I'm Baaaack!

Back from China!

First, I have the pictures online. Click here for the photo album!

Someday I'll write this up in a format that might be easier to read, but until then, here ya go.

Day 1 - June 23 - Travel

Got to PDX at 4:15, turns out the flight didn't leave until 8:00

Sat around PDX for a while after checking in as a group

Arrived in San Francisco to find that our SFO - Bejing flight was delayed

Collected $15 lunch vouchers in the airport and spent an hour eating lunch, then several hours playing cards.

Left SFO at 9:00 for Beijing

Day 2 - June 24 - Travel

Traded seats a few hours into the flight for the empty seat next to Cory

Due to the dateline, we arrived in Beijing at 10:00 tonight

Transfered to the hotel just before midnight

Day 3 - June 25 - Beijing

Free continental breakfast at the hotel, then free time until 11

Visit to Tian'anmen Square, a 20 minute bus ride from the hotel

Free time to explore the square, then lunch as a group

Extra time before rehearsal, so we go to a Chinese tea house

Rehearsal at the Beijing Cultural Center for tomorrow's performance

Dinner at another typical Chinese restaraunt

Free time in the shopping district before returning to hotel

Weird Chinese movies with funny "engrish" subtitles in the hotel

Day 4 - June 26 - Beijing

Free breakfast at hotel

Walk 30 minutes from hotel to Forbidden City

Tour Forbidden City, walking from South to North as tradition dictates

David gets attacked by a beggar, obviously a burn victim, a joke which continued for the rest of the trip

Lunch at a restaraunt similar in style to the last two

Arrive at performance site, perform with Chinese bands

Dinner with Beijing and Olympic officials... in sweaty half-uniform

Free time in the hotel and city

Day 5 - June 27 - Beijing

Breakfast at hotel, which is getting kinda monotonous by now, but still is quite edible

Leave for Great Wall, a few hours from our hotel

Stop in Beijing to buy papers (our performance from last night was featured)

Visit a jade factory / store (tourist trap #1)

Arrive at Great Wall, perform marching show in parking lot

Climb Great Wall as far as possible in the heat (2 or 3 towers)

Lunch at a local restaraunt with more traditional Chinese food

Tour the Emperor's Summer Palace

Stop at the hotel for a quick change and shower (with smog, humidity, and heat, every shower was welcome!)

Peking duck dinner... Robertson and Nick got lost on the way and met us at the hotel again that evening

Beijing Acrobat show, a traditional Chinese acrobat show similar in some ways to Cirque de Soleil

Return to hotel for movies and such

Day 6 - June 28 - Beijing

Breakfast once more at hotel, this time in other buffet

Free time to shop until 11:30, explored Wangfujing St and the mall

Lunch... you know the drill

Shopping time in an imitation market, with "Playboy" belts and "Engrish" shirts

Tour of Beijing's Tsinghua University

Performance at University and cultural exchange

Return to hotel to prepare for early departure to Shanghai

Day 7 - June 29 - Beijing to Shanghai

Leave hotel at 5 AM, drive to Airport

Wait for ticket counters to open while Sueanne replaces her lost ticket

Due to our "group check-in" we have seats down the middle of the plane, I switch to sit by David, and we write messages on a notepad to Kyrie, a few rows back

Arrive in Shanghai, go to lunch at a similar location

Visit Yu Gardens, a private garden in the heart of Shanghai

Tour a silk factory in Shanghai, home of much of China's silk trade

Check-in at hotel, explore the surrounding... slums

Dinner at McDonalds, the only "safe" nearby restaraunt

Cruise along Huang Pu River to see Shanghai at night

Return to the hotel for movies on David's laptop (TV is all in Chinese here)

Day 8 - June 30 - Shanghai

Breakfast at hotel, more "interesting" local foods than our last buffets

Shopping at a market an hour from our hotel

Lunch on our own... McDonalds, again

Drive to the Shanghai TV Pearl Tower, set up for performance

Performance with Chinese band and a very bad drum & bugle group

Changed into formal clothes on the busses for our final dinner

Farewell dinner at another typical restaraunt

DVD shopping at a shady store across the street, $1 American each

Movies in the room until 2:30 AM... why not?

Day 9 - July 1 - Shanghai, Travel to Home

Pass on breakfast... silkworm grubs and chicken feet, anyone?

Take another shot at the DVD store, pick up more movies and some PS2 games for people

Drive to airport, guides sing us songs on the bus

Check-in in groups, seating is much better than the past flights

Wave goodbye to Tony, who lost his passport and spent the next few days in the Embassy

Fly to San Francisco, arriving before we left, thanks to the dateline

Clear customs in San Francisco

Eat Pizza Hut and Starbucks and call home... welcome back to America, home of people who speak English!

Sit in the airport for hours, going between gates and sleeping

Arrive back in Portland, collect luggage, and go home!


Lets see... heres a few more things:

Taiwan Hotel Beijing

Nice, comfortable rooms

Air conditioning

One block from Wangfujing shopping centers

Free, good breakfast with western and Chinese food

TV has English captions, a movie channel, and CNN

Jinsha Hotel Shanghai

Smaller rooms, ours has a "window" in the closet, we can see light from outside through the wall

Air conditioning

One block from McDonalds, some pirated DVD places, and not much else

Breakfast has the more interesting Chinese dishes... yuck

TV is censored heavily and entirely in Chinese

Beijing

Streets are clean

Persistant beggars/peddlers in the tourist and shopping areas

Hot and humid, temperatures near 100 with thick smog

No problems with safety being out at night

City has a central shopping area, normal downtown feel

Shanghai

Streets are much less clean than those of Beijing

Beggars are more passive, peddlers are only near the tower and the markets

Heat and humidity aren't as bad, or maybe I'm just used to it

Feels uncomfortable outside hotel at night, guards at entrance

City is sprawled over several hundred miles, skyscrapers are scattered throughout and not centralized


That's about all I have to say about the trip, overall it was a great experience.
Only one more continent to go! :-)