Our Detailed Itinerary

Here's an overview of our trip - where we went and what we saw. Thanks to Bob Davis of St. Paul, another member of our tour group, who provided me with a copy of his personal trip journal from where I pulled most of this information.

(All of the links on this page can be visited by following any of the links on our China Trip Main Page.)

• Day 1 - October 4th, Thursday
  • We left Minneapolis for Detroit around 8:25 AM. In Detroit we had a five hour layover for the Detroit to Shanghai leg of our flight after our original flight (which was only to be a one hour layover) was cancelled. Additionally, the direct flight to Shanghai was now to include a stop in Tokyo with a little over a one hour layover there. Day 1, due to our westbound route crossing the International Dateline, bled over to day 2.
  
  
• Day 2 - October 5th, Friday
  • More flying, arriving in Shanghai, China about 7:30 at night. We met our trip tour guide Wang Chengli ('Charlie') and our Shanghai tour guide John Wang and, along with the rest of the group who were on our flight, hopped on a bus to the Hua Ting Hotel and Towers to retire for the night.
  
  
• Day 3 - October 6th, Saturday
  • Breakfast was served at 6 AM. Every morning's breakfast was a choice between traditional Chinese breakfast choices: xifan (congee or 'rice soup'), dumplings, vegetable dishes, etc. and western style breakfast items: eggs, bacon, sausage or ham, cereal (hot and cold), sweet rolls, etc., as well as several choices of fresh fruit and your standard drinks. Breakfasts were buffet style - all you can eat.
  • After breakfast, we met with our guides Charlie and John and the rest of the tour group to go over some tour dos and don'ts.
  • We then boarded a bus and headed to the Children's Palace, an after school crafts, music, and art program for young kids. There are many of these government-run enrichment programs (all called 'Children's Palace') throughout China. We spent about 1 1/2 hours there, watching some dancers, musicians, and artists, and shopping in their gift shop.
  • The next stop was the Jade Buddha Temple where we spent about an hour, then off to lunch at some hotel somewhere.
  • After lunch, we went to the Shanghai Museum. We spent over two hours there, seeing as much as we could see, then back to the hotel for a little rest.
  • Around dinner time, we boarded a bus and headed across town to another five star hotel for another fantastic dinner. After dinner, we attended an acrobatic show. Returning to our hotel, we got stuck in a major traffic jam as roads were temporarily closed for a security test run for the upcoming APEC meeting (many world leaders, including President Bush, were coming to Shanghai in a couple of weeks for a major economic summit). We finally arrived back at the hotel around 10:30 PM, ready for a well-needed rest.
  
  
• Day 4 - October 7th, Sunday
  • Another early breakfast around 7 AM, then off to a silk rug factory where we first observed weavers handmaking rugs of different sizes and quality, then moved on to the gift shop. Rugs went from under $100 (U.S.) to over $10,000 for the bigger, more finely detailed ones (including shipping, handling, and insurance). Several members of our tour group bought rugs there.
  • From the rug factory, we headed to the Huangpu Park on the riverfront and the Bund. We took a one-hour boat ride on the Huangpu River, then walked around the Bund and over to the famous Peace Hotel which had many photographs of old Shanghai on the wall in the bar.
  • Somewhere along the line, we ate lunch at the Hua Ting Towers 2 Hotel, right next to the famous Park Hotel, once home to Shanghai's high society. We momentarily stopped in to visit.
  • We headed to the Shanghai Airport to catch our flight to Wuhan where we would board our Yangzi River cruise ship. The flight was scheduled to leave at 3:30 but was delayed until after 5:00, which made our arrival in Wuhan too late to eat our scheduled dinner. We had to head straight to the cruise ship, making only a quick stop to pick up box dinners which we'd eat once we got situated on the ship.
  • After our box dinner in the ship's dining room, we went to our rooms on the four-deck Victoria cruise ship. We had a small room on the third deck with a great river view. Everything in it (and on the whole ship) vibrated noisily, but we became used to it pretty quickly. The ship departed Wuhan around 8:30. We went to bed around 10:00.
  
