July 06, 2006
"Ding,Ding,Hao" (Excellent!)
Recently, Art and I went to China for 12 non-stop, exhausting, fun and fact filled days! It was one of the most interesting trips we ever took. Our group was great, our guides exceptional and the contrasting scenery was unbelievable. (Not to mention the tremendous building boom, hordes of people, terrible pollution, and traffic jams.) Since there was so much to see, I went overboard with taking pictures (as usual) and tried to capture as much of the "old look of China" as well as the new modern skycrapers. I'll let the pictures "speak" for themselves...
Our first stop was Shanghai, home to 19 million. Other than the fact that Art lost his luggage and pills, we loved everything about the city, from our hotel, magnificent modern buildings, tour of a farmer's house, the great city waterfront, park, temples, and the fabulous Chinese Acrobat show.
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We saw all of this and much more in a whirlwind 2 days! On the third day, we went on a 3 day Yangtze River Cruise, on the Victoria Cruise Line, for some much needed rest and relaxation! The highlight of the cruise was going through the Three Gorges and seeing the Three Gorges Dam, the world"s largest hydroelectric dam. The ship was very low key but had great meals and entertainment. The scenery was breathtaking!
Going through the locks and seeing the Dam, which will be completed by Oct. was fascinating. Most of the beautiful scenery we saw will be flooded then and over a million farmers, etc. will have to relocate.
One thing we did that was fun was to take a riverboat tour down the narrow parts of the river. We saw monkeys, caves, and farmers way up in the hills. There was even a small band playing for us in the midst of the forest!
We also went to the Ghost City, walked up more than 600 steps to see some beautiful buildings, statues (even on the rooftops), and scenery. Art was very excited with his new Mao hat!
We did manage to get in some relaxation while on the ship. Art learned how to fly a kite, we relaxed on deck, celebrated Art's 70th birthday, and saw a funny,yet beautiful fashion show with the multi-talented crew, another show featuring the crew dancing and singing, and we even got to dress up the last night!(something Art and I knew would embarrass our children!) We enjoyed the "lazy Susan" way of dining with our newfound friends but were certainly tired of it and Chinese food by the end of the trip!
Believe it or not, this is just the first week of our trip! I'm exhausted looking at all these pictures so stay tuned for Part 2 of the Hyatt's China trip. I will have to post it soon since we are going away in a month for an even longer and more exhausting trip...meaning many more pictures!
Posted by Ady at July 6, 2006 03:55 PM
Comments
Ady and Art: your pictures are wonderful. it has taken most of the summer for me to get there to look at your pictures. if you'll remember, Cirri is the lady who packed and shipped her pants and had to borrow clothing for the trip to Beijing and i'm the guy who erased 700 pictures the same night that Cirri "lost her pants". seeing you in these pictures and all of the great shots you took makes the trip all come back. it was such a great time. thank you for the invitation to visit your family website and sharing your pictures with us. it was such a good time. what else can i say but Ding Ding Hao? -- Jim (Jeem)and Cirri
Posted by: Cirri and Jim Sirko on September 13, 2006 08:28 PM
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