While I am in Suzhou

I've been in Suzhou for a while now, so there is plenty that still needs writing out. So, let's talk about the present.
My private tour ended in Shanghai, so from there we took the train arranged by China Tour agency in advance straight to the city of Suzhou. It was about a 40 minute ride westward. After we finally reached the exit of the station, I met my Chinese friend for the first time. Liu looked even shorter in person, haha, and was an incredible host to both me and Tony. Along with her she treated us to a nice lunch at a little local restaurant. It was here that Tony was finally able to try the chicken feet he had asked for on several occasions on the tour. I thought they were okay, I prefer something a little meatier. An amusing anecdote: our China Tour guide told us that while practically everything at home is "made in China", China imports tons of chicken feet from America (and just the feet) to meet the demand for this peculiar dish.
Liu has been an incredible host for the near month I have been here so far, finding us an apartment, setting up our internet, taking us to the bank, showing us how to use the buses, translating for us, and treating us to more meals than I can count. She even picked out a cheap perfume-free laundry detergent for me. A pity she couldn't be around during the day when we were hanging out at the apartment, as she is a working woman. While it was easy enough for me and Tony to get around on the buses, given we had our destination written out fairly well in Chinese words, once you actually get somewhere it's pretty difficult not to have a translator. I can recall two rather humorous situations. One time I was riding the bus to Liu's work to meet her for dinner, and I needed the women sitting next to me to move so I could get off at the next stop. When I motioned to get up, she made room for me, to which I replied "bu ke qi". As she looked at me strangely, I realized had said "you're welcome" instead of "thank you." Another time we had just finished eating dinner at a restaurant, and it was my turn to pay. I handed the waitress 100 yuan to cover it and said "gei wo yibai yuan" and if the Chinese raised their eyebrows at all I imagine she would have done so right then. I literally said "give me 100 yuan" instead of "here's 100 yuan." Mistakes such as these aside, Liu always helps to correct my poor Chinese and I've picked up quite a bit so far.
So far I like Suzhou quite a bit. It's a pretty charming city, not anywhere near as crowded as Shanghai. There are some lovely views and some great traditional areas to visit. I just hope I can find the time to see the more outdoorsy areas to the West and South before my time here is up. Some interesting things about Suzhou foreigners are not as common as in the other cities we visited, so people reacted to me and Tony's presence quite differently. When we go out to eat, people are taken aback when I ask for more tea in Chinese and seem happy to see a foreigner take in their culture. Suzhou is undergoing a lot of construction, much like everywhere else I have visited. There is a new complex being erected right next to Liu's work, where you can watch how much progress they make day by day. It's impressive. The end result is that many areas of Suzhou look brand-new it's really a pleasure to see. At the same time there exist many traditional districts, gardens, and temples where you can get a glimpse of the China that you see on history channel specials. And best yet, like everywhere else the whole place lights up at night and traditional music is often played. Evenings in Suzhou are gorgeous, so many different colors and sounds. At one point my jaw dropped in amazement as I realized the office building in front of me was playing a 30 story game of Tetris. Simply amazing!
Eating here is an absolute pleasure. Before we started travel here our guide from Top China Trip already recommended some local snacks of Suzhou. We go out to local restaurants almost every night, as it seems to be fairly common. Sometimes I absolutely love the flavors and the cooking, and other times it's a little too exotic for me (lunch a few days ago was duck tongue, pig's feet, and chicken heart soup). But when it's good, it's good and there's plenty to go around. And oh my God is it cheap. The other night me and Liu had a very pleasant and filling dinner for 38 yuan total (that's roughly $6 for two people), and you can go even lower than that. A bowl of rice noodles in soup, bigger than your head mind you and way more than you can eat, costs about 10 yuan. Not even a dollar and fifty cents. While it's no home-cooked porterhouse steak, I like the way they do the beef and pork here in particular.
Some areas of the city are very westernized, particularly the shopping malls. Turns out Pizza Hut in China is one hell of classy joint. KFC is in abundance, as is Starbucks. The entire thing just feels rich, complete with a small amusement park (complete with glow-in-the-dark ferris wheel). There's a lovely view of this tower out in the middle of the lake, and several traditional style boats can be seen floating about.

