Last stop was Hong Kong

Hong Kong, since 1997 is a special administrative region(SAR) of the People’s Republic of China, under the one country, two systems principle. Hong Kong has separate legal, economic , and customs systems. Its sovereignty belongs to China, which handles its foreign affairs and defense. We had a very short visit, 2 nights but only one day of touring.

View from in front of our hotel. Very clean, modern downtown.

We enjoyed a pizza, Caesar salad and wine from South America!!!

Our experienced captain ran a smooth boat!

A sister ship passing nearby.

Some things didn’t look so good…. but tasted ok🤣

Last stop was a new museum that contained lots of objects from the Forbidden City In Beijing.

A very interesting journey!! I’m looking forward to following news of China in the future. This trip provided some context about China and its people.

We’re glad to be home. 4 weeks is a long time to be gone. Especially when Patty’s phone was messed up (probably my fault ). WiFi was good in most hotels and on the ship. However. I couldn’t send emails , Patty could not send or receive emails. We could occasionally text and we could occasionally make phone calls using WiFi. We FaceTimed with Meg, Oliver and Cecilia a couple of times. Once home it took two Comcast visits before I could find a person that helped us get our email working again.

It was a 30 hour journey to get home and we are almost back to normal after being home 5 days. Time to rest up for our next adventure!!!

Off the ship and on to Guilin

A high speed train took us to Guilin for a short two night visit. The train ride itself was very impressive…. fast, quiet, and smooth. The Li River is a beautiful river in mountainous terrain. We also visited the Reed Flute Cave.

The train station in Shenzen was a zoo! Never seen a crowd like this waiting to get on a train.

Waiting for our train

306km/h equals 190 miles per hour!! It was smooth and quiet. No seat belts required and people were walking around without any difficulty!!

The sensation of speed was noticed!! A blur when bushes and trees were close to the track.

Comfortable seats on the train. Our ride took 3 hours. It would have been 11 hours by bus!

Inside the Reed Flute Cave. The colored lights and music made it look more like a Disney Land ride.

Some interesting stalactites and stalagmites. Big problem for us seniors….. no handrails, wet steps, steps cut in the rock and they were uneven, slanted, and not standard height. At times it was so dark it was hard to see the steps. We persevered and nobody fell!🤣🤞

We took a 3 hour boat ride on the Li River. Beautiful scenery and a nice lunch. It was great that it was air conditioned as the air temp was 93 degrees!!

It was a nice ride on the river and we were one of many boats in a conga line going downstream. It felt a little like a Disney ride.

Big boats and little boats!!! Lots of boats!!

Shenzen

Another big beautiful city with most of the city built in the last 30 years. City population is 17.5 million, greater metro are has 23.5 million people. It trails only Shanghai and Beijing in economic output. It has the 5th highest numbers of billionaires in the world. Its four main industries are finance, high tech, logistics, and culture. It’s the world’s 4th busiest container shipping port.

Our excursion only had 5 of us tourists, a nice change from other excursions that had 20 in a group. We all got to do some painting and here I am, hard at work.

Results of my effort. The studio owner showed me how to write my name in Chinese on the left side of the painting.

Xiamen, China

A high light for me was the Huihe Stone culture park. Some great old sculptures dating back to 1300 and a studio where artists today practice old world skills. And they teach various art skills. They also have a stage for hand puppet shows and demonstrated old world musical instruments.

Artist “shadow carving” on a polished black slate.

Shadow carving looks something I could do!

I got to try my hand at shadow carving.

I got this!!!
However, Patty says no new hobbies Rod!

Puppetry is also an old Chinese art form. I think I can do this!!! I’m bringing two of these puppets home and grandkids and I will have some fun!!

Pingtan

The largest island in Fijian province, 5th largest in China. it’s where the East China Sea changes name to the South China Sea. The tour director calls our itinerary thee String of Pearls”, I feel we are seeing the best of China. Slums/ghetto housing has been nonexistent on our tour. We haven’t seen a homeless person. The boat is staffed by all China crew and the trip leaders/guides have been trained in China. So….., I’m guessing that we are getting a sanitized view of China. The guides all seem very proud of what China has accomplished since 1995, and they should be. What we see is big cities that are spotless, fairly quiet, and air quality is much improved from my one trip to Canton/Guangshou back in 2005.

The touristy beach of 68 mile point. The closest mainland China is to Taiwan… 68 nautical miles

Kind of like a touristy little beach town. Looks like fun!
There isn’t any sand, just big and bigger rocks. We saw a young family and the two children , about two years old, had their buckets and shovels and were trying to “dig” in the solid rocks.

This old vw bus used to be a coffee/tea shop. Now it’s just part of the ambiance 🤣

A small sandy beach but no one was on the beach, appears off limits to the public. Red buildings on the hilltop are a Buddhist temple.

One of many street sweepers. We were told that old people could volunteer to do this a few hours per day and earn a little money. ???

Zhoushan, largest city in the Zhousan archipelago.

This archipelago is made up of 1,400 islands. The area is the largest fishery in China. The fishing industry in this area goes back to the 1600s. Recently the areas economy is more diversified with ship building, boat repair, shipping, manufacturing, and tourism. litter Texas we’re going to San Antonio on Halloween so we’re gonna leave the 29th Halloween trick-or-treating are covered up with parks and snow pants and everything.

