Month: November 2025

10/22-23/2025 – Bless you

Today we decided to take the optional tour of Suzhou Gardens.  Yes, each time we hear someone say that, we want to say, “Bless you!”  The tour was nothing to sneeze at though. It was a delightful day that saw us reach an area along a canal similar to Venice.  We walked down a staircase to a gondola.  We clambered aboard to ride the canal considered the “Venice of Shanghai”. It was a delightful trip that saw us enjoy the views of the local buildings and area. While a round trip, each side gave us different views and we enjoyed the time on the boat. Soon we were set free to enjoy ourselves and we opted to try some local noodles with the two sisters from England and Sue from Canada. Both sisters are physicians with different specialties who travel together, leaving hubbies and children at home, while Sue is retired. It was a lot of fun, although a lot of work.  This area is renowned for its noodles.  However, Kathy just cannot get the hang of chopsticks and, needless to say, watching her struggle created a lot of laughs. Sue took pity on Kathy and found her a “ladle/spoon” to try and eat some of the noodles (not Kathy’s favorite meal of the trip).

Next, people strolled along looking for deals to buy. Soon we were herded back onto the bus and drove to the Suzhou Museum.  SUZHOU MUSEUM The museum was amazing.  It housed not only tranquil areas to relax and find your Zen, but also some unique and interesting pieces from Chinese history, including artwork, carvings, and sculptures dating back thousands of years. It was well worth it to just stroll through the museum.

After a full day we opted to stroll to the mall again and have dinner again at a local restaurant.  Kathy again opted for King Pao Chicken and Dave had the sweet and sour chicken. Of note, they provided us with an appetizer which was a plate of glazed mini pomegranates on a stick – definitely worth trying. Tomorrow sees us head home.  We are not excited about the 27 hours of traveling, but that is the price to pay in order to see the wonders of the world.

On the 23^rd, we readied ourselves to fly back home to NY. We had the whole day free, so we opted to eat a leisurely breakfast, take a walk in the area, and then clean up before heading to the airport. Not much happening today.  The airport experience, though, was the most efficient transition we have ever experienced and kudos to the planners. We were in and out, did not get lost, and the people were friendly and helpful.  They even smiled at Kathy’s little joke.  Not anywhere close to the scary and dangerous encounter with “Communist China” that some people were anticipating.  For sure, we made sure to “mind our P’s and Q’s, and we avoided questions about politics when advised by our guides.  But everyone we encountered in China was helpful and friendly.  There were not police or military on every corner (the police didn’t even carry guns).  In certain areas, there were dozens of cameras on every light post, but that was not common.  Kathy and I discussed whether the average Chinese citizen had the same quality of life as the average US citizen, and we thought they would.  The one exception, we assume, would be freedom of speech and the ability to criticize the government.  Fortunately, we still have that in the US, since there is so much in our governments to criticize.

10/21/2025 – Louie, Louie

“Louie, Louie
Oh, no, you take me where ya gotta go
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, baby
Louie, Louie
Oh, baby, take me where ya gotta go” Song by the KIngsmen

Our guide Louie did just that – take us where we gotta go. Shanghai is a big city filled with lots of glass buildings with lots of unique structural architecture to highlight the lights at night.  We started off as usual, herded onto a bus where we went down to the Bund, which is a historic river promenade that faces the towering skyscrapers. Let loose and on our own, we opted for strolling along the promenade. Along the way, we saw a inland “lighthouse” on one end and on the other end a Monument to the People’s Heroes. The monument, while written in Chinese, poignantly depicted the achievements of the revolutionary martyrs and is considered a memorial to those who gave so much during this time.  While not as large as the National Mall in D.C., it is still a reminder of those who valiantly gave so that others may be safe in the future.  We also spotted a few water birds – none to add to Dave’s life list, but still a nice reminder of how nature and man can coexist.  It was surprisingly peaceful given that there are almost 25 million people in Shanghai. Soon we were back on the bus where Louie took us to several shopping areas, including the French quarter.  We opted to not shop, but instead enjoyed a drink with our new friends, Muriel, Paul, and the Jasons. The rest of the day was really one shopping spot to the next shopping spot; Paul did buy several watches on this trip taking advantage of the significant discount to be had from buying directly from the source.

That night we opted to join a group from dinner at a local greasy spoon.  We had one of our best meals of the trip there! We shared our meals and it was, without a doubt, one of the spiciest meals we had during this time. Still, all and all, it was amazing. Dinner and drinks for the two of us was less than $10 USD. Meals here are nice.