So that's all for today, don't want to make this too awfully long. In the future I'll talk about some of the neat places me and Tony saw in Suzhou, and. This weekend we're going to go visit the Shanghai World Expo, so I'll have plenty on that.

While I am in Xian

Finally I am here travel China in Xi’an of Shanxi province. From my China Tour agency advisor Linda I know that Xi'an used to be the capital of China in a much earlier time. Xi’an, the eternal city, records the great changes of the Chinese nation just like a living history book. Called Chang'an in ancient times, Xi’an is one of the birthplaces of the ancient civilization in the Yellow River Basin area of the country. It's geographic location surrounded by mountains provided a natural barrier. It also makes it insanely humid. Anywhere you went in Xi'an, you could find cranes a plenty. It's really convenient that the private tour has guided us to see the Xi’an city attractions. Situated in the heart of the city is an ancient City Wall that still stands in great condition. Within the wall were many office buildings and the hustle and bustle of night life, not to mention our fancy hotel.
The first thing we saw the next morning in Xi'an was the infamous Terra Cotta Warrior army. They are considered the 8th wonder of the world, and are impressive to see in person. Our tour guide, Susan, from Top China Trip was extremely knowledgeable about them and told us everything there is to know. At times I wondered why Susan was not a historian. Anyway, the Terra Cotta warriors are actually larger than life-size, standing like 7 or 8 feet tall I believe. And contrary to what you would think from the popular photographs, most of them were in brilliant color. The exposure when they were excavated actually wore away the paint or whatever it was that the ancient sculpters used. I was lucky enough to have watched a history special on the warriors, which detailed the life of China's first emperor. Qin Shi Huang (or Huangdi?) was the emperor of the Qin dynasty, which was the first ever unified China. He was a pretty power-hungry guy, and longed to be immortal. I think the records indicate that his advisors told him to consume mercury as a means to longevity, which ultimately killed him. He had the warriors built in order to spiritually guard him in the afterlife. Actually seeing them, the organization was most impressive. They were arranged in ancient battle formations, as if ready to march. Additionally, they were designed down to the tiniest detail. Susan said they were uniquely modeled after soldiers in the actual army, which blows your mind considering how many of them there are and how long it must have taken to make them all.
The next order of business in Xi'an was the "Big Wild Goose Pagoda". A pagoda is similar to a tower I guess, with traditional Chinese architecture. While I didn't get a chance to actually scale the tower, the park surrounding it was impressive. The whole thing is a place of worship for Buddhists, so you could find plenty of Buddhist art depicting stories central to the religion. There was even a procession of some sort walking around. Near the back of the park was a building that had these amazing, huge epics carved out of wood or marble. Imagine a very long painting stretching around a room, but made out of marble and in 3D. I want one. There were also several decorations made out of gold. I think the story of the pagoda is that there were some Buddhist monks who were starving and prayed to the Buddha for food, at which point a couple of geese flew down next to them.

In honor of this spiritual event, a pagoda was built and still stands as an icon of Xi'an to this day.

Before we retired for the evening after our first day in Xi'an, we were treated to a Tang dynasty musical show, which was included in my private tour. It has several pleasant instrumental and dance performances, all of the traditional style. It was extremely colorful too, very aesthetic. Immediately following this was a dumpling feast! They brought out dumplings made out of so many different meats and vegetables, it was quite good. An interesting anecdote: Yan (my pen pal) scold me for calling everything wrapped in dough a dumpling, because in China they all have different names. Really, today is an eventful day and thanks to my travel agency TopChinaTrip arranged an enjoyable travel in Xi’an. Many thanks, Love Xi’an.

Kunming, Dali, Lijiang tour

When we arrived in Kunming we were see the airport was right in the middle of the city just as our China Tour agency said. The airport is under construction at a fair

distance from Kunming.
At the Camillia Hostel we took a double room and joined the Hostels Association of China for 50RMB to get a 10RMB discount on each night in a YHA hostel. By the time we got to Dali we had recouped the membership fee. The hostel was quiet as has been most of the accommodation we have stayed in China.

