bell and end of the day by hitting the drum), the amazing architecture of the Bund and PuDong sections of Shanghai (a big, modern, more western city with never ending skyscrpapers that can only be described by "wow.")

Joe and Sally at the Forbidden City	All of us at the Great Wall of China
All of us at the Terracotta Warriors site.	Sally and Brad with the luggage arriving in Shanghai. 10 to carry between three people!

We have also seen many equally as interesting but less known sights. In Beijing we visited the 798 Art District (a collection of numerous art galleries containing some very unique exhibits and pieces of art). Also a trip to "Shangrila" a few kilometers outside of Guilin (a rather small tourist attraction that highlighted the sights, crafts and lifestyles of some of the Chinese minorities). In Shanghai we had a drink at on the 36th floor of the Shangrila Hotel. A very awesome view of the river, the Bund, Pudong and we were treated to a fireworks display (below eye level) and a large lightning storm. This high-class event was hosted by our friend Steve Neufer. A special evening very different from most of our trip.

After Beijing, an unexpected treat was our decision to fly to south to Guilin, take a 4 1/2 hour boat cruise on the gorgeous Li River and spend a night in the small river city of Yangshuo - Thanks to Rob and Joy for the recommendation. While there we took a most interesting trip to the countryside and saw the lifestyle of a small village, rice growing and being harvested, had a chance to see, feed and pet water buffalo and watch Cormorant birds fishing while navigating the river on a bamboo boat.

The view of the gorgeous Li River from our 4 hour boat tour	Joe feeding water buffalo in a rural area of Yangshuo

We have shopped along busy streets and in malls, at tourist shops and even in Wal-Mart but the best and most interesting shopping experiences have come in the wheeling and dealing bargaining of the Pearl Market in Beijing and the small alleys and streets of Xi'An. There seems to be no price too low and the term "Best Price" only becomes apparent after you have said "No" and begin to walk away. While it sometimes seems rather silly to be haggling over a yuan or two (less than a quarter) it becomes a challenge to find that lowest price. Brad's experience has helped immensely in this regard. I, of course, think I am pretty good at it and Sally doesn't like the process at all.

One of our stops in the giant Pearl Market in Beijing	Brad and some new shoes bought in the Muslim Quarters of Xi'an

During all of these adventures I must admit the weather has been less than ideal. It could best be described as hot, muggy and hazy (I hate to use the word smoggy, although I think it might be appropriate in some cases). The last couple of days we have had some rain (as we left Xi'An and again now in Shanghai) but it has not affected our travels at all, in fact in some cases felt kind of nice and cooled the air a little bit.

I planned to take care of this blogging stuff in one shot, but there is just too much. I am sure you will look forward to our next posting where I will mention a little more about the people we have met, the places we have stayed and the food we have eaten.

Thanks for listening ... If you have made it this far!!


PS- this is Brad... coutdown until landing in USA: LESS THAN 1 WEEK!