My Life's Most Embarrassing Moment....

October 31

This Halloween (not celebrated in China ) morning dawned the clearest day so far.  Sid, Jyl and I have declared today to be a day of rest, from the rigors of eating and site seeing.  Gerald is working today (poor guy).

The Frazer Suites (where we are staying) offers a beautiful breakfast.  We chose the custom prepared omelet, fruit,  toast and coffee.  There is much to choose from including noodles, rice, soup, salad, yogurt and a few surprise dishes.  The fellow seated next to us makes alot of slurping noises while enjoying his breakfast.

Sid and I go for an hour long walk in the neighborhood, taking in the sights and sounds of Nanjing.

Jyl calls and tells me that she has found a place to have a massage, she got the directions from Rachel at the front desk.  I think Jyl is very brave - I am waaay too much of a chicken to venture out by myself ....prolly because I am always lost.  Jyl said one hour massage costs 15 CAD, and was very good.  My sweet husband agrees to walk with me to the massage spa.

We find Rachel and she gives us the required directions along with a slip of paper that has the address on it.  The address is 3 symbols.  The directions she gives us are quite poor but we show the slip of paper to a few folk along the way and they guide us, eventually, in the right direction.  Rachel, from the hotel, has called ahead so the massage people are waiting for us.  No English spoken here, none.

I am led into an austere room that has 3 massage beds in it.  The fellow leaves the room and leaves the door open.  I think that this is a bit odd, but maybe the Chinese people are not so private with their bodies?  I close the door, quickly undress and cover myself up with a very small and flimsy piece of a sheet, lying face down.  Massage buddy comes back and finds a larger blanket to cover parts of me.  I am very glad Sid is waiting for me.

The massage is very good.  I can hear that someone else has come in to get a massage in the same room and I hear some chatter.  I think I need to get over being such a prude. I think this may be the best massage I've ever had!  By some small miracle, massage buddy that speaks no English gets me to roll over onto my back.  It is at that exact moment I realize that in China you get a massage with your clothes on!  Nice.

My anxiety level elevates drastically and I cannot wait to be done.  My massage lasts 1 hour and 10 minutes - I think the extra 10 minutes were a bonus for being an idiot.

When we get back to the hotel I ask Jyl why in the world she did not mention that little tidbit to me. (Don't take your clothes off!) There were massages in progress when she entered the room, so she never gave it a second thought.  So embarrassing.

We go out for another Chinese dinner.  The Chinese use a clear distilled (from rice) alcoholic beverage for toasting called Baijiu.  Gerald says it tastes like diesel fuel.  I agree that Gerald's description is accurate, even though I have never actually tasted diesel fuel - I imagine the taste to be similar!

A Day Full of Food

October 30

After a  western breakfast of an omelet and fresh fruit (there were several non western choices) our driver and tour guide were at the door ready to begin our day of sight seeing.

Our first stop was at the First Presidents House and gardens.  Our tour guide, Esther, is a history buff and gives us many details on some of the symbolism that abounds in China. The First Presidents House had been perviously occupied by the Qing Dynasty.

  In 1912 the First President of China used these buildings to run the affairs of the country.  

A room built over the water in the Gardens:

Our next stop was at the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge.  It is the worlds longest bridge with dual functions of highway and railway, also the first bridge designed and constructed by the Chinese, completed in 1960.

 The upper deck (highway) spans 4589 meters, the lower deck holds a twin track railway spanning 7406 meters. It was the first bridge in Nanjing built across the river (there are now 5) and reduced a 2 hour ferry crossing to minutes. 

The bridge was built during the Mao leadership and his larger than life statue stands in the tower area of the bridge.  

In the bridge tower  we visited an area where the ancient art of inside painting crystal balls is displayed. The Grand Master himself was hard at work.  The glass ball (very heavy) is hollow in the center and the painter manipulates the brush through a small hole at the base of the ball and paints the scene in reverse.

 There were also inside painted bottles - which were originally used as snuff bottles.

It was about 2:00 by the time we finished at the bridge and headed off to lunch. Our tour guide chose a restaurant that specializes in local Chinese food.

  The food is very good and we eat alot of it.  We try stuffed lotus root (good), salted duck (remember the photo from yesterday?) several bean dishes, dumpling soup and other surprise dishes.

After lunch our driver takes us to the Nanjing City Wall, a masterpiece of China's ancient architecture.

  

The original perimeter was 35 km and a width of 14 meters.  The building of the wall began in 1366 and was completed 21 years later!

When we return to the parking lot we see a fellow out walking his bird cages..with the birds in them of course!

We return to the hotel and Jyl and I agree that we are both so full we could not possibly entertain the thought of eating ever again.  BUT Gerald calls (he has been working) with an invite to dinner - so off we go!  Our driver takes us to the Century Hotel.  We are ushered into a room that has an even larger round table than yesterday with seating for 18.

