Viking

Shibaozhai Temple

Posted on May 23, 2018 by 2btravel

Exploring Asia Overview
Cathay Pacific B777-300ER Business Class San Francisco to Hong Kong
Cathay Pacific Lounge Review: The Cabin at HKG
Cathay Dragon A330-300 Business Class Hong Kong to Beijing
Lodging Review: Regent Beijing Hotel
Beijing: Dongcheng District
Beijing: The Great Wall
Beijing: Run-ze Jade Garden
Beijing: The Sacred Way of the Ming Tombs
Beijing: The Legend of Kung Fu
Beijing: Tiananmen Square
Beijing: The Forbidden City
Beijing: Hutong Tour via Rickshaw, Tea Tasting, Flying to Xi’an
Lodging Review: Hotel Shangri-La Xi’an
Xi’an: Qing Dynasty Terra Cotta Warriors
Xi’an: Tang Dynasty Dinner and Show
Xi’an Wrap-Up, Flying to Lhasa, Lhasa Home Visit
Lodging Review: Shangri-La Hotel Lhasa
Lhasa: Jokhang Temple and Barkhor Market
Lhasa: Canggu Nunnery and Sera Monastery
Lhasa: Potala Palace
Leaving Lhasa and Flying to Chongqing
Viking Emerald
Shibaozhai Temple
Cruising the Three Gorges
Three Gorges Dam
Jingzhou City Walls Tour
Wuhan: Hubei Bells Performance and Provincial Museum
Shanghai: Shanghai Museum
Lodging Review: Fairmont Peace Hotel, Shanghai
Shanghai: Old Shanghai and Yuyan Gardens
Lodging Review: The New Otani Tokyo Hotel
Tokyo: City Tour
Mt. Fuji and Hakone Tour Returning by Shinkansen
ANA Suites Lounge Review, Tokyo Narita
All Nippon Airways B777-300ER First Class Tokyo Narita to Houston

We awoke the next morning to find ourselves already at our first port of call. The view from our balcony gave us a clue of what we’d be exploring today.

This is Shibaozhai, which means “precious stone fortress”. This multi-story pagoda is built against the side of a stone hill and at the top is a temple. But first, we had to reach the area. Continue reading →

Categories: Asia, China, River Cruise, Viking | Tags: Asia, China, River Cruise, Viking | Leave a comment

Viking Emerald

Posted on May 21, 2018 by 2btravel

Our previous experience with Viking boats was on the 3-deck boats that cruise the rivers of Europe, like the Rhine and the Danube. The boat that is known as the Viking Emerald is not like that at all. During the cruise we learned that only Chinese-owned boats were allowed to traverse Chinese rivers, so this boat was actually owned by a Chinese company and leased by Viking though it was apparent that Viking had been in charge of the decor as there were lots of similarities to the European river cruise boats.

The Emerald (right) at our first port of call

As we had previously experienced, we received a warm welcome once we arrived – perhaps even more than usual because the staff was all aware of the ordeal we’d been through in Lhasa. The boat was already bustling with other passengers who’d done the Imperial Jewels of China tour. That tour is the same as our Roof of the World tour but without the stop in Tibet. Though the Emerald is a little larger than the European boats, the lobby made us feel right at home as the layout was very similar.

The Emerald has six decks (Viking deck plan):

Deck 1 is mostly below waterline and is for the crew
Deck 2 has the restaurant in the stern, the lobby, and passenger cabins in the bow
Decks 3 & 4 have passenger cabins both fore and aft
Deck 5 has passenger cabins in the stern and the Observation Lounge in the bow.
Deck 6 has an outdoor area in the stern, the gym, beauty salon, doctor, spa and internet cafe mid-ship and the bar in the bow

An elevator is available on Decks 2-5. Once reaching Deck 5 it was quite an impressive view down to the lobby floor.

View from Deck 5 down to the lobby

My roommate for this trip wanted to be sure we had a great time so we booked a suite, which at 301 sq. ft. was about 50 sq. ft. larger than the standard cabins. Unlike the European boats, all passenger cabins on the Viking have a balcony, though they’re all quite small. Continue reading →

Categories: Asia, China, River Cruise, Viking | Tags: Asia, China, River Cruise, Viking | Leave a comment

Leaving Lhasa and Flying to Chongqing

Posted on May 19, 2018 by 2btravel

Leaving Lhasa

It was another travel day but we had a late morning flight so we could sleep in a little, the weather was gorgeous so everything should be perfect. With an intro like that you know what’s coming, right?

Continue reading →

Categories: Asia, China, River Cruise, Tibet, Viking | Tags: Asia, China, River Cruise, Tibet, Viking | Leave a comment

Lhasa: Potala Palace

Posted on May 17, 2018 by 2btravel

We had been at altitude for two nights and now it was time for our big test. Could we survive the climb to the Potala Palace, home to Dalai Lamas for centuries? For some of us the answer was no; some did not even go visit the palace at all. Others went and climbed to the main entrance but did not actually go inside the palace walls. For the rest of us we took our time and made it without issue.

