Report on the 2 week trip to China - 2nd - 16th March 2008
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Well the day had finally arrived! After months of planning and organising by Jan Mitchell and Shirley Cuesta, 49 u3a members assembled, on Sunday March 2nd, in the departure lounge at Heathrow Airport for the start of our big adventure. We were met there by Kimberley Griffiths, from Travelsphere who was to be our Tour Manager for the entire trip.
We boarded our Air China 747 for the flight to Beijing and arrived 8 hrs later at Beijing Airport.
Monday 3rd March
Here we were met by our local guide, Robbie. After stopping off for our first Chinese lunch using chopsticks we arrived at the Beijing Friendship Hotel.
Beijing, is a huge city covering ten times the area of London and has a population of 15million. It will be host to the 2008 Olympics in August and to reduce some of the pollution, cars will only be allowed on the roads on alternate days from May.
Tuesday 4th March
After breakfast, we started our sightseeing tour. Our first stop was the Temple of Heaven. The Temple of Heaven is a worthwhile visiting place in Beijing. It is much bigger than the Forbidden City and smaller than the Summer Palace with an area of about 2,700,000 square meters. The Temple was built in 1420 A.D. during the Ming Dynasty to offer sacrifice to Heaven. As Chinese emperors called themselves 'The Son of Heaven', they dared not build their own dwelling, 'Forbidden City' bigger than a dwelling for Heaven.
This was certainly an impressive thing to see, however, one of the highlights of the entire tour, for me was the covered walkway which you went through to get to the Temple of Heaven. Hundreds of Chinese pensioners used the walkway as a recreational area and you would see many groups of people, some playing cards, some playing mah-jong, some singing, some dancing, whatever they felt like doing. It was like the equivalent of the u3a in China with everyone out enjoying themselves, and the atmosphere was amazing.
From there we were taken to a Tea House and had a demonstration on the different types of tea, their properties and how to make it. We were all able to sample some of the varieties and to purchase if wanted.
After lunch we were taken to the Forbidden City. This was the Imperial Palace during the Ming and Qing dynasties. It had taken 1 million workers to build it including 100,000 artisans. 10,000 people lived inside. Construction of the palace complex began in 1407 and was completed 14 years later. Stone needed was quarried from Fangshan, a suburb of Beijing. It was said a well was dug every fifty meters along the road in order to pour water onto the road in winter to slide huge stones on ice into the city. There are so many rooms that if a new borne baby slept in a different room every night then he would be 27 years old before he had slept in them all.
After dinner there was an optional excursion to the Beijing Opera. This was more on a style of a pantomime than an Opera and the costumes were spectacular. An English translation at the side of the stage enabled us to understand the “plot”.
Wednesday 5th March
We started the day with the first of “many” factories visits. This one was to a Cloisonné Factory. Cloisonné is the art of gluing copper wire onto pots etc then filling in the gaps with liquid enamel, firing, then polishing them. The finished work can be very intricate and it takes a good deal of skill for this demanding work. More details of this work can be found on The Cloisonné Factory
Situated 50 kilometres northwest from Beijing City lie the Ming Tombs - the general name given to the mausoleums of 13 emperors of the Ming Dynasty. To date only 3 of these tombs have been restored. The “Spirit Way” which is the long walkway on the way to Changling tomb is flanked by stone statues; the guard of honour of 12 human figures represents civil and military dignitaries and officials; the 12 pairs of animals (half standing, half sitting) are said to change guard at midnight.
After lunch we set off for what would be one of the main highlights of the tour, a visit to the Great Wall of China. The Great Wall is actually made up of a number of interconnecting walls spanning China that different dynasties constructed over the 2,000 years.
One of the most popular spots for Tour Groups is the Badaling Section, it is the closest to Beijing and has been open since 1957. Records reported that at least one million slaves and prisoners of war were used to build this wall. Many died from exhaustion and starvation while working and their bodies were added to the masonry as the quickest means of disposal. For centuries, the Wall was known as "the longest cemetery in the world." It has been said that every foot of the construction of this Great Wall cost one human life.
On actually arriving at the Great Wall, you could not fail to be impressed with the sheer scale of it. From the Badaling Section you could attempt to climb the difficult section or the “very” difficult section. Some of our group actually managed both!! It was surprising how steep it was to climb and you could not imagine what the soldiers of past centuries had to endure when they were defending it.
Thursday 6th March
We checked out of our Hotel in Beijing after breakfast and on the way to the airport for our flight to Nanjing we visited the Beijing Zoo to see the Giant Pandas. As an endangered species, there are now only 1600 left worldwide and Beijing has 8 of them in their Zoo. It was saddening to see that these beautiful creatures were not better cared for. Their main source of food are Bamboo shoots.