Our bus ride to the ancient village of Dongsha.

We are met by the Dragon dance. China is preparing for their annual holiday celebration.

Some of us got to try our hand at dragon dancing!

Walking thru the old town of Dongsha. It only has about 200 residents that now make their living keeping the history of an old fishing village alive.

Fish drying is still done the old fashioned way. It was the primary way to preserve fish 400 years ago.

The net makers and menders. Now mainly done for demonstration purposes.

Puppet shows were one of the main entertainment venues years ago.

Musical theater was also popular in the old days

From ancient to modern high tech.
Evening show of the Impression Putuo Performance was fantastic. The director of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Zhang Yimou, directed this amazing show. It’s the story of a young man becoming a Buddhist monk. The production includes a moving audience platform that rotates 360 degrees and the light show and audio is amazing.

The stage stays fixed and the audience rotates. The light show on the mountain side and lights flashing in the trees are very impressive.

Shanghai

A city that began as a fishing village 5000 years ago. Now it is the second largest city in the world, population 25 million. It is the busiest container shipping port in the world. China did a massive rebuild and clean up of Shanghai starting in the 1990s. Our experience…. the streets are clean, air pollution doesn’t seem a problem. Lots of electric cars and electric scooters. Streets are fairly quiet with traffic noise nonexistent from the use of so many EVs.

Night time skyline. The purple building is the Shanghai oriental tower, a TV tower built in 1995. At the time it was the tallest structure in China, at 1532 feet.

Old Shanghai…. in the middle of downtown Shanghai. The Yu Garden, also called “The Garden of Peace and Comfort”, was built in 1559. It includes a house with beautiful gardens open to the public

A winding path thru the Yu gardens would be very peaceful if there weren’t so many tourists 🤣

Skyline at night is beautiful

What amazed me is the amount of infrastructure work from roads and bridges to skyscrapers and airports that have been completed in recent times. So much has been built in the last 30 years. How is it paid for? It appears that many buildings are only partially occupied. Some of the cities we have visited included a bus ride out of town. We see 4 lane and 6 lane highways, brand new bridges, new landscaping along public access….. and very little traffic or people once you get out of the city. How is all of this paid for? My only previous visit to China was a layover in Quanzhou(Canton) back in 2005. It was a dirty, noisy, city…. no new buildings. How did all of these cities get rebuilt and modernized so fast??

Our sea day on the Yellow Sea

We left Quingdao on Tuesday , Sept 23rd and arrived Wednesday , September 24th in Shanghai. A fairly smooth sea, just enough motion for the crew to put out sick sacks in the hallways and elevators. Thankfully none of the 4 of us needed one.

Lots of small fishing boats around us. We were 95 miles off of the coast.

Some great entertainment on board. Singers and musicians performing traditional music , classical music, and contemporary music from the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s.

Our favorite performers…. Lucy and Jacob

The Kung Fu show in the ships Star Theater. Fantastic show by a team of young martial arts experts.

King Fu artists in action having performed in over 30 countries. They have integrated Shaolin martial arts with Zen meditation.

Viking Yi Dun

We got on our ship, the Viking Yi Dun, on Friday, September 19th. It was a no hassle, very easy and quick process. Part of the ease, we found out later, the boat is less than half full. Capacity is about 950 and we’re told that only 425 passengers are on this cruise.

Our ship the Yi Dun. Different than other Viking ships from a crew stand point. It has an all Chinese crew rather than a blended crew with members from several different countries.

First port , Dalian. a summer seaside resort city because of its moderate climate. It was 75 degrees when we visited. It is home to China’s largest martial arts museum. Dalian has a population of 8 million. It is located on a peninsula between the Yellow Sea and Korea Bay…. on the map it’s a stones throw to North Korea. In 1898 Russia claimed the area and built a port nearby because it was the closest harbor to Russia that did not freeze over. In 1905 Japan claimed the area and maintained control of the port and city until 1950. China took back the city and port in 1950. The Wushu Martial Arts Museum has the largest collection of Martial arts weapons.

A theater in the Wushu Martial Arts Museum houses a performing arts theater. We got to see a 45 minute performance outlining the history of kung fu.

Next stop heading south was Quingdao, the Green Island. Population 11 million. Human settlement goes back 6000 years. What really stands out and what is stressed by local guides is how much progress has been made in the last 30 years. A common theme for us is how modern and clean these cities all are. High rise buildings with lots of glass dominate the skyline. We get more information about what’s happening currently in China than historical info from many years ago. The Chinese are very proud of their recent progress.

The Tsingtao brewery stop in Quingdao is very popular amongst tourists and locals alike!

The Germans occupied the area in 1897 and decided to make their own brewery. Thus, the Tsingtao Brewery got its start in 1903….. they’ve been in continuous production for over 122 years. It’s a good German lager beer!!

Terra Cotta Warriors

Seeing these completed the bucket list of things we wanted to see in China. The warriors were discovered by a farmer digging a well in 1974. The warriors are spread out over 22 square miles as a funerary display protecting the tomb of China’s first Emperor, Qin Shi Huang. It took 40 years and 780,000 workers to build this complex. So far 2000 warriors have been discovered. The emperors tomb has been located but not uncovered. The warriors were built in 200BC.