We walked uptown on Sunday afternoon, found some specials which we searched at Top China Trip website before we are shopping. Afterwards we checked out the Hump hostel.
It was drizzling as we caught a local bus to the eastern bus Station for a 27RMB each ($4.50) 90 minute bus trip to Shilin. The huge new Eastern Bus Station is still under construction, which together with the thousands of Chinese heading off to all parts of the province and beyond really helped to make this an experience in organised chaos - somehow everyone managed to find the correct bus.

Thoroughly soaked we caught the bus back to Kunming (to add insult to injury they played a ear-piercingly, screeching Chinese comedy show in the bus on the way back) and had a few Dali beers to get over the whole experience.

It rained heavily night but we had a pleasant meal with a Canadian couple who gave us much valuable information about the next part of our trip through Yunnan Province to Dali, Lijiang and Zhongdian (Shangri-La).

Early next day (Tuesday) we caught a taxi to the West Bus Station, and what a difference! Everything was well organized and we were soon on our express bus to Dali and heading along a new expressway in relative comfort. That all ended at the detour about half way into the trip - we left the freeway and commenced a horror 90minute trip on local roads while it rained heavily all the way, up and down steep ravens, overtaking on blind bends, the road littered with broken down vehicles and heavy trucks. It was a miracle that we made it to Dali only an hour over schedule!

It was still raining when we made it to the Jade Emu Hostel owned by Aussie Dave. This is a really nice hostel built in the local NAXI style with a beautiful courtyard. We took the most expensive room 150RMB ($25) for a bit of comfort. The weather in Dali was not the best - wet but bearable.
One local described the weather as “like a baby’s face” - very changeable!

Dali was not what we expected - the old town is quite large (much bigger than Yangshuo, but it has all been rebuilt in the Naxi style not many truly old buildings remain (the result of an earth quake I think) - another example of Chinese mass tourism and it was relatively quiet when we were there! Marauding tour groups endlessly parade the main thoroughfares, headed by the ubiquitous flag waving tour leaders who harangue their Chinese and Korean customers to keeping the schedule and buy more souvenirs. While the old town is large, it is filled with many shops selling the same or similar touristy product.

At night time the streets are a lot quieter and it is easier to appreciate Dali’s charm. There is a vast array of bars and good restaurants to choose from - we had some terrific meals at Namaste (Indian), Café Go Go, Jacks Place, the Tower, Kaiyi’s and Clare’s. Meals are 20 - 40RMB ($ 3.33 - $6.66 for mains). We bought some warm gear for the trip up to Lijiang and Zhongdian, and had a great foot massage on the last day.

It was raining when we left Dali by express bus to Lijiang, another 4 hour trip. We eventually found the International Youth Hostel 80RMB ($13.33) (we also later found another with the same name a Chinese practice it seems) after a confusing walk around the myriad of narrow lanes which form the old town.

Lijiang is a mix of local Wenxi culture and buildings, with a smattering of Tibetan thrown in for good measure. The old town has a number of open water ways flowing through the town (you need to be careful not to fall in) and large water wheels at the town entry.


It is quite large like Dali and just as commercialized, but there are a large number of good bars and restaurants - that is bars by day excellent Momo), N’s Kitchen, and Le Petite Paris to name a few we ate in. Just like Dali there are a myriad of souvenir shops all selling much the same wares for much the same prices.

That all about the tour around the city Yunnan and we spent three happy days with the local people there and thanks for our guide Amy from China Tour, Tomorrow we will take the overnight train transfer to Nanning.

China Yangtze River Cruise

China tour is always what my friends and I dreamt of. Before finally setting off, we surfed online for China travel agencies, to see if there is one that can help us. And we booked the service from Top China Trip after careful comparison. Following their arrangement, we chose the Yangtze River Cruise Package Tour.
With the guide’s help, we docked in Badong, China at some point during the night so that's where we took off from today. We went thru the Wu Gorge, had breakfast, and then docked at some city where we hopped on a ferry that would take us thru smaller gorge (called the "Lesser Gorges" or "Little Three Gorges"). Beautiful scenery. We always think it so lucky for us to visit China. We then hop onto an even smaller boat to fit into the last and smallest gorge. During this boat trip, one of the guys on the boat demonstrates how we should wear their hat and "cape" thing and most of us give it a shot and have our picture taken (and tip him).

