The Renée Review

April 28 – May 4, 2006

Greetings from the Yangtze River, China, aboard Victoria Cruises – Victoria Prince.  When booking this cruise, we were told that we’d better hurry, space was tight and that this was a brand new ship!  We actually were interested in the April 14th departure but were told to wait for the later departure or we’d be on an old ship.  Moving into the April 28th departure would put us into high season and therefore it would be necessary to pay a higher price.  Waiting for the “new” ship would be worth the extra money. The “new” about this ship, vintage 1994, was actually a reference to this being the first time THIS PARTICULAR SHIP would cruise THIS PARTICULAR ITINERARY, Chongqing to Shanghai.  The Victoria Prince was “supposedly” refurbished in 2004, however we found the entire ship to be poorly furnished and in need of renovation; carpets are filthy, the floors are warped throughout and walking can go from clumsy to hazardous. Some of the passengers have dubbed the hallways “scotch alley” because it looks like you’ve consumed a fifth of scotch when you walk down them.

The reality is, the Victoria Prince is not new, the Victoria Prince is less than half full, 88 passengers & holds over 200 and guests boarding were being offered upgrades to suites for a modest price.  Naturally, after paying top dollar for one of their Shangri-la Suites, we were disappointed that the accommodations are composed of old and worn case good furnishings, a 10-year-old box television set and soft goods that were never replaced; old ones were merely slip covered with unattractive, ill-fitting fabrics that have seen better days. Our bathroom has a wonderful tub with slab marble top, but our shower is comparatively small and finally, the bathroom walls are made of ugly plastic laminate, as are the sink counters.  

Marlo is sleeping in some crazy version of a roll away that is shorter than normal and has a 3-inch thick mattress.  The Victoria Prince bed linen consists of an itchy polyester blend with lumpy fill pillows, absolutely no down.  The room occasionally smells of diesel fumes or the sour smell of a port a john.  This isn’t as bad as the regular smell of smoke from crew taking cigarette breaks on the bridge patio while dropping ash onto our poorly furnished verandah; plastic loungers, metal chairs and not a single table??? The lounge chair cushions (stained, old and in shabby condition) arrived on our third day, only because I finally asked why we had none. The only thing I can applaud, besides the housekeeping staff who dutifully cleaned our room twice daily with integrity and efficiency, is the condition of our window treatments, which appear new; in fact one of the tassels has the plastic price attachment still intact!?!

The spa, needs a big re-vamp.  Its carpeting has buckled, their upholstered massage tables and chairs feel less than hygienic and the use of clean white towels only helps cover the body oils and lotions that have seeped through from previous clientele.  Serena, Carol and Eva the spa therapists are lovely and work cheerfully with the tools they have been given.  If you’d like nice oil for your massage, better bring it from home, all they’ve got is Vaseline Intensive Care lotion.  

The lobby has a beautiful reception desk with large slab granite top and wood paneled dragon motif backdrop.  The lobby carpeting is soiled and spotted, though the floral pattern helps hide the fatigue.  The dining room is nothing special, but did not feel ungracious, especially with the gentile nature and helpful, friendly attitude of the staff.  Cindy and Nancy our servers were exceptional!  I wish I could take them home to Colorado!  

The gym needs air conditioning and desperately requires new equipment.  The card/game room is dismal, small dark and tattered.  The bar, lounge and stage area is furnished with uncomfortable bamboo and upholstered chairs, fabrics are tired and the space feels old and outdated.  On the brighter side, Tony and his bar team are shining beacons, joyfully welcoming everyone.

Other issues with money paid for value received are reflected in some logistical problems our cruise experienced.  The ship was denied passage directly to Shanghai with announcements made to guests during the introduction and information meeting on our first day.  We would arrive short of Shanghai, docking in Yang Zhou, thus adding a four-hour bus transfer to Shanghai.  Hey, we didn’t sign up for this!  In addition to the new and unwelcome change to our itinerary, the excursions schedule was also off.  

