Hong Kong, S.A.R.; Beijing and Shanghai, P.R.C

November 11, 2009:

Hong Kong, S.A.R.

First of all, there is only one thing I disliked about Hong Kong, and
that is not having more time there. With the magnificent towering
buildings, plethora of designer stores, beautiful beaches, bustling
nightlife AND English speaking citizens, there was really nothing to
dislike about Hong Kong. We were strongly encouraged to wake up and
watch the ship sail into the port. I woke up at around 7AM and went to
the 7th deck to see the ship pass many of the small islands that are
part of the Greater Hong Kong area. Immediately I saw the huge
skyscraping buildings. Just about every big name electronic company
had it's name plastered on a waterfront building in Hong Kong, or
Kowloon across the water, where our ship ported.

As part of the trip that would take me to Beijing, the Great Wall and
Shanghai, the daytime of my first (and only) day in Hong Kong was
spent taking a tour of the city of Hong Kong. As we exited the ship,
instead of walking down the gangway, we used an airport like walkway
that went directly into the mall. At first glance, I noticed only
designer names, and we were in the children's area of the mall: Chloe,
Burberry, Dior, Gucci, etc. When we boarded the bus we were quickly
introduced to the fast-pace of life in Hong Kong. We took the 1.6-mile
underwater tunnel from Kowloon Peninsula to Hong Kong Island. Our
first stop was Golden Bauhinia Square, a lookout point where we could
take pictures of the skyline and the water. Next was lunch at a
traditional Chinese restaurant, East Lake Seafood Restaurant. Although
they made concessions to the vegetarian needs of myself and other
members of our tour group, I didn't feel very comfortable or find the
food very appetizing.

After lunch we visited the Man Mo Temple on Hollywood Road in Hong
Kong. The coolest part about the temple, built in 1847, was the hive-
shaped incense that hung from the majority of the ceiling space in the
temple. Next we visited Victoria Peak. We took a tram up to the peak
of the 1810 ft. mountain, which is the tallest peak on the island.
When we got to the top we took lots of pictures, and then, after
spotting a Starbucks, changed our focus to enjoying a little piece of
America in Hong Kong.

Our next stop was the Aberdeen Fishing Village. At first glance I
wondered why they had called it a village, as we boarded small
motorized boats to tour the harbor. We were instructed that only ten
"your size people" could fit into each "sam pen" boat, a simple
reference to the difference in height and bulk we saw in Vietnam, and
again in China. Once our tour began, I saw that these boats are the
homes for their owners. The driver of our boat was very funny and
pretended to race the other boats, encouraged us to yell at the slow
drivers, and insisted on taking only Asian tourist-style pictures
holding up a peace sign. Soon our ride was over and we continued on
our tour.

Next we visited Repulse Bay Beach. The beach here was absolutely
beautiful. The swimming areas are blocked off, which our guide told us
is due to high shark populations in Winter. After walking along the
beach we visited the Kwun Yam Buddhist shrine complete with dozens of
statues and a beautiful bridge over the water. A mosaic fish statue at
the shrine was the object of our attention, as we tried to throw
coins, alongside Asian tourists and residents, into the fish's mouth
for good fortune.

Our last stop was a small market. I got a few trinkets, including a
magnet that says Portland Street in English and Mandarin characters.
Apparently it is a street in Hong Kong. The bus took us back to the
boat and we changed and got ready for dinner.

As we pulled into the port that morning, I noticed the sign for
California Pizza Kitchen, which is where we decided to go for dinner.
After a delicious meal of pizza, which I have had in every country
(except India, where I had to settle for shipboard pizza), we headed
outside to watch the light and laser show the waterfront buildings put
on every evening.

After dinner we headed out on the ferry for Hong Kong island. We met
up with more SASers while enjoying drinks on a set of stairs
overlooking the water. Next we headed to Lan Kwai Fong, a popular
district for restaurants, shopping and nightlife. I had a great time
hopping between bars and pubs, happy to be off the boat once again.

November 12, 2009:

Hong Kong, S.A.R. and Beijing, P.R.C.

