Day 2 in Hong Kong - July 2, 2010

Our final day in Hong Kong was spent shopping near the Peninsula Hotel and the harbor front, with Gucci, Prada, Lancome, Louis Vitton and Tiffany getting the most attention. We also spent two hours in a huge mall that was just mainly to walk around since it was too expensive to buy anything!
We returned to the hotel and found the rooftop pool that was really beautiful. It had remarkable views and the warmest water I have ever been in not to mention the bar. We were sorry we had not tried the pool before.
We left on our final adventure at 5:30pm to catch the ferry back to Hong Kong Island. We hopped in a cab that might have been a mistake at rush hour traffic with a high bill but we found our location, a road called Staunton Road in the heart of SoHo. We found the Yorkshire Pudding restaurant, a well known British restaurant and bar and we had a memorable meal and a great talk with Peter and Maddie. The food was great and the atmosphere even better. We then set off on the return walk thru the wonderful shops, restaurants and bars of SoHo, the same look as the namesake in London. The neighborhood is filled with tiny hops, back alleys and an incredible vibe of prosperity combined with 1800's England. The bars and restaurants were teeming with business people and the people watching was fun! We actually found the subway and Maddie had her first ride on a subway ever. With Peter's guidance, we got on the correct train and found our way back to the shuttle bus for our hotel and another wonderful evening in Hong Kong. Although expensive, we would love to return some day to Hong Kong. More people speak English so it is easier to navigate but the atmosphere, culture extremes and beauty is hard to surpass. We are sad to leave after two wonderful weeks in China but our time has come to return home and get back to work. We have had an amazing two weeks, sightseing with friends and family, Billy and Jingyi's wedding and seeing new parts of China we had not experienced. We will have stories to tell forever and memories to fill our lifetimes.

Hong Kong Day 1- July 1, 2010

Well, we have found our favorite city. Combine San Francisco, New York and harbors and ocean fronts and you have Hong Kong. We were picked up by William at 10PM and walked to the harbor boarding dock and went across Hong Kong Harbor to Hong Kong Island to begin our adventure. We walked thru the city, which was relatively quiet in celebration of a vacation day celebrating Hong Kong's turn over day in 1997. One of the most interesting sites were the packs of women sitting around talking, playing cards and watching DVD's and we were told they are the Phillipine women who are hired maids who had the day off. There had to be thousands just sitting around! We then began the climb up Victoria Hill with a walk thru a local market and then were met again by the van that took us to the oldest tram in the world built by the British taking us to the top of Victoria Peak. The views were simply breathtaking and I hope I can send a photo. It shows immediately our feelings about Hong Kong if anyone asks if we liked Hong Kong. We had a good lunch and then met a local artist who signed a painting we bought and had our picture taken with who was on the path on the top of the mountain.
In the afternoon, we next went to the Peak Ferry dock to ride a sampam thru the harbor, This is a bot you would recognize as the local fishing boat seen in Chinses movies. It was actually depressing seeing all of the garbage and the boats people actually live on, but then the harbor also had fabulous yachts you would see in San Diego or Florida, so that was neat. We then continued to Repulse Beach, the most beautiful beach on Hong Kong Island and it was jammed since it was the holiday. The water is supposed to make you live past 100 so we took our shoes of to walk the beach. Next stop was the Stanley Market, a crazy narrow street of  vendors like a street version of the silk and pearl markets combined. We found a few items that were reasonable to add to our "stuff" and returned to the hotel.
We picked up the free shuttle bus from the hotel to the Promenade area at the Star Ferry Harbour docks for the Symphony of Lights laser light show. For 15 minutes, accompanied by music, the skyscapers on Hong Kong Harbour are synchronized with lights for a fun show. The dock was packed with people since this a very popular show and it was a vacation day. It's a rare show that we would never see in Minnesota. We then took off on an adventurous walk with Peter leading by map. It turned out to be a one mile search for a restaurant. We were told by William that there was a street that contained a variety of European style restaurants and we finally found the street with Italian, Australian, Moroccan, French and English restaurants and we settled on Wildfire, an English bar restaurant where we split a pizza, chicken ceasar salad and chicken pasta and it was actually pretty good. We topped the evening off with a Ben & Jerry's ice cream cone just a block away, managed to find the bus again by the Peninsula Hotel (yikes! what a hotel) and returned back for the evening.