Along the way on the river (for both the ferry and the smaller boat), there are interesting little tid bits of life. One is that there are quite a few "casket caves". These are aptly named- they have caskets in them so that the departed have nice views still. Some of the caskets are gone, due to vandalism or flooding (some are quite close to the river). Also, at one point on the small boat there was someone up in their hillside home (aka- a hut/tent thing) playing some whistle instrument for us little boats that drove by. No way to tip this person, they were just doing it to add to our enjoyment. Very nice. We start heading back to the MS Fortune and myself, David, Ellen, Anna and Jenny play some cards (a game that Ellen and Anna taught us- fun, I'll teach ya!) Back on the MS Fortune, we pass thru a few more gorges and set our sites on destination Fengdu. One of the gorges was the inspiration for the background landscape on the 10 Yuan (RMB) so of course I had to have another picture taken with me holding a 10 (couldn't let the 20 Yuan picture feel special.)

That night, after dinner, myself, Anna and Jenny play some Mahjong. The boat has a room set up specifically for this and we have plenty of help to get us thru the game. Another passenger on the trip, Chinese lady, doesn't speak ANY English, sits down ands joins us and shows us how (reminds me) how to play with just her actions. She is so sweet and nice. Sue has one of the masseuse ladies standing behind her and helping her out and Jenny has some male passenger helping her with her hand. I was on my own and lost. I blame it on not having a team of 2, but it could be 'cause I'm not good at the game. The jury is still out on that one.

After a few hands of Mahjong we have to wrap it up because tonight is the talent show. David is brave enough to get up and sings "If You're Happy and You Know It Clap Your Hands" in Mandarin. Must have said it right because the other passengers applauded enthusiastically. Then, Anna and Ellen participated in Musical Chairs and later in the final dance (which was the Chinese Bunny Hop). In between all that, the crew had little dance numbers that were interesting to watch. After the show, everyone heads back to their room but not before we snag a couple of shots of the group with Coco. Our China tour ends.

Here I have suggestions for those friends who want to travel China, the travel agency is very important. With no familiar persons in there, we can only rely on the travel agents and the guide, the service they arrange for us. I should say, Top China Trip, with her years of professional private travel experience and considerate attitudes towards the customers, has done an excellent job!

Sanya&Guilin Travel

I have heard that Guilin and Hainan is good places to spend holiday. There, you can enjoy the blue water and the sky, the sunshine on the beach, and the delicious local dishes and snacks. I was happy that I got the tailor-made itinerary by topchinatrip. Of course, the private tour is better than group tour greatly and more convenience. As we all know, “Guilin's scenery is the best in the world” and the Elephant Trunk Hill is especially heard often. I was glad I had that chance to travel the Elephant Trunk Hill. We were eager to finding the huge elephant. I was surprised when I saw the green elephant, which situated in the confluence of the Lijiang River and the Peach Blossom River, elongation of the nose riverside water. Going along the Lijiang River, the water was so clean that I cannot help playing with it and the cool and refreshing water danced between my toes. Lijiang River was like a Jade green crystal, which was stamped below its feet by the huge elephant. There was a pigeon garden near the Lijiang River, where attracted me for I love birds very much. All the pigeons pecked the food in my hand and some pigeons come to my shoulder. Their pecking made me tickling. Then, we came to the famous attraction, the End of the earth, in Hainan. Chinese people called it “Tian Ya Hai Jiao”. End of the earth had different styles of reef communities, of which the two rocks standing in the beach was most famous, which were inscribed four red characters of "Tian Ya" and "Hai Jiao". There were more than 4000 kinds of plant species on the island, of which nearly 600 unique native plants species live here. Coconut, rubber, pepper, and cashew were called four emeralds of Hainan. Especially, the coconut juice is really unique. Juice is milky white, sweet and delicious. I miss Hainan very much, the fantastic and beautiful place.

