great start..

Glad you had so many days to enjoy China, and mixed guided days with days on your own to explore.

So glad to finally hear about your trip!

Day 3: Beijing
The next day, DH was a wreck. Both of his hip joints were killing him and he could barely get in and out of the car, much less walk. He’d never had a problem before, but perhaps there was some undetected arthritis that was aggravated by our overdoing it the day before. Our tour today started with the Summer Palace, which was a bit of drive outside the city. It was another good weather day but the smog was worse and we could barely see the lake much less the pavilions. However, I much preferred this day to the prior one and amazingly, my body didn’t hurt. Gerry and us set off along another long corridor beside the lake and set DH down on a bench to people-watch while we climbed up Longevity Hill, which overlooks the huge Kunming Lake, and visited the Buddhist Temple and pavilions....lots and lots of stairs again. The Chinese people must be in such good shape since the country is a veritable ‘Stairmaster’. Afterwards, we took a 10 minute Dragon boat ride and saw from a distance the Marble Boat Folly of Empress Dowager Cixi. I found the morning very pleasant but wish DH had felt better. We were worried that he might have done some serious damage that would ruin him for the rest of the trip.

Lunch followed at Jin Ding Yuan, another local restaurant, but i preferred the previous day’s. I didn’t like their steamed dumplings, another soup with dumplings, a chicken stir fry and a fish vegetable cake. We saw the Bird’s Nest Olympic stadium from a distance and the 7* dragon shaped huge hotel, which we could hardly see through the smog.

Then, we stopped at 798 Art Zone, several pleasant leafy blocks of decommisioned military manufacturing buildings that had been a joint project with Soviet and East Germany back in the 50’s and 60’s. Now, they’ve been repurposed as art galleries, shops and cafes which made a pleasant excursion on a Saturday afternoon as young families pushed strollers and children clambered over outdoor sculptures and play areas. We sat DH down as we walked around enjoying the fine weather. We also walked up the historic Liulichang Antiques street.

China HIghlights had been very good about removing any recommended shopping stops. However, now I wanted to put one back in as I had read about two good shops on the 4th floor of the infamous (and dreaded) Pearl Market. I found the two shops but they were both high quality (eg. expensive) fine pearl stores when what I wanted was a more contemporary, freshwater pearl necklace, so I left empty handed. My original plan had been to also to visit Panjiayuan Market in the morning, but I cancelled that because I didn’t really want to buy any ‘junk’.

We got back to the hotel by 5pm, and tried to get a new, small point and shoot Canon camera for DH, who was not having much luck since his camera also died that day. There happened to be a Canon service center in the same tower as Starbucks, but they couldn’t fix it and the prices of new cameras were about double of what we’d pay in the States. We heard the same thing about buying I-phones or I-pads, which seems so bizarre since they’re made there. Apple is huge there and we saw the long lines that stretched in front of the new Apple store in Beijing. Our China HIghlights guides all carried I-pads that they used to illustrate certain attractions or topics. Anyway, my 35mm Canon EOS-Rebel would have to do.

For dinner, we walked a couple of blocks to the Peninsula Hotel to eat at their atmospheric Huang Ting restaurant, which recreates the ambience of a lovely hutong in the lower level of the expensive shopping arcade below the hotel. My lychee martini was just OK, DH had a roasted trio of suckling pig, duck and BBQ pork....very good, especially the suckling pig, and my beef tenderloin stir fry with brown sauce and vegetables was also pretty good....but the best was an excellent vegetable dish with enoki mushrooms and braised eggplant. I had a terrible vanilla cream dessert, chunks of jellied cream...I’ve learned that there isn’t one Chinese dessert that I like. Just keep chocolate in the hotel room to fall back on. It was a bit chilly walking back.

Day 4: Mutianyu and the Great Wall

The hot baths and Advil have paid off and DH is almost like new, thank God. Gerry and Mr. Shen picked us up at 10:30 for the drive to the Great Wall. Tonight, we’d be staying at an architecturally interesting hotel, the Brickyard, where rooms opened up to a distant view of the Wall. It was an ugly, colder morning with rain on the way. The drive went pretty quickly and we stopped for lunch at Xiao Long Piu, near Mutianyu. We were freezing, even in the restaurant....it was cold and drizzly, so started with Jasmine tea, chicken and chestnuts in brown sauce, fried rice with meat and vegetables and wheat flour soup....all very good. However, very rude service as I was sitting at the table waiting for Gerry & DH to return from the restroom, the waiter cleared the table and sat people down while me and our stuff was still there! They certainly can push people through!

By the time we reached the Great Wall, it was pouring out. Luckily we had umbrellas, fleece coats covered with gore-tex jackets and merino wool socks, which miraculously kept our feet dry. On the way up, I picked up a hiking collapsable stick for $15 to help me navigate the slippery rocks. Despite the fact that you can take an enclosed cable car to the top, it was still a bit of hike to reach that. The weather was such a shame because the trees were turning beautiful golden hues and it would have been gorgeous with the sunshine and blue skies of days earlier.

At the top, we did walk along the wall for awhile, seeking refuge in the periodic watchmen’s towers. Despite the clouds and rain, it still was a beautiful vista with the wall snaking up and down through distant mountains and layers of clouds.

We checked into the Brickyard at 3p, which was a very cool low-slung inn, with brick walls and levels of terraced gardens. The contemporary architecture of our room included vaulted ceilings, a brick wall with tile mosaic shards, one wall of floor- to- ceiling windows that looked out across a terrace to the Wall beyond, which was now hidden by cascading rain. All accompanied by the loud cacophony of rain pelting our roof. The open floor plan included a raised entry area where the commode, open rain shower head and pedestal sink were located.

We took our umbrellas and made our way to the reception building where a fire was going in a small room and enjoyed delicious nachos and beer. Dinner that night was at the Schoolhouse, a short shuttle van ride away in the village, and was set in an old school room with bad fluorescent lighting. We weren’t that hungry, but they served Western style food, so shared a good pumpkin soup, toasted mushroom ravioli and best of all, a belgian chocolate brownie and ice cream. It finally stopped raining. I had a 9:30 pm Chinese massage scheduled in an attractive Spa building....it felt great. This is the first time I've had this type of massage, and it's done over your clothing.

Day 5 Lijiang

This morning we woke to sunshine and could see the Wall on the distant (unnamed) mountains...could even make out the huge Chinese characters that say “Be loyal to Chairman Mao”. We enjoyed a good Western breakfast and walked around the gardens awhile as Gerry met us to take us to the airport for our flight to Lijiang.

We really enjoyed our time with Gerry as he laughs easily and speaks well and openly on a wide variety of topics. I have mixed feelings about the level of information he gave us while touring. On one hand, I feel he could have told us more ‘facts’....yet, on past trips, I’ve been bored silly with too many historical details. And, sometimes I felt a bit rushed as we walked through the gardens at the end of the Forbidden City without having a chance to savor. Part of it is my fault for not speaking up more at the time as I’m sure he would have been receptive. On the other hand, he was generous with offering interesting vignettes with what life was like for the emperor or how a Chinese marriage is conducted, etc. So, he provided good insights into lifestyle rather than all historical facts. We didn’t feel like we were getting “the party line”, although I was gently corrected when I casually would say “Mao” like we would say “Obama” and he would reply “Chairman Mao.” Although Beijing is a ‘must see’ on any trip to China, it was our least favorite place.