Our first excursion was to the ghost city of Feng Du, population 800,000.  Feng Du’s ghost city, built on Mt. Minshan, is fascinating, quite beautiful and offers a lot of interesting things to see.  We arrived 2 hours late, 7:00pm instead of 5:00pm!  Our 3-hour excursion had an hour and twenty minutes of daylight followed by total darkness and a multitude of stairs.  The artifacts were certainly eerie in the darkness, giving credence to this city of ghosts.  Unfortunately, nothing is really lit for night viewing.  One of the passengers, not our guide, had thought to bring a flashlight, without it some of the guests would not have made it down the mountain on the uneven cut stone stairs.  I think the ghosts had the upper hand on this one.

The next glitch was experienced at the locks of the Three Gorges Dam.  Construction for the dam began in 1994 and is due for completion in 2009 when the generators are officially turned on.  The Dam has many purposes; power, navigation, irrigation & flood control – not necessarily in that order.  The Three Gorges Dam project has forced the relocation of 1.5 million people in 19 counties due to flooding caused as it raises the water level to 175 meters above sea level.  Throughout the journey, we’ve seen markings up the sides of the gorges indicating where the 175 mark will hit.  By October of 2006, some of the bridges we traveled under will themselves be under water.  There are mixed feelings about the “relocates,” a term the locals call themselves.  For the young, many see this as an opportunity for better living conditions, a larger apartment, and a little money.  For the older generation, it means leaving their ancestors who for generations have lived, died and are buried here for higher ground.  A difficult situation at best….

The Three Gorges Dam is the largest of its kind, 2,335 meters long, 18 meters wide at the top, 130 meters wide at the bottom and 185 meters high.  Going through the locks was a highlight experience all the passengers were really looking forward to, us included.  The Victoria Prince parked outside the lock area around 4:00pm and was due into the locks no later than 8:00pm.  We were told the locks take 6 ships in for each go.  The locks are traversed first come, first served and we should have enough ships by or before our scheduled time being one of the first ships parked outside the locks.  At 7:00pm 6 other passenger ships were loaded into the locks, this happened again at 9:00pm. What happened to first come, first served???  Our ship did not enter until 1:00am!  As this was an experience none of us wanted to miss, so we wrapped ourselves in blankets and bathrobes, went out onto our deck and looked up to see the faces of our fellow passengers, watching as we were, while fretting about the very early Three Gorges Dam excursion scheduled for the following morning – breakfast at 6:30am, departure at 7:00am.  There were spotlights reflecting everywhere, loud radio calls and speaker announcements all between the graveyard hours of 1:00am – 4:00am. The next morning was very quiet among those who made it to the excursion.  I’ve never seen a more tired looking bunch of passengers.

The following day, another glitch occurred on our 3-hour excursion to the Hubai Provincial Museum in Wu Han, the capital of the Hubai Province.  This visit was to view 15,000 artifacts discovered in a tomb dating back 2,400 years.  This discovery is monumental, it’s their King Tut!  The tomb artifacts have changed historian’s views about the ability to create sophisticated bronze work, metal work and smelting processes. The most impressive discovery is a set of beautifully cast enormous metal bells that have forever changed history regarding the number of musical notes and range thought to have existed during this time.  We were supposed to hear the 11:00am bell performance followed by a full museum visit. We missed the 11am performance by a full hour.  In fact, traffic over the bridge overwhelmed our excursion schedule affording us a total sum of 30 minutes to explore the museum and use the facilities; tour busses mean long lines at the toilets.  Bus transfer time 2 ½ hours / museum time 30 minutes, what’s wrong with this picture!  Had we docked on the other side of the river, we could have reached the museum in 10 minutes, enjoyed the magnificence of the tomb artifacts and been spared this round trip transfer nightmare in an uncomfortable bus that was never intended for long transfers.