my china sanya tour

Hainan is very famous in China, I think. Most of my friends are eager there. When I told the China travel agency that I wanted to get Hainan, they made an itinerary of Sanya for me. At first, I thought they made a mistake. Then they told me in the e-mail that Sanya was a city of Hainan province. According to my itinerary, I got that is a city with beach. I love it, because I don’t like to travel too many places. I can free on the beach and enjoy the sunlight. After my Sanya tour, several things are not be neglected, such as, the famous Chinese dishes and the sightseeing. Here I want to give other tourists some advice and my experience. First, the sightseeing of Wuzhizhou Island, Yalong Bay, and Size Dongtian are the must place to go. Yalong Bay is a good place to have the Cliff climbing adventure and the sailing-style spire of four white tents, gives you the ancient cultural flavor. Tourists can try some Water sports and diving activities. Size Dongtian involves the sceneries of the sea, the mountain and the stone. The beach of Wuzhizhou Island is just like snow and the water of the sea is clean and blue. This is the paradise for diving. Second, you should taste the seafood in Sanya, such as crab, shrimp, and spiral shell. You can enjoy some snack made by the seafood. It is delicious and not very expensive. If you want to take some presents to your friends, I highly recommend you to go to Bu Xing Street, Hong Qi Street and other professional place, where is full of the special local product but you need to bargain with the server. I have enjoyed the Sanya tour and wish you have a happy life as well as me.

My second time to travel China

I had a China tour last October. That is my second time totravel China after the trip of Beijing, Xian, Guilin and Shanghai. The agency advised me to choose Suzhou and Hangzhou to spend my travel, because it will give me a different impression of China. I decided to have a try, after all, China is a country with so plentiful civilization. After receiving the e-mail of my tailor-made itinerary, I was dreaming that travel every day. Although the itinerary is so detailed that I can see the scenery in my eyes, I still want to enjoy the sightseeing by myself. I travel the itinerary as scheduled. The first day, I was taken to Wuxi. When it refers to Wuxi, I cannot help to talk about the delicious dinner. I remembered that there is a restaurant near my hotel called Wang Xing Ji, where you can taste the Steamed Buns and the San Feng Bridge griskin. The taste is fresh and nice and very different from our western food. The second day, my tour is arranged in the heaven of the earth, Suzhou of China. The guide takes me to get to Humble Administrator's Garden, the Lingering Garden, and Lion Grove. It is said that the Humble Administrator's Garden is the villa built in old times. That is very wonderful. At night, we went to the Restaurante Chino to eat beggars chicken. My guide told me that that delicious chicken is invited by the beggars in old China. That is incredible. Because it has been a famous dish The third day, my guide and I went to Haining to enjoy the spring tide in Haining. Due to my tout is in Chinese National Days, many Chinese people choose the dates to travel to Haining. The beach is crowded. However the tide is beautiful and the people assembling there is also distict scenery for me. We were all happy. The fourth day, our destination was changed to a simple and unsophisticated place, Xitang. Chinese civilization is unbelievable. The fifth day, we came to Hangzhou , where is the birthplace of the famous Chinese legend about Xu Xian and Bai Suzhen. My guide took me to the West Bridge and the Fall of Pagoda. That is interesting but moving. The last day, after understanding the history of the old city, my guide took me to cruise on the river. The old style boat made me terrified then but now I think it is fun and brought me back to the old time as well a the Paper Umbrella taken by the girls in Hangzhou. After my tour, I told all my friends about my China tour. That is a mysterious County.