At the airport, Gerry helped us check in for our China Eastern flight, which was an extremely easy process as all we needed was our flight numbers and passports. The flight was delayed a bit but the plane was fine. We had a long layover at the newly built Kunming airport, which was HUGE and enjoyed walking around and around all the shops and restaurants. Despite it being their connecting flight, they couldn’t check our bags through to Lijiang, but the service desk was very accommodating and re checked our luggage and accompanied us to our connecting gate without having to go through security again.

We arrived in Lijiang at night and were met by our second guide, Cindy, a very friendly and talkative young woman. On the drive to our hotel, she talked a mile a minute so I had a bit trouble following her as I have a hearing problem. Like Gerry, she was very good at confirming with us what we’d be doing the next day, what we should wear (it would be cold in the morning) and at what time she’d get us. She helped us check into the gorgeous Crowne Plaza Lijiang and we were taken by golf cart to our beautiful Superior room. I was pleasantly surprised by this hotel, as with the name Crowne Plaza, I expected a rather generic huge resort. But, it was built impressively in the local minority Naxi courtyard tradition with soaring rooflines and generous use of wood. Our large room included a sitting area with sofa and desk, a king size bed, and a lovely bathroom suite that could be sectioned off by closing a sliding wooden screen. The floors were marble and stone, a large walk in shower with a rain shower head and a large tub with a separate commode room. The bed was extremely comfortable with great linens and pillows and a welcoming fruit basket was placed artistically on the coffee table. The hotel grounds were also lovely with many gardens, courtyards and water features and located just outside the walls of Old Lijiang.

Day 6: Lijiang

After a wonderful and extensive breakfast buffet served in a large attractive dining room with huge windows that overlooked Jade Dragon Snow Mountain (think deluxe ski lodge), Cindy met us at 8am to head out to the 9a “Impressions of Lijiang” show. I had requested going to the 2pm show, but Cindy had some reason why we had to go to this early show. It was only 20 degrees but sunny so we bundled up. The massive stage looked like the side of a mountain and Jade Dragon rose up behind it when it wasn’t swathed in clouds. The show was awesome with it’s cast of 500 local minority farmers. The music, drumming, chanting, dancing and colorful costumes told the tale of the variety of minorities who live in the area...Naxi, Bai, Tibetan, etc. Cindy was very personable and shared many stories of her life (she was only 14 when the earthquake that decimated Lijiang hit, and her parents couldn’t afford to continue her education after the 8th grade, so she went to work in a shop. But, she had a strong desire to learn English and would hang out with the backpackers to practice English.) I think one of the main advantages of having a guide is to learn about the little things of every day life...which only hits home that we all have more in common with each other than we think. I also learned more about the Naxi way of life, and hadn’t realized that minorities(there are 55 in China) are exempt from the one child policy. Naxi can have two children and some minorities are able to have even more than that.

I had originally wanted to go up the cable cars to the top of the mountain for the view and hike the alpine meadows, but when I realized that the altitude at the top of Glacier Park is almost 15,000 ft (4500 meters...people bring canisters of oxygen), and even the meadows are at 11,000-12,000 ft., I decided to skip this and substitute the Impressions show because my husband suffers from altitude sickness. I’d also read that the lines for the cable car are extremely long to ascend.

Next was a stop at Baisha, an ancient, authentic Naxi village on the way back to Lijiang. First, we saw the frescoes from the Ming Dynasty that depicted various religions coexisting, but they weren’t in the best condition. Then, we walked to a local restaurant, Bai Sha Times, for lunch. It was kind of a dumpy little place and I wondered if the courtyard restaurant that was on our itinerary would have had a nicer atmosphere. In Beijing, our guide had sat with us but here Cindy sat in the back with our driver. That practice ended up being the standard for our trip. First, she had ordered a variety of dishes that were quickly brought out...the best was sauteed yak meat, very lean and tender, a cooked vegetable dish with corn and greens, and a chicken and mushroom stir fry.

After a walk through the dusty village with peek a boo glimpses of Jade Dragon above the rooftops, we drove back to Lijiang and started in the Black Dragon Pool Park. This is simply a beautiful park with stunning vistas of Jade Dragon reflected in the pools. By now, it had warmed up to about 70 and the locals were also enjoying the shady green avenues.

We entered the old town of Lijiang at the North Waterwheel entrance. Although touristy with countless shops and restaurants, Lijiang is enchanting as you walk through narrow, twisting lanes and along waterways all profusely decorated with flowers. I enjoyed watching a group of costumed women dancing in a square with others joining in as they wished. After I expressed interest in pu-ehr tea, a local specialty, she took us to a charming tea house where we sat upstairs and took part in a tea ceremony. After reading accounts of various scams revolving around tea ceremonies, I was a bit apprehensive. But, I needn’t have worried because it was quite instructional and the brick of aged pu-ehr was a good price. That was the extent of my shopping. I had considered looking at jade, which almost all the women in this region wore as a solid bangle on their left wrist (for heart health) and many wore carved neck pendants. Jade is treasured for it’s health benefits as well as it’s beauty and prices range in the thousands, similar to our diamond penchant, but buyer beware.

We returned to our hotel room at 5p and as DH’s hip pain from Beijing had flared up again, we didn’t feel like walking back into town for a restaurant. So, we ate dinner at our hotel which was a big mistake...expensive and bad food.

Tomorrow: Tiger Leaping Gorge (don’t you just love these names!)

Reading along and enjoying!

Glad you enjoyed the Impressions Show, we were so impressed by the grandness.

Day 7 Lijiang: Tiger Leaping Gorge

It was a 2 1/2 hr drive from Lijiang to Tiger Leaping Gorge, with a few stops along the way to look at a viewpoint of the first bend in the Yangtze River and another of the mountain. At one stop, there's an actual yak who's serving as a prop for people who mount him and have their photo taken. I didn't realize how cute a yak actually was...sorry about eating your meat! A section of this road was very bad due to construction.

The walk itself was about an hour (from the Lijiang side) along a level concrete path through 4 tunnels. At the very end, we walked down many steps past some small waterfalls to reach the rapids at the river’s level....very pretty. I couldn’t believe some people hired a rickshaw to take them there and back as it was a pretty tame walk. The canyon rose up from both sides of the river and it was a relatively nice view....but not spectacular.

Afterwards, we thought we were eating lunch at Tiger Leaping Gorge restaurant, which was supposed to be so-so food but great views, as listed in our itinerary. Instead, we went to a truck -stop looking restaurant with no views, which we found out the next day, was actually the Horse Tea Road Guest House. The food was not great and there was no atmosphere...just a lot of construction workers around. The toilet was in an out building. So, I was less than happy about again the change in restaurants from our itinerary. It was a long, bumpy ride back to the hotel.

Tonight, I’m determined to see more of Lijiang and find a restaurant in town. I also crave some Western food after too many meals of mediocre Chinese dishes. So, I find a pizza restaurant listed on TripAdvisor, but 3 concierges can’t seem to figure out exactly where it is (old town Lijiang is really not that large). Of course, it’s on the northern side of town, opposite of us, and DH’s hip is still not great, but we set off and admire the hustle and bustle of the shops and restaurants at night. After several inquiries, to no avail, we stumble upon “Buon Appetito” on a road north of the Waterwheel, and get a decent pizza and spinach ravioli along with a good dark Lao beer, that we remembered from our SE Asia trip. The much desired chocolate cake with (icy) mango ice cream was just OK....I’m telling you, for a desert freak like myself, China is falling flat. The proprietor tells us where to hail a cab and we head back to the comfort of Crown Plaza.

