Tuesday, August 10th (Andy's birthday!)

We got up at 4am this am to grab a taxi to the airport. Our driver didn't speak English but communicated well regardless. He was able to point out various sites on the way to the airport as well as identify the old Mao Tse Tung airport. It looks a lot like the old Dress Regional!

We flew 'domestic' today; from Beijing (where the smog has gotten worse in the last 2 days) to Hangzhou (west of Shanghai) on Chinese Eastern Airlines. In the 2 hour flight, we were served a boxed breakfast and beverages both before and after the food! There is smog here as well but no where near as bad as Beijing.

Upon arrival we got another taxi into the city (bumper cars again!) and found Chang and her friend Evon at the hotel waiting for us. The hotel is newer and the air conditioner works really well--a God send since the temp is in the high 90's. We took a walk to West Lake (more on that later with pictures).

Andy has been very popular in both cities. His picture has been taken close to a dozen times--people want their pictures made with Westerners. No one looks less Chinese than Andy with his American physique, grey beard and Gators ball cap--he's going to become the international spokesman next!

We have recovered from our 'tour de West Lake' and are off to dinner. More later....

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Tuesday, 10 August in Hangzhou

FYI: we are not at risk from the mudslide situation. That is in another part of China entirely. The oil drums that escaped in Dalian, however, are across the bay from Yantai. Word has it that all is well.

Hangzhou is located southwest of Shanghai and is a modern city with agriculture still playing an important role. Flying in we saw lots of rice paddies and on the drive in from the airport, large neighborhood gardens were the rule. The architecture is very interesting--so far we haven't had an opportunity to take a picture of the housing but we'll keep trying!

The children seek us out. They want to say 'hello' which in many cases seems to the be the extent of their English. Today we spoke with a young man who wanted to chat but didn't have enough vocabulary to ask or answer questions. Of course, he still spoke more English than we did Chinese!

We met Liu Chang and her friend Evon (that's the English version, the Chinese is Xiao Evon--now you know why we call her Evon!). Chang and Evon have been friends since attending high school together. Evon studies Administration at a university in the extreme northeast part of China.

Chang has never been to this part of the country before so we are all sharing an adventure.We visited West Lake today. It is a huge body of water (at least 20 times the size of the lake Sunday). The landscaping is beautiful with weeping willows, southern magnolia, over 6 varieties of rhodendrons that I identified (one over 30' tall!) and over 8 varieties of azalea--this place must be stunning in spring! It was soothing, restful and much cooler than the streets. Temps were pushing the high 90's with 100 forecast for Wednesday (39C sounds so much better!).

Andy says he's going to start going to charge for posing. As noted earlier today, he is much sought out for photographs! We still haven't found General Tsao's chicken but have tasted some wonderful other dishes. Today we had spinach with garlic, fresh fish (perch-like) in a brown sauce that was sweet and delightful, bamboo--milder than asparagus and very tasty. For dinner we had a variety of dishes via a buffet at the hotel--we were too tired to walk any further!

We'll head to Wuzhen (sure that's not the correct spelling). It is the Venice of China. We will get up at 5 and take a 3 hour bus ride there and then a boat ride to see the area. It is northeast of Hangzhou.

Stay tuned . . .

Monday, August 9, Beijing

Today is our last day in Beijing. We will spend a lot of time getting ready to travel. Over half our stuff gets shipped to Yantai U. The rest goes with us to Shanghai/Hangzhou. Little Miss Energy lounged around our luxury suite this morning while I took about a 1 1/2 hour walk. I think she encourages this to give herself some quiet time. The first part of my walk took me past countless street cleaners( see the broom picture) and a woman doing Tai Chi. The trash man looks a little overloaded. I watched till he was out of sight and his load never fell over. I also felt very secure knowing that the street was guarded by these vigilant security guys. Sooooo many people have dogs. Much like NYC, the morning streets are filled with dogs and their masters.

Berkeley has remarked that a some of our photos are blurry. One of the problems is that it is SOOOOOOOO overcast and smoggy, refracted light is everywhere. Because of this, auto focus cameras have a hard time deciding on what to focus. Wow, Mr Southwood, my physics teacher would be proud. If you don't take a landscape photo by 10am, you are going to have a problem.

I have already decided on some gifts for friends back home. Can you figure out who will get the President Obamao T-shirt or the Chairman Mao fanny pack? We have also found some great children's PANDA gifts.