  I am pretty sure this event is at the top of my lifetime dining experiences.  Everything is very beautiful. The food is placed on a (glass) lazy susan in the center of the table and slowly rotates the selections to all guests.

Some of the new things we try are deep fried pigs ear,  different kinds of mushrooms, fish, vegetables and again several surprise dishes.  Sunny is sitting next to Sid and she is able to tell us the contents of most dishes.

The presentation of the food was incredible.  Below is a picture of a chicken broth that was served in a teapot placed on a tray with dry ice, giving the effect of steam coming off the tray. 

  The broth is poured into tiny the cup.  It was very tasty.

At one point I selected what looked like quite an ordinary and harmless green bean, but it tasted EXACTLY like fire with tabasco sauce on it.  Holy cow.  I nearly spit it out (how rude) somehow managed to swallow it, and thought I would die. (I didn't)

Once again the people are so kind and want to be sure that we are enjoying their country.  We most certainly are.

On to Nanjing

Oct 29

This morning at 7:40 Bruce Lee drives us to the train station.  We will be traveling to Nanjing by high speed train traveling at 300 km/hr.  The trip take 70 minutes, we are offered a beverage and a snack.

  Nanjing is a much smaller city (compared to Shanghai) with a population of only 7 million.  It is situated on the south bank of the Yangtze River.

We go with Gerald to the Cargill plant and meet several of his work colleagues.  Everyone is so kind and welcoming. Jyl, Sid and I are provided with a driver that speaks no English and a tour guide, Gordon, that speaks a bit of English.

We head out to a 20 acre park where the Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Mausoleum is located. 

  Dr. Sun Yat-sen led the democratic revolution in 1911 that brought down the Qing Dynasty ending 2000 years of the Chinese feudal monarchy system.

We inspect some of the maintenance equipment! 

From there we head to the Confucius Temple.

  We spend some time walking the tourist shops and small markets in the area.  We notice the hanging 'salted ducks' in one of the shops!

  We had a very interesting insight into how the ancient Chinese governments choose officials when we visited the Jiangnan Gongyuan, the largest examination school in China.  The examination school housed a destiny decided event organized by the government.  It was a method for a nationwide examination for selecting  talents.  The Imperial Examination was regularly held in ancient China and was related to every family in China.  To 'win' or 'pass'  the nationwide event was a great honor.  The exam only took place in Nanjing.  The examinees entered the complex and could not come out until the end of the exam, which generally would last several days. Their eating, sleeping and preparation of the examinees amid the examination would be taken here. The individual exam area is nothing more that a hovel.  The Gongyuan became  sacred and mysterious.  The Imperial Examination became a life turning point, representing superiority and lifelong wealth.  Successful candidates from a regularly held examination numbered over 1,000,000.  One of the signs also mention that eventually the process became corrupt and 'idiots with money' were being selected!

In the evening we join Gerald's work group for a beautiful Chinese dinner. All 18 guests are seated at a round table in one room.  The table is massive (as is the table cloth!)  We are well fed with an unimaginable (and often unidentifiable) amount of courses and many toasts!

At this time I am overwhelmed by the generosity and kindness being shown to us.

The Day the Moustache Died

The weather continues to give us warmth, the sun is trying to shine but the haze/smog situation continues.  

Sid and I go for an hour long  walk around the neighborhood.  The flora is quite tropical.  The streets are clean and quite a bit of greenery.  Modes of transportation are certainly varied.  Signage (speed limits - one way - red light - green light) appears to be only a suggestion, and lane changing follows no order.  Drivers appear remarkably calm.  (Not so much the passengers - yikes)

Today we visited several markets of magnitudes one must see to appreciate.  We went to an eyeglass shop where our group placed orders for 5 pairs of glasses and a few pair of sunglasses, all well priced.  The fabric markets are unbelievable - whatever your desire - any style any fabric.  Amazing.  

Late in the afternoon we met the boys at a Mexican restaurant where we enjoyed very very good food.

 The local beer is Tiger and it also is very good.  Our hosts assure us we will have plenty of opportunity for authentic Chinese food in the up coming week.

After supper Peter takes us to a barber shop where he likes to get his hair cut.  Mr. Lee is still so very accommodating.  At the barber shop a beer is included with the haircut experience!

And of all things Sid agrees to have his mustache removed, while getting his hair cut!   We have been married 35 years and this is the first time I have seen him without his stache!  Lots of fun!

Saturday in Shanghai

October 27

Arrived in Shanghai safe and sound.  We intended to stay at the Swiss Hotel, plans changed, and we are staying with Gerald & Jyl's friends - Pete and Charlotte.  They live in a palatial apartment suite in the Shanghai Tower on the 23rd floor.  Their driver, Bruce Lee, met us at the airport and capably drove us to the home of our gracious hosts. The view of Shanghai from the 23rd floor

Shanghai is a city of 24 million people - I cannot begin to describe the labyrinth of the road infra structure!  Oh my.  One of the first things we noticed is that pedestrians NEVER have the right of way.  Ever.  Even if the crossing light is green and the vehicle beside you is making a right had turn - get out of the way.