Tomorrow: The Linden Centre near Dali

Well written, thanks for posting. Seems like China has changed a lot (for the better) since my visit about 20 years ago...well, except for the desserts. That sounds the same

Sorry to hear about your husband's hip problems. Hope he's recovered from that. It's not fun having medical issues when traveling. As for the deserts, Asians are not known for their deserts...generally just a piece of fruit after dinner. Nothing compares to the Thai's sticky rice with mango. Yummy!

I was actually hoping that going without desserts for that long would break me of this bad habit....unfortunately, when I hit Hong Kong, I discovered that 7-11's were everywhere with their stash of Dove ice cream bars.

7-11's are pushing into China too, they are very popular in Shanghai selling 15 rmb lunch boxes with veggies and meat over rice, and Dove bars!

The ice-cream bars you saw in 7-11's in HK are Dreyers Grand and Haagen-Dazs. Not Dove.

I don't care what they were called...I loved them!

Sounds like you encountered some terrible smog. Glad to hear you survived it and kept finding ways to keep on going!

My husband had to have magnum bars every day in china. Hr was delighted to find them in the 7-11's.

You're right rkkwan...they were Haagen-Daz....and dgunbug....glad to know someone else has a fetish for Magnum bars!

Day 8: The Linden Centre via Mt. Shibaoshan UNESCO World Nature Site

Today we were to tour Mt. Shibaoshan and it’s temples on the drive to the Linden Centre, near Dali. We hadn’t realized that it’s a 3 hour drive to Shibaoshan, which was out of the way of driving to the Linden Centre...another 3 hours. It felt like a very long drive but it was sunny and the mountain scenery was pretty. We had a different tour guide, Martin, who filled in for Cindy due to a conflict.

We had been warned that there wasn’t a “tourist” restaurant on the way, but when we pulled up to what looked like a gas station with the front of the building open and housing a small cafe we were a bit dismayed. This appeared to be a truck stop in a small town before we hit all countryside, and we were given the one table with chairs...the locals all sat on low stools to eat. I was glad to be given a plastic sealed package of dishes, cups and silverware so I knew it was sanitized. The wok cooking was done in the open and the counter displayed an assortment of various vegetables that looked very fresh. The first dish they brought out was a platter of pork, but it looked disgusting because it was so fatty...we offered it to our tour guide Martin, who accepted it back. Then, we got another 5 or 6 dishes...the most delicious being frittered corn and red pepper chunks and an eggplant dish. There was no rest room and the public one was not recommended which made for an uncomfortable ride for another hour to Shibaoshan.

The Mt. Shibaoshan (Stone Treasure Mountain) area was one of the first national conservation sites to protect it’s cultural relics. The surrounding landscape is beautiful with rows of mountain peaks and valleys, fantastic rock formations, and lush green forests. If you're interested in touring, be sure you are able to climb up and down many steps. We began walking down many pleasantly shady steps along the side of the mountain past many ancient rock carvings to the most famous temple group, Shizhongshan Grottoes (Stone Bell Mountain) which consists of 16 Buddhist grottoes carved during the Nanzhao Kingdom by Bai people 8-9 century AD. Some showed the life of the court with KIngs, servants and officials; others showed various Buddha’s, Boddhisattas and Guardian Kings; one unusual niche displayed a large female reproductive organ...couples wanting a baby would worship here. The frescoes were very detailed and delicate and fascinating how they were carved into the side of the mountain.

We were at 8700 ft. and walking back up all those steps were a challenge for DH since his hip was still a problem, so he opted out of the next sight....the Baoxiang Temple, also known as the Yunnan Hanging Temple. Martin and I climbed up even more steps to get to this amazing temple set in a fantastic location on the side of the mountain top. It was filled with colorful statues of the Goddess of Mercy, Guanyin, who is very popular in this part of China, and other Buddhas. Set even higher on the mountain top was a huge Buddha statue and a pagoda. The lush setting was very meditative and tranquil with many caves set in the mountainsides. This is the site of an annual Bai music competition with singing of ancient songs.

It seemed like a very long drive to Xizhou, the village just north of Dali, where the Linden Centre is located, with stop and go traffic through some towns where markets were being held. We arrived at 6pm just as the sun was setting.

The Linden Centre has received a lot of favorable international publicity for it’s authentic restoration of a typical (if you were wealthy) courtyard home and it’s emphasis on cultural activities. We were shown to a charming small room on the upper level of the third courtyard, which I’d requested for it’s quietness. It had windows looking into the courtyard and also opposite to the farmer’s fields, a stone shower with a rain shower head and a basin sink, a desk and a carved wood wainscoting platform bed, which provided the best night’s sleep I’d had in China yet.

For our four night stay, we’d purchased a package deal for the accommodations, all food and beverages (including wine and alcoholic drinks), and cultural activities. A representative had previously contacted us at home via Skype to discuss what the options were and what we’d like to do. First on our agenda was dinner, which tonight we ate in the attractive small bar area. We met Andrew, a nice young man originally from New Jersey who’d majored in Asian Studies and Mandarin, who helped us plan out our activities for the next few days and be our guide, if we needed him. The entire staff of the Linden Centre were very sharp, pleasant young people, mostly from other areas of China, who spoke excellent English.

Tomorrow: Xizhou

This trip to the Linden Centre sounds very interesting, definitely off the touristy areas.

Hi Shanghainese, Yes, it was a way to see an un-touristy village up close while enjoying Western creature comforts. More to follow...

Here is a link to my photos from Beijing and the Great Wall. Lijiang will follow soon. Please let me know if you have any problem viewing these.

http://barefootbeach.smugmug.com/Travel/China/BeijingLijiang/27796545_4dt2Gx

fantastic pics, thks

Thanks, Bob...glad you looked at them.

Here's the link to the Lijiang photos:

http://barefootbeach.smugmug.com/Travel/China/Lijiang/27801509_xJWvDR

Nice photos barefoot, bring back a lot of memories especially for Lijiang.

Thanks Hanuman....I recall you stayed at the Banyan Tree...wish we had gotten to see it.

more nice pics..

Wonderful report, great photographs.
We also always enjoyed ice cream bars---Magnum mostly as we craved something sweet after meals.
Often a meal would end with a plate of watermelon. Enjoyed that too, but still craved something real sweet as we have a sweet tooth!!
Would love to know what were your special purchases in various regions besides tea.
We bought all sorts of tea--a lichee tea has been a favorite as it is aromatic and kind of sweet without adding sugar.
Have a great day.

thanks for your comments, ileen....they keep me motivated to continue!
I will get to some of our purchases shortly when I cover the region I bought them in, but overall, I'd say I was disappointed in the shopping, despite doing a lot of research ahead of time. Could be that we already have "enough"...or even " too much" and something really has to be something special I think I could use...of course, had to get souvenirs for grandkids and nieces/nephews as well. But, so much of the shopping I saw, especially in Shanghai and Hong Kong were of the high end designer type with prices to match that I wasn't interested in even looking.
However, I should have bought more tea! (altho I'm a coffee drinker at heart)
P.S. Forgot to mention that we had toured a silk embroidery "painting" school in Baisha that displayed some of their work in a little attached art gallery. Some of it was really beautiful but prices reflected the amount of time that goes into these....so I just bought two smaller, "student" pieces that weren't expensive.