Joan and I spent about an hour repacking for the trip to Shanghai. By combining perscriptions, I eliminated about 15 medicine bottles. Why have 4 bottles of Malox when you can combine and have 2. We have also decided to take fewer sets of clothes.

*Travel Tip* Buy Columbia Nylox clothes, wear them into the shower, wash with shampoo, thoroughly rinse and wring out, hang up in the window or over the AC. Shirts are ready the next morning. Shorts and pants are ready by noon next day. Teatree shampoo leaves a nice scent.

As a special treat, I took Joan on a surprise trip. When she got there, we were at a bakery. She was like a kid and couldn't make up her mind. She opted for the Chocolate cake. Chris W.- They have black and white cookies! I treated myself to a Mickey D's coffee!

We are currently waiting for DHL to show up and collect our To Ship items. It is interesting. We stand a better chance of getting an English speaking agent with DHL ( a German Company) as opposed to UPS ( an American Co.)

As I have exhuasted myself writing this post, I must now take nap #2 for the day.

Saturday in Beijing

We have adapted to the time change but for some reason, 4am seems to be our wake-up time. Andy has started taking walks from 6-7am--he choses a different direction out of the hotel and strikes out. No surprise, he has made new friends on each adventure.

Our hotel reminds me of NYC. It is compact and meanders around corners where buildings were added to the initial structure. There is one small elevator to serve the entire building (4 floors with approximately 70 rooms on each). However, the rates are far better than NYC's: we paid 2700RMB (that's about $415US) for the 8 days!

Yesterday, Lu Chao (FGCU's Fulbright Scholar last year), her husband and 2+ year old son came to pick us up. They drove us to the Great Wall. Automobile travel in Beijing is an adventure in tailgating and chicken--never flinch or blink! Andy was very proud of me--I sat in the backseat and never said a word (aloud). It was a cloudy day and cooler but very pleasant. The Great Wall is VERY impressive--so are the mountains that suddenly rise straight up in front of you as you leave the city center.

We were all hungry upon arrival so found a 'country kitchen'. The buildings were traditionally built of bamboo--walls and roof--incredible and beautiful. The food was delicious--sorry I forgot to take pictures!! We had sauteed green vegetable--some sort of cabbage/lettuce but sweeter; kang po (sure that's misspelled), a spicy chicken dish with peanuts and, I think, cucumbers; a fish in red sauce (served whole and you spit out the bones) with Chinese cornbread; fried rice and eggs that on appearance looked overcooked and in aspic but tasted more like they'd been hardboiled with some sort of seasoning. It was all wonderful!

After filling out stomachs, we got back in the car and drove to the starting point of the Wall. It is an amazing engineering feat! Unfortunately, because it was overcast (and actually sprinkled later), the pictures cannot do it justice. We drove back in, visited the street festival for shrimp dumplings and the Chinese version of a chicken enchilada (think dumpling flavor and change the shape!). We are definitely not starving in China!!

For those of you interested, things are very inexpensive here. Canned sodas (cold) are readily available in Beijing and cost about 50 cents US and a banana runs about the same. Dinner items at the street vendors usually cost about $1-$2US. Our hotpot dinner the other night with Ping was more expensive; it cost about $10US per person. Gasoline, however, is over $3US/gallon. A taxi from our hotel to the Summer Palace--a good 20 minute drive--cost us 53RMB or less than $6US! AND you don't pay full price for anything; everything is bartered. And whatever the asking price, cut it to 1/3 at least! Andy discovered this when he went to find a replacement lens cover: instead of the asking price of 200RMB; Andy paid 48RMB (about $7US).

Andy is back from his walk with a report . . .

Sunday morning (6am) in Beijing is like Sunday morning in any big city I've ever been in, except a little quieter and slower. Every other person was walking a dog; big dogs, little dogs, pure breds and mutts. I can't pass up saying "good morning." Usually, I get a big smile back! I passed the oldest Catholic church in town minutes before mass started. Like in the US, there were many folks running for the door because they were late. The custom is (apparently) to bow before you genuflect, then bow again. Sunday is also a semi-normal work day. The drywallers down the street were already hard at it. I think they have been taking lesson from their US cousins- three were watching, one was working. Evidently, unions have rules in China, too.

