Day 53-58

Yes, we are still here in China and approaching the 60 day mark.  Hard to believe we've been gone so long.  We are beginning to anticipate our return home which will be on Nov. 7th.  We hope there is no snow on the ground when we get home!  Kari was telling us that it has already snowed in New Hampshire.

So, here's an update on what we've been doing since we last wrote.  We were in Shanghai for 3 days and each day got better and better.  It is a fascinating city and as I said, a completely different feel from Beijing.  We took the subway to the Bund which is the waterfront walk along the river.  We saw it at night and during the day.  At night the lights on the buildings were phenomenal and quite the show.  It was lit up more than Vegas.  During the day we not only saw all the skyscrapers but also the fantastic European architecture which lines the entire Bund. The city is so modern, futuristic, western and rich. There is money, money and more money there.  It didn't feel like the China I expected to see there.  It's China's major port and a huge financial center and very interesting to explore which is what we did on Wed. instead of going with the tour group.  We took the day off to explore and take Sandy and Jim bargain shopping. I love to bargain and we found some good deals and some fun souvenirs.  We took the bullet train to Shouzo. 299km per hour, which is a smaller city that has been compared to Venice and is called the Venice of the east.  It's filled with canals, arched bridges, beautiful gardens and known for silk production.  We went to a silk factory which was really interesting and saw the process from silk worm to silk fabric.  It was the first factory tour that we actually enjoyed as the rest of them were major tourist traps.

On Thursday we took the fastest train in the world to the airport.  It's called the mag/lev train (magnetic levitation) and went 439 km per hour.  It took 7 1/2 minutes to get there.  We flew to Wuhan which took 1 1/2 hours and then a 5 hour bus ride to get to Yichang which is where we got on the 'luxury" boat up the Yangtze river.  It is not so luxury but much nicer than the economy boats that we've seen which most of the Chinese people take.  The first night one was pulled up  next to us and there were people walking all around in their pajamas.  Kind of strange but apparently they got on their relaxing clothes to stroll the decks!  This river trip has been very interesting especially seeing the largest dam in the world which is the 3 gorges dam.  It cost 30 billion to build, there's a 5 stage lock system that we went through which took 4 hours, it's very controversial especially since it displaced 1.5 million people and it's strange knowing that we are riding over flooded cities.  This has been a relaxing 3 days which has been nice and we will land in Chongqing tomorrow and fly to Xian to see the terracotta warriors.

We hope all is well at home and would love to hear from you.

canal ride in Shouzo

Silk factory

Shanghai at night

Bargaining

Subway in Shanghai

Mag/Lev train

Market along the Yangtze

Isn't she cute

The "Fam" going through the locks

Captains' reception

Sampan ride

Our 1 sunny day

Gorge on the Yangtze

Frank & Sue on the train

Day 51-52

We have been quite busy with tour activities.  We've been to Tianamen Square, Forbidden City, Hutongs of Beijing, Temple of Heaven, Summer palace, cloisonne factory, jade factory, carpet factory - way to many factories.  It's interesting seeing how everything is made but then of course they would like you to buy at over inflated prices.

We left Beijing yesterday which was good because the weather got really cold and the pollution was really awful.  Our flight was cancelled due to mechanical difficulties and we didn't get into Shanghai until midnight.  Oh the joys of travel.  We are not exactly adapting to group travel but doing our best to cope.  I think we have made too many tourist trap stops and we are planning to escape on Wednesday to do our own thing.  It rained all day here in Shanghai so that put a damper on sightseeing.  Hopefully this bad weather will pass and we will see the sun again. It doesn't sound like we are enjoying ourselves but we really are.  It's fun to be with family and experience this together.

Shanghai has a whole different feel than Beijing.  It's much more sophisticated and western and hardly feels like China at all.  I'm surprised at the difference, however we really haven't seen that much of it yet.  We have 2 more days here before leaving for the Yangtze river.

Temple of Heaven Beijing

Forbidden City

Great Wall

Hutong pedal cab Beijing

Leaving the Macellan Center

Relaxed after our dry shampoo and massage

Our hair all looked the same

Day 49-50

I wanted to finish posting pictures of the Mac for those of you who wanted to see all rooms.  We did go back to show Bob's family, Sandy & Jim and Frank & Sue on Friday and also to say goodbye to all of the very special people that live and work there.  It was emotional to leave there but it was wonderful to have family see what we did.  Here are the rest of the pics.

Conference room before

Conference room after

Hospitality Before

Lounge before

Hospitality after

Lounge after

Lounge after

The workers

Pagoda in the garden

Day 46-48

We did not fall off the face of the earth.  We are still alive and kicking, but just not as fast, and actually quite slow.  Now that we can  relax we are really tired!  We just finished day one of our tour and feel as though we just got off the plane and are experiencing jet lag again.  Anyway, a lot has happened in the last few days.  Last I wrote it was Monday night and we had a big day ahead of us.  It definitely was the sprint at the end of the marathon and we sprinted all day Tuesday finishing florals, hanging more pictures, rearranging shelves, putting up more curtain rods, hanging more curtains, building a door to cover a huge electrical panel, painting outside doors, and placing mums all over the building to give it a Fall festive look!  After 6 1/2 weeks of planning and working we were really pleased with the results and received very positive comments from all who walked through the doors.  It was a good ending.  The staff took us out for dinner that night to celebrate the completion of "the project".

We left the Mac last night (Wed) at 9:30pm to come to our hotel to join the tour group.  We really didn't want to leave as it just feels like home.  We will go back on Friday with Bob's brother, sister and spouses to show them where we lived and worked and what we did..  It will be great to have someone from home see it.  On Friday we will say goodbye to our new family and friends.  We know it will be an emotional day.

Here are some pictures to show more of what we did which included re-purposing what was already there especially n the apartments and the new lounge area.   Unfortunately pictures just don't quite capture how it really looks and feels.  We wish you could be here to see it in person.  I can post more pics tomorrow.

One more thing -- We did survive day one of our tour.  We've been nervous about being on a tour since we love to travel on our own and on our own schedule.  I don't enjoy moving at a snail  pace behind an umbrella but having family with will be good and we will learn a lot about this huge country.  However, I am the youngest person out of 39, enough said!

Our apartment before

Our bedroom before

Our bedroom after

Keller's bedroom after

Our apartment after

Entry before

entry before

Entry after -antique panels

New lighting

New entry

New

Bob's mailbox and closet masterpiece

Old Great Room

Old Dining Room

New Dining Room

Great Room Before

Great Room After

New french doors

Here's the door that became a frame