Photos are great, the colors are gorgeous. Did you come across a small "antique" alley at the end of Baisha? I bargained hard for 2 replicas that were well copied, still felt I spend too much.

Hi Shanghainese, No, we just saw a lady with some wares spread out on a table....DH wanted to find a small jade carving but settled for some little bronze casting of a double dragon that was pretty cheap. We really didn't have time to wander freely through town because we had to get to Lijiang. Sorry I haven't had time to proceed with the next segment...but I will get to it!

Beautiful pictures! You caught far more fall colors at the great wall than we encountered only a week or so later. Despite the rain, it looks like you had a great day there. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks dgunbug....it was a great day but much too short as we didn't want to venture too far in the downpour. I can only imagine those colors would have looked like on a clear sunny day.

I'm enjoying reading about your trip. Thanks.

Hope you will soon have a chance to tell more about Linden Centre. We are considering to include it on our trip later this spring.

OK laurie_ann, your wish is my command.

After a good breakfast of eggs made- to -order, pancakes, banana bread, yogurt and fruit, we met Andrew and Pema, a delightful staff woman of Naxi heritage, to start our morning walk at 9a through Xizhou (pronounced she-joe) and it’s market. Xizhou used to be a major trading village as it was strategically placed on the tea and silk routes alongside Erhai Lake. It’s known for it’s traditional Bai minority culture and many well preserved courtyard homes. The Linden Centre actually enjoys the same cultural preservation status as the Great Wall, and since it was used by the Communist Government as a headquarters, did not suffer the destructive fate as many other properties did during the Cultural Revolution. The walk through the lanes was very pleasant and we visited a woman who made fresh cheese in her courtyard, similar to fresh mozzarella, and wandered through the fresh market and along the main shopping street observing the locals going about their daily business.

Then, at 11:30, we had a cooking class in the Linden Centre’s kitchen with just us, the chef, and Pema and Andrew to translate. We had picked out what we wanted to cook from their menu the night before. Pork Kanpao, Broccoli with mushrooms and a braised eggplant dish. We chopped everything with the large Chinese cleaver and then stir fried the dishes in a wok over a very large flame. This was our tasty lunch, but I had to watch out for the fatty pork....a common preference in China.

At 2p, Andrew took us on a horse drawn cart from the Centre to Erhai Lake to observe cormorant fishing. Initially, I wanted to skip this, but it was the best way to get out on a boat on this beautiful lake. The sunny, warm afternoon was perfect and we set out on a private boat with a woman Bai rower. The other boats that came to observe the fisherman’s show were crammed with tourists, so we appreciated having the boat to ourselves and Andrew. Basically, the show consisted of two fishermen in a row boat with 12-15 cormorants perched on the side....they came too close to us (I dislike birds) to show off, and then would beat the water with their paddles to attract fish and the birds would dive down and come up with a modest size fish in their beaks. Apparently, there’s a narrow ring around their necks that don’t allow them to swallow the larger fish. I just enjoyed the lovely lake scenery surrounded by mountains.

The horse drawn cart ride is bumpy, so we decided to skip going on and seeing some temples.
At 5pm, we took a tour of the Linden Centre with some other guests. It truly is like being in a living museum. The Lindens also own an Asian art gallery in Door County, Wisconsin, and the centre is filled with antique art treasures that they’ve collected. We heard the story of the original owner who was a prosperous trader and built his home in 1948....unfortunately, he only got to live here one year because he was cast out when the communists took over in 1949.

That night for dinner, we had a whole local fish and bundt cake, that had to be ordered 24 hours in advance. I’d say they were both just OK. I also didn’t care for their noodle dish that was too chewy. I LOVED their spring rolls though. The Vina Maipo Cabernet Sauvignon was delicious and we had it every night.

We enjoyed talking with the other guests, many of them expats from Australia or England who work in Beijing or Shanghai. One woman told me that staying at The Linden Centre is on a lot of expats' Bucket List. I think there are 16 rooms maximum.

After dinner, we went to observe the Chinese Painting that was being offered in the Library. A pretty full day.
Tomorrow: Dali

First, that should have been Chinese Painting "class" from the previous paragraph. Tonight we just watched, but the next night we tried our luck with the black watery paint and calligraphy type brushes. It's harder than it looks

Day 10: Dali
Got up to watch the sunrise at 7:25a...because China only has one time zone, you really notice the difference in sunset and sunrise times between Beijing in the east and Xizhou in the west. I walked up the spiral iron stairs to the lovely roof top terrace that overlooks the farmer’s fields, the village, and the mountains behind. The farmers were all in position, but it wasn’t until the sun actually rose that they started their little tractors and the charming “putt putt” sounds came from all around the fields.

This morning at 10a, a driver took us to the Old Town of Dali and dropped us off. We had chosen to explore on our own without a guide. It was fun to walk along the shopping streets filled with small restaurants surrounded by Chinese tourists. In fact, we never saw a Western face the whole time we were there.

I had read that the Bai people do beautiful indigo blue batik embroidery work and I bought a large embroidered table cloth from a shop. If you buy the batik without the white stitching, the cost is less, but I loved the stitching handiwork. I also got a tie dye cotton loose top that was a perfect gift for my teenaged granddaughter.

We walked through the town to the decorative, massive Southern Gate and looked inside the Catholic church decorated in Bai style. We watched women preparing street food and uniformed school boys walking home for lunch. As a snack, we tried some Rose Petal ice cream that Andrew recommended in a coffee shop, but I found it too icy. For “lunch”, we stopped at Sweet Tooth for excellent chocolate mint pie, carrot cake and cappuccino’s and took some chocolate chip cookies back for later...finally, great dessert!

Sweet Tooth is run by a deaf family...and they were our contact to take us for our Deaf Massages at 2pm. I handed a note to the cashier that Andrew had given me, who smiled broadly, and motioned for us to follow. We followed her several blocks and then went to the second floor of a massage parlor where people were lying all over on beds getting massages. (Remember, you keep your clothes on for a Chinese massage) My husband had this older lady as a masseuse and I had a younger man. I’m telling you, this was one of the most heavenly massages I’ve had. Our driver was waiting to drive us back at 3:30pm.

When we returned to the Linden Centre at 4p, we had a Tai Chi lesson scheduled with Robert from the UK. He ended up teaching us mostly Quigong, using breath and balance to move in a meditative way. I think he realized Tai Chi was beyond our capabilities. He was interesting to talk to and did that until 5:30. He commented that when people complain about the Chinese pushing and shoving to get to the front, they forget that "politeness" is really a luxury of the affluent. During communal living and dining, there was limited food, and if you didn't get to it before someone else did, you went hungry.

With a bottle of our favorite red wine, we climbed to the upper terrace to watch the sunset. Andrew joined us for some great conversation. Dinner tonight we chose to sit in the bar again, and I loved the fried Naxi cheese and wonton soup. The guests here have all been pleasant to chat with.

