City lights in Chongqing just before ‘sail away’ last night. The booze cruise business is alive and well here too. Our first shore excursion this morning was to the Fengdu Ghost City. It is a large complex of shrines, temples and monasteries dedicated to the afterlife, located on Ming mountain on the north bank of…

We remembered to ask Royce what that tower was in the square. Chongqing was the capital of China during WW2, after being moved from Nanjing which was occupied by the Japanese. As it was the capital, major portions of the city were bombed flat. When the war was won they put up the “Anti Japanese…

People often ask how we choose our trip locations and why. For China it was the Great Wall and pandas. After we decide the reasons, Kris builds a trip around them. It always leads to more and interesting stuff of course, but the base has to be there to start. Since we’ve already done the…

This morning we had a fairly early start. We had a 930 train to Chengdu but an hour drive to get to the station. We had elected to stay closer to the terra cotta warriors as the air is better than Xian city proper. Perhaps that is why there was far less English in the…

The Terra Cotta Warriors of Xi’an are 2200 years old. More than 10,000 life-sized clay statues represent a funereal honor guard for China’s first Emperor Qin Shih Huang-ti who died in 210 BC. Each warrior is unique in face or clothing and are very real looking. Emperor Qui sought the key to immortality and had…

This morning we had a more civilized start to the day.   Back to our nice breakfast in the hotel and we were met by JT at 9.  We went first to the Maliandao Tea Street which is a few blocks of tea shops. In addition to the many tea storefronts there is also the…

This morning we were picked up at 6am to get to our bullet train to Shanhaiguan. We were too early for our hotel breakfast so for the first time in our lives we had KFC Chicken sandwiches and coffee for breakfast. It was all that was open when we were there. Starbucks, McDonalds etc all…

Today started with another good breakfast at our hotel and we were met by JT, our guide.  First up was the Temple of Heaven.  The temple was visited by Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties (who were considered the sons of Heaven) for annual ceremonies and sacrifices for a good harvest. It is commonly…

Today we had a free day in Beijing. IE no tour guide or set schedule.   We deliberately set this up to help overcome any jet lag.   After a decent night’s sleep we enjoyed a good breakfast in our hotel and decided to go out and walk to Beihai Park.  On the map it…

Today, or really yesterday, we flew to Beijing.  We managed an upgrade so were super comfortable.  Or at least as much as you can be for a 11 hour + flight.  Fold flat seat pods are so amazing. Clearing customs was easy.  In fact easier than the US by far!  We were met by our…