In all our previous adventures of this magnitude (Iceland, Africa, Australia, etc.) the blog was written in near real time. That is, generally I wrote the entry for the day that evening. And as some of the days were long the corresponding blog entry was short - there's only so much time in a day... This trip was different in that I didn't take a computer or turn on my phone for the entire trip - mostly out of paranoia but some sage wit once said "It's not paranoia if they're really after you"... Anyway, this entire blog was written post travel and thus presented a different challenge, mostly in two areas.
First, we collectively took over 3,000 photos. There's probably at least 30 or so good ones... Picking out the photos for the blog, well after we'd returned to the states was, problematic. So many photos. Donna has created a Google Photo album of our pictures, I say our but they're really hers, I haven't included mine yet as I want to cull them for duplicates and other "only interesting to me" type photos (engineering geek stuff like train cable tension devices...). I'll get mine in there eventually. If you're interested in looking at our photos email Donna @ dfongtaylor@gmail.com, as she is the owner and the only one who can grant access.
Second, another sage wit (maybe the same one...) said "Memory is the second thing to go, I forgot what the first one is". That challenge came up again and again as I wrote this more than 2 months after the fact. Fortunately, between Donna and myself we could usually reconstruct what I was trying to convey with the help of the pictures. But, there is little in the blog I'd testify in court over...
The takeaway here is that I'll endeavor to write the blog entries daily as they occur on future trips (except and unless we go to Russia, but I don't see that happening...). So, with that rambling preamble, our trip to China in a nutshell...
- 28 Mar - 28 Apr
- 28 days in total including 2 trips across the international date line
- 8 airline flights
- 6 flights getting there and back (2 there, 4 back)
- 22,226 miles
- ~ 46 hrs in the air
- 2 flights in China
- 1,500 miles
- ~ 6 hrs in the air
- We made liberal use of the airline lounges, and they were nice (thanks Jared)
- 6 high speed trains in China (I'm still in awe...)
- Untold hours on tour busses (In awe not so much but I don't know of a better way of seeing so much so efficiently - trade-offs, life as we know it ...)
- 130 miles - walked!
- 13 hotels
- Including Marina Singapore Bay Sands, the nicest hotel we've ever been in
- I would guess 25-ish hotel buffet breakfasts
- Some better than others, none bad but the MBS buffet was the best ever
- I would guess something like 35-ish Chinese banquet type meals
- Again, some better than others but we were in no danger of ever being hungry...
- Extraordinary sights (and I'm sure I'll forget to mention a few...)
- China
- Great Wall
- Forbidden City
- Terracotta Army
- Summer Palace
- 2008 Olympic Park
- Xi'An City Wall
- Muslem Quarter and Great Mosque in XI'An
- The spectacular Lingyin Temple
- Longjing Tea Plantation
- Shanghai Library and French Concession
- Humble Adminstrator's Garden
- Grand Canal
- Yuyuan Garden
- Mei Guan Pass
- Guangdong Nanxiong Zhuji Ancient Alley
- Temple of the Six Banyan Trees
- Chen Clan Ancestral Hall
- Dexun Lin Ancestral Hall
- Introduction to Dr. Selia Tan
- Wuyi University
- Jiangmen Wuyi Overseas Chinese Museum
- Cangdong Cultural Heritage Village
- Kaiping Diaolou, Zili Village
- Liyuan Garden
- Baihe Town and Pier
- Grand Yu Ancestral Hall
- Baoguosi Temple
- Donna's Ancestral Villages
- Yanhu / Nganwo (maternal grandmother - Situ / Seto / Soo Hoo village)
- Long'Gang (paternal grandfather - Fong / Kuang village)
- Dong'Anli (maternal grandfather - Ong village)
- Zhutang (paternal grandmother - Yee village)
- Singapore
- Botanical garden (in particular, the orchid garden w/in the botanical garden)
- Raffles bar
- Swim in the MBS rooftop infinity pool
- Gardens by the Bay
- Changi Airport Jewel
Whew! When I list them all out like that we saw and did a lot! And I'm sure I missed some things.
It was a great trip by any measure - culturally, educationally, interestingly and more (I've run out of -ly descriptive words...). We met a lot of nice people, made some friends, met some relatives for the first time (well, Donna did...). Experienced all sorts of cuisine. All in all a truly unforgettable experience of a lifetime.