There was a lot of yawning as people got off the bus. In the park, it was theolder people who were exercising, the young were sitting and smoking. EVERYONE SPITS! I watched this sweet young thing in a mini hack one in the gutter! Also, I found the secret to crossing the street IN TRAFFIC. Wait till an elderly Grandmother crosses. Walk with her-traffic stops.

Sunday in Bejing

For you information, due to censorship, we are not currently able to directly access our blog (we are emailing to Berkeley who is posting for us--thank you, Berkeley). We have received one comment via the blog site so you may be able to comment and us get it but to be sure, you can always email us at jnalindauer@gmail.com.

Andy started the day with his morning constitutional. The Catholic Church was just beginning services when he walked by. Like in America, late worshippers were rushing to the door. It serves as a church, exercise location, dog walking site and who know what else--certainly multi-denominational.

We were collected about 11am by Lu Chao's family to have lunch--Peking Duck. We went to QuanJude which has been serving roasted duck for almost 150 years. The restaurant was lovely and the service excellent. It is located in Science Park, home to Google China and several other compu-tech offices. The food was delicious--our duck came with a 'certificate'--the ducks used are like veal; grown only to be used as food and caged so they get extra fat. After cooking, the skin is peeled off and served separately. It is very tasty but high in fat. The meat is then sliced into 120 pieces--dark, moist and yummy. It is to be eaten one of two ways: a 'crepe' or lettuce leaf is selected and used like an tortilla; the meat is then dipped into a special brown sauce and thin strips of green onion and cucumber are added to what will become a duck roll-up. We added a garlicky green vegetable, Chinese salad (brown vinegar no oil dressing), udon noodles and even dessert to our meal.

We had to go for a long walk just to work off some of the calories we consumed. We went to a very large park (opened to the public in 1925) called Beihai Park. The lake is long and skinny and boating is a popular activity. The first lake upon entry is covered with lotus. Only selected drivers are allowed to paddle thru the lotus area. You then move to the main lake. Beware! The children are allowed to drive--you do not know fear until you have a 2+ year old driving a boat. Fortunately they move slowly!!

We arrived back safely to the hotel after another exciting and enlightening day in Beijing.

Monday we will spend time getting ready to depart; we fly to Hangzhou early (have to leave for the airport about 5am since it will take about 45 min to get there and our flight is at 7.30--the gate closes 45 minutes before departure!!). We will hook up with Liu Chang somewhere in Hangzhou! In between we are on our own--keeping the phrase finder book handy!!!

More later . . .

Friday at the Summer Palace

We started our morning by meeting Ping and her father for breakfast. Xie works for the government of China and the 'Chamber' of his city/province promoting oil exploration and development. Their city is only 35 years old; it is in the delta of the Yellow River and rich in oil. After returning to the hotel, we re-packed and set out again on a new adventure.

We flagged down a taxi and asked the driver to take us to Heaven's Gate. Andy pointed to what he thought were the Chinese characters. The driver took us to the Summer Palace instead-- were we glad.

As you can tell by the attached pictures, it was idyllic! The lake was man-made and with the rest of the property, constructed in the 1400's. The Emperor had--boys, please stay seated--3,000 concubines. But what a lousy job to have. Once the emperor died, all the concubines were put to death (unless they had given birth) so the new emperor could bring in 3,000 new ones! Because one of the emperor's didn't want his concubines to get bored, he built a market for them so they could go shopping! Talk about setting a pattern early on . . .

The painted details, cement work and artistry were all amazing. We spent 3 hours and could have spent 3 days. The Forbidden City is stark in comparison. The Emperor et al could travel from the Forbidden City to the Summer Palace by water; we lesser mortals can still make the trip but only to the southern gate entrance to the Summer Palace. We were very lucky to find a young Manchurian woman (a translator by profession) who served as a tour guide for us.

For all of Andy's talk about taking pictures of mini-skirts, the faces of the people and the beauty of the buildings won out.

After returning to the hotel, we headed downstairs to the street market that is permanently in place in front of our hotel. It stretches the entire block and is fun as well as filling. The vendors all compete for your attention and some go over and above what one would expect!

All in all, it has been a full day with great sights, smells and sounds.

Tomorrow we head to "The Wall".