10/20/2025 – Bullets

After enjoying a leisurely evening by meandering to get a meal, then strolling through the local area, the next day was a jolt to our system. Herded together like a kindergarten class on a field trip, we were soon ensconced on the bus for the trip to the train station. Again, similar to school children, we followed the “teacher” from the bus door and were deposited into the train station where we waited for our next instructions. Dutifully we followed our “teacher Cathy” to the next stop, and so on and so on. Finally she directed us to our seats on the bullet train where, like “good” little children, we started seat swapping to sit next to our besties.  Kathy got a window seat while Dave was wedged in between Kathy and Myra. Dave, like a typical adolescent boy, started teasing Myra. Some things never change. The views outside the train changed rapidly from city views, to country, to industrial, and then again to city and in no time at all – okay about six hours – we were in Shanghai waiting for out next “teacher”, Louis, to greet us at the next stop.   We had nothing on the schedule for the rest of the day except for dinner.  We opted to see what kind of dinner we could find at the mall while others stayed at the hotel. After a bunch of pantomiming with the wait staff, we finally settled on spicy king pao chicken for Kathy and sweet and sour chicken for Dave. This could become our new favorite spot. On the way out we couldn’t help but stop at the local bakery to try some pastries (which, while excellent, could have used a bit more sweetness in the cream fillings).

10/19/25 – Terra Cotta Soldiers and Horses, here we come!

The city of Xi’an has the second highlight of our tour of China – the Terra Cotta Soldiers and Horses Museum!  Discovered in 1974 by some farmers digging a well, this collection of over 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 620 horses pulling them, and 150 cavalry horses – all life-sized clay sculptures – were built to protect China’s first emperor, Qin Shihuang, in his afterlife.  Each of the soldiers is unique in its face,  meant to resemble every soldier in his army.  There are 8 types of bodies, representing everything from foot soldiers to archers to generals.  Made around 2100 years ago, these are the ones discovered so far.  Who knows how many are still buried and undiscovered?  The ones unearthed now are 1.6 kilometers from the burial place of the Emperor and it is thought that there are clay soldiers encircling his mausoleum.  Imagine the size of the area needed to be covered!  It is believed that the artisans who made these figures were killed afterwards to protect their secret.  Seeing these warriors in person was truly a spectacle.  It is often referred to as the 8^th Wonder of the World. While some of us opted for the evening tour to watch a show, Kathy and Dave opted for dinner locally with dessert at Dairy Queen and an early night.

10/18/25 – On to Xi’an

Ah, yes, trying to navigate train stations in foreign countries. Fortunately, Jimmy did his best to get us through the massive station and onto our correct bullet train to Xi’an.  We left early for our ride, and got there in plenty of time.  We even had to wait a while before we could get down to the platforms.  The bullet train was comfortable.  We had “lunch” onboard, which consisted of a very large “lunchable-style” packet.  Kathy ate the rice, while Dave ate the tiny amount of vegetables and two tiny pieces of meat.  Being a 4-hour ride, we had to use the restroom facilities on the train (or as our guide refers to it, we had to “sing a song”.)  Kathy did not like using the squat toilet at all, never mind squatting at over 300 kph!  But, we arrived in Xi’an and eventually found our next guide, Cathy.

Cathy herded us to our bus and we rode the hour to our hotel to get checked in.  Every time we board a plane or train, check in to a hotel, or enter a secure tourist area, our guides insist on collecting everyone’s passport and taking them to the checkpoint personnel.  This is quite nerve wracking for those of us used to guarding our passports as if our lives depended on it.  For the last train we took, our guide took all the passports to the security agent.  However, several of us noticed that he just took one of the passports to scan into the system, then gave the rest back to our guide and let us through.  In several of the tourist checkpoints, we simply carried our passports in our hands and walked by security with them before being wanded with metal detectors.  They didn’t even check our passports.  I guess security in China can get lax just like elsewhere.

Once we checked in to the Xi’an hotel, we met up with our guide again for a night tour.  We wandered through the North Square of the Wild Goose Pagoda and the Grand Tang Mall, also known as the Datang Everbright City.  This was an interesting area with lights, fountains, shops, and attractions everywhere. A chunk of our tour group hung together and marveled at the sights.  This must be a main attraction for the locals as many of them were dressed to the hilt in the traditional dresses of the Tang Dynasty.  The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from the year 618 to the year 907 AD.  It is renowned as a golden age for its cultural and economic prosperity.  What were the peoples of North America doing 1100 years ago?  Why the difference?  In China, this period is so popular that even today the people imitate their culture.  And, their dresses were amazing.  Young and old wore them alike.  The area had a fountain and light show that was very fun to watch as well.  We finally trekked back to the bus and to the hotel for some well-deserved shuteye.