Last year in China

I am an old man from Iran. Both my son and daughter have their own business. So I would like to travel alone, instead of being troublesome for them. But I don’t like join group. I met Topchinatrip when I google China private tour. After providing tailor-made itinerary, I remembered that it has been fixed many times. At first, I am afraid that I might be cheated. After all, we often heard about the instances of fraud on the internet. So I tried many ways to verify. At last, I relievedly made a decision that I would have a tour to Beijing. My tour advisor from Topchinatrips said to me that Beijing and Xian, as ancient capital cities, are the symbols of Chinese ancient history, for example, Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, which was one of the many building projects designed to impress visitors and it is really stunning. Then my guide accompanies me to have a sight of Lao she Tea house for a very different taste of Chinese entertainment. Lao she Tea house is close to the heart of the city, which is really similar with the house appeared in Chinese traditional movie. I like it, especially for the red lanterns and fountains and peaceful, private rooms where you can take tea. I was served with a constant supply of tea. I feel like that I am like a Chinese elder. In the night, a Peking Opera was arranged for us. My second station is Xian. It is still the cities my advisor advised to me. In Xian, the attractions impressed me most is the Terra Cotta Warriors, my guide told me a movie story about it made by the Chinese famous director, Zhangyimou. That is striking and adds the mysterious color to it. After traveling Beijing and Xian, I fly to Shanghai, which is also the hot tourism city in China. But it is much more modern and I can see many foreigners there. I like the Bund. My guide had book a cruise on the bund. They told me that called “Dragon Boat”. I had a meal on the boat. Then we also have some time, I suggest that we can have a walk along the river.
I took out of my cameras. My guide takes photos for me as we went. Along the way, we cut across to Nangjing Road, the busiest shooping street in Shanghai. Because it is a little warm, we choose Pizza Hut nearby to have a meal. Afterwards, we walked down Nanjing Road. I think if my daughter came with me, she would be crazy by shopping. Of course, I bought some presents for them and my grandsons. Traveling is a beautiful thing, I like China. Nest time I will choose to visit Guilin. Topchinatrip told me there has the most beautiful scenery. I booked my package of 2012. The photos of the Elephant Trunk Hill, Longji Terraces and Li River Cruise are very nice. I think I cannot travel China alone next time.

Travel in China

We are in New Jersey home now. So we got an impressive journey in Beiijng , Xi'an, Chongqing Yangtze river cruise and ShanghaiTours. Jenny and I still cannot help talking to our neighbors our wonderful China journey. We are really appreciated your well organized plan, not even a trouble happened in our travel. Thanks for your work, arranged comfortable hotels and incredible time-running services. Oh, jenny still has a question, do you have the girl Susan’s e-mail or phone number, the local guide we met at the airport at the first day in Beijing. Jenny really loves talking with Susan, even in the marvelous Forbidden City; she still cannot stop gossiping with Susan. Hope this crazy old woman won't drive Susan crazy. Yangtze River cruise really gave an impression of China. We hearted the Three Gorges Dam before in US, but we thought it's not so wise to build this Dam. For the irreversible change to nature and local culture and people, and the Dam really cannot create that worth to we people. So that is also the reason I wanted you to add Three Gorges Dam in my itinerary. I want to see it with my own eyes. The fact is you, Chinese guys really did a great work, and we enjoyed this. Thank you Taylor, you and your company give great confidence in traveling China. Since I did reservation from topchinatrip.com, everything goes on as I wished. Hope we can enjoy another tour in the future.

Yangtze River Cruise

We set out for Chongqing by train. It costs more time than by flight. But I still feel comfortable, because it was good to look out at the scenery. On the train, I was served with noodles, which was really very delicious. Our guide arranged a private car to pick us up. On arriving below the Yangtze River waterfront, I feel cool and expanse of my own world. We chose a small restaurant by the bank to have dinner. After dinner, we like to overlook the river. I can feel the city lights come to life. My friends asked me to accompany them to stoke up some cheaper snacks, so we found a local super market. I didn’t imagine that how difficult to find a super market. At last, we asked a local people for help and found one. In advance, we dared that something in the boat will be very expensive, so rarely bought out all the goods in the supermarket. The windows on the boat are so large to enjoy the outside view of the scenery. Our Captain apparently had 30 years of sailing on the river. We were told to head downstream from Chongqing. After a morning meet, we reached the first gorge. I have taken many wonderful photos there. We watched some more spectacular which passed by and then we reached some more spectacular scenery. Soon, the first gorge is appearing to our sight. It is really a sublime sight. I cannot imagine before. The second on the Yangtze River, we enjoyed the activity of getting off to a smaller boat. Because we will go down to a side gorge, I like this kind of closer view. Along the cruise, I saw many large bridges throughout the journey we took. Some are building again. Before my cruise, I was expecting it would be crowded with container ships. I thought it would be very dirty and noisy as well but the river is very clean without any pollution and much wide. After seeing so many highlights along the Yangtze River. , I thought my friends and I would feel tired and need to get sleep. But I was full of energy. To my surprise, my friends are the same with me. I think it would be one of my valuable experiences in my whole life.