Huangshan or “Yellow Mountain” was the excursion planned for the following day.  This is a UNESCO World Heritage Sight and is considered one of China’s treasures located 3 ½ hours away by bus, one way.  Due to the Hubai Provincial Museum fiasco the day before, we opted not to go, along with 20 other passengers. The crew was genuinely shocked that so many of us chose to stay behind?  The reports from the other 65 passengers who chose to go, were not glowing.  The crowds were intense, the words “hoards of people,” were frequently used, the bus mirrored the one used for Wu Han’s Hubai Provincial Museum and the line for the cable car up the mountain to the luncheon restaurant was almost 2 hours long.  Once again our shipmates spent more time waiting and in transit than they actually spent seeing the UNESCO World Heritage Views of Yellow Mountain, essentially spending 7 hours in a bus to have lunch at the top of the mountain only to return after 30 minutes of viewing.  Sometimes, our instincts are good and listening to them pays off!  We had hoped our fellow passengers adventure would be great.  We were looking forward to their return hoping they would make us sorry for not having gone, after all – 7 hours on a bus is a very long time… We were so thankful we stayed on board.

The last glitch, the Yang Zhou transfers to Shanghai.  Fortunately, the two busses Victoria Cruise Lines ordered were good quality long haul transfer busses, though they had no bathroom.   Unfortunately, Victoria Cruise Lines should have ordered an additional transport option for luggage.  While the busses had no problem accommodating all of the passengers, the luggage cargo space could not accommodate all of the bags.  Passenger safety was jeopardized as luggage was placed in any available seat on board the bus.  Additionally, the luggage difficulty caused departure delays of an hour, meaning we departed at 8:30am – so glad we all got up early for that 7:30am departure we were advised not to miss.

While traffic and logistical glitches are a part of life, the cruise line should have accounted for these in advance, especially with China’s Labor Day Holiday simultaneously occurring during this sailing.  The ship condition was inexcusable and the old adage, “well this is China,” just doesn’t fly.  We’ve booked into nothing but luxury 5 star Hotels for China, already having stayed at the Peninsula Palace, Beijing, The Sheraton Xi’an, The Sheraton Lido, Chengdu and the JW Marriott, Chongqing plus we’re due in at the Four Seasons Shanghai and Hong Kong.  We know luxury in China is not only possible, but that it truly does exist.  We’d be much happier if we’d paid 35 – 40% less money for this voyage, which would be commensurate with value received.  It’s also about the price point others upgrading to suites were at.

Although the logistics were off, the physical conditions and aesthetics of the ship left me wanting more, much more, things weren’t all bad.  The excursion through the lesser gorges was spectacular with truly magical scenery!  Marion our cruise director was fantastic and Jeff our port lecturer was excellent.  The excursions in Nanjing, population 9 million, to the Sun Yat-Sen Memorial and to the bazaar near the Confucian temple went off without a hitch providing for an interesting, colorful and exotic day.  The crew on board is friendly, imaginative, energetic, helpful, kind, gracious and professional.  They certainly outshine the drudgery of their surroundings and have made this journey fun. We’ve appreciated their insight, enthusiasm and expertise.  The river, the sights, the cities and scenery have been our highlight in China.  Sadly, we cannot say the same of our vessel.  This riverboat is no prince.

April 25 – 28, 2006

Greetings from Chongqing, China, population…well it’s 6.6 million in their immediate urban area, with a municipality consisting of 27 counties and cities, 16 districts and a total population of over 33 million.  Chongqing is one of China’s four central governing municipalities that directly administers to its cities and districts.

Chongqing is home to the Jialing and Yangtze Rivers, a hub for all those beginning or ending a Yangtze River cruise.  Several companies operate vessels on the Yangtze, Victoria Cruises & Viking River Cruises are the most popular western brands.    

Our hotel selection was the JW Marriott, a wonderful choice for luxury, value received, location and view.  This hotel has fantastic guest rooms and suites that are comfortable in every way.  The city center location allowed us to walk around freely to explore the local food market & snake skinners (really gross), live animal stocks, flower market, pedestrian walk mall, department stores, etc.  