  
• Day 5 - October 8th, Monday
  • Each morning I would get up early, 5:00 or so, and sit out on the deck, watching the river and the shore go by. The formal part of this day began with an 8:00 breakfast in the ship's dining room on deck 2. Each day we would eat a traditional Chinese breakfast buffet. There was also western food for those who wanted it.
  • Around 9 AM, we docked in Yueyang in Hunan Province. We debarked, boarded a bus, and travelled down a very rough road to the city of Yueyang and the famous Yueyang Tower on the just as famous Dongting Lake. We spent about an hour at the tower, then were bussed into the city to view some dancers from one of China's many minority groups at a gift shop, where we spent another 45 minutes or so.
  • We returned to the cruise ship around 12:30 and had lunch at 1:00.
  • The afternoon was free. Along with our friends, we sat on the deck watching China go past. The weather today, as it was most days, was pretty good, with temperatures in the low 70s. A haze hung in the air.
  • At 6:15, we attended the captain's welcome reception, followed by dinner at 7:00. After dinner, many of the crew members put on a fashion show, modelling traditional Chinese dress dating back to 200 B.C.
  • We tried to do some karaoke singing after the show was over (it's a hobby of ours we do at home with several friends every Saturday night), but the guys who ran it were less than cooperative. They said they couldn't find the songs we wanted, that everything was in disarray, and we wouldn't be able to sing. We did manage to get a song or two off, but that was about it. We spent some more time on deck, as we did every night, then retired for the evening.
  
  
• Day 6 - October 9th, Tuesday
  • Early in the morning, we were up on the deck again, then we had breakfast around 8:00. The morning was free, and we spent a lot of time on the deck, watching the river and the shore and talking to other cruise members. Besides our tour group of 38 people, there were three other tour groups on the cruise.
  • We had lunch at 12:30 today. We all then gathered on deck as we approached the Gezhouba Dam lock which we had to go through so the ship could be raised up to meet the river on the other side of the dam. It seemed like we spent an inordinate amount of time waiting to get into, then out of the lock. As we waited in the lock, locals gathered above, watching and waiting for the ship to rise. When it did, we found ourselves at their level, almost face to face with them. The whole thing took so long, I felt they were old friends I was finally meeting.
  • Once past the Gezhouba Dam, we entered what historically has been considered the most dangerous part of the trip, the Xiling Gorge. The scenery was beautiful, leading us to Sandouping, the site of the Three Gorges Dam Project, the largest hydro-electric project in the world. We arrived late due to the time spent getting through the Gezhouba Dam lock, so picture opportunities were limited as the sun slipped away. We climbed to a point where we had a fantastic view of this massive construction project - it was quite imressive. We reboarded our bus and drove a short distance to see a model of the completed project, and, of course, to visit a gift shop.
  • We headed back to the ship, boarded, and began up-river again. The sky was clear and cool as we stood on the deck in the dark of the night.
  
  
• Day 7 - October 10th, Wednesday
  • This morning, I awoke about 3 AM and went to sit out on the hauntingly beautiful moonlit deck all by myself for about an hour. The sky was clear and thousands of stars were visible. Wow....
  • Later, about 5:30, Mei-O joined me, and just the two of us enjoyed the early morning cool air and mysterious mist enveloping the mountains around us. As the sun came out, the mist lifted to a glorious day.
  • After our 8 AM breakfast, we docked at Wushan around 9:30 for a water taxi ride up the Daning River into the Lesser Three Gorges. For about two hours we travelled upstream against a strong current through the first two of the Lesser Three Gorges. The water was crystal clear, quite a contrast to the muddy water of the Yangzi. These Lesser Gorges proved to be even more beautiful than the 'main' Three Gorges of the Yangzi! We saw some wild monkeys along the shore as we headed toward a small rocky beach where we debarked for about 40 minutes. There were plenty of peddlars there selling all kinds of junk, but we ended up just picking up a few rocks from the beach as souvenirs.
  • We returned to the ship for lunch - the trip was much quicker going downstream - then had a relaxing day on the deck until dinner at about 6:30.
  • After dinner, the crew and several passengers put on a talent show which turned out to be a lot of fun. We then went back up on the deck 'til bedtime.
  