Wonderful Xi'an Tour

Have finally got a vacation time together, my two best friends and I packed our luggage and start our way to travel China. We have arrived in Xi'an after an hour flight from Chengdu where we saw our first bit of blue sky as we left. It is hot and sunny, so a private tour bus is quite necessary. Our China tour agency has already arranged well for us the air-conditioned car, and a very nice guide waiting at the airport for us. From the time of landing, we know that we are liking this place. It is a walled city and we are staying just inside the South Gate which proves to be a fantastic location from which to explore the city. There are two beautiful towers, a drum tower and a bell tower which were orignially built in the 1300's and traditionally the bell was rung at dawn and the drum beat at dusk. We ventured inside both towers with Angela getting a quick beat of a drum in - fancy no drumming in the drum tower?

Near the Drum tower is the Muslim Quarter which our guide we wandered around on several occasions finding it a great place with a fantastic atmosphere, lots of people, stalls and interesting food. The kids endured our first venture around - perhaps the walk down the lane selling huge chunks of offal put them off - but after discovering the 8 treasure rice puddings they
were begging to go back. Now I think an 8 treasure rice pudding would be sweet sticky rice that is steamed in a bamboo steamer and then pressed into a pattie onto two skewers with a splash of a choice of 8 flavours of syrup - whatever the kids loved them! It was in the Muslim Quarter that we also became the proud owners of a Chairman Mao watch - his arm waves back and forward as the seconds tick by and it was a bargain for a 'genuine automaticico veeery good quality watch' - well it's automatic after you wind it up and Erik and Dan are very happy taking it in turns to wear.

The wall around Xian is a 14km rectangle of restored walls, originally built in 1370 during the Ming dynasty. It is possible to walk, cycle or ride a golf cart around the perimeter. We had all planned to ride around but Alice wasn't allowed as she was too small and it would be unsafe! so the boys took off on their tandem bike and us girls took a pedicab for an hour and then watched a superb drum performance under the South Gate.

When we consulted online before the trip, the agents at Top China Trip said the Army of Terracotta Warriors will never fail us, no matter how much expectation we have. They are right! The Army of Terracotta Warriors were the drawcard for us to Xian and has been something Ged has wanted to see for a long time. The Terracotta warriors is an army of life sized figures created over 2000 years ago but only discovered in 1976 when some farmers digging a well discovered the underground vault. Thousands of soldiers and horses in battle formation have since been uncovered, all with individual features. Historians believe that they were ordered built by Emperor Qin Shi Huang so that he could continue to rule in death.

The warriors are in 3 pits and we visited them in reverse order seeing the smaller Pit 3 and Pit 2 which is still under excavation before seeing the huge Pit 1 with its 6000 warriors and horses ready for battle. This was truly one of those extraordinary sights - each warrior is amazing in its own right but on mass, wow!

We had thought perhaps the warriors wouldn't have great appeal to the kids but they trotted along quite happily but their little jaws really did drop when we said we were having KFC for lunch! Yes there was a KFC at the entrance.
Besides what I write, there are many other interesting things happened during our stay in Xi’an, and we enjoyed a lot of our China tours, really.

Yangtze River Cruise: Fengdu, China.

Day 151: Tuesday, April 27th, 2010.
Yangtze River Cruise: Fengdu, China.

A china tour is always what my friends and I dreamt of. Before finally setting off, we surfed online for China travel, to see if there is one that can help us. And we booked the service from Top China Trip after careful comparison. Following their arrangement, we chose the Yangtze River Cruise Package Tour.
With the guide’s help, we docked in Badong, China at some point during the night so that's where we took off from today. We went thru the Wu Gorge, had breakfast, and then docked at some city where we hopped on a ferry that would take us thru smaller gorge (called the "Lesser Gorges" or "Little Three Gorges"). Beautiful scenery. We always think it so lucky for us to visit China. We then hop onto an even smaller boat to fit into the last and smallest gorge. During this boat trip, one of the guys on the boat demonstrates how we should wear their hat and "cape" thing and most of us give it a shot and have our picture taken (and tip him).

