Too Much Energy

Beijing Scrapbook - Pages 34 - 42

These are the pages for Day 2 of the trip!

Beijing Scrapbook - Pages 21 - 33

I'm slacking off!  I have until June 25 to finish my scrapbook.  Not sure if I can make it.  I have 42 pages and I'm only done with Day 2!!

 

And that concludes Day 1!!  - 33 pages!!  Luckily, I only have 8 pages on Day 2!

 

 

Emily at the State Tournament

We are very proud of Emily, especially Dad!  She had a bad start, scoring 8 on the first hole, which was a par-5 and then, another 8 on the par-4. She ended up with a 55 on the front 9 and 43 on the back 9, which put her in the second group to tee-off the next day. (high scores tee-off first)

The next day, she started with the course she ended with 43 the day before and scored a 41, including an eagle!  (golf terminology for 2 strokes under par).  This was her very first eagle and we got to witness it.  The parents were congratulationing me.. I'm glad I was there.  I almost did not go due to the weather, but luckily, it didn't rain on us.  On the back 9, where she scored 55 the day before, she started with birdie-birdie (4-3) compared to the previous day's score of (8-8).  She ended up with 43 on this course.  She improved by 14 strokes from the day before.

Emily is very strong.  She typically has the longest drive.  Parents asked me how old she is (because of her size and strength?  because she's little?)  One parent realized that she's a better golfer than the others and asked if she had a bad round the day before to be in this group. Most girls had a bad round on the first day due to nerves. On the second day, most have better scores as they are more relaxed and just have a good time.

I cast on a sock while walking on the golf course and almost finish the leg of one sock after walking the 36 holes over the 2 days.  One mom is a knitter and chatted about knitting.  I shared my Stitchcounter app that I was using to keep scores!

It was fun to watch her golf.  I guess she just has natural athletic abilities - making the Traveling A team in her first year in playing Softball and qualified for the State Tournament in her second year of playing golf.  I remember when she was little, she was not interested in golfing - she would only come if she gets to ride in the golf cart!  If she keeps this up, I hope I'll be watching her golf again at the State Tournament next year.

Thanks for letting me brag about my golfer girl.

China Scrapbook (Pages 11 - 20)

Typo fixed on the original - should be "These doors..."

 

We're nearing the exit of the Forbidden City!

It's going to be a good summer when...

one gets to see Kevin Costner on the stage on July 9 at the Guthrie Theatre.  I scored on 4th row seats so he can see me playing with my phone while he's performing.

The last time I saw him was July 29, 2009 at the MN Zoo.

China Scrapbook (Pages 1 - 10)

I've started scrapbooking my trip.  I have almost 30 pages alone on Day 1!! You can tell that I'm fascinated by the Forbidden City!  I hope you don't get bored!

Check back for more pages!

Tour Agenda

I have a number of friends who are interested in joining these cheap tours.  This is an attempt to summarize what we did.

$99 Beijing Tour by Nexus Holidays Tours

Day 1:  Departure from the US

Day 2:  Arrival in China. Picked up at the PEK airport and transported to your hotel.  Dinner is on your own that evening.

Day 3:  Departed from hotel at 7:30 a.m.  Visited Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City in the morning.  After lunch, went to Temple of Heaven.  Went to Wangfujing Street (shopping) for about an hour, dinner, and then attended acrobatic show.

Day 4:  Departed hotel at 8:00 a.m.  Visited Jade Store (shopping).  Visited Ming Tombs.  After lunch, visited Great Wall.  Return to the city and had about 1 hour to check out the Birdsnest.  Had Steamboat dinner.

Day 5:  2 hour ride to Tianjin, visited indoor snack food market, lunch at restarant that served the famous Dogs-Don't-Care buns.  Return to a Silk Factory (shopping)

Day 6:  Visited Chinese Medicine/Pharmacy (shopping). Went to Jingshan Park (overlooking Forbidden City), lunch (western buffet), Silk Street Market (shopping).  Dinner, and then, a show (very good!).

