Home looks very good to us! All my plants survived the month of August, and have taken over the front yard! Thanks to helping neighbors and an automatic sprinkler system, all stayed alive and colorful.
We are trying to get back in the routine here in Iowa - this thing called JET LAG is for real! Tom and I are both waking up around 1 a.m. and are wide awake, and in the afternoon we are dragging.
My photos from the Yangtze River are coming, as promised, and my excuse is the "Beijing Crud" - which I still have. I started coughing the third day we were in China, and thanks to antibiotics taken after we got home, I am slowly recovering. I know this nasal/lung problem was caused by breathing the polluted air over there, as I am almost never sick. The cough is like none I have ever had before, too. Not fun.
More soon,
Carol
Monday, September 8, 2008
Monday, September 1, 2008
Leaving Shanghai
Greetings from Shanghai ! Tom and I are in China's largest airport right now, getting ready for our United flight home. We are very happy travelers, as we got upgraded to business class - as economy class was oversold.
This airport is amazing. Several of us took a "Mag Train" to get here from downtown Shanghai (as I said earlier, all of Shanghai is downtown with 18.5 million people).
The train, actually called Shanghai Maglev Train, has a magnetic levitation "track" and we couldn't even feel the ride. Were we actually on a train? Who knew, because in 7 minutes and 20 seconds, we were at the airport. We traveled 258.62 miles per hour - on a train!
The windows are specially coated with something which makes it seem like the train isn't going as fast as it is. I haven't figured that one out yet, and maybe never will.
This airport, when finished in 2010, will serve NINE MILLION PEOPLE A DAY. Unbelievable.
OK, photos from the Yangtze River and more will be coming as soon as we get home to Iowa!
More later,
Carol
This airport is amazing. Several of us took a "Mag Train" to get here from downtown Shanghai (as I said earlier, all of Shanghai is downtown with 18.5 million people).
The train, actually called Shanghai Maglev Train, has a magnetic levitation "track" and we couldn't even feel the ride. Were we actually on a train? Who knew, because in 7 minutes and 20 seconds, we were at the airport. We traveled 258.62 miles per hour - on a train!
The windows are specially coated with something which makes it seem like the train isn't going as fast as it is. I haven't figured that one out yet, and maybe never will.
This airport, when finished in 2010, will serve NINE MILLION PEOPLE A DAY. Unbelievable.
OK, photos from the Yangtze River and more will be coming as soon as we get home to Iowa!
More later,
Carol
Sunday, August 31, 2008
ON THE YANGTZE RIVER
Here we are, floating up the Yangtze River in China, and how I can have internet service seems simply amazing. I often think we are in a time warp here; I look out the window and see primitive housing, famers tilling fields by hand, an occasional oxen, and then I see a block-style cement home, no windows, yet a satellite dish on the roof.
Then there is the BIG city that we float by. Most of the cities on the Yangtze are "new old" - meaning they have been built in the last ten years. The Three Gorges Dam project on the Yangtze, which is the largest construction project in the world, caused 1.3 million people to be relocated from their farms and villages and put on higher ground. When Tom and I were on this river in October of 2002, we were the last boat tour that went down the river before the dam was completed.
My, how things have changed since then! The water level rose 15 feet a day once the dam was finished - the dam is 1.4 miles across. It took just under TEN YEARS simply to pour the concrete for the dam, and that was working non-stop, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. That is an awful lot of concrete.
So, many of the villages and cities that we saw in 2002 are now under water. Each city has to be completely torn down - all buildings demolished and most trees cut down so navigation on the river won't be compromised. There is a great deal of shipping on this river - mainly coal.
Tomorrow we arrive in Chonquin, which is the largest city in the world, with 33 million people! I will definitely NOT try to find a taxi there.
I will have lots of photos very soon - we arrive in Shanghai tomorrow, September 1 and fly home on September 2.
Today Tom and I are celebrating our 9th anniversary onboard this very different river cruise ship. Last night Tom was part of the "act" - they wanted passenger talent, and our Track and Field group put Tom up there to tell his jokes and stories. He was good.
More later. I apologize for no photos now, but my internet connection is very, very slow.
After all, I am on a SLOW BOAT IN CHINA.
Carol
Then there is the BIG city that we float by. Most of the cities on the Yangtze are "new old" - meaning they have been built in the last ten years. The Three Gorges Dam project on the Yangtze, which is the largest construction project in the world, caused 1.3 million people to be relocated from their farms and villages and put on higher ground. When Tom and I were on this river in October of 2002, we were the last boat tour that went down the river before the dam was completed.