At Beijing Airport we said our goodbyes to our Local Guide, Robbie and our driver and boarded the plane for Nanjing. Nanjing, means Southern Capital, as opposed to Beijing being the Northern Capital. We were met there by our new Local Guide, Susan. On our way to our hotel, The Jingling Hotel, we stopped at a bridge spanning the Yangtze River.
Built in 1968, the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge has a double layer structure. The upper layer for highway traffic measures 4,589 meters long and 15 meters wide, while the lower layer for railway traffic measures 6,772 meters long and 14 meters wide. It is the first bridge in China solely designed and constructed by Chinese.
After getting settled into our Hotel, we were taken by coach to a local restaurant for dinner
Friday 7th March
On our way to our first tourist attraction, Susan explained that 12th March was Nanjing’s Tree planting day, which was to improve the environment. We were heading for Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s Mausoleum. To the north of the square, the paifang towers high. Beyond is the 480-meter-long and 50-meter-wide stairway which has 392 stairs, leading to the vault. On both sides, pine, cypress, and gingko trees guard the way. On June 1st, 1929, Dr. Sun was buried there. Sun, considered to be the "Father of Modern China" both in mainland China and in Taiwan, fought against the imperial Qing government and after the 1911 revolution ended the monarchy and founded the Republic of China. It was a very beautiful place and the walk to the foot of the steps and upwards was made worthwhile by the magnificent view from the top.
Another factory shop demonstrating various Arts and Crafts, lunch, then a stop at a local market where there was the Temple of Confucius. We had free time to wander the streets and negotiate a bargain with the many vendors.
After dinner we were given the choice of the option to go to a concert of Chinese Folk Music played on uniquely Chinese instruments, by very accomplished musicians. It was very worthwhile for the few people that opted to go to the show, and we felt very honoured that they played for so few people.
Saturday 8th March
After breakfast, we checked out of the Jingling Hotel and caught a train at 8.10 am on our way to Wuxi, and said goodbye to our local guide, Susan. It was a 2 hr train journey and it was interesting to travel through the local countryside. It was also our only day of unsettled weather, so we were fortunate to be travelling that day. On arrival in Wuxi we were met by local guide, Steven who took us to the home of a retired worker, Mr Wu, who lived adjacent to the Grand Canal. It was interesting to see a different side of China, away from the tourist spots. There are many many Chinese who live in these sort of conditions and we should think ourselves very fortunate. We were taken around the local streets and saw all the fresh vegetables, meat and fish on sale. As the weather was cold and wet we didn’t spend as long there as we could have.
A 3hr boat ride followed, along the Grand Canal to Suzhou. The Grand Canal of China is the world's oldest and longest canal, far surpassing the next two grand canals of the world: Suez and Panama Canal. The building of the canal began in 486 B.C. It was extended during six years of furious construction from 605-610 AD. It is as fully working canal and we passed many barges and saw the lives of the river people along our journey.
We were met in Suzhou by Sharon our Local Guide who escorted us to our Hotel, the Suzhou Hotel.
Sunday 9th March
Fortunately, the shine was shining on us….. and for us… as were taken to the first of three ornamental Chinese Gardens. Chinese Gardens are synonymous with what you imagine when you think of China and they certainly didn’t disappoint. This garden was called the Humble Administrator's Garden which was built in traditional Chinese style in 1509 and covers about 52,000 sq. meters. Blossoms were just starting to come out and the tress in bud, and you could imagine this to be a very tranquil place when not full of tourists. Water, rocks, buildings and plants are the four things that constitute the gardens and it was a pleasure to see it.
From there we were taken to a Silk Factory and given an explanation as to silk making process from the cocoons of the silk worm, and an opportunity to buy some genuine silk goods.
The second of our Chinese Gardens was the Lingering Garden. Originally a classical private garden, it is one of the four most famous gardens in China. Like other famous gardens in Suzhou, the Lingering Garden seeks to create stunning natural landscapes within limited space.
After dinner we were taken to a third garden, The Garden of the Master Nets where we were entertained by various musicians, singers and dancers wearing traditional costume set in a tranquil setting of the smallest of the Suzhou gardens, by night.
Monday 10th March
A rickshaw ride around the narrow back alleys of Suzhou was great fun for all. There were about 22 rickshaws in convoy for most of our group and you really became aware of how different the driving “skills” of the Chinese are. Amazingly we all got back in one piece. En route we stopped off at a local indoor produce market and also a museum to Chinese Theatre.