Day 7:  Left hotel at 6:30 a.m. drive to Chengde to visit temple at the top of the hill and Summer Palace (Mountain Resort).  This is about a 4-hr drive each way to/from Beijing.  Upon return to Beijing, we went to the Olympic Center for a foot massage (shopping for medicine to soak your feet in!).  Dinner.  Night drive through city.

Day 8:  Visited Summer Palace in the morning.  Stop at Tea Factory (shopping).  Lunch, visit to a Pearl Factory (shopping).  That night (the last evening), the tour guide gave us back 30 RMB to find dinner on our own.  They brought us to a shopping center that is similar to Silk Street Market.

Day 9:  Ride to Airport (but we stayed an extra day and travelled to Shanghai the next day)

$49 Shanghai Tour by Nexus Holidays Tours

Unlike the Beijing tour where we stayed in ONE hotel for the entire stay,  we stayed in Shanghai for the first and last night.  Then, we travelled to all the cities included in the tour.  I left my big luggage in storage at the Shanghai hotel because we would return to the same hotel.  And used my carry on luggage for the next 5 days.  What that means is that each day, I had more and more "smaller" bags due to shopping!

Day 1:  Arrival in PVG (Shanghai Pudong Airport - there are 2 airports in Shanghai - the Pudong is the new one).  Picked up and brought to your hotel.

Day 2:  Ride to Puxi (downtown Shanghai), shopped at a place that was converted from a temple.  Visited Shanghai Museum.  Lunch.  Ride to Hangzhou (4 hours).  Visited West Lake, took boat ride across the lake,  attended a show (TERRIBLE show about West Lake!  They played the music really loud - it's a theatre where you can drink tea while watching) and then, dinner.  Spent the night in Hangzhou.

Day 3:  Visited Tea Factory (shopping)  in the morning.  Lunch.  Left Hangzhou for Nanjing.  Visited Dr. Sun-Yet-Sen's Masoleum, Night Market, Dinner, back to hotel. Spent the night in Nanjing.

Day 4:  Visited Nanjing Bridge and there is a factory making these globes with artwork inside (shopping).  I couldn't take photos to show you!  Lunch.  Departed Nanjing for Suzhou.  Arrived in Suzhou in time for a sunset ride along the Grand Canal.  Evening activities include a night market and dinner.  Spent the night in Suzhou.

Day 5:  Visited Silk Factory (shopping) in the morning.  Lunch.  Departed Suzhou for Wuxi.  Went to Ling Shan (big buddha).  Dinner, spend the night in Wuxi.

Day 6:  Visited Pearl Factory (shopping) and then, the Yixing Teapot Factory (shopping again!).  Lunch.  Ride back to Shanghai to another jewelry store (shopping again!).  Dinner on our own (tour guide gave us 30RMB for our dinner).  Acrobatic Show that evening in Shanghai.  Return to pack!

Day 7:  Ride back to Airport.

As you can tell, it's quite hectic and 1/2 the time is spent on shopping.  That last day was very disappointing.  We went to 3 factories in one day.  We didn't even get to see the Bund or the Expo site in Shanghai.  I would have liked to spend more time in Shanghai.  Luckily, I do have friends in Shanghai so maybe I could plan to visit them again before they return to the States!

Let me know if you have further questions on this tour.  The costs were explained in another post.

The cost of the China trip

So when I first told you that the tours cost $49 and $99 that covers all hotel, food, and admission to tourist sites, you thought I was kidding, right? Well, there are other costs involved. Let me break down the costs of what I paid:

Airfare from Minneapolis to Beijing, Beijing to Shanghai, Shanghai to Minneapolis: $1570

Beijing Tour: $99

Beijing Extras: 350 RMB = approx. $56

Beijing Tips = $64

Extra day in Beijing hotel = $40

Ride to Beijing Airport = $11

Shanghai Tour = $49

Shanghai Extras 550 RMB = approx $89

Shanghai Tips = $60

Extra cost for using back-to-back Nexus Tours = $100

Grand Total: $2138 for 14 nights of hotel

This is the closest tour by Nexus (comparing apples to apples so that we are exposed to the same factory stores and tourist sites) is this China Sampler 12 Day Tour. The cities visited are identical. The cost of this tour is $1099 without airfare or $1799 with airfare from San Francisco. Knowing myself, I will not want to be forced to fly an airlines that they put me on and I have to find another flight from MSP-SFO. From experieince, it is best to travel on the same airlines for international travel. Therefore, my cost of this tour would be $2455 for 11 nights of hotel. ($1099 + $1346)

What I paid is $317 cheaper and I get to spend 4 extra days in China compared to the other Nexus Tour.