The palace is named after Mount Potalaka, the mythical residence of a being that embodies compassion. Construction was begun in 1645 on the orders of the Fifth Dalai Lama. The walls are an average of 3 meters thick – 5 meters thick at the base. The building stands thirteen stories tall and contains over 1000 rooms, 10,000 shrines and 200,000 statues. It was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994.

We had the chance to take some photos from a favorable spot at street level before starting our journey upwards.

The Potala Palace from street level

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Categories: Asia, China, River Cruise, Tibet, Tours, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Viking | Tags: Asia, China, River Cruise, Tibet, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Viking | Leave a comment

Lhasa: Canggu Nunnery and Sera Monastery

Posted on May 15, 2018 by 2btravel

We were originally supposed to visit the Tibetan Museum during our visit but it was closed for renovation, so we made a brief visit to the Canggu Nunnery instead. While Catholic nuns typically cover their heads, Buddhist nuns shave theirs and their habits are very similar to the monks’ garments so when we first saw a nun outside the nunnery some of didn’t realize at first it was a woman we were seeing.

A nun washes a pot outside the nunnery

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Categories: Asia, China, River Cruise, Tibet, Tours, Viking | Tags: Asia, China, River Cruise, Tibet, Tours, Viking | Leave a comment

Lhasa: Jokhang Temple and Barkhor Market

Posted on May 13, 2018 by 2btravel

Of our two full days of touring Lhasa, the first morning was spent at the Jokhang Temple and the Barkhor Market area that surrounds it.

We were let out on a street corner not far from the pedestrian-only entrance to the market and made our way up to a large plaza. The Jokhang Temple is a Buddhist place of worship and is the spiritual center of Tibet. The oldest portions of the buildings date from the mid-650s. As with most buildings this old it has served a number of purposes over the years, been occupied by different religious and secular groups and has undergone a number of renovations. The most recent renovation wrapped up in the early 1980s. It was named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1994.

But well before we got anywhere close to the temple we saw worshipers like these folks who were praying outside the entrance to the plaza. If you’re familiar with the exercises called “burpees”, that is very similar to what these folks were doing: they’d stand up straight, often with their arms over their head, kneel down on both knees and slide their hands forward on the ground until the were completely prone, then slide their hands back toward their knees until they were kneeling and then stand up again. The had either knee pads or something soft to kneel on and pads with straps on the top that they could easily slip their hands in and out of to make the sliding a bit easier. The whole time they did this they were quietly praying.

Morning Worshipers just outside the gates of the plaza

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Categories: Asia, China, River Cruise, Tibet, Tours, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Viking | Tags: Asia, China, River Cruise, Tibet, Tours, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Viking | Leave a comment

Lodging Review: Shangri-La Hotel Lhasa

Posted on May 11, 2018 by 2btravel

After visiting the local home, we were all ready to get to the hotel that would be our home for the next three nights, the Shangri-La Lhasa. Nothing in the city of Lhasa is very far away from anything else so it didn’t take us long to reach the hotel’s drive. The hotel is on a fairly major street but has a high wall between the sidewalk and the hotel. The end of the hotel that’s closest to the street is actually part of the conference center so there’s no need to worry about any traffic noise – not that I think it would truly be an issue.

The hotel’s drive continues down beside the building all the way past the conference wing to the lobby. The lobby itself was quite large with numerous seating spaces available. To the left was the buffet restaurant, Altitude. A jag left from there and then straight ahead and you were in the conference wing.

Shangri-La Lhasa Lobby

Shangri-La Lhasa Lobby Seating

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Categories: Asia, China, Hotel, Lodging Review, River Cruise, Shangri-La, Tibet, Viking | Tags: Asia, China, Hotel Review, Lodging Review, River Cruise, Shangri-La, Tibet, Viking | Leave a comment

Xi’an Wrap-Up, Flying to Lhasa, Lhasa Home Visit

Posted on May 9, 2018 by 2btravel

Xi’an Wrapup

For a city I’d barely even heard of, I found Xi’an quite interesting. Like many places in China it’s quite the mix of the old and the new.

It’s the third oldest city in China and has been continuously inhabited since about 1100 BC. By contrast Beijing is about 55 years younger and Shanghai doesn’t even make the top 25 list. It’s the start of the Silk Road and is oldest of the Four Great Ancient Capitals, which also includes Beijing, Nanjing and Luoyang.

On the other hand the city was very modern and is the most populous in Northwest China (though geographically it’s not in western China) while emerging as a hub for China’s space exploration program, national security and research and development.