Yangshuo - Guilin - Hong Kong June 30, 2010

This morning we finally did some exercise - we rented 4 bikes and, along with Wei, we did a bike ride in the countryside of about 15 miles total. It was again 90 degrees and 95% humidity at 8AM, so we were drenched in 10 minutes. What a riot trying to dodge traffic and cut across roundabouts and streets. We all wore helmets and ended up at the Banyon Tree Park and Moon Hill City for photos that we will post. The ride lasted two hours and we went back to the hotel to cool off, shower and return to Guilin. The ride was about 2 hours and we had our first sustained rain of the trip. We have actually had great weather throughout and even today was just traveling. We stopped in Guilin for lunch that was OK and then Wei dropped us at the Guilin airport for the trip to Hong Kong.
We arrived in Hong Kong this evening about 6:30 and the views flying in over the sea were spectacular. Hong Kong is AMAZING!! Our hotel is ridiculous, right on the harbor and in a great part of the city. We had dinner overlooking the harbor this evening and watched all of the boats going by. This is going to a fun last few days and we will try to post photos although the internet is REALLY SLOW.By the way, we happen to be here on July 1 which is the 13th anniversary of the day Great Britain returned Hong KKong to China in 1997. We'll see what kind of celebrations there are tomorrow. we did find out that Hong Kong money is different than mainland China and that it an international flight from mainland China to Hong Kong. The airport here is only 12 years old and is the biggest, most beautiful airport I have ever seen.Hong Kong celebrates Christmas, Easter and the Chinese New Year, so they kind of honor both; however, according to William our guide here, they have an autonomous government because they think the Communists say one thing and do another. It's just very interesting how they feel they are separate still.

Guilin - Yangshuo June 29, 2010

This is a photo of Guilin at night that Peter took as soon as we arrived in Guilin - about 9PM.

Today we awoke and were picked up by Wei at 8AM to be driven to the dock to get on the Li River cruise. It was thru the country side and we actually drove by the Li River Golf Course which did not look like much. In China, Wei says only the wealthy play golf. Anyway, the dock was like Grand Central Station. The boats left at different hours so as not to jam up the river and it reminded me of Lake Minnetonka and the QE II at Excelsior. We left at 9AM and the photo shows a boat that immediately came over to sell fruits and other goods. The river cruise took 3 hours and was breathtaking. The mountains along the river are limestone and are all covered with trees - many with Banyon trees, which are the famous local trees. We had lunch on the boat (not good) and ended up in Yangshuo about 12:30. We checked into our Green Lotus Hotel (actually very nice!) and shopped on West Street, another marketplace street selling many things. We also found a McDonalds and had a strawberry shake that really hit the spot!
That night we went out to a local restaurant on West Street that was OK and then went to a very popular water show that is directed by the man who directed the 2008 Olympic opening ceremony. Pete took some pictures and it was amazing, set into a bay of the Li River where they were able to use the mountains as background and light 12 of the peaks during the show. The bad news was it was about 95 degrees with no wind. I don't think I have ever been so hot in my life! We did survive and got back to air conditioning in the hotel about 10PM. A busy and scenic day!

Xian- Guilin June 28, 2010

We got up early this morning and went to a museum of art where students offer their paintings for sale. It also had artwork from the early times in China that were beautiful. I have enclosed a photo. The other picture is of Alex and our driver in front of the hotel. We also had a lesson in Chinese calligraphy that was fun; unfortunately, as I handed off my camera to Alex to take a picture, it dropped on the floor and now is out of focus, so we will rely on Peter for the rest of the trip.
The terracotta warriors were amazing and Peter has some great pictures. It truly is the 8th wonder of the world to see the excavation site and dream about the ancient times. The emperor who built his tomb with the soldiers also built the Great Wall in China. It was crowded but really fun.
We flew out of Xian at 5:40pm and landed in Guilin about 7:30. Unfortunately, the travel agency had us on a later flight, so we had to wait 35 minutes for the guide to meet us. Her name is Wie and she and her driver dropped us off at the Sheraton Hotel which is very beautiful. Meg and Peter went for a walk in the neighborhood and said it was eclectic and interesting. We are drinking beer, eating french fries (which are pretty good!) and watching the Netherlands vs. Slovakia in world cup soccer. We leave at 8AM tomorrow for the Li River trip and a busy day.