On our way to the airport for our flight to Shanghai we stopped at an Embroidery Factory. You had to admire the skill and workmanship needed to produce such fine work.
We were met by our new local guide, Sue, on arrival in Shanghai. She escorted us to our next hotel, The Golden Jade Hotel.
After dinner we had the choice of the optional excursion of seeing Shanghai by Night. We went, by lift, up to the top of the 4th tallest building in the world, the Jin Mao tower, with it’s 88 floors. The views from the top were breathtaking.
Originally a fishing village situated on Yangtze River Delta in East China, Shanghai is the largest city of the People's Republic of China and the eighth largest in the world. With a population estimated to be 18.5 million it is easy to appreciate why the Chinese have adopted a one child per couple policy. It is reckoned that the population will not start to diminish until 2016.
Tuesday 11th March
Our first visit of the day was to the Jade Buddha’s Temple.
In 1882, an old temple was built to keep two jade Buddha statues which had been brought from Burma by a monk .The temple was destroyed during the revolution that overthrew the Qing Dynasty. Fortunately the jade Buddha statues were saved and a new temple was built on the present site in 1928.
Buddhism is the most widespread religion in China although a lot of other religions are practiced as well.
This was followed by a visit to a Chinese Silk carpet factory and from the workmanship involved, you could appreciate why the cost of them was so high.
After lunch, a walk through a covered walkway flanked by interesting shops bought us to the Yu Yuen Gardens. These were particularly beautiful, and surprising to find in such a busy part of the old town of Shanghai. Also there were less people in there to spoil the tranquillity. It would have been good to spend more time in this amazing area of Shanghai as apart from the garden there were interesting streets to visit.
The famous riverside area of “The Bund” was the next stop with views across the river at the high rise building, and the riverside promenade. We also had a brief opportunity to visit the Nanjing Road which is a pedestrianised area of large shops.
Included in the tour was a visit to an acrobatic show. The performers were absolutely amazing in the things that they were able to do and one of the most thrilling stunts was their death defying ride on motorbikes inside a large sphere.
Wednesday 12th March
Another day of travelling to our new destination, Xi’an. We were given the option to travel to the airport on the MagLev Train which reaches a top speed of 431kms per hour. The 30km journey took just 7 mins and was pretty exhilarating to say the least.
All transfers with the internal flights were made very straightforward by Travelsphere. You left your luggage outside the door at the hotel and you next saw it at the destination airport. Mr Chow, our new local guide met us at the airport and en route to our new Hotel,
The Xi’an Garden Hotel., we stopped at the Han Jing Emperor Museum of the first Han Emperor. 40,000 funeral objects and statues have been unearthed around the tomb. These were buried to protect the Emperor in his afterlife and it is estimated that only a quarter of the artifacts have so far been excavated.
Xi’an, in ancient times was the destination of thousands of foreign Silk traders. It is a beautiful city with a mixture of ancient and modern. Our hotel, The Xi’an Garden Hotel, although not the most luxurious of the ones we stayed in, was probably the nicest overall. Designed in traditional Chinese style, its central water garden made it a very pleasant place to stay. It was also adjacent to the Large Wild Goose Pagoda and an evening stroll amongst the small stalls in its grounds was worth the time.
Thursday 13th March
Our first stop was to the ancient city wall of Xi’an. Built in the Ming Dynasty, the walls are 60ft thick and 40ft high and stretch for 9 miles. We were very fortunate in that as this year China hosts the Olympic Games, there were many silk covered statues on display along the wall based on the coming games.
A visit to a factory that produce copies of the Terracotta Soldiers was our next stop. We were given a demonstration on how they produce the thousands of souvenirs for one of China’s main tourist attractions.
After lunch we finally arrived at one of the major attractions of the entire tour, the museum of the Qin Dynasty Terracotta Army. In 1974 local farmers were drilling a well when they discovered some pottery fragments. The head of the village reported this to the government and a team of archaeologists arrived to investigate the area. In 1979 after much excavation work, the museum of Emperor QinShihuang’s Terracotta army was opened to the public.
In the last 20 years this has become the largest on-site museum in China, and has received 50 million visitors worldwide. The actual tomb of the Emperor has still to be opened, but the technology is not in place yet to protect the artefacts from degradation from exposure to oxygen. Thousands of officials were killed and thousands of craftsmen buried alive in order to protect to tomb’s secrets. A peasant uprising, 15 years after the Emperor’s death destroyed the warriors and when they were discovered in 1974, not one warrior was found intact. It has been an immense undertaking to do the restoration work. So far, many thousands of warriors and other artifacts have been discovered. Amazingly, no two warriors are the same.
