Tours

Shanghai: Shanghai Museum

Posted on June 1, 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 left Wuhan and flew to Shanghai on Sunday. Our schedule got re-arranged a bit as we were scheduled to see the Shanghai Museum the next day but since it was closed on Mondays we stopped by before we even went to the hotel. I was floored by the line to get in. Pro tip: go as part of a group so you can use the group entrance!

The Shanghai Museum

The museum was founded in 1952 and the current location was opened in 1996. There are over 120,000 pieces in its collection. The building has four or five levels and it has eleven permanent galleries and three temporary ones:

Gallery of Ancient Chinese Bronze
Gallery of Ancient Chinese Sculpture
Gallery of Ancient Chinese Ceramics
Gallery of Ancient Chinese Jades
Gallery of Ancient Chinese Paintings
Gallery of Ancient Chinese Calligraphy
Gallery of Ancient Chinese Seals
Gallery of Ancient Chinese Numismatics
Gallery of Chinese furniture in Ming and Qing dynasties
Gallery of Arts and Crafts by Chinese Minorities

Atrium of the Shanghai Museum

Here are just a few items that I found interesting.

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

Wuhan: Hubei Bells Performance and Provincial Museum

Posted on May 31, 2018 by 2btravel

The next morning, a Saturday, we awoke in Wuhan, the capital of the Hubei province and the most populous city in Central China with over 10.5M residents in the city itself and over 19M in the metro area. That’s roughly 3200 people per square mile.

Hubei Provincial Museum

Bells Performance

Our first stop for the day was the auditorium at the Hubei Provincial Museum where we would be treated to a bell performance. That doesn’t sound all that exciting but was actually pretty cool. I had visions of a number of different hand bells but this was different. These 65 bells were uncovered in the tomb of Marquis Yi who died approximately 430 BC. He was the ruler of Zeng, a minor state in what is now Hubei province.

These are zhong bells which means they are made of bronze and cast in a lens shape (think of two circles slightly intersecting) rather than a circular shape. The mouth of the bells also has a “cutaway” profile and on the outer surface there are 36 studs placed symmetrically on it. This allows these bells to produce two different tones, depending on what part of the bell is struck. The bells uncovered in the Marquis Yi tomb are still playable though the concert was performed on replicas.

There were six musicians, two on zither-like instruments, two on woodwinds and two playing the bells.

Musicians for the Bells Performance

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

Jingzhou City Walls Tour

Posted on May 29, 2018 by 2btravel

Our stop the next day was in Jingzhou (jing – zhō) where we could choose to go visit an elementary school that Viking helps support or we could go visit the ancient city walls. Of our immediate group of 12, 7 went to the school while the other 5 of us went to the city walls.

Today Jingzhou has just under 6M inhabitants but “only” about 1.2 live in what we’d consider the metro area. Due to being situated right on the river the city has been a transportation hub and distribution center for 6000 years.

Our bus took us to the visitor’s center and we began the easy walk toward the city walls. On the way there we stopped to look at this picturesque bridge.

Bridge in a Jingzhou park

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

Three Gorges Dam

Posted on May 27, 2018 by 2btravel

When we awakened the next morning we found that overnight we’d been through a series of locks and were now moored just downstream from the Three Gorges Dam. The dam is the world’s largest power station as far as installed capacity, meaning how many megawatts it can sustainably generate. The dam opened in 2009 but wasn’t fully functional until July 2012. The locks, which are off to the side were completed a bit later.

The government set up an excellent tour program for the dam. Our bus driver took us to the welcome center where we all checked in and then were put on one of the buses specifically for the tour. That dropped us off at the foot of a hill that had a series of escalators to take us to the upper-most viewing area.

Escalating up to the Observation Plaza

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

Cruising the Three Gorges

Posted on May 25, 2018 by 2btravel

After leaving Shibozhai, we had the remainder of the day to ourselves aboard the boat. It was terrific to be able to recharge our batteries a bit and there was always interesting scenery outside our balconies.

Our next day was spent sailing through two of the three gorges of the Yangtze. We entered the Qutang Gorge first. It’s the shortest, narrowest and (according to the literature) the most spectacular of the three.

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Categories: Asia, China, Cruises, River Cruise, Tours, Viking | Tags: Asia, China, River Cruise, Tours, 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

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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Tours

Shanghai: Shanghai Museum

Wuhan: Hubei Bells Performance and Provincial Museum

Hubei Provincial Museum

Bells Performance

Jingzhou City Walls Tour

Three Gorges Dam

Cruising the Three Gorges

Lhasa: Potala Palace

Lhasa: Canggu Nunnery and Sera Monastery

Lhasa: Jokhang Temple and Barkhor Market

Xi’an: Tang Dynasty Dinner and Show

Xi’an: Qing Dynasty Terra Cotta Warriors

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