  
• Day 8 - October 11th, Thursday
  • After our 8:00 breakfast, we docked at Wanxian for a shore excursion to an outdoor market. While most of our tour group went to the several blocks long market, we went shopping for video CDs for our Saturday Night Chinese Karaoke Club. We found a good music store a block or so up the street from where our bus dropped us off. Mei-O ended up buying somewhere around 12 VCDs. As we were walking around prior to heading back to the bus, we bought 30 oranges from a street vendor for 5 renminbi, about 65 cents! The street was very crowded with both locals and tourists. Walking and shopping amongst them was a lot of fun.
  • Around 11:00, we returned to the ship to head off on the last leg of our cruise - from Wanxian to Chongqing.
  • After lunch, we hung out on the deck with many of our fellow travellers. At 3:00, we attended a complimentary coffee in the ship's lounge, taking some juice and cookies back out on the deck where we could enjoy the scenery.
  • Later this afternoon, there were a few lectures, one on kite making which we didn't attend, and one by the ship's artist on Chinese painting which we did attend.
  • At 7:00, we attended the captain's farewell banquet, this being our last night on the ship. It included some of the cruise's best food and, of course, champagne.
  • After dinner, we relaxed on deck until it was time to turn in.
  
  
• Day 9 - October 12th, Friday
  • We got up early today, the last day of our cruise. We had to have our bags packed and in the hallway outside our cabin door by 8:00. We packed, then went to breakfast at 8:00.
  • Around 11:30, we arrived in Chongqing, the end point of our Yangzi River cruise.
  • We headed to the Holiday Inn for lunch, then off through the winding, hilly streets of the city to the General Stillwell Museum. We (Mei-O and I) didn't go into the museum, since we didn't come to China to see American stuff. Instead we took a walk down the hill to see what we could see. Again, it was nice to be on our own, just roaming the streets.
  • Next, we stopped at an artists' colony where 17 artists in residence painted and did wood-block prints. The artwork was beautiful, some traditional, some very modern. The grounds overlooked the river far below and were very well-kept, filled with interesting trees and flowers, creating a very relaxed atmosphere, kind of what you'd expect in an artists' colony.
  • Next, we were off to the Chongqing Zoo to see the Pandas. We got there right at their feeding time (the best time to see them), but had to quickly rush off to the Chongqing Airport to catch our flight to Xian.
  • Our flight took about 75 minutes. In Xian, we checked into the Xian Sheraton Hotel where we had dinner, then retired to our room for the night.
  
  
• Day 10 - October 13th, Saturday
  • This morning after breakfast, we boarded a bus to take us to the tomb of the emperor Qinshihuang, about an hour's ride, to see the 2,200 year old terra cotta army that protects him in death. We ate lunch at the restaurant on the museum grounds, then hopped on our bus back into the city of Xian.
  • In Xian, we visited a jade carving factory that was basically a big factory store which sold their wares at prices from $20 for small items (earrings, etc.) to well into the thousands of dollars for the more exquisite pieces. I wasn't too impressed, so I headed out onto the sidewalk out front to watch the city go by. That was quite enjoyable.
  • Our tour group then went to an art museum, but Mei-O and I and some friends decided to go visit the very famous Dayan Pagoda in the Dacien Temple which was right next door to the art museum (what luck!). We spent about 40 minutes there, then joined our tour group in the museum. We were able to look around there for about 15 minutes before it was time to leave.
  • We then spent a while driving around Xian, as our local guide pointed out various points of interest, including several large pagodas and the old Xian city walls. This city tour eventually ended up at the Xian Airport where we had dinner, then boarded the plane for our one hour flight to Beijing.
  • Upon arriving in Beijing, we checked into the Great Wall Sheraton for a well needed sleep.
  • Before turning in, having noticed the Beijing Hard Rock Cafe right next to the hotel, I decided to take a walk to check it out and pick up a souvenir a friend of mine asked me to get for him. It was a short walk away, and on the way, I was asked by a pair of well-dressed young ladies if I wanted a 'massage'. I continued on my way, getting to the hard-rocking Hard Rock Cafe safely, picking up a Beijing Hard Rock Cafe guitar pin souvenir for my friend, and returning back to the hotel with no further propositions. Whew!
  