Dinner that evening was at the Tang Dynasty Theatre with the option to stay on for the colourful folklore show. All the beautiful costumes made this a very entertaining show.
Friday 14th March
Our last day in Xi’an, and a visit to the wonderfully peaceful gardens which surrounded the Small Wild Goose Pagoda. The pagoda is uniquely and delicately shaped with a hollow inside and was originally built to house Buddhist scriptures and relics. The temple also houses "Yanta Tower Morning Bell ". The big 8000 kilogram iron bell was built 1192 and 3.55 metres high and 2.5 metres in diameter. The tranquillity within these gardens encouraged several people to practice Tai Chi and our Tour Guide Kimberley managed to get a “class” going within our u3a group!
On the way to the airport for our final transfer to Beijing we stopped at a Jade Factory and were given some interesting information regarding jade work and a demonstration.
The flight to Beijing took 1 ½ hrs and it was great to be met by Robbie who was our original guide in Beijing.
Saturday 15th March
The final day of our tour and action packed as usual. The Summer Palace was our first stop. The Summer Palace is the largest imperial garden in China. Bordering a beautiful lake on which you could hire a boat or enjoy the covered walkway with its 8,000 unique paintings to the huge boat made out of marble boat at the end, the whole place was spectactular. The infamous Marble Boat was completed in 1893 using money that had been earmarked for the creation of a modern Chinese Navy in 1886. The order to divert funds was quietly issued by the notorious Empress Dowager Cixi in collusion with corrupt court eunuchs. By the time of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), it had become a luxurious royal garden providing royal families with rest and entertainment. The Summer Palace consists of over 3,000 structures including pavilions, towers, bridges, and corridors. It was a pity that our busy schedule did not allow for more time to explore this magnificent place. So many beautiful things!
After lunch, we visited Tiananmen Square which is the heart of Beijing and is noted as being the largest square in the world which can hold 1 million people. It is also famous for a horrific event in recent years. The sheer size of the place cannot be conveyed by impressions seen on the television. The square is surrounded by a cluster of massive buildings including Tiananmen Gate, The Forbidden City, the Great Hall of the People, The Monument of the People's Heroes and the Mao Zedong Mausoleum.
The rest of the afternoon was given over to some serious bartering at the Silk Road Shop. This huge shop contained hundreds of small stalls all vying for your attention and Yuens. It gave you an opportunity to test your negotiating skills as you were only expected to pay just a fraction of the price that they were asking for their goods. It was fun to compare prices with each other on our return to the coach to see who had got the greatest bargain, although we had probably all paid more than necessary.
So that was our last full day in China!
Sunday 16th March
On Sunday, we were taken to Beijing airport, glancing the “Bird’s Nest” Olympic Stadium on the way. We said our goodbyes to Robbie, our excellent guide in Beijing, boarded the plane and after an 11 hr flight landed in Heathrow.
If you have got to the end of this report, then you are doing well. However, it was difficult to condense any more, such an amazing, full-on sightseeing tour of China. I am sure that everyone on the trip will have their own special memories of places that we visited. For me, the special places were the covered walkway leading to the Temple of Heaven, The Great Wall of China, the beautiful gardens……..and so many other things. My impression of China was that the standard of living was better than expected – but that may have been just the places that we visited, and also how friendly the Chinese people are if sometimes curious at seeing Western faces. We saw from amazing temples to the homes of everyday people – from big cities with their high rise blocks to little back streets with their slums – but still this was just a small snapshot of this vast country which is the size of North America.
Of the tour…. the organisation was incredible, the hotels excellent, the schedule, although sometimes tiring, enabled us to see as much as possible in the time. Some places warranted more time for a closer look, some visits could have been shorter. But overall, I personally, had a brilliant time and have been left with loads of wonderful memories of a place that I had never dreamt I would ever see.
My thanks, and I am sure of everyone else on the trip, goes to Janet Mitchell and Shirley Cuesta for the work involved in organising the trip. To all the local guides for their knowledge and help at each place that we went to. A special big thanks to Kimberley Griffiths, our Tour Manager from Travelsphere whose professionalism meant that the whole tour went like clockwork and we managed to see as much as it was humanly possible on a 2 week tour of China!
Hundreds of photos were taken between us all – the accompanying ones are just some of my own personal ones. So many photo opportunities - so little time!! If anyone has any that they would like me to include, or if anyone has anything that they would like to add, please get in touch.