Tomorrow: Tie dye, bike ride, my melt down

At 10a, our activity was to go to the village of Zhoucheng to try our hands at tie-dye taught by an older Bai woman. With about a 12” square piece of cotton, we were either given a pattern like a flower or could do our own free form piece...I picked the flower and DH did his own fish. We stitched along the pattern, either single or double thread, and then pulled the strings tight into knots. These pieces were then placed in a vat of boiling water dyed a dark blue from a local mountain flower.

While we waited to see the results of our inept handiwork, we looked around a 2nd story shop displaying batik pieces. I was glad I had bought my tablecloth in Dali because I didn’t see anything comparable. Just bought two typical Bai headdresses that depict elements of snow, flower, wind and water reflection for two granddaughters and a pink chinese style dress for another. Our little exercise made me appreciate the skill and time that went into creating the large tablecloths
.
Afterwards, we wanted to bike to Erhai Lake without a guide, and were given a map and instructions how to get to the lake. So, at 1:30 we set off...me on a very uncomfortable bike that forced me to lean too far forward and put all my weight on my wrists. After riding over bumpy roads, we found the smooth lake road and enjoyed biking awhile along it’s length, admiring the scenic vistas of many rowboats lying in a flooded coastline area, fisher-people beating small fish out of larger nets into smaller ones, a mother and daughter doing their laundry on the banks, farmers working their fields right up to the edge of the placid lake, and lots of small kids cheerfully yelling “hello”. It was a beautifully sunny warm day, but the air was getting somewhat smoky with all the burning. We rode back up to the “Tongue of the Lake” and decided to go back another way in hopes that the road would be less bumpy. My back and wrists were pretty uncomfortable by then so I just wanted to get back.

So, we set off with the help of our map, but couldn’t seem to find the Linden Centre. We kept trying different streets and trying to ask people who didn’t speak English to no avail. After at least an hour of this, we discovered that we had just ridden in a circle and were back to where we started, so I was getting upset. We came upon a small snack stand and tried to ask the woman to call the Linden Centre for us with our cell phone and tell them we were lost. During this transaction, a horse cart driver came by and said he’d take us back for 10 rmb. The Linden Centre people said to do this, so the driver put my bike on the cart, I climbed in, and DH followed us on his bike. This time, we traveled on a narrow raised path between two farm fields for quite awhile before coming to the Linden Centre in an entirely different town than where we thought we were. No wonder we were lost. DH had decided to give him 20rmb for his trouble, but he started yelling that he said 40 rmb, and the staff came out to sort it out. We got back at 4:20pm....3 hours after we had left for a short ride! I was quite cross at this point, but DH brought up a bottle of wine to the terrace to soothe my ruffled feathers.

Tonight, we had to eat in the dining room, but it was quite pleasant with warm, subdued lighting. We were the only folks there for awhile but really enjoyed talking with Helen, from Northern China, and again with Pema....I’m impressed with the very nice, intelligent way they have about them. The spring rolls and chicken cashew with broccoli and garlic were excellent but I didn’t like the sweet & sour soup. We retired into the bar for a glass of their excellent plum wine and chatted with an Australian couple who informed us that another guest had been bitten by a horse in the market and would have to go get rabies shots in either Beijing or Hong Kong. What a pain.

I forgot to mention that the previous night we were treated to a Dongjing music performance in the courtyard with Bai costumed locals performing songs from the ancient Nanzhou Kingdom with instruments I hadn’t seen before. We really enjoyed the music and dancing by several Bai women.

Day 12: Guilin

Here's the link to my photos taken at Linden Centre, Xizhou, Dali and Erhai Lake:

http://barefootbeach.smugmug.com/Travel/China/Linden-Centre/28093220_3ZNCXP

Please let me know if you have trouble viewing.

Next report really covers Yangshou since we only spent the night in Guilin.

Day 12 & 13: Guilin to Yangshou

It was an hour’s drive to the Dali airport where we caught our flight to Guilin, with a layover in Kunming. We arrived at night in a downpour and our guide from China Highlights picked us up to transport us to the Sheraton Guilin for the night. I didn’t care for this guide and I was glad we didn’t have any tours with him. He would just transport us to Yangshou the next morning. The Sheraton Guilin was a huge, western style luxury hotel on the river. Since it was dark and raining, we just walked a couple of blocks to the Rosemary Cafe for pizza and chocolate cake...both just OK.

For most of our trip to China, we’d booked through China Highlights for guide services. However, I caught an earlier review on TripAdvisor which mentioned how she had switched to Jack’s Private Tours for her tours in Yangshou, as he excelled at providing photo ops and getting you on the road less traveled. That was an excellent recommendation, so we booked him for two days in Yangshou. He turned out to be a very friendly, accommodating, reliable and enthusiastic guide who speaks English perfectly.

He responded promptly to my email request, provided a detailed summary of what we could do at a fair price, and helped me decide between two inns I was looking at. II decided on the Yangshou Mountain Retreat, which was perfect with amazing views of the karst mountains and located on the Yulong River where we could watch the bamboo boats glide by with their double occupants being poled by a boatsman. We had a large balcony room 202 on the second floor...basic rooms but comfortable. Meals are served in a homey room with blue batik tablecloths and both western and chinese food, but I’d avoid the hamburger.

It had been raining hard for a few days before we arrived and that morning, so Jack modified our original itinerary so we wouldn’t be slogging through muddy fields. The first thing we did was taxi upstream the Li River to Yangdi and got on a small, private motorized bamboo boat that we glided on down to Xingping past amazing karst formations on both sides of the river. The original plan was to do this at 6am to see the karsts mysteriously emerging from the mists. Frankly, despite the fact I’m sure the photos would’ve been great, I didn’t mind rescheduling to avoid the early wakeup. The sun was peeking out through the clouds and the temperature was very pleasant..

Enroute to Xingping, we got off the boat and Jack walked us through the farming countryside pointing out the abundance of produce...cotton, persimmons, huge pomelos, sesame seeds, soybeans, potatoes, orange and lime trees, as well as water buffalos. With the looming karsts surrounding the verdant fields, it looked like a veritable Garden of Eden. There was a farmer and his wife harvesting rice in a wooden, foot powered thrasher who was very friendly and let Jack and then my husband try their hand (and foot) at it. After walking through a small village of nice farmer’s houses and exchanging greetings with some, we returned to the boat and continued our cruise. This up close and personal experience would never have happened on the typical large tourist boats that ply people from Guilin to Yangshou. Jack also timed this so we avoided the masses of large boats that make the river rougher and less serene.

At Xingping, we walked up it’s ancient street and tried a rice snack cake that Jake bought, that reminded us of a Rice Krispie bar.

Because we started and ended later, we had him drop us off in Yangshou (about 15 min from inn) on West Street where all the the action is...restaurants, shops, and throngs of Chinese tourists. He’d recommended Cloud 9, where we got an excellent table on a second floor balcony overlooking all the lights and sounds of West St. We especially got a kick out of watching the diners in the outdoor restaurant across the street downing group shots....(Ganbei!), singing karaoke and marveling at the girls selling lighted small disks that soared into the air and they deftly caught. The food was good (chicken with cashews, clay pot eggplant, and fried green beans with nuts), but this was the first restaurant where the menu listed dog, palm rat, and eels. We took a taxi back to the inn.