  
• Day 11 - October 14th, Sunday
  • Breakfast was at 8:00, then we took off for a trip to a cloisonne factory and gift shop We bought a small cloisonne vase there.
  • Our next stop took us to a 'Friendship Store', a giant tourist shopping mart selling every kind of souvenir you could want under one roof. Friendship Stores are all over China wherever tourists visit. I think you have to be a foreign tourist to get in (there was a military guard at the front entrance gate). We ate lunch at a restaurant attached to the store, probably the worst lunch of the whole trip. We spent over an hour browsing through the store, but didn't buy anything. (I thought prices were outrageous. I have a replica of a Tang Dynasty horse that I bought in Chinatown in Boston a few years ago for $60 that was selling here for over $800!)
  • After lunch and shopping, we headed to the Valley of the Ming Tombs where 13 of the Ming Dynasty's 16 emperors are buried. We walked down the Sacred Way, a long sidewalk lined with statues of animals, soldiers, and mythical beasts. This led to a museum, the Changling Emporer's Exhibition Hall, where we spent some time viewing artifacts removed from one of the tombs that has been opened.
  • Next stop, the Great Wall! It had started raining lightly, but that didn't deter anyone from taking the climb. The Wall was crawling with tourists, both Chinese and foreign. The autumn colors were at their finest. There were two ways to follow the Wall: the left branch was the easier, less steep, but more crowded branch, while the right branch was much steeper but much less crowded. We chose the right branch, and made it to the one of the highest points along that route. The Great Wall trek was awesome! Unfortunately, it was during this part of the trip where we took many, many pictures with Mei-O's camera with no film in it, one of the greatest disappointments of the trip.
  • We left the Great Wall and headed back to Beijing and to our hotel, about a 1 1/2 hour ride, for dinner and some time to relax.
  
  
• Day 12 - October 15th, Monday
  • We had breakfast on the top (the twenty-somethingth) floor of the Great Wall Sheraton around 7:30. Today was to be the last day of sightseeing (we'd be leaving tomorrow) and, as it turned out, the busiest. We saw, one right after another, the Temple of Heaven, Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and its Imperial Gardens, and the Summer Palace, finally ending up taking a boat ride on the lake at the Summer Palace. All of the sightseeing was both exhilirating and exhausting, certainly the busiest day of the trip.
  • We returned to the hotel for a Beijing duck dinner, however, we decided to skip it (a wise decision, some of the others told us. The duck wasn't that good.) Instead, we headed out with three of our friends from Rochester to the Wangfujing shopping district by taxi. It was about a twenty minute $4 taxi ride (the five of us had to take two taxis since they're so small), and when we arrived there, there were neon lights, cars, trucks, and buses, and people everywhere! We walked around a lot and ended up going to a well-known shuayangrou (Chinese fire-pot) restaurant (recommended by one of the taxi drivers) on the top floor of an indoor mall. We had a delicious dinner - much more than we could finish - at a very reasonable price. All stuffed, we went back outside and walked around some more and did a little shopping, eventually taking a couple of taxis back to the hotel. Our trip was basically over.
  
  
• Day 13 - October 16th, Tuesday
  • Around 6:00, we arose, got our luggage ready, grabbed a quick breakfast, and headed to the Beijing Airport to catch our 9:10 flight to Detroit. The flight back was uneventful, much quicker than the flight over due to the strong tailwinds (and since it was direct from Beijing to Detroit). We ended up arriving home about 2 PM the same day, driving down to Rochester from the Twin Cities where we left our car while we were gone. The trip was done. Now we just needed a vacation to rest!