China Trip 2006

Author: Judith Ann Mattox, Rinda Kay Mitchell, Doris LaVonne Hausken and Meredith Jane Dunn, Mar. 03, 2007

Sep. 27, 2006 - Oct. 05, 2006
9 days in total

Beijing - Xian - Chongqing - Yangtze Cruise - Yichang - Shanghai

· Click for the details of the tour itinerary we took

Reinself Wei

Details of the tour itinerary we took

After nearly seven months of planning and numerous e-mails sent between our China Odyssey representative, Reinself Wei and me, Rinda, Doris and I finally arrived in Beijing. We had a good nights sleep after our flight from the states and arose early to start our explorations.

Beijing

We are fairly independent travelers and don't require a lot of "hands-on" guidance so we spent our first day at the Panjiayuan Market and the next day exploring Tiananmen Square and The Forbidden City.

One travel secret that I'd like to share is that of making friends with the children whereever we go; friendship with the adults soon follows. I contact the Department of Tourism well in advance of any trips and get a supply of "Idaho" pins.

Upon returning to our hotel that evening, I received a welcoming phone call from our China Odyssey representative, Rein, letting me know that our guide, Steven, would be picking us up early the next morning for our tour to the Mutianyu Section of the Great Wall.

The day dawned heavily overcast and it rained intermittently on our drive out of the city. We were prepared for the worst weather, but hoped for the best. Our hopes won out and shortly after we arrived at the wall, the sun came out. We took the gondola ride to the top and saw first hand the size and magnificence of this man-made wonder. We spent most of the morning walking (and in some instances, almost crawling) from one guard house to the next. Some areas of the wall are extremely steep with the steps very close together and in many cases, 2 – 3 feet high, thus the crawling description.

Rather than take the gondola back down the mountain, we chose the toboggan run….that was FUN for these 3 little old ladies from Idaho!

We had a very nice lunch and then toured a small factory where vases were made and visited a tea shop where we learned about the various types of teas. Later that evening, Steven took us to a local restaurant for our dinner. One thing that I can say about our dinners, is that there was TONS of food……there is no way we could eat all of the food that was served to us on our tours provided by China Odyssey .

Early the next morning we were again met by our guide Steven and driver to be taken on our next excursion to the Temple of Heaven. Later we were given a rickshaw ride through the Hutongs of Beijing where we enjoyed a really wonderful, home cooked meal provided and served by the homeowners. This was one of the best experiences we had because of the opportunity to come into someone’s private home and share a meal. Our hosts were very gracious and friendly and I would certainly recommend this tour to all.

Xian

The next day Steven escorted us to the airport for the next leg of our journey. At Xi'an we were met by our next China Odyssey guide, Winnie. We began our afternoon with a trip to the museum and, along with Winnie and her supervisor (because he’d never seen them), we were taken to the basement where the original tomb murals are stored in temperature controlled vaults. The curator of the museum asked us how we got permission to see these murals because no one other than government dignitaries (such as Bill Clinton and family) are normally allowed access. We continued to shake our heads and repeat that our China Odyssey representative, Rein, somehow obtained special permission for our private viewing! Pictures were not allowed to be taken in this portion of the museum, so I have none to share for this segment of our trip.

That evening, Winnie arrived at our hotel to take us to our dumpling dinner and Tang Dynasty show. Again, more food that we could possibly eat and an enjoyable song and dance show.

The following morning, Winnie and our driver met us at our hotel to show us the drum tower and city wall, but we were much more excited about what was to come and asked Winnie to cut this part of the tour short. Our next portion of the tour was to descend into Pit #5 which is still undergoing excavation! How Rein managed to accomplish this is totally beyond me. I can’t say more than thank you, thank you, thank you Rein!!!

After driving through miles of pomegranate orchards, we arrived at a little tin shed housing this discovery. Inside were 2 authentic terra cotta warriors (minus their heads!), restored body armor and helmets. We spent quite some time here talking with the on-site archaeologist and the farmer who discovered this site. We were then allowed to descend the wooden stairway and view the new excavations.

This was absolutely, with no question, the best part of our trip to China. To be within inches of buried history is an incredible feeling.

Upon leaving the excavation site, we drove a short distance to the museum housing the famous terra cotta warriors. This is an enormous, airplane hanger size, building and, yes, there are thousands in this emperors army and all different.

Winnie explained to us that most of the warriors who were missing their heads were missing them because they were officers or other high ranking officials. If the statues were captured by an enemy, the only real warriors who could be identified would be the ordinary soldiers rather than the officers.

Chongqing - Yangtze Cruise - Yichang

The following day we left Xi'an for Chongqing to begin our 3 day Yangtze cruise on the "Yangtze No. 1". Our tablemates were tourists from Denmark (who had adopted a little Chinese girl), a couple from India and couple from Portugal. (Remember to bring your own water onboard, because you can't drink the tap water and drinking water sold onboard is not cheap!). The Yangtze River itself is very dirty and polluted, but still has an eerie and supernatural quality about it when viewed at sunrise or sunset.

Along the cruise route we visited the famous "ghost city" as well as the hanging coffins along the Shinning River. Already the water in the 3 gorges is rising from the new dam and these mysteries will be lost forever.

Shanghai

After touring the 3 Gorges Dam project we disembarked from our cruise at Yichang and flew to our next destination, Shanghai and our hotel right on Nanjing Road. Nanjing Road at night is unbelievable to say the least. It is almost a carnival atmosphere because of the crowds of people, the street vendors, and lighted buildings.

Our guide in Shanghai was Sarah who took us to the watertown of Zhujiajiao and to Seven Treasures Town. Both of these excursions were very pleasurable and entertaining. We watched silk comforters being made and learned why Zhujiajiao is called "the Venice of China".

End

On our own again, we flew from Shanghai to Guangzhou for two days and from there took an hour train ride to the border city of Shenzhen where Rinda had some clothes made at the LoWu shopping center and I bought lots of DVD's! After a 2 day stay there, we crossed the border to Hong Kong where we ended our 3 ½ week China journey with a trip to Aberdeen, Stanley and of course took the tram to Victoria Peak.

If people were to ask me about the services provided by Reinself Wei of China Odyssey Tours, they would get an unequivocal vote of confidence! Rein was truly a pleasure to work with in planning our trip and really went out of his way to meet our requirements and requests. In fact, I would have no hesitation in recommending China Odyssey Tours to anyone planning a long or a short trip to China.

Judy Mattox
judymattox@hotmail.com
Mar. 03, 2007