Next: Yulong River Cruise, another trying Bike Ride & " Impressions of Liu Sanje" show

Day 14: Yulong River

The next morning, Jack picked us up at 9a and we drove upstream the Yulong River, the one that flows in front of our inn, to get on a smaller bamboo raft that’s poled by the boatman. There’s only room for two of us, so after a 1 1/2 cruise up to Fulli Bridge (600 years old), we got off for a quick look from the top of the bridge to admire the karst scenery. Then, back on for the return trip...a very peaceful and quiet river experience.
Jack met us and was excited to show us a recently born water buffalo calf in a field nearby. I was amazed that the mother let us get so close to the calf. We hiked along more farmers‘ fields and small villages until we met up with our driver. Walking through these orchards and rice paddies, surrounded by karst mountains, is a wonderful way to experience natural China.

After a lunch break at our inn, Jack picked us up again at 3p for what he said was a 1 1/2 hour bike ride. We were provided good bikes and this was a most interesting journey. Some paths were unexpected, but welcome, concrete paths weaving through rice paddies surrounded by towering karsts...I marveled at the beauty. Others were gravely and uneven, especially going through villages where there were other bikes, scooters, tuk tuks, roosters, dogs and people to avoid. The worst was a very narrow path through a high sea of grasses with a bit of a drop off on each side. I had to walk my bike through this, but I do have a balance issue. We walked into an empty classroom, saw the Moon HIll rock formation and really enjoyed, during the first hour or so, a most beautiful ride through gorgeous countryside warmed by the setting sun.

Around the time I thought we were almost done, Jack announced we had another hour. By this time I’m very tired and sweating and the uneven ground and uphills are taking their toll. I carry on until we get to a school near Moon HIll that I recognize from our outbound journey and realize it’s still a long way back. I was exhausted and my foot had already slipped off into the spoke a little and I was afraid I’d injure myself if I kept going. So, we asked Jack if he could leave me there and send a driver to pick me up. He got on his cellphone and arranged the bike vendor to arrive on his little truck in the rice fields to pick up the bikes and we all waited for a tuk tuk to take us back along the roads to the inn, which was surprisingly far and cold as the sun was going down. He was very apologetic that our ride had turned into 2 1/2 hours, but he thought we were up to it because we’d been such good hikers. So, if you’re not a great biker (like me) be clear about your expectations.

We just had time to take a quick shower and a quick dinner at our inn, and Jack was back to take us to the acclaimed “Impressions of Liu Sanjie” light and sound show on the banks of the Li River that lights up the background karsts. The theatre holds 3500 people and it’s bedlam at the entrance, but Jack orchestrated everything perfectly and escorted us to great seats and then met us afterwards to return us to the hotel. He also explained what the story line of the show was and what to expect in each act. I seriously would have hated to buy tickets and enter this venue on my own. We had previously seen the Lijiang Impressions show, but I preferred this one (but my husband preferred the other) This was more beautiful and dazzling, especially the silver women twinkling that looked like a huge, twisting diamond bracelet and the bamboo boatmen gliding along the river with the glistening red fabric that evoked water. We were utterly exhausted when we got back to inn.

We were very happy with Jack, who is a very nice young man and we appreciated his enthusiasm and competence is providing a very unique, private experience that let us experience the natural beauty of the countryside.

Next: Yangshou cooking class and shopping

Day 15: Yangshou Cooking School

The Yangshou Cooking School offers a morning class on the banks of the Li River in Yangshou and an afternoon class in the original countryside location. I wanted a morning class so booked that one ahead of time. Jack commented that he thought the countryside location was better, but the timing worked better for me. We were picked up at 9:20 and driven to class. This was the best cooking class we had since it was the most hands on and we cooked items that were more different than the usual stir fries. It was also a bargain at 200 Rmb or about $30 a person including transportation.

We first went to a large covered market where I opted out of visiting the fresh meat/poultry section. Then, we each had a cooking station in a building separate from the dining/reception area with windows that overlooked the Li River. We first made steamed chicken with mushroom that were put in a steamer basket and taken away to steam in a wok for 20 minutes. Then, we made egg wrapped dumplings that were harder to make and delicious. We ate those right away as an appetizer. Next, Eggplant Yangshou style, again excellent, followed by Green vegetables with garlic...just OK; and Stir Fried Pork with Vegetable and Oyster Sauce.....delicious. Of course, we finished with lunch and enjoyed talking with the rest of the travelers. A great value and experience.

Afterwards, we walked back along the Li River to West Street, the main drag, and did some souvenir shopping. I found a Sun Lu CD that I had listened to at the Linden Centre and I really liked her lovely, more contemporary love songs accompanied by traditional instruments. We also found a patisserie with excellent chocolate cake that we took back to our inn to enjoy along the banks of the Yulong river with cappuccino. All in all, a perfect day and a perfect end to our Yangshou experience.

I’ll post these photos soon.

Next: Shanghai

I am so enjoying your report and lovely photos. Looking forward to more...

Thanks marya...it's so nice to know that someone's actually reading this!

I'm here too, barefoot, enjoying.

Me too, can't wait for Shanghai section. Happy Chinese Lantern Festival today, the Yuan Xiao Festival celebrating the first full moon of the Lunar New Year!

Barefoot - I'm also reading along and enjoying. Keep it coming.

Thanks so much Marija, Shanghainese & dgunbug,
I think you all know the feeling of writing and writing without a comment and you wonder if it's worth it.

Shanghainese, I really wanted to buy some Chinese Air lanterns (there was a recent special on Groupon) ...for those of you who don't know what they are....they're biodegradable and you light a little candle and they are airborne for about 15 minutes....but in many States they're illegal as a fire hazard..many people have thought they saw USO's...and I just read they're banned in Sanya because they're in the flight path....but they look so cool! So, happy Lantern Festival if you have the land based ones!

Barefoot - I understand the difficulty in writing without feedback. For those reading this and other trip reports, please know that the smallest comments are greatly appreciated as is a mere grunt to let the writer know you are reading along.

Barefoot your report is most appreciated. We are still considering Linden Centre for our trip in May. If we do, what do you recommend to get the most out of it? Many thanks.

laurie_ann, I'd look at their website and under the heading "Plan Your Stay" you can browse through their themed cultural programs, which are group things related to a particular interest like cooking or photography, or they also list a lot of possible activities that you can customize to meet your needs under "short stays". They have a 3 night minimum for those programs and you'll Skype with one of their staff to figure out what you'd like to do. We stayed 4 nights and I thought that was the right amount of time. Hope this helps.

You can view my photos from Yangshou on this link:

http://barefootbeach.smugmug.com/Other/Yangshou/28162617_vKChvt

Wonderful report, which brings back memories of my trip to Yunnan four years ago. The photos were great, thank you for including them.

Thank you marymai....Yunnan was truly a beautiful region of China.

laurie_ann,
Re: the Linden Centre,
I'd also go into Dali for dinner one night, something we didn't do. That way you could try a different type of restaurant since dinner at Linden did get a little repetitive. I also wish we'd walked around the village more by ourselves...but, if you go biking, take a guide with you!