The people of Chongqing are very nice and looked at our family with great curiosity.  I got the feeling that though most westerners begin or end their Yangtze voyage here, not many actually stay here wandering the city.  We had three nights in Chongqing and know we should have been better tourists, but were really just more inclined to wander around, shop and take in the local flavor, sights and sounds of every day life.  It was nice to take a break from being a super tourist and the things we saw were just as fun!  

One dining experience worth mentioning was a visit to a delicious Thai restaurant on the sixth floor of the up-market Maison Mode Times Department Store located on the pedestrian mall near the monument.  The restaurant is called Parkway Thai Sharkfins Fine Cuisine, located at number 100 Zourong Rd., Yuzhong District, Telephone (023) 63831119.

April 22 – 25, 2006

Greetings from Chengdu, China, population 10 million.  Chengdu is home to numerous panda conservation and research operations, afternoons enjoying teahouses, The Sichuan Opera, spicy Sichuan food and the hot pot (more spicy food, served in a pot, fondue style).  ISS – invisible sky syndrome, exists here also (see previous China blogs,) though we did see the sky peek out for about an hour on our second day and then again while driving the five hours from Chengdu to Chongqing, more on that later.

Our hotel choice was the Sheraton Lido; it offers a good city center location, boasts a modern elegant lobby with spacious guest rooms, though their suites were nothing special.  Service was not great and Sheraton's prices were higher than Beijing, Xi’an & Chongqing for everything; accommodations, car, and guide services.  Additionally, I think the combination bell desk / concierge has a postage scam running.  When I asked to have 2 letters and 10 postcards sent to the states, the total was about 90 RMB – it’s 8 RMB to the dollar.  I asked them to return one of the postcards I was sending as it did not yet have an address and that I only wanted to purchase the stamps, but learned that purchasing stamps was not possible? Funny thing, when the bellman / concierge returned my postcard, he also began giving me coins, until another colleague yelled at him.  Then, he handed me back the postcard and a 5.00 RMB bill???  Ultimately, I hope the items given them actually make it to the states.  We’ll see…
 
Our first excursion was to the giant panda breeding research base.  We went early to watch them feed.  If you go later, the pandas are inactive as they eat in the morning and sleep for the rest of the day.  Apparently, the panda is a carnivore.  If you were to feed them meat, they enjoy eating it, but are too clumsy to catch prey and therefore feed on bamboo.  Their favorite variety is arrow bamboo, which they happily crunched on while we watched.   We also saw several red panda, one of which Marlo and I both got to hold.  The animal was about the size of an extra large house cat and very happily relaxed in our laps as it fed on apple. Both species are endangered.

After delighting in the pandas, we left to visit the Wenshu Monastery and park.  This monastery is beautiful, full of activity and very well preserved.  Incense burners were active all around and as we arrived around noontime, one of the treats here was the opportunity to watch the monks go in for lunch.  They all filed into the dining hall and were served a choice of vegetarian options.  Outside, the head monk struck the prayer gong and went inside.  Next, the monks began a beautiful chant followed by prayer.  When they finished, they began eating – in silence; they are not permitted to speak during meals.   We later enjoyed tea at the teahouse in the park adjacent to the monastery, where we exchanged cultural insights with our guide – he was excellent and really spoke English well!  Anyone coming to Chengdu would do well to contact him for guide services.  His western name is Forest because he loves the actor Tom Hanks & really enjoyed the movie Forest Gump.  Forest is a freelance interpreter and can be reached at foresttrans@yahoo.com.cn and his cell number is 13880743782.

Lunch was at a Sichuan restaurant.  We were seated upstairs and on the main floor was a Chinese wedding party.  We’d noticed several wedding processions on the street today and Forest explained that this day on the Chinese calendar, April 23,2006, was considered auspicious, therefore a very lucky day for a wedding.  He also said the Chinese are extremely superstitious and on calendar days that are considered unlucky, some people will not leave their homes.

After lunch, we finished the day at the 8th century poet “Du Fu’s Cottage.”  We had never heard of Du Fu, however he is to the Chinese what Shakespeare is to the world.  The attraction is hardly just a cottage and one could spend several hours walking the gardens, enjoying the teahouse and seeing the library, waterways, pagodas, etc.  Unfortunately, we still have no clue about Du Fu’s poems, as they do not translate well into English.

