(All of the links on this page can be visited by following the various links on our China Trip Main Page.)
For over 35 years I've been interested in China and things Chinese, ever since I first set foot on Taiwan on October 10th, 1966. It was always my hope to visit mainland China, and I knew someday I would - I just didn't know when. It had become a lifelong dream to walk on the Great Wall of China at least once before I die. Now, that dream has come true.
Early in 2001, along with several of our friends here in Rochester, Minnesota, we started seriously thinking about taking a trip to China. After looking into several tours that were offered, we decided on the Shanghai to Beijing itinerary offered by Pacific Delight Tours in early October of 2001. In August, we paid our money and sealed the deal. Now it was just a matter of waiting.
With the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11th, 2001, we began to worry that our trip might be cancelled. But it wasn't, and, although we had the option to cancel if we wanted to (in case we developed a fear of flying), there was no way we wanted to miss out on this long anticipated journey. We were ready to go.
So, on October 3rd, 2001, we drove up to Minneapolis late in the afternoon for an overnight stay so we could get to the airport early enough to catch our 8:10 AM flight to Detroit the next day, Thursday, October 4th. There we would transfer to our flight to Shanghai. We were on our way.
The flights were pretty uneventful, other than the fact that the Detroit to Shanghai leg was cancelled and we were moved to a much later flight, giving us a five hour layover in Detroit and a one hour stopover in Tokyo. We arrived in Shanghai late and tired, but happy to be there. We were met by our tour guide, Wang Chengli ('Charlie') and our local Shanghai guide John Wang, and wisked off to the Hua Ting Hotel and Towers for a good night's sleep.
The next morning, we met the rest of our tour group (some came in on our flight, some on earlier flights). We all met with Charlie for some preliminary information about the trip. Then it began.
Here's a pretty accurate day-by-day itinerary of where we went and what we saw.
Having been interested in China and Chinese history and culture for so long, I wanted to visit China to see the country itself. I mostly wanted to see the beauty of the land and the people of China and to experience the daily life as it went on in both the cities and the countyside. I knew that this would be hard to do going with a tour group, but I figured that for an initial visit, the tour was probably the best and safest way to go. So I tried to make the best of it. As we were bussed from one tourist attraction to the next, I seldom turned my eyes away from the bus window, trying to take in everything I could as we drove down the busy city streets. Getting caught in a traffic jam, which happened several times, was a pleasure for me, giving me even more time to absorb what was happening outside. This is what I wanted to see, though I would have much rather been outside amongst all that I was seeing.
That said, what was really the best part of the trip for me was the Yangzi River cruise. I spent almost all of the time on deck absorbing the beauty of the mountains and river valleys and the big cities and small farming villages, and watching both sides of the river for things going on on the shores as well as on the river itself. And there was plenty to see. Often times I was alone on the deck, and I found myself deeply reflecting on all that I was seeing, thinking of the thousands of years of history and culture that went before me on the very spot where I was during that one short moment in time. I saw fishermen on the river, some on boats, some fishing from the banks, farmers trodding behind their oxen on the shore, planting and digging their small farms along the river bank, others carrying heavy loads of just picked crops in bamboo baskets on their backs, climbing down the steep slopes from their plots high above the Yangzi. I saw families that lived on their boats on the river, workers in the busy ports of river cities and all sorts of other human endeavors going on. I couldn't stop wondering about who these people were, what their daily lives were like, and what the future held for them and their families. I thought about all of this going on every day, day after day, for hundreds of years and how it so contrasted to the lives we live in America. One morning I awoke at about 3 AM and went out and sat on the beautifully moonlit deck, all alone, with only the boat's engine sounds disturbing the night. It was an extremely moving experience, watching the high-rising cliffs bathed in the pale moonlight, seeing an occassional small village asleep in the night, and wondering, always wondering, who these people were and what there lives were like. The river cruise was certainly what I liked best about the whole trip. This is what I wanted to see. I only wished I could be closer to it all.
Of course, visiting many of the major historical sites was also exciting. Climbing the Great Wall and strolling across Tiananmen Square and through the Forbidden City were experiences I'll never forget. But the crowds and the touristy nature of these places detracted from the chance to get a real feel of what these places were and what their place in history was. Mei-O, who reads a lot of Chinese historical novels and history books, was able to fill in a lot of the interesting details of many of the places we visited, adding to the experience.
There were, of course, some negative aspects of the trip, but they were mostly minor and not worth mentioning here....
China, in many ways, was nothing like I expected it to be. From the first view of Shanghai, coming in from the airport in the dark of night, I was astonished by how modern and western-appearing the country was. Towering skyscrapers dotted the skylines of most of the major cities we visited (as well as many of the smaller ones), and the traffic, the shops, and the people's dress didn't appear to be that of an economically struggling communist country with over a billion people. Capitalism and the quest for making money seemed to be everywhere. Although I had read about this occurring in China over the past several years, seeing it was quite a surprise. And the people obviously were enjoying it. Though I imagine it was quite different in the countryside, away from the cities.
Another surprise occured as we travelled from city to city by air. I was expecting to be boarding aging two- or four-engine propeller driven planes, but instead, we travelled on planes similar to what we'd fly on here: modern, clean, well-maintained Airbuses with very friendly and professional crews - a pleasant surprise for sure.
In the few temples we visited, we saw many Chinese faithful offering prayers to and burning incense for their ancestors, something very 'uncommunist-like'. Our guide John told us, however, that the offerings have changed from what they were in the past, with the contemporary worshipper now asking for better stock market performance (yes, they even have a stock market there), a new and bigger TV, etc. - much more materialistic things than traditional worshippers asked for (a son, a nice husband for their daughter, a good harvest, etc.) It has always been the tradition to burn fake paper money so the ashes and smoke would travel to one's ancestors in the after-life. Now, paper cell phones, paper cars (Mercedes!), and even entire paper houses would be thrown into the fire.
There were other things, too, that I didn't expect. The friendliness towards us, the cleanliness of the cities, the bright lights and disco bars (that's right, disco bars!), young couples holding hands and even kissing in public, the very popular KFC and McDonalds restaurants; these all surprised me. It looked like at least a good number of the people living in the cities were beginning to 'enjoy' themselves.
Our trip to China was certainly an experience I'll never forget. It has given me a new
insight into this country that has fascinated me for so long. I often find myself
thinking about what time it is in China (they're 14 hours later than us) and what all of
those people I saw there are doing right at the moment. I look at the pictures I took
and pick out some of the anonymous people
in them and wonder who they are, if they're happy or if they're struggling along
in life, what their dreams and aspirations are and whether
they'll ever get there. And just what is the future of the entire country, politically,
economically, and socially? How will all the
western influence affect the Chinese people
and their long, rich culture? What will China be like 10, 20, 50 years from now? What
will its place in the world be? And what about the
newest generation of Chinese kids?
What can they expect?....
November 20, 2001