Lovely pictures. I'm enjoying your posts. Brings back memories of our 2007 trip.
My daughter lives in Shekou-about 30 minutes from Hong Kong. She says it's very rare to find an apartment to rent with an oven in the kitchen. The Chinese don't bake as a rule.

chris45ny,
No wonder I couldn't find any good cake!!! (Except for SweetTooth in Dali!)

Warm greetings again barefootbeach, and thank you for your wonderful writing; just had a chance to catch up with your report on this fine San Francisco Sunday.

Looking forward to more; particularly your Shanghai impressions, as I had the privilege of experiencing a very small slice of that city early last month during a business trip. (Sadly, like most of my Asia working trips, it largely entailed an office building, a hotel - Pudong Shangri-La; rather large property, but such marvelous staff, amenities and views - and an airport.) At present, scheduled to return to Shanghai for additional meetings in May; your thoughtful impressions, always most appreciated.

[And if my memory serves correct, you stayed at that cherished Peninsula hotel in Bangkok during an earlier Asian holiday. You had enquired about traditional Thai "Khim" music, and I suggested the gift shop at the nearby Shangri-La. At the time, fine selection of music at that little place.]

Always fun, reading thoughtful trip reports like yours during breaks in business trips. (Also looking forward to your Hong Kong impressions, as will be returning to that fine city for meetings at week's end.) Should you ever desire lodging (and airline) suggestions in our fine home of Singapore, pleased to assist.

Thanks again barefoot,

macintosh (robert)


... Singapore Airlines, You're a Great Way to Fly ...

Hi Robert,
very good to hear from you again!
I will try to get to Shanghai soon, but just returned from a domestic trip so have much to do first.
I hope to get to Singapore someday and I'll be sure to ask for your recommendations! Hope you enjoyed San Fran....I just got back from San Diego but the weather was marginal!

Day 16: Shanghai

Shanghai blew me away with it’s fascinating night time views along the Bund. I’m definitely in the camp of loving Shanghai more than Beijing although we really just scratched the surface of both cities.

We were picked up at the Shanghai airport by Bob, from China HIghlights, who would be our guide in a few days for our day trip to the water towns, Suzhou and Tongli. A note about domestic flights, they usually change, but in our case, for the better, so instead of our scheduled late night arrival we got in mid-afternoon, and drove through the heaviest traffic we’d experienced to our hotel, Les Suites Orient on the Bund.

When we walked into our corner studio suite, we gasped at the views from the bedroom across the river to the futuristic Pudong skyline and also from the bathroom with a view up the curving Bund side with it’s classical and neo-classical Western style architecture. The bathroom’s views were really amazing because you could look up the Bund, from the bathtub’s picture window, while seeing the whole Pudong skyline reflected in the large mirror over the sink so it seemed like you got a panoramic view. When you factor in one of those new combination toilet/bidet things with heated seat, an LCD TV over the marble bath tub, and a marble rain shower, I was in heaven! Just a few more notes about the hotel...it was relatively reasonably priced...technically located just south of the Bund...the entrance is non-descript, there’s not much of a lobby, and the concierge didn’t seem that helpful..but if you want a modern, luxurious room with amazing views and a great location...it’s a find. The room itself wasn’t large but was laid out very efficiently. From the very comfortable bed, you could raise and lower the window shades, control the larger LCD TV in the bedroom, and control the lights & dimmers. Breakfast was included and also very good.

Our first order of business was to walk north along the Bund to enjoy the art deco ambience of a gorgeous city promenade. We walked all the way to the Hyatt and wanted to have a cocktail at the Vue Bar, but it was 5p and the bar didn’t open until 6p....really??! So, on the way back we stopped at the Peninsula Hotel and sat outside on the 4th floor terrace at Sir Elly’s to enjoy a cocktail and marvel at the evolving light show that entertained us on the sides of the Pudong skyscrapers and the ever changing colored lights of the tourist boats that ply the river. The scene puts Disney to shame!

As I’d been craving Western food for awhile, I knew I could get my fix in Shanghai. We took a taxi to the French concession area to eat at Mr. Willis, a casually upscale bistro type establishment, that had lost my reservation, but still managed to cram us into their busy Friday night. I thought the food was excellent...an Australian braised lamb shank and a salmon dish.

Of course, the evening always ends with enjoying the most incredible lighting spectacle I’ve ever seen.

I am also a fan of Shanghai. Glad I didn't listen to the advice to skip it. Shanghai's different from Beijing but very much China. Thanks for writing.

Thanks Marija!

FYI, I just saw that Travel & Leisure, April 2013 issue, has an article "Our Definitive Guide to Shanghai"...which I had read this before I went!

Thanks, Marija!

FYI, I just saw that Travel & Leisure, April 2013 issue, has an article entitled, "Our Definitive Guide to Shanghai". Wish I had read this before I went!

Day 17: Shanghai

Ah, the bliss of a day on our own, not that we didn’t enjoy our guides, but we’re independent travelers at heart. We really didn’t want to do a lot of sights, but just wanted to walk around and experience some of Shanghai.

We set off for the Shanghai Museum, about a 30 minute walk west of our hotel and spent maybe two hours there. Then, I wanted to get to the French Concession and just wander around shopping. By now though, my feet were aching, so we did grab a taxi to take us near to Xintiandi so we could sample dumplings at Din Tai Fung. I say “near” because I didn’t have the address written in Chinese characters which is essential if you want to get somewhere specific in a taxi. Even arriving at 2pm on a Saturday afternoon, we had a 30 minute wait at this famous, if expensive, dumpling house located inside a mall. We ordered too much, several portions of pork and hairy crab dumplings, wan ton soup and springs rolls...so the bill came to about $40 for these excellent soup type dumplings and accoutrements.

The shopping around there looked too much like home, so we grabbed another taxi to the more atmospheric Taikang Lu neighborhood, where you wander around narrow, twisty lanes with low hanging electrical wires looking at little boutiques and junky shops crowded with the rest of affluent Shanghainese enjoying their Saturday. I wanted to check out some previously recommended shops like Pling Palang and Pure, but didn’t buy anything...too expensive and nothing called out to me.

So, we started walking back along Sinan Road admiring some of the old mansions, now partially obscured by road construction, and saw Zhou Enlai’s house from the outside. It was starting to get dark ( this is the end of October), so we grabbed a taxi (harder than it sounds because you have to be standing in exactly the right spot) to call it a sightseeing day. Ah, but the seductive lights of the Bund/Pudong still beckoned.

The night began with cocktails in the historic Long Bar of the Waldorf Astoria, a very dark wood, clubby type atmosphere that evoked the 20‘s and we were lucky to get a table near the windows overlooking the river, which is where the well-connected were allowed to sit back in the day. The lobby of the hotel was very elegant.

Tonight, we dined at Mercato on the Bund, which is an Italian restaurant owned by three-starred Michelin chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten. The atmosphere was very hip & trendy, but the tables were very close together. We had a very thin crust pizza and lobster ravioli, all very good but not exceptional, and an excellent espresso affogato sundae. We were seated in the middle of the room so couldn’t really get the view across to Pudong.

Since we normally live in FL, it’s fun to have a vibrant, exciting city to visit for a change.

So happy you are enjoying Shanghai!

