Update

Please note- internet access from the ship is HIGHLY variable and so I am posting to the blog as I can. All is good here. We are still not sure of whether or not we can get to Chengdu.  Next stop- Shanghai!

 

Ellen

 

May 15, 2008

On our way to Chongching to catch our cruise ship. Which hopefully will be a relaxing few days.  One note of explanation. When I posted the earthquake post it was not yet evident how devastating it had been. We thought things were shut down due to the small tremor we felt in Xian. We were told it had been stronger in Chengdu but no one had an idea of how truly awful things were. I do not want it to seem like we were being flippant about the devastation or complaining about our minor frustrations in the scope of the devastation in Sichuan province.

 

I remain personally terribly disappointed that we were not able to get to Chengdu as I think it is so important to Kang Kang but that is what it s. We have not given up trying to get there and will see if it is safe and possible to go for a day or so after the torch run.  It is hard to get a sense of what reality is from here. I think flights are going in and out of Chengdu airport and that damage within the city is fairly mild although the surrounding townships are devastated.

 

Our first day in Xian we just wandered a bit by ourselves. It was lunch by the time we settled in the new hotel (which we highly recommend) and we headed to the city to get lunch. At that point we needed comfort food and so headed to Pizza Hut, And then to Starbucks. I do not like Starbucks coffee at home but I tell you, here, I love it.  Starbucks is attached to a mall. A very high end kind if cross between a department store and a mall.  Nancy bought about 28 pairs of kids shoes. Some for her kids and some for a friend¡¯s child. You can get really nice children¡¯s shoes in China. Even though they were not particularly cheap in that mall they are really neat and different from what we can get at home.  Sadly, although I tried to get a pair for Kang Kang they attempted to tell me they only had one (!) pair in his size. This was out of about 20 plus styles I pointed to. They were all themed with the ¡°Monkey¡± a character from Chinese folklore , which he likes. He has the 3 DVD set of the cartoon and has watched it over and over despite the fact it is in Mandarin only.  They were quite rude to me. Nancy had better luck in the next department over.

 

By the time we got back to the hotel we were wiped and had dinner in their ¡°International¡± restaurant.  Once should eat International only in places that are Western restaurants. Enough said.  Turns out you can have massages in your room. And so we did.  I went first so by the time it was Nancy¡¯s turn at 9 pm her kids were asleep.  Kang Kang floated around me while it was my turn. They do it on your bed and clothed in a robe. It was a great idea. So good we repeated it last night as well.

 

The next day they found us another guide and we headed out in a van. We went to the Tang Dynasty park near the Big Goose Pagoda. The have a spectacular water show at 12 and 8:30 p.m. We wisely opted for the early version. Caleb largely slept through it.  Chloe was not impressed at the possibility of getting wet but Kang Kang and I had fun. I accidentally got wet when I was on the fountain area and the water suddenly came from a new place but it was a hot day and I dried quickly. We wandered around the beautiful but NOT stroller accessible park for awhile and then ate lunch at the Chinese restaurant. This was much to our guide¡¯s amusement.  Throughout China there are people no doubt laughing at the crazy white people this week.  Picture it.  Me and Kang Kang. One white woman and one Chinese kid. Nancy and Chloe and Caleb. They are usually all dressed in matching outfits.  Nancy says it makes her kids easier to identify in a crowd of Chinese people. Often the kids are in a double stroller. Double strollers are less than common in China. And then we do strange things. Like prefer to take our time climbing the rock structures in the park rather than go into the Pagoda and hear all about the history. I mean that stuff would be interesting but not this trip.  Our guide was apologetic that the tourist restaurant was far. We assured her we did not want the tourist restaurant. We ate at one of those at the Terra Cotta warriors site. No thanks. Bu ya. Yuck.

 

From there we went to the Muslim quarter. At Kang Kang¡¯s suggestion we went through the Great Mosque which is a beautiful complex of adjoining garden rooms and buildings. The market streets are narrow and full of vendors selling  the same stuff as the Silk market but also some with various crafts and art. Who knows how authentic but we bought. And bought. Let¡¯s see. I got a silk dragon kite, a beautiful Chinese stringed instrument red lacquered and painted with dragons, a hand painted clay dragon (notice a theme here),  a shadow puppet (dragon of course), a framed shadow box type thing with 4 masked figures from the Opera, another small opera figure Kang Kang wanted, a large scroll painting of a blooming branch. Earlier I had bought a MahJong set made of bamboo, or so I was told. On my adoption trip I had not bought much Chinese. It was cold, I had a 4 year old wild man and we were mostly taken to large tourist traps. So this time I intended to bring back a number of pieces of craft etc of Chinese origin.

 

We worked hard to pack our suitcases in an organized fashion. You are only allowed  about 12 pounds per person carryon. We weighed and weighed, re-distributed and re-organized. And they did not weigh any of the carry on. They did weight our 8 checked bags. Yes, I did say 8.  We started out with 2 each. Then added one for the stuff we have bought.  Plus my carry on for the flight from Canada had to be checked. And then we needed to check most of the other carry on we used from Canada. We were allowed 20 pounds each plus a personal bag so about 35 pounds total. Now bring that down to 12 each. We had duffel bags rolled up to use for all the extra stuff. Oh yeah, we have two strollers as well.  Even in China we were only 35 kilos overweight.

 

Today we headed for the airport and flew to Chongqing. This time the flight went smoothly.  We were picked up by a driver to take us to the ship. This city is extremely smoggy and humid. I am glad we are not staying. Our driver did not speak English but got his employer on the phone and we said we wanted to stop to eat as we had missed lunch due to our flight time. He stopped at KFC but we indicated we wanted to go into a hole in the wall noodle shop we passed. We figured it was safer than the Chinese version of KFC. We were having some trouble ordering but a patron who spoke English stepped in to help us. It was very good and then we headed to the ship.  To get to the ship one goes down a series of steps and then along a long, narrow walkway. Porters carry your suitcases down for 10 yuan a bag. Some grab one small bag while others take a large one.  Some even picked up the children and carried them and then asked to be paid. They asked for 200 yuan.  Nancy argued and they got 10. We are on the 4^th floor of the ship. No elevators.  More porters. Much more civilized as they work for the ship. The stateroom is small but lots of storage room. The suitcases are all neatly under the beds.   There do not seem to be any other children on board. Just our three. Dorothy, I do not think we are on Disney anymore. And so, in a few minutes we head out on our cruise. The end for now.