Good Night from Beijing --

Joan & Andy

Hello Bloggers,

Yesterday, Thursday, our friend Ping took us to the Forbidden City. Frank Baum and the producers at MGM had to have visited here when they put together Wizard of Oz. The area is beautiful. You walk thru gate after gate. If the bricks were yellow instead of grey, you would expect Munchkins to come out singing. I tried to find where they filmed Jackie Chan but couldn't. Also, I was wearing my Florida Gators t-shirt-I taught several in the crowd the gator chomp. Joan and Ping were embarrassed but the crowd did a good job of chomping!

Meals have been incredible. Joan posted that we had our first big dinner a a hot pot. Since then we have dined in the hotel for breakfast( fried rice with ham and a lot of scrambled egg, duck eggs, corn porridge, a kind of muffin,etc) a noodle shop for lunch (rice noodles in beef broth with beef and veggies) and the street vendors. Outside our hotel is a semi-permanent batch of stalls. It covers about a two block area. ( If you are from Evansville, picture the Fall Festival) You can get absolutely any animal or animal part, grilled, that you could want. Last night I was torn between the grilled sheep penis or the stuffed dumpling. YOU decide what I selected. They have snake, scorpion, centipede, dragon fly, etc., etc., etc. If you tried out 3 new things a night, it would take a month to sample it all. I am considering opening a booth with ham and bean soup or chilli!

If you like mini-skirts COME TO CHINA! (I will try to get photos today.) I have a sore neck.

I have photos of some adorable children. We will post those, together with ones we take today, this weekend. It seems like the children are taught as infants to be camera ready!

We met our friend Ping's Father. He is 48 and getting ready to retire. He currently is a rep for Shandong Oil Co. He was here in Beijing to meet with several from the US. The mayor of Houston was here for a reception. Ping was excited to get to go to the reception with her Dad. She wants to go to RICE ( no this is NOT a rice /chop stick joke) for her MBA. I will continue to try to talk her into a SEC school or Big Ten.

We hope all is well stateside. We miss our friends but are fully loving our adventure.

Wednesday in Beijing

Andy and I spent yesterday letting our bodies adjust to the time change. We got up super early and went for a walk, came back and grabbed a bite to eat (not sure what it was, but it was good!) and then crashed. Got up and went for a walk (found a GREAT children's toy store), found a place for lunch (had fried shrimp--only it was bait size with the heads and shell still on!!--actually quite tasty once you got past the idea) and then crashed again. At 5pm, Ping (Xie Ping officially) arrived to visit. She is a Yantai student who we met at FGCU and is in Beijing taking classes for the GMAT (she plans to attend graduate school in the U.S.). She introduced us to a hot pot restaurant. A cloisonne pot with a vent in the center is brought to the table filled with boiling water. Then the meal arrives and you add whatever you want. We tossed in 3 types of mushrooms, garlic, lamb, beef, 2 types of green leafy vegetables (still don't know what they are but really tasty!), rice noodles and tofu (I'll pass, thank you!). It was great fun, low key and delightful as the pictures prove. The restaurant was doing a booming business and Ping tells us that hot pots are very popular meals for families.

After dinner we took a taxi to a region of Beijing very popular with tourists. Very unique (and expensive) shops are housed in former residences (300 years plus) that provide some beautiful and interesting architecture. We saw slippers being handmade and the paper umbrellas, too. The umbrellas were $180US; each were unique and hand painted--lovely!! The most remarkable thing about the neighborhood was the quiet: Even with the occasional car or motorbike passing along the street, it was primarily a pedestrian walkway and very soothing and restful. There were some old trees adding to the ambiance along with the cobblestoned street.

Ping kindly took pity on us old folks and we took to our beds at 9pm.

Up at 5am so guess we have adjusted to the time change! The plans are to visit the Forbidden City today with Ping as our guide. Her father is in Beijing today, too so we hope to meet him before Ping returns to school late this afternoon.

We have been delighted with the city. Even though the front desk has little or no English, we have managed to make do with our phrase book and drawings. FGCU's Fulbright Scholar last year, Lu Chao, kindly found the accommodations for us and we feel we are really getting the flavor of China more than at an American hotel. We may be the only Occidental guests in the hotel but folks couldn't be nicer. Outside the street is lined with food vendors. Until last night, they were silent sentries but that changed about 5pm when fruit kabobs (the plums are delicious), skewers of barbequed lamb or beef, a variety of seafood and tons of stir fried concoctions started scenting the air. What a sight--at least 4 blocks of food---Andy was in heaven!