Day 18: Shanghai

This morning we took the ferry across the river to Pudong and walked to the Shanghai World Trade Center (aka the Bottle Opener Building) to take in the view from the world’s highest observation deck on the 100th floor. The smog cooperated and we were able to get a pretty good view of Shanghai from up high. I liked looking at all the tight rows of different colored apartment roofs which reminded me of Monopoly pieces, the intriguing architecture of various skyscrapers, and the curving bend of the Huangpu River....now I just picture 13,000 dead hogs floating down it, courtesy of recent news reports of northern farmers dumping their sick pigs.

We then walked to find the subway station that would take us back close to the French Concession area. While sitting underground at People’s Square, trying to figure out which connecting line to take, the cutest little preppy smiling boy plopped down next to me on the bench and asked in perfect English where we wanted to go. Kevin proceeded to tell us his favorite subject was English, he thought a D was a bad grade, and that he was in 2nd grade. I can’t imagine a similar experience happening to a Chinese tourist in New York....what 2nd grader Anglo-American would speak perfect Mandarin? When his father appeared, Kevin asked him to take our photo with him....too cute.

We found our way to Xintiandi again hoping for a Western lunch....I know, it’s shameless. We came upon Kabb’s, crowded with Sunday brunch outside diners, but it was cooler today, upper 50’s to low 60’s so opted to devour our burger and Mimosa inside. Today, we checked out these shops but only bought a few small items. Then, we walked on to Fuxing Park to observe Sunday in the Park with locals. Such a variety of activities going on, from children rollerblading around a fountain, to adults ballroom dancing in what looked like pajamas, to others practicing their spinning plates routine, playing badminton without nets, and of course, men playing card games or checkers.

I made one final shopping stop at a must-see, Suzhou Cobblers, just off the Bund, which makes handmade silk shoes in cute and colorful Chinese styles and bought a pair of flats.

Tonight, we started the night with cocktails at at the Glamour Bar, below M on the Bund restaurant, with a window view of Pudong and the river. Then, we enjoyed one of the best dinners of our trip at Lost Heaven, which specializes in Yunnan cuisine from the Tea Horse Trail with a dark and exotic decor with heavy wood furniture. We had a Yunnan wild vegetable cake, jicory mushrooms with vegetable salad, spicy cod steamed in banana leaf (too many bones) and simmered vegetables in a Tamarind sauce....all excellent! I sure didn’t experience this quality of food while we were in Yunnan.

Barefoot - glad you enjoyed shanghai. It is a beautiful city. Our favorite restaurant of the trip was also Lost heaven.

Shanghainese & dgunbug, Thanks for still reading!


Day 18: Tongli & Suzhou

Bob, our guide, picked us up at 9a for the 1 1/2 hour drive to the historic water town of Tongli. We wandered through the old streets, up and down the small stone bridges, and snapped many photos in this charming, small town. Then, we got on a little wooden boat and a woman poled us through the narrow canals...very atmospheric.

A set lunch was served in an ancient, wooden tea house...a delicious pork shoulder dish that the town is known for (the few non-fatty pieces were so tender and flavorful), grilled shrimp, chicken and peanut stir fry, a Chinese celery dish, a cabbage stir fry, tasty thin bread sprinkled with sesame seeds, and for dessert, a dish of longan fruit, which you easily peel to reveal a lychee or grape-like fruit center. I should mention that all of the lunches we had when touring with China Highlights were included in the price and most were very good and featured local food.

After lunch, we drove another 45 minutes to Suzhou, today a large city with 6 million people. We were handed off to a rickshaw driver and I didn’t like the first 1/4 of the ride because it was through busy city traffic (almost got hit by a bus) until we could turn off onto the old town lanes. I actually would have preferred to walk along this street because there appeared to be some interesting crafts and clothing shops. There were also several models being photographed, and our rickshaw driver actually knocked down a young woman with a huge camera lens who I think stepped back and he clipped her. He asked if she was OK, but it still looked like a bad fall.

About 40 minutes later, we met up with Bob at the entrance to the acclaimed Humble Administrator’s Garden, a huge complex with different rockeries, pools, crooked bridges and pavilions that’s a UNESCO heritage site and considered to be the finest garden in southern China. It was originally built in the 1500’s. My favorite spot was a building with windows of various shades of blue colored glass. The garden was pretty crowded and seemed to have several high school tour groups. I think Bob told them my husband was a US rock star (well, he was wearing a hoodie) because a lot of giggling girls suddenly wanted to have their picture taken with him...he loved the attention! It took about 2 hours to drive back to Shanghai and we returned at 5:30. Although I enjoyed the day, I could’ve skipped the time spent driving and spent more time in Shanghai.

For our final night in Shanghai, we ate at Mr. & Mrs. Bund, a French restaurant with a hip & trendy vibe...the wine list is brought out on an I-pad. We requested and received a window table so we could again enjoy the evening light show. I never tired of watching the side of the Citibank building constantly changing it’s colorful images, or the Pearl TV tower that looks like something out of the Jetson’s morphing into different shapes and colors, or the tourist river boats changing from blue to pink to green to pirate ship or wedding cake. Inside the restaurant, several birthdays caused the lights to dim, a disco birthday song to play and sparking candles carried out by the wait staff. Our food was excellent: tuna mousse in a can as an amuse bouche, French bread, scallops, pork chops, and Chocolate Liegeois ice cream. Truly, a great end to a fun Shanghai experience.

My regrets...that I didn’t discover where the interesting shopping was...and I don’t mean high-end designer shops which were rampant. That my husband didn’t find a cricket basket, which he read about in “Years of Red Dust” by Qiu Xiaolong, a recommended book of short stories about life in Shanghai from1949-1990’s. He was bemused by the whole concept of cricket fighting matches. We might have found one in the streets around Yuyuan Garden, but we skipped the garden because of visiting the one in Suzhou.

I'll post the link to photos from Shanghai shortly.

Next: A vacation from our vacation... Sanya, Hainan Island

One question I've been meaning to ask others who've been to China...did you find that the transaction fees for ATM debit cards were unusually high compared to other countries? it seemed like it to me.

Don't recall high ATM fees, but we went 10 years ago. I'm still enjoying your report. Thanks!

Don't know that they were especially high, but entrance fees to most places were very high for foreigners. Lucky that my husband turned 70 just before getting to china as he was able to enter most attractions free of charge!

Here's the link to photos from Shanghai, Tongli and Suzhou.

http://barefootbeach.smugmug.com/Travel/Shanghai/28515577_hnrgsC

Thank you

Thank you

Lovely photos. For interesting shopping, I don't know what you are interested in, there is not much bargain shopping anymore, you pay less but get poor quality, the city is filled with middle-class who live well.

JuliannPM,
I posted some remarks on your question about Beijing.

Shanghainese, I think part of the problem was that I wasn't in a shopping mood...but I love my silk flats from Suzhou Cobblers!
Thanks too for recommending that book "Life & Death in Shanghai", which I'm only now reading...it's so hard to reconcile what happened then with the people that we met today. I couldn't help but look at others who are slightly older than me and wonder...were you one of the Red Guards that carried out such destruction?

barefootbeach: I know the feeling after you read that book, it's hard not to blame the Red Guards but they were brainwashed by the Chairman.

that's true...teenagers are generally too immature to think logically and for themselves and are very susceptible to having their unbridled energy and raging hormones used as pawns in carrying out political leaders' twisted agendas.

Thanks you for the great trip log.