Now, if John was traveling with me, I would not be able to go on the tour I went on. I knew that 50% of the time will be spent on the factory shopping and/or waiting for others to shop as this is a shopping tour. The tour we would have to go on would be something like this.

This company boasts no shopping stops. They appear to have good reviews and the tour is conducted in English. A 10-night tour would cost $1750 without the airfare.

So you ask, is the tour worth the price? To me, yes. Will I do it again? Most likely, no. I didn't mind the first time going to these shops but now that I know what it's like, my time is more precious and I would rather sit in the Summer Palace, doing nothing other than soaking up the sun than going shopping in one of the mandatory stops.

If you are willing to spend 1/2 your time shopping or waiting for people and NOT buy anything from these places, go for it.

If you have the money and would rather get more out of your time, find another tour!

BUT if I were to do it again and all the conditions are the same: "no John" "first time in China", I would definitely sign up for this tour. Travel is expensive. I had to spend $1500 on 5 nights of hotel in Paris alone. So to spend $2100 for 2 weeks in a foreign country - that's cheap!

 

Day 12: Wuxi

I've somewhat lost my enthusiasm by the now.  Too much riding in the bus and too little time on the tourist spots.  Wuxi is about an hour away from Shanghai.  It means "No Tin", but I don't know if it used to have tin and then, later, there's no tin (as in tin ore).  In Wuxi, there is a big freshwater lake - 5 times the size of the island of Singapore.  Our first stop was at the Ling Shan.  Here is the home of the Grand Buddha.  To me, this is like Buddhaland.

A display of fountain is on every 2 hours with music.  Nothing compared to the fountains at Versailles.

As the water sprayed, the lotus at the top bloomed and revealed a baby buddha as he rotated to face and blessed everyone looking at him.

Then, we visited this gigantic temple, which included a conference center, theatre...

Then, we headed up to see the Buddha. There were 271 steps.  Ti and I went over.  We were trying to reach the level, of the lotus flower, but you needed to take an elevator up (have to walk down, though).  The flight is 5 floors.

That night, we stayed at a hotel that is quite close by some shopts.  We went walking and I thought the fruit store smelled really good.  Guess what I was smelling?  Yumm... But in respect for my roommate, I did not get any.  It has been 5 years since I had durian!

The next day, we headed back to Shanghai, but we had to stop at a Pearl Factory, Teapot Factory, and then, another Jade shop.  And then, we we had to see an acrobatic show which I fell asleep at.  We got back to our hotel at 9:30 and started packing.  Miriam and Ti had to leave the airport at 5:45 to catch the 9:45 flight to Hong Kong.  I leave at 3:55 and will be back in Minneapolis before Miriam.  She has to switch planes in Hong Kong, San Francisco, and also a transit in Denver.  I will just fly from Shanghai to Chicago and to Minneapolis.

We'll talk when I get back to the US.

Day 11: Suzhou

It's now Thursday, May 24, 1:01 a.m.  I'm coming home today!  However, packing is not completed.  I have to catch the 12:10 pm shuttle tomorrow.  My flight leaves at 3:55 p.m. and I should get back to Minneapolis around 8:30 (same day).  I will finish packing tomorrow.

So, Suzhou is one of my favorite cities on this leg of the tour.  I love cruising along the Grand Canal and visiting the private garden the tour guide brought us to.  Again, there is a bunch of history with this city and there is the "old" city and the "new" city.  But I just haven't done my homework to explain to you.  So, photos are the best way to show you what I saw.

 

 

Later that evening, Eric, the tour guide, brought us to some night activities.

The next day, we went to a public garden. This used to be the home of a private family!  This is our group photo.  I love the different windows.

If I don't get to post about Wuxi, I'll post it when I get back to Minnesota.   Can't wait to see some of you in person. Soon!