Our next day was spent driving to the town of Le Shan, two hours outside of Chengdu to see the worlds largest Buddha, cleverly dubbed “The Giant Buddha.”  This marvel took 90 years to build and sits at the confluence of three rivers.  The Buddha was erected to protect boaters from capsizing and being drowned by the power of this convergence.  Foiled by ISS the picturesque sight, at least picturesque in my guidebook was interesting, but lacked the beauty I had hoped to see.  We chose to view the Buddha from the water in order to appreciate the scale of this monument.  We boarded our vessel and sat with the other passengers for a full 45 minutes before it departed.  The total journey to the attraction took less than 5 minutes and the entire journey took 20 minutes!?!  I think our guide (Ku Yen) should have opted for one of the smaller water taxi boats and had we known how close we actually were, we would have made the suggestion ourselves.  The other option is climbing, however the crowds were already there en mass.  With only one narrow winding stairway down and one narrow stairway winding up, it would have been a struggle with so many people.  Ku Yen brought us to the river for another Sichuan lunch followed by the two-hour drive back to Chengdu.  Not worth the fuss…I found myself more annoyed than in awe.  Unless you could be assured of smaller numbers and blue skies, it’s a tough trip to make – the Buddha is however, spectacular.

Diner tonight?  Well, Ku Yen wanted hot pot, we wanted Mexican, and all settled for Tex-Mex.  THANK YOU GOD!  Variety in China seems to mean what kind of Chinese food would you like to try?    The restaurant was great!  Peters Tex-Mex Grill, 117 Ke Hua Bei Lu, Chengdu (near Sichuan University west gate), telephone 028-85180903.  They also have a second location located at 12 Tong Zi Lin Dong Lu, Chengdu.  Tex-Mex was completely foreign to Ku Yen who decided to order ice cream cake as her starter, very cute.  

Following dinner we went to the Sichuan Opera at Shufeng Yayun.  I had been desperately trying to avoid doing the Opera thing as every driver, bell boy, concierge, guide etc. in each city we’ve traveled, has hit us up to attend.  The opera obviously pays serious commission!  Much as I believed I would dislike the experience, I actually had a great time.  The opera was a series of variety acts showcasing brilliant costumes, song, instruments, comedy, acrobatics, hand shadowing, puppetry, and the finale – a brilliant ever changing rapid mask “face changing” dance with fire spitting thrown in.   While the actors were busy on stage, another show occurred in the aisles as servers with teakettles continuously refreshed our jasmine tea with hot water poured from 3-foot long spouts.  All in all, very entertaining and the heck with the big commissions Ku Yen received for bringing us here, we loved it.

Finally the five-hour drive to Chongqing, “the mountain city” – we should have been in an airplane, a mere 45-minute flight, but Air China cancelled. Fortunately, we learned of the cancellation 30 minutes prior to our departing for the airport.  A wonderful Dutch intern named Thomas Wesselink at the Sheraton helped us by going to the hotels ticketing center and was told that Air China needed to physically see our tickets in order to book us onto another flight.  He advised us not to go to the airport, but to head directly to the Air China ticketing office in the city.  During this time, our Chinese driver who spoke no English, Mr. Peng, showed up to transport us to the airport.  New arrangements were made and we left for Air China with the Sheraton Hotel concierge cell number and Mr. Peng’s cell phone for translation.  Air China proposed a departure date to Chongqing on their airline for Thursday.  Today is Tuesday, so can you guess what we thought about that idea?  

Sheraton finally shined as an agreement was made with Mr. Peng through the hotel concierge via mobile phone for our transport to Congqing.  We obtained a refund from Air China (small miracle), purchased goodies from a bakery and set off at frightening speeds from Chengdu to Chongqing. The winding freeway, roads and hillsides were planted with tea, beautiful rice paddies, goose farms and villages.  We passed this green countryside at a terrifying speed of roughly 140 Kilometers per hour.  Obviously we survived.