Pete explains to us that the company he works for provides a driver for his family because of the  risk involved in driving in Shanghai.  Navigation would be monumental followed closely by the interpretation of the signage....

We spent the day at the BMW Shanghai Masters golf tourney

 and saw some of our  friends there. 

  At moment Peter  Hanson is leading the pack with Rory Mcilroy one stroke back.  Mcilory won the event last year in an extra hole play off and is definitely the crowd pleaser.

The weather is warm, 23 degrees, with a haze or smog or both.  Another interesting thing is that the whole country of China is on one time zone.  We are on the east coast and it is daylight around 6 am and dark at 5:30.  The country actually spans 4 time zones.

Thankfully Peter helped me with access to my blog site and facebook.  The Chinese powers that be have both sites blocked - but with the purchase of an application my harmlessness was restored!

Enroute October 25 - 2012

Enroute - October 25

 Our good bye tour was great, lots of visiting , several glasses of wine shared with family and friends.

This morning at 5 am Ian drove the four of us to YEG without incident.  Had an uneventful flight to Vancouver and spent a couple of hours enjoying breakfast in the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge (thanks to our niece Tanya who scored  the admission passes) Met some folks in the Vancouver airport from Bentley, on their way to Las Vegas, its a small world after all!

We loaded ourselves onto the big bird and left Vancouver at 11 am.  There are 38 rows, with a 2-3-2 configuration.  Executive Class looked quite divine, by the way!

At any rate our seats are  the aisle seats in the center of row 34, we were hopeful that the seat between us would be vacant.  There are 9 empty seats on this plane and one of them is between Sid and I. Jackpot!  Love love love it when a plan comes together.  It is a 12 hour flight.

The back of the plane loaded first (that was us) so we watched the rest of the folks seat them selves and try to find space in the overhead bins for their carry on baggage .  Oh my goodness.  The folks making decisions about what is an allowable carry on  need to spend sometime watching the process unfold on board.

We are flying north, and  crossed the south west part of Alaska.  The map shows that we are near the international date line, my guess is that we are about 15 minutes away from  tomorrow.  Shanghai time is 15 hours ahead of us, we are scheduled to arrive at 2 pm October 26.

Flight Details

Depart Edmonton (YEG) October 25 @ 7:25am Air Canada flight #237
Arrive Vancouver (YVR) @ 8:02am - duration: 1hr 37 min (811 km)

Depart Vancouver (YVR) October 25 @ 11:05 am Air Canada flight #25
Arrive Shanghai (PVG) October 26 @ 2:15pm - duration: 12 hr 10 min (9036 km)

Depart Shanghai (PVG)  November 17 @ 6:15pm Air Canada flight # 26
Arrive Vancouver (YVR) November 17 @12:50pm - duration 10hr 35min
(We arrive in Vancouver 4 hours before we left Shanghai!)

Depart Vancouver (YVR) November 17 @3:00pm Air Canada flight #554
Arrive Los Angeles (LAX) November 17 @ 5:45pm - duration: 2hr 45 min (1740 km)

Depart Los Angeles (LAX) November 17 @ 8:45pm Alaskan Airlines flight # 5014
Arrive Phoenix (PHX) November 17 @ 11:09 pm - Duration 1hr 24 min (595 km)

Depart Phoenix (PHX) December 12 @ 11:20 am Alaskan Airlines flight # 645
Arrive Seattle (SEA) December 12 @ 1:20 pm

Depart Seattle (SEA) December 12 @ 3:00 pm Alaskan Airlines flight # 2584
Arrive Edmonton (YEG) December 12 @ 5:54 pm

5 Days and Counting

I cannot believe how these days are flying by.  When I was working, the days prior to a vacation were what felt like the longest days of my life - (followed by the shortest days ever - while on vacation!)

 We have just returned from a road trip to Jasper, Grande Prairie, and Fairview to visit family.  It was quick trip and we had great travel weather. Off to Edmonton tomorrow for more visiting!  Our neighbors son is staying at our house while we are away (for 7 weeks!) and looking after our sweet Maxine puppy.  We will both miss her very much.

The planning  of this trip has been much different that our European adventure!  Most (almost all) of the planning has been looked after either by Gerald and Jyl or their Chinese connections.  Everyone seems keen to have us along and we are VERY excited to be going!

This link has given us an idea of what to expect for pricing in Shanghai.  Their currency is the Chinese Yuan Renminbi (CYN) and it is currently trading for approx 6.5 CYN for 1 CAD.

http://www.cityweekend.com.cn/shanghai/articles/mag-sh/cover-story/cost-of-living-how-our-city-stacks-up-against-the-world/