The next morning I finished up my packing, grabbed breakfast and
headed to meet the group that I would travel with to Beijing, the
Great Wall and Shanghai. We boarded the busses and took the hour ride
to the airport. The drive was really beautiful, as we island hopped,
crossing bridge after bridge. The Hong Kong airport was something in
itself, with just as many brand name stores as we had seen lining the
streets of Hong Kong the day before. I even found a Nike sweatshirt
that had a University of Oregon logo on it! Soon, with magazines and
snacks, I was prepared for the three-hour flight to Beijing. The best
part of the flight was the stretching and exercise routine played on
the small overhead TVs. Upon arrival, it was clear that the 80-degree
day in Hong Kong would be our last warm day for quite some time, as we
met the 0 degree Celsius air. There was snow on the ground and I
quickly pulled on the sweatshirt and jacket I had strapped to the
outside of my backpack.

As we drove to our hotel I was reminded of home so much, where winter
evenings are cold and dark, and the temperatures low. Upon arrival to
the Hua Yu hotel in Beijing we dropped our stuff and headed out for
dinner on our own. We wandered down a nearby side street, with a
recommended destination in mind, but stumbled upon another Chinese
restaurant where a bunch of our guy friends were eating. We walked
inside and our whole group sat at one big table with a huge glass lazy
susan in the middle of the table. The owner of the store, a small
Chinese woman spoke VERY little English, but we communicated through
hand motions. The restaurant had three very overweight resident cats,
which the woman spoke to and scolded like children, which was very
funny. After a dinner of rice and veggies, what I would eat for the
majority of my stay in China, we headed back to the hotel. I settled
into my bed, with the head all the way turned up, to watch a little
TV. Soon I made the discovery that none of the channels were in
English, and went to sleep.

November 13, 2009:

Beijing and The Great Wall of China

Our first stop the next morning was the Silk Market. Although the
shopping stop was initially for a later part in our trip, the frigid
temperatures had encouraged our guides to rearrange the schedule, and
I am so glad they did. We were instructed that this was the shopping
trip to get warm clothes for our upcoming visit to the Great Wall,
where it was 10-15 degrees colder. Some of the kids in our group had
brought a single sweatshirt as their outerwear, so some people had
some serious shopping to do. I bought gloves, the most ridiculous and
oversized earmuffs, a puffy vest and a hat all of which came in very
handy on the Great Wall. After we were all back on the bus, we were
detained in the parking lot for a long time, which our guide told us
was due to having to re-register our plans with the government.

Our next stop was Hutong, a Beijing neighborhood of narrow alleys
joining traditional courtyard Chinese residences. We had lunch served
by a family, and ate in the upper floor of their house, which was very
special. They gave us each a gift of a Chinese knot. After lunch we
took a rickshaw tour through some of the hutongs, stopping to point
out particular architectural features on the buildings. Next our
rickshaws took us to the Drum Tower where we heard the drummers sound
their beats signaling the time. Then we left on our drive to the Great
Wall of China!

We took the "speedy way" to the Jinshanling base of the Great Wall,
and the ride was about two hours. The first view of the Great Wall was
through steamy smeared windows, but was nonetheless very exciting!
When we arrived at the base of the Great Wall we hurried up the steep
slope where the bus let us off, and took sunset pictures on the Great
Wall. We got off the Wall for dinner and the bus drove us to another
part of the Wall where we would be sleeping. We hiked for about 45
minutes in snow and ice, under a magnificently clear sky filled with
more stars then I have ever seen before, to the watchtower where we
would spend the night. We enjoyed Nan Jing beers and talked outside of
the tower, sitting on the Wall for awhile, but eventually I got so
cold that I decided I would try to sleep.

We were each provided two sleeping bags and two sleeping mats, but
these accommodations were far from sufficient. The amount of clothing
I was wearing made it extremely difficult to maneuver my way,
especially with my Uggs on, into an Asian-sized sleeping bag. Zipping
up the sleeping bags was difficult as well, and the choice between
using clumsy mitten-ed fingers or clumsy frozen fingers was a toss-up.
It seems as soon as I had positioned myself, semi-comfortably into the
sleeping bags on the hard stone floor, I had to use the bathroom. I
debated whether or not it was worth it to get out of the, not warmth
per se, but certainly warmer environment of my sleeping bag, but I
feared that I would wake up in a panic later in the night and not be
able to remove myself from my mummified state in time to rush outside!
Actually going to the bathroom was an experience in and of itself. I
took my pump-operated flashlight and peered out of the tower in one
direction, but found CRAZY people who had actually decided to sleep in
the open. The other direction was clear, so I proceded that way. To
say that the steps were even, or the stones secure, would be a blatant
exaggeration. The stone steps were covered in ice and wobbly, and each
step was about two feet higher than the one below it. Once I had
descended the stairs, I faced a new obstacle: trying not to slide down
the icy slope. Eventually I found a sufficient stone handhold and peed
on the Great Wall of China. Thanks to all of the water, Coke and Nan
Jing, and a fear of the anxiety if I woke up and needed to go
immediately, I repeated this lovely adventure every hour or so for the
remainder of the night. The general strategy of our group was a cross
between giant spoon train and puppy pile, all of us trying to retain
any escaping heat from one another. Sure enough in the middle of the
night, after a brief bout of sleep, I woke up practically underneath
one of my sleeping neighbors. Soon enough the morning came. We learned
later in our trip that the temperatures that night were close to 10
degrees Fahrenheit.