A New Week - Xian - June 27, 2010

I added these photos of the flowers to show you how interesting the process was. The first photo shows the pile of flowers the florist was using to set up everything - sort of like the back room at Bachmans but it was right out front. The results are shown in the other photos of the altar and our table. Just amazing colors and arrangements.

We said good bye to Red and Carol Smith and Jim and Jill Lindsey today as they headed back home. Billy & Jingyi stayed in our same hotel so we were able to have breakfast with them today. What a week we had in Beijing - and we have never seen a wedding like Billy's including both the beautiful Christian service followed by the Chinese traditional Tea Service ceremony. Billy changed clothes three times during the wedding and Jingyi had four different outfits! The photos in yesterday's entry show both ceremonies and we will explain both when we return. He is so happy in Beijing and he is surrounded by an amazing group of young professional friends; so, although we leave with heavy hearts, we know Billy & Jingyi are happy and surrounded by great friends and that is a blessing.
We were dropped off at the Beijing airport today and walked right up to security, so that was a great help the travel agencies have provided. After a 1 1/2 hour flight, we landed in Xian, the original capital of China located in the center of the country. It is warmer here than Beijing, about 95, and you can't see even 4 blocks because of the haze and smog. Alex, our new guide, explained that 90% of munitions and guns in China are made in Xian and this province as well as airplanes. They need to kick in the pollution control measures or I won't even last the one day with my allergies! We are once again staying at the Xian Hyatt in the heart of the city near the Bell Tower and city wall. Meg & I saw those last time we were here, but Peter and Maddie have not been here so the sight seeing begins in 1/2 hour followed by a traditional dumpling dinner tonight.

We have hit the wall! Went to the city wall in Xian, then the Wild Goose Pagoda where monks still study, then the Bell Tower and finally a dumpling dinner near the Bell Tower. Alex our guide is again very good and his driver is also prompt. We are back by 7PM this evening just dead. The photos at the end here are of the city wall and Bell Tower and the dinner followed by Haagen Dazs. Up at 9:30AM for a whirlwind day tomorrow - purchase and ship a warrier, see the terra cotta warriers and jump on the plane to Guilin.

The Wedding Day - June 26, 2010

After a year engagement, months of planning and overcoming the language and logistics barriers, we have finally reached Billy and Jingyi's wedding day. It's a hazy start but we can see the sun. The plan is to hang out until we need to leave about 2:30PM for the hour ride to the restaurant/wedding site. Family photos start at 4PM and the wedding is at 5:30PM. The world news this morning is talking about the I-Phone 4 glitch, the oil spill in the gulf, the first hurricane of the season in the Caribbean and the World Cub from South Africa. I will pick up a copy of the China Daily, the US speaking newspaper in China to keep for the memory of the day.
It's after 12 midnight and Billy and Jingyi are officially married. We arrived just after 3PM for photos and preparation. Watching the flowers being prepared and the activity was amazing. The wedding began at 6PM and was beautiful Jingyi was radiant and Billy looked great as you can see from the photos. Meg, Jingyi's Mom and I were in the front row and there were 3 photographers running all around. Th ceremony took about 45 minutes with the scripture, music and vows. At the end of the ceremony, Billy and Jingyi had photos taken with family and friends and then the tea ceremony was fantastic. That was the Chinese wedding ceremony inside and everyone stands around and cheers as Billy and Jingyi play out the scenes. The food was the best of the trip - an amazing array of so many options. During dinner, Billy & Jingyi walked around toasting everyone at the dinner with Maddie holding the tray of candies for people. After dinner, a dance was set up and we did our square dance. My knees will never be the same. We returned to the hotel about 12 midnight and said our goodbyes since Jim and Jill and Red and Carol leave for home tomorrow.