China - February 9th

Arrival in Shanghai was after Midnight where we were greeted by Ying's second and third brothers, their wives and some friends at the airport. Then it was off to JoJo's (second brother) home in the Xu Hui District of Shanghai. Once home they set out a welcome feast for us though we all were ready to just climb into bed as later that AM we would be leaving on a road trip to Suzhou and Hangzhou.

About 9AM all 14 of us were packed and ready to go in a caravan of 3 vehicles to Zhou Zhuang which is an water town of Kunshan City, Jiangsu Province.

The water towns have become popular tourist attractions for both the Chinese and overseas people. Zhouzhuang lies at the midway between Shanghai and Suzhou. The town abounds with rivers and lakes. It is thought by many to be the best waterside town in China. This ancient town is more than 900 years old with many houses built in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. There are about 100 houses with courtyards, and 60 of them have arch gateways made by carved bricks. It is surounded by 4 lakes and inside the town there are many very old stone bridges built in the Yuan, Ming and Quin Dyanasties. Leslie, JoJo and I enjoyed a walk around the town stopping in several of the restored homes of the "wealthy villagers" of olden times. There is was beautiful curved wooden furniture inlaid with jade. The rest of the group did only a small amount of walking before taking a boat ride around the water town.









Lunch was in the water town before heading off to JoJo's real estate project in another part of Kunshan. The project is a development of homes and stores in large buildings that are many stories high- 25 or more. There will be a number of these buildings which will be built in phases as the project goes forward. The placement of the property is good for JoJo as the Chinese government is building a new high speed railway which will stop about 5 minutes from the development.

After we finished walking around the property we went to view a nearby park and lake area. We have found that the government has designed a fair amount of green areas throughout all of China so there are many parks for recreation.

Then we finished our last part of our trip driving to Suzhou to the Younger Central Hotel. Dinner was out that evening with schoolhood friends of Brother #One at a classy restaurant.

China - February 8th

Monday, we went to the Temple of Heaven which is just a subway stop away from where we were staying. The temple was built in 1420 A.D. during the Ming Dynasty. It was built to offer sacrifices to the Heaven on the day of the Winter Solstice by the Emperors in the Ming and Quin Dynasties. They were thanking Heaven and hoping for good in the future. In front of the Temple of Heaven is a park where the Chinese gather daily to socalize with the peers. You can find card games, chess, exercising, karaoke and many other activities. Even though the temperatures were in the mid 20's the park had many people there.

We had a late lunch and then went home to get ready to take a late evening flight to Shanghai for the next part of our trip.

Going to the airport was accomplished by 3 taxi's for all 9 of us plus our luggage. Security at the airport was quick and efficient, moving faster than security at a US airport.

China - February 7th -the Great Wall

Our plan was to go out to the Great Wall on Sunday leaving fairly early to travel by tour bus several hours to a better area of the Wall but Saturday evening's snow meant changing plans to go to a part of the Wall that is closer to the city. No matter the Wall was AWESOME! We traveled by motor couch with about 24 people stopping first at the site of the burial tombs of several of the emperors. While driving we were able to look at the windows at the local sights and see some of the work the government had done in planting trees along the roadways. The tombs to me were just ok and I was really interested in getting to and climbing along the Great Wall. The snow made it slippery in parts but fun was had by all of us. I would love to climb some of the other sections in better weather but that will probably remain just a dream. We found for climbing that the steps started out one at a time but very quickly you are climbing 3 to 5 blocks per step. That makes it very steep to climb. There was a railing that is too low to use in climbing up but boy is it a lifesaver on the way down. The section we climbed was pretty steep. Leslie, Michelle & I climbed up the highest.

China - February 6th (con't)

Pictures are my siblings and I along with 2 sculptures taken at the Forbidden City.

China - February 6th - Visiting Beijing

Early Saturday morning we were up and out going first to Tiananmen Square. Before entering the Square everyone goes through a security check of their person and has their bags checked.

Then just across the street is the entrance to the Forbidden City. The Forbidden City was the Chinese Imperial Palace from the Ming Dynasty to the Quin Dynasty. For five centuries it served as the home of the Chinese Emperor and his household. It was the political & ceremonial center of the Chinese government. Built between 1406 to 1420, it has over 900 buildings. It now houses the Palace Museum. Much of the Forbidden City is open to the public and has been restored though there are areas off to each side that still need to have work done on them. We were able to view both areas.
After a late lunch in a hot pot resturant we were off to a restored Hutong village and lake area. Because it's been very cold this winter in Beijing the lake is frozen and the government rents different types of skating apparatus for the locals to use on the lake. All of the citizens looked to be enjoying their time on the lake. The Hutong area has been turned into a shopping area and borders the lake. We enjoyed exploring and bargaining with the shop owners though we didn't come home with any purchases.

China - February 5th

We arrived in Beijing on Friday late afternoon. It was a 45 minute bus ride from the airport to Ying's first brothers' house where we would be staying. After settling in for just a short while we took a short walk to one of the resturants that is famous for serving Peking Duck. There was much discussion between Ying and her relatives on what dishes would be served with the meal. The food was delicious and it was funny to see us using our chopsticks for the first time.

visiting China

It's been a few weeks since I posted about my upcoming trip to CA and then China. The first week in China we were too busy traveling to post updates. Then when I did get connected to the internet I found out that the Chinese people have no access to facebook or any blogs. Perhaps it is different in Internet cafes but we stayed in 2 private homes and several hotels. I could get to Yahoo and Comcast for my emails but that was it. I thank God that I live in a nation with many personal freedoms.
Yesterday we arrived back in the USA in San Francisco and later today we fly to Philly. I would say the trip was a great success with very few bumps in the road. China was awesome. Over the next few days I hope to tell a little about the trip and add some of my best pictures.