In general, I wouldn’t want to drive in China but in particular I wouldn’t want to drive in Xi’an. Motorbikes dart everywhere but miraculously we never saw a wreck anywhere in China, perhaps because people don’t drive very fast. Whereas in America we seem to hold fast to the ‘this is my spot in my lane don’t you dare interfere’ principle, in China it’s a bit more go-with-the-flow type of driving. But at least they drive on the “right” side of the road!

Motorbikes and Pedestrians crowd the crossing

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Categories: Asia, China, River Cruise, Tibet, Viking | Tags: Asia, China, River Cruise, Tibet, Viking | Leave a comment

Xi’an: Tang Dynasty Dinner and Show

Posted on May 7, 2018 by 2btravel

After our trip to see the Terra Cotta Warriors we stopped for lunch at a restaurant that “just so happened” to be inside a building that also housed a shop selling jade and beautifully lacquered furniture. Yes, it was basically another tourist trap but they did have some lovely things and I ended up buying a couple of tiny jade figures, just to commemorate the trip.

Once back at the hotel we had the late afternoon to ourselves. In the evening some of us chose to attend the Tang Dynasty Dinner & Show as an optional excursion. We were taken by bus to the theater where we enjoyed Cantonese cuisine before the show.

The story is based on the life of Mei-niang who was born in 624 AD. As a young teen she was the concubine of the Taizong Emperor but when he died, she was sent to a nunnery for several years.

Mei-niang is just one of several lovely young women trying to catch the eye of the emperor

She had known the future Emperor Gaozong while she lived in the palace and once he took over, she became his first wife and when he died, she became Empress Wu Ze-tian in 690 AD.

Dancing with the emperor

Her story is told in five acts from being selected as a young woman to her ascension to the throne. It’s quite dramatic with lots of dancing and amazing costumes.

After her husband dies, Mei-niang becomes Empress

The Empress ascends the throne

I thought the show was well worth seeing. Those of us who had paid for dinner had better seats than those who had only come for the show, so my recommendation would be to do both activities. The food was good and there was plenty of it so even if everything wasn’t to your taste there was still plenty of other things to eat.

This is a fun evening and I managed to learn a bit about a historical figure that I had known nothing of before this performance.

Categories: Asia, China, River Cruise, Tours, Viking | Tags: Asia, China, River Cruise, Tours, Viking | Leave a comment

Xi’an: Qing Dynasty Terra Cotta Warriors

Posted on May 5, 2018 by 2btravel

Our day in Xi’an was a beautiful one. Still a little cool but sunny skies were plentiful. Today was one of the highlights of the tour for me. I moved to Memphis in 1994 and the next year there was an exhibit at the convention center called Imperial Tombs of China featuring some of the terra cotta warriors. I talked a friend into going with me so it was a thrill for us to see the warriors in their “natural habitat” some 22 years later.

Qin Shi Huang (chin shee hwang) was the first emperor of China. He took the throne in 246 BC at the age of 13 and that’s when this project began as an appropriate burial spot was found using feng shui. As was noted with the Ming Tombs, the tomb is at the base of a mountain which extends around it in a curving fashion, almost as if the emperor is in a chair with arms on either side for protection.

Emperor Qin says hi

By the time Qin died in 210 BC at the age of 49, the project had grown to approximately 38 square miles and it is estimated that there are over 8000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses and another 150 cavalry horses contained in three large archeological pits. Most of these figures have not and will not be uncovered until technology advances further. The figures were painted when they were buried yet in as little as 15 seconds after exposure to the dry air the colors begin to peel and fade. A fourth large pit was found but is empty. Outside the main necropolis were a number of smaller pits containing non-military figures such as bronze carriages, terra cotta acrobats and strong men, stone armor suits and burial sites of both horses and laborers.

After going through the gates, it’s a bit of a walk to reach the pits. It’s not a difficult walk but it is perhaps a kilometer away. Alternately you can pay to ride the tram (as was included with our Viking tour). I found it amusing that here among ancient tombs, the presence of McDonald’s was on display.

Trams, I’m Lovin’ It!

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Categories: Asia, China, River Cruise, Tours, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Viking | Tags: Asia, China, River Cruise, Tours, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Viking | Leave a comment

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Viking

Shibaozhai Temple

Viking Emerald

Leaving Lhasa and Flying to Chongqing

Leaving Lhasa

Lhasa: Potala Palace

Lhasa: Canggu Nunnery and Sera Monastery

Lhasa: Jokhang Temple and Barkhor Market

Lodging Review: Shangri-La Hotel Lhasa

Xi’an Wrap-Up, Flying to Lhasa, Lhasa Home Visit

Xi’an Wrapup

Xi’an: Tang Dynasty Dinner and Show

Xi’an: Qing Dynasty Terra Cotta Warriors

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