November 14, 2009:

The Great Wall of China and Beijing, P.R.C.

Our guide, Serena, woke us up, encouraging us to look at the beautiful
sunrise. We were all nearly paralyzed with cold, but managed to roll
our mats and sleeping bags, gather our things and begin our truly
treacherous hike along the Great Wall to Simatai. The next 3 hours
were spent in a constant rotation between picture taking, careful
walking, time spent on our backs or backsides after slipping, and even
some crawling on all fours. The snow and ice made for an interesting
hike, and the purpose of the wall was clear. If the stones were so
uneven, the Mongols would have to look down, and the Chinese could
shoot them with arrows, etc.

The sights from every angle and every step along the Wall were
absolutely magnificent with terraced farms in the distance, as well as
peak after peak of the mountains that were topped with watchtowers and
the Wall connecting each tower. I took lots and lots of pictures,
knowing I may never get another chance to see the Great Wall.

Finally we reached the end of our hike, crossing a dammed river on a
iron suspension bridge. I purchased a "I Climbed the Great Wall" t-
shirt, and had a metal engraved with my name and the date I conquered
the wall. Next we got in line for the zipline off the wall to Simatai
where we would have another traditional Chinese meal. After lunch we
boarded the busses for our two-hour drive, which I spent napping, back
to Beijing.

After returning to the Hua Yu hotel, we quickly showered and headed
back to the Silk Market. After a short shopping trip, where I bought
metallic Ugg boots, to replace my regular black ones that I ruined on
the Great Wall; who knew they weren't hiking shoes! For dinner my
friend Alex and I ordered PIZZA from a restaurant in the building of
the Silk Market. As we were in a hurry to get to our acrobatic show, I
ate my pizza in a few stuffed subway cars between frantic dashes up
and down stairs, through hallways and turnstiles, through which we
were thankfully guided by Serena. When we arrived at the acrobatic
show the ten people who wanted to attend the show were shown to the
seats Serena had arranged for us, in the third row! The show was
really amazing and very entertaining, complete with crazy stunts like
twelve girls on one moving bicycle, or a man doing a headstand on a
hand-operated bicycle, which he rode on a tight wire. After the show I
went back to the hotel, completely exhausted.

November 15, 2009:

Beijing, P.R.C.

The next morning we woke up early, as we had a great deal of
sightseeing to do during our last day in Beijing. First we bundled up
and visited the Forbidden City, which was mere blocks from our hotel.
To say that it was freezing in the wind-tunnel like complex would be
such an understatement. The wind was absolutely biting, and the
temperatures near or below freezing. Although our guide gave us the
whole talk on the Forbidden City, I was so cold and so focused on
getting through the tour that I absorbed very little. What I did learn
is the Forbidden City has over 8000 rooms! The buildings were all very
beautiful and looked very traditional. Many of them had ornate
decorative trim that was very colorful.

Next we used the underground tunnels to cross the street to Tiananmen
Square, where again, I was too cold to be able to appreciate my
surroundings. I took pictures and then hurried along to where we would
meet the bus. The bus took us to lunch at a Peking Duck restaurant.
This was by far my favorite meal of the trip. We were given very thin
pancake-like wraps, and plum sauce, to make little wraps with
vegetables, rice, noodles, etc. Everyone else really enjoyed the duck,
and I enjoyed the most vegetarian-friendly Chinese meal of my entire
trip.

After leaving lunch we headed to the Olympic venues from the Summer
2008 Olympics in Beijing. We visited the Bird's Nest, and got to walk
around in the stadium. We were unable to go inside the Water Cube, as
it was under construction. After a quick ice cream cone break from the
KFC that was across the street from the Bird's Nest.