April 19 -22, 2006

Greetings from Xi’an, China, population 5.4 million. We’ve still yet to find the sky which I’m dubbing the ISS or Invisible Sky Syndrome.  Regardless of the hour, 8:00am, 10:00am, 2:00pm, 5:00pm, the sky looks eerily the same.  There is no prospective, no view, no sun, no clouds, no birds, nothing but the invisible sky, like we’re on another planet.  Imagine being at the base of a mountain and not being able to see that mountain…yet, despite the ISS, this city feels brighter as the spirit of the people is decidedly more cheerful.  

Xi’an is an ancient city fortified with an incredible wall of stone that is both wide and tall.  This wall delineates the old city from the new.   The wall has four gates at each compass point.  The old city is fascinating while outside the historic walls lay drab, grey buildings and sprawl…unfortunately, right where our hotel, The Sheraton, was located.  Anyone going to Xi’an should find accommodations inside the old city.  The best location would be anything near the bell and drum tower.  I noticed one hotel with a somewhat butchered western name near these landmarks called West Capital International Hotel, and another called the Bell Tower Hotel.  We did not go into either. Hyatt has a hotel within the city walls, but it is not located near the strategic landmarks mentioned earlier.  We did go inside the Hyatt, and were not impressed.  Another option would be to stay just outside the south gate.  Here you’ll find an ANA Hotel and a giant modern Howard Johnson’s.  Sorry, I can’t report on those either, we really had no time for hotel inspections.

Our first venture took us into the old city for a sumptuous dumpling dinner at the city center; something the city is famous for.  We were treated to dumplings shaped in a variety of images of baskets, frogs, leaves, goldfish, etc.  Later we strolled the night market located beside the Muslim quarter.  This was a lively, colorful area filled with visual interest, charged activity and noise – really interesting!

Our next day was filled with an excursion to the world famous Terracotta Warriors located about an hours drive from the city. The Terracotta Warriors date to 221 BC and are the emperor Qin Shihuang’s after life army located in the citadel encompassing his tomb, believed to be the largest found anywhere in the world.  Qin Shihuang commissioned the building of this tomb and underground palace at 13 years of age.  The tomb took 36 years to build utilizing 700,000 laborers.  Qin Shihuang is famous for unifying four warring kingdoms into one China integrating one monetary system and writing style.  

The Terracotta Warrior bodies were all mass-produced, but the heads, hands legs and feet were individually crafted.  The artists gave each warrior a unique face, expression, hairstyle, position, etc.  It is believed that in order to create these differences, the artisans used real soldiers and their own likenesses for the models.  All were then assembled below ground inside the massive tomb and piled with earth.  The artists too were buried, lest the secret of the graves location be disclosed. What a tremendous discovery this marvel is! The find is enormous and much of the tomb has yet to be unearthed.  The Chinese understand the value of this cache and are waiting for money to finish uncovering their treasure safely.

Following our return to the city, we visited the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, which the guidebooks proclaim the symbol of the city.  I have to disagree; the symbol seems to be the fortified walls and old Bell Tower.  Anyway, outside of the Pagoda, we purchased a small kite from a vendor for about .70 cents US.  She was then harassed by an officer and had her stash of four additional kites taken from her?  Marlo was very upset, feeling responsible for what had happened as she actually made the transaction.  Apparently, the vendor was only allowed to sell postcards. After witnessing this we wanted to give her money for the loss, but realized this would only give her more trouble from the guards.  We felt so awful for her and were very afraid she would be taken away.  I think she was too, but smiled all the while, as she seemed to talk him out of whatever he was going to do.  The explanations to Marlo were very difficult, and she could not understand what bad thing had happened to warrant such repercussions.  Frankly, we too were at a loss for words….

