A package tour. Who knew it could be such a good time? At times you feel you are part of a cattle herd, but overall it was great. Nice people--23 in all. I know because our poor guide, Li, was always counting to 23. Highlights were climbing the Great Wall. I was one of only 6 who chose the steep side. It was less crowded and I refuse to give into little old ladyhood just yet. It was magnificent. It was also fun riding a rusted out old bike on top of the old city wall in Xi An after we toured the Terra Cotta Warriors site. And the 3 day cruise down the Yangtze River through the 3 gorges was delightful. I'm really glad I decided to join a tour group as I enjoyed getting to know the other folks on the tour. They were fun. And just so you know, I will not be eating Chinese food for another 4 months or so, as I definitely had my fill. It was good, but enough already. We finished the tour in Shanghai, which is an amazing, modern city. One of our guides told us that the national bird of China is now the crane (as in building crane) as the entire country is exploding with new construction and economic growth.
I personally added to the economic growth by buying a silk rug at the carpet factory, a pearl necklace at the pearl factory, a small jade violin knicknack at the jade factory, and a silk comforter at the silk factory. What a sucker! You have to bargain for almost everything, and there is a lot of stuff to bargain for. One thing that was a bit annoying was the air travel. I took a total of 4 in-country flights, and 3 of them were delayed--one for 7 hours! when I was alone, waiting for my flight to Beijing, I listened to the loudspeaker in the airport announcing flight after flight being delayed--not for weather but for too much air traffic. Can't they figure that out ahead of time? I was also dismayed to learn that the folks flying in from the states paid the same for their tickets as I did from Japan. My flight was 2 1/2 hours--theirs was 14 and they cost the same. It's not cheap getting off this island!
Anyway, I'm back in Japan and still on break. I don't go back to school until September 28, so I'm spending my time going to the gym, studying Japanese (the trip was great because I had 10 full days with no Japanese guilt)and exploring the mountains behind my house. I may figure out a couple of short trips before I go back.
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