Along the way on the river (for both the ferry and the smaller boat), there are interesting little tid bits of life. One is that there are quite a few "casket caves". These are aptly named- they have caskets in them so that the departed have nice views still. Some of the caskets are gone, due to vandalism or flooding (some are quite close to the river). Also, at one point on the small boat there was someone up in their hillside home (aka- a hut/tent thing) playing some whistle instrument for us little boats that drove by. No way to tip this person, they were just doing it to add to our enjoyment. Very nice. We start heading back to the MS Fortune and myself, David, Ellen, Anna and Jenny play some cards (a game that Ellen and Anna taught us- fun, I'll teach ya!) Back on the MS Fortune, we pass thru a few more gorges and set our sites on destination Fengdu. One of the gorges was the inspiration for the background landscape on the 10 Yuan (RMB) so of course I had to have another picture taken with me holding a 10 (couldn't let the 20 Yuan picture feel special.)

That night, after dinner, myself, Anna and Jenny play some Mahjong. The boat has a room set up specifically for this and we have plenty of help to get us thru the game. Another passenger on the trip, Chinese lady, doesn't speak ANY English, sits down ands joins us and shows us how (reminds me) how to play with just her actions. She is so sweet and nice. Sue has one of the masseuse ladies standing behind her and helping her out and Jenny has some male passenger helping her with her hand. I was on my own and lost. I blame it on not having a team of 2, but it could be 'cause I'm not good at the game. The jury is still out on that one.

After a few hands of Mahjong we have to wrap it up because tonight is the talent show. David is brave enough to get up and sings "If You're Happy and You Know It Clap Your Hands" in Mandarin. Must have said it right because the other passengers applauded enthusiastically. Then, Anna and Ellen participated in Musical Chairs and later in the final dance (which was the Chinese Bunny Hop). In between all that, the crew had little dance numbers that were interesting to watch. After the show, everyone heads back to their room but not before we snag a couple of shots of the group with Coco. Our China tour ends.

Here I have suggestions for those friends who want to travel China. , the travel agency is very important. With no familiar persons in there, we can only rely on the travel agents and the guide, the service they arrange for us. I should say, Top China Trip, with her years of professional private travel experience and considerate attitudes towards the customers, has done an excellent job!

Online Tour & Traditional Travel Agency

Nowadays, tourism has been an important aspect of area economy development for some years. With the development of internet, many companies, who manage online business grow up, so does Travel Corporation. Online Travel Corporation, like TopChinaTrip.com has been a trend. Facing this phenomenon, somebody said that Online Tour will take the place of traditional travel agency. Some people don’t agree. This hot topic has evoked paper coverage, but it has not reached a consensus.
After all, let us compare them in several aspects:

Relationship
Online travel is just a stretch of traditional travel agency. No matter traditional travel agency but online travel, they are all devoted to travel, so their purposes are all serving travelers.

Difference
★ Diaphaneity
The traditional China travel agency can make all arrangements for travelers. For travelers, they just accept those arrangements passively. However, online China tours offers more diaphaneity to people, and tourists can choose the one they prefer. In return, it promotes the competition and raises the service level.

★ Space
Online travel assembles most messages around so that tourists can search out any information necessary for them. Relatively, it saved the labor power and time. Tourists can book the China hotels or China flights directly on their own. It is cheaper and more convenient.

★The requirements of time
The traditional travel agency and online tour are both the products of the requirements of time. As we all know, internet has brought us an earth village. The fast living rhythm has enable us to deal with everything online, not alone travel.

★Obligation
Not every travel link can be finished online, such as living in the hotel, take the flight, sightseeing around the city. General speaking, Online travel are devoted to arrangements, but the assisting and dealing work should be left offline. The different obligation they beard, the different function they possessed.

★Conclusion
The distinct features of online tour meet the requirements of time and customers. It cannot replace the traditional travel agency, but it will promote the fast development of the traditional travel agency and lead it to be more perfect.