Next we continued to the Summer Palace, which was set beautifully on a
nearly completely frozen body of water. We took the tour of the
palace, and I enjoyed a local treat of candied fruit, although I don't
know what the fruit was called. It tasted like a mix of apple and
strawberry, and was red with a hollow white center. After the Summer
Palace we were done with our itinerary but had extra time since we had
toured the outdoor areas so quickly to get out of the cold. We were
given the option to shop some more or see a Kung Fu show. I decided to
attend the Kung Fu show, which was really more like a play with some
Kung Fu scenes. Although I didn't completely understand the plot, it
was still very interesting. The story centered around a young boy who
is supposed to become a monk, but rebels, but then proves his worth by
breaking stone and metal, and then becomes the head monk. After the
Kung Fu show, the bus picked us up, then those who were shopping, and
we headed to the train station.

Upon arrival to the train station, which was huge and unheated, from
what I could tell, we put our stuff into a pile and went to find
dinner. McDonalds was the best of all options. I ordered an ice cream,
French fries and a Coke from a picture menu. The language barrier was
huge in all of China, but most surprising in the train station and at
a Western restaurant chain. We took our dinner back down to the area
where our stuff was, ate, and prepared for our overnight ride to
Shanghai. Soon enough the train was boarding, conveniently at the same
time as the train across the platform from ours, so a mass of Chinese
people, peppered with Americans pushed through five turnstiles, up
stairs, down escalators, and up more stairs to platform 6. The stairs
were next to car number 52, but we were in car number 4, so I enjoyed
the nice walk to our sleeper car.

Each car had maybe 15 compartments, each housing 2-4 beds. The car,
compartments and beds were very clean. Each bed had two pillows and a
duvet, a TV, reading light and ventilation controls. I was so
relieved, since I had heard nightmares about sleeper trains in India
and had no idea what to expect. After a few hours of socializing, I
retreated to my top bunk and fell asleep.

November 16, 2009:

Shanghai, P.R.C.

We were woken up the next morning by the intercom announcing the first
of two stops and then an hour later by the announcement that we had
arrived in Shanghai. We gathered our stuff and met the tour guide on
the platform, boarded the busses and returned to the ship. I had
positioned myself at the front of the bus and ran to the line, to
avoid waiting in the line outside in mid-50 degree rain that reminded
me so much of Oregon. Once onboard the ship I showered and changed,
then had breakfast at the Piano Bar. It took them four tries to get my
breakfast burrito without ham, but I am grateful it did take so long,
or else I might have missed the fabulous announcement that we would
not be leaving that night, but rather the next day at 2:00PM. I would
get to have a night in Shanghai!

We left the ship in hopes of riding the elevator to the top of one of
the huge buildings that filled Shanghai's skyline. We decided on the
Shanghai World Financial Center building. Which we soon learned was an
excellent decision. We arrived, and rode the elevator to the 100th
floor of the 1,622 ft. high building. We learned it was actually the
second tallest building in the world, and the highest observation deck
in the world. Also, the building had 91 elevators! We took pictures
and looked around on the observation deck, but it was cloudy and we
only got glimpses of the streets below and other buildings in the
skyline. Both Shanghai and Hong Kong had the massive skylines that I
expected, but Beijing was not the ultimate city that the others were
despite the capital's large population.

Because it was so dreary outside, we decided to stay inside the SWFC
until dinner. We ate at a restaurant called Blue Frog, which served
delicious food, including veggie burgers and sweet potato fries, and
enjoyed some happy hour drink specials. Around 9PM we went back to the
ship with intentions of changing and going out that night, but I was
so exhausted and fell asleep seconds after returning to my room. I was
disappointed when I woke up, but we had a nice relaxing evening, and I
was still recovering from the post-Birthday cold.

November 17, 2009:

Shanghai, P.R.C.

The next morning was the last portion of our stay in Shanghai, but
there wasn't really enough time to explore. My friend Nicky and I
decided to go off the ship to get internet. We ended up going back to
the SWFC and having donuts and tea while using the WiFi. I got to talk
to some of my girlfriends from home which was such a nice experience.
I tried to talk to my mom, but she couldn't get a good enough
connection, which was sad. It made me realize that I have been missing
home, and all the comforts that it provides, like constant and easy
contact with your friends and loved ones. After unsuccessfully trying
to change my remaining yuan currency back to USD, we took a cab back
to the boat, and our China experience was over. It's hard to believe
there's only one more foreign port left to go on my journey around the
world!

Stephanie@Sea