The last day’s excursion returned us into the historic old city.  At the east gate, we paid our entrance fee, climbed to the top and rented bicycles circumnavigating the top of the historic wall.  It’s relatively quiet up there as the price to climb up is very spendy by local standards, about $14.00USD per person.  We took our time and enjoyed this experience very much.  Three hours later, we returned the bikes and then visited the city center.  Roaming around the Bell and Drum Tower area was fascinating!  The lively Muslim quarter and market are a treat for the senses.  Some of our fun purchases were candied and dried fruits in addition to shopping the numerous teashops and deciding on some beautiful hand rolled jasmine tea.  Naturally, the area is abounding with souvenirs, the most common are replicas of the warriors we came to this city to visit.

April 15 – 19, 2006

Greetings from Beijing, China - home of the summer 2008 Olympic games...though, I am not sure how well our Olympians, or any others, will be able to breathe.  The air is as thick as pea soup and we literally have swallowed the air we’ve been breathing. People commonly wear surgical masks to go outside in this dust-covered city.  Beijing has no blue sky; one can not see the sun, moon, stars, clouds or anything, it’s just a grey film that doesn't bear any resemblance to what I know a sky can look like.   A sky with no life, sad really...the Gobi Desert is truly a threat to this city and the dust storms they suffer annually have hit much harder this year.

With a population somewhere between 17 and 18 million, the streets are surprisingly clean, there is a massive tree planting campaign and cranes litter Beijing’s skyline as it rapidly builds in preparation for the Olympic games.

On Easter Sunday, we attended an English and French mass at St. Mary’s, South Cathedral where tour busses of Chinese nationals were offloading to take photos of this “attraction.”  It was a mayhem of people trying to worship mixed with others coming to sight see - how funny it felt to be the objects of interest for tourists when we ourselves are tourists here.  During mass, the priest actually said, “The west enjoys to much freedom and that the limited freedom enjoyed in China, was a gift from God.”  The other surprising thing was that the church was packed.  Standing room only and that there were a multitude of nationalities celebrating there.  Amazing that the limited freedom of religion has grasped hold so strongly. 

We saw the Great Wall at the Badaling section, along with about 3 million other people!  Ironically, this is low season; high season begins May 1 and goes through the end of October.  I’m sure there must be sections of the Great Wall that are not so densely populated, but our lack of Chinese language skills were a deterrent in finding that secluded spot of wall.  Unbelievably, the Great Wall offers transport in a gondola, cable car or a mini roller coaster they call the sliding car!  You can be photographed sitting atop a two hump camel or small white horse and let’s not forget the circle vision theatre, museum and Starbucks at the bottom.  Hello Great Wall Disney! 

The most funny / strange thing at the Great Wall was an Asian family who kept trying to pull Marlo away from us…. A bit frightening until we figured out what it was they were after.  They had only wanted a photograph of Marlo posing with their children.  Weird, but cute!

The following day, we walked from our very well situated hotel, The Peninsula Palace, to the famed Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square, also equipped with Starbucks.  I'm glad we've see these things, but.... way to much traffic and certainly to many people.  Once again, Marlo was asked to pose for a photo, this time with an Asian woman who smiled brightly at Marlo by her side!?!.... Marlo is feeling like Homer as “Mr. Sparkle” from the Simpson’s – It’s a very funny episode.  Walking back to the Peninsula, we passed the food market and items found in these food stalls were very different.  Our family dubbed this the food on a stick market, as everything was skewered and ready for roasting.  So, your order please…silk worm on a stick, black scorpion on a stick, grasshoppers on a stick, seahorses on a stick, snake on a stick, large bugs that looked like cockroaches on a stick, worms on a stick, come on, surely I’ve mentioned something tempting and tasty for you…

Another bizarre eye opener was that nothing recognizable is a bargain.  In fact, all those items made in China that we purchase back home with those lovely Nike, Coach, Prada, Dior, Gucci, Channel, Addidas, etc. labels on them, cost 40% more money here!  I'm sure there is a knock off market, but with traffic and air pollution as it is; I have no desire to go out hunting these things down.  However, if you are willing to shop for fashion sake and purchase nice quality items with brands you have never heard of, there are quality items at reasonable prices.  In the end, you probably are not here to fill your suitcase with new clothing anyway.