My, how things have changed since then! The water level rose 15 feet a day once the dam was finished - the dam is 1.4 miles across. It took just under TEN YEARS simply to pour the concrete for the dam, and that was working non-stop, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. That is an awful lot of concrete.
So, many of the villages and cities that we saw in 2002 are now under water. Each city has to be completely torn down - all buildings demolished and most trees cut down so navigation on the river won't be compromised. There is a great deal of shipping on this river - mainly coal.
Tomorrow we arrive in Chonquin, which is the largest city in the world, with 33 million people! I will definitely NOT try to find a taxi there.
I will have lots of photos very soon - we arrive in Shanghai tomorrow, September 1 and fly home on September 2.
Today Tom and I are celebrating our 9th anniversary onboard this very different river cruise ship. Last night Tom was part of the "act" - they wanted passenger talent, and our Track and Field group put Tom up there to tell his jokes and stories. He was good.
More later. I apologize for no photos now, but my internet connection is very, very slow.
After all, I am on a SLOW BOAT IN CHINA.
Carol
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
IN SHANGHAI
Greetings from Shanghai, a city of 18.5 million people and traffic that you just wouldn't believe. We are on our post-Olympic tour with 37 people from our large group in Beijing, and Tom and I are the tour escorts.
That, in itself, is scary.
Today some of us took a side tour to what we thought would be a quaint town offering "a glimpse into the past," as we read in a newspaper article.
Well, let me tell you, with 1.3 billion people in China, I have decided there is NO little town anywhere and if there is, I want to have green tea there.
The bus ride to Suzhou, which is only about 45 miles away, took one and a half hours going and two hours and twenty minutes returning! Not fun for us, but certainly not fun for our bus driver. These are the guys who deserve gold medals.
This city of Suzhou has a 2,500 year history and there is an "old" section with a web of canals and cobblestone streets, but this old section now has 1.1 million people. Our tour guide said it is a "mini-sized city" and even the modern part of Suzhou, which has 6 million people, is considered "tiny" by Chinese standards.
On one of the canals - we spent most of our day in two "famous" gardens - one which was copied exactly by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
Something we all noticed along the way was LOTS of construction everywhere. China is building huge, high-rise apartment buildings in this area west of Shanghai, because many high-tech firms have located here and want workers to live close to the factories so they can walk to work. I'm talking about hundreds of tall buildings in various stages of construction.
More later from the Yangtze River.
Here is the link to my latest photos, and when it opens just go to the TOP and select SLIDESHOW.
http://picasaweb.google.com/ecker.carol/SHANGHAICHINA
Carol
That, in itself, is scary.
Today some of us took a side tour to what we thought would be a quaint town offering "a glimpse into the past," as we read in a newspaper article.
Well, let me tell you, with 1.3 billion people in China, I have decided there is NO little town anywhere and if there is, I want to have green tea there.
The bus ride to Suzhou, which is only about 45 miles away, took one and a half hours going and two hours and twenty minutes returning! Not fun for us, but certainly not fun for our bus driver. These are the guys who deserve gold medals.
This city of Suzhou has a 2,500 year history and there is an "old" section with a web of canals and cobblestone streets, but this old section now has 1.1 million people. Our tour guide said it is a "mini-sized city" and even the modern part of Suzhou, which has 6 million people, is considered "tiny" by Chinese standards.
On one of the canals - we spent most of our day in two "famous" gardens - one which was copied exactly by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.Something we all noticed along the way was LOTS of construction everywhere. China is building huge, high-rise apartment buildings in this area west of Shanghai, because many high-tech firms have located here and want workers to live close to the factories so they can walk to work. I'm talking about hundreds of tall buildings in various stages of construction.
More later from the Yangtze River.
Here is the link to my latest photos, and when it opens just go to the TOP and select SLIDESHOW.
http://picasaweb.google.com/ecker.carol/SHANGHAICHINA
Carol
Sunday, August 24, 2008
The Games Are Over !
Today is the last day of the Olympics - with the Closing Ceremony tonight. I would like to share with you something from the CHINA DAILY Newspaper, which we get everyday in our hotel. I was really touched by this piece:
"It is almost as hard for friends to meet, As for the morning and evening stars. Tonight then is a rare event."
"But meet they did for the Olympic Games as Beijing kept its date with history. The lines by Du Fu, composed centuries ago, are truer than ever in this materialistic world where it has become so difficult for true friends to meet.
Tonight, friends will gather at the National Stadium (athletes, sport officials and journalists) and those across this wide expanse of planet we call our home will get a second glimpse of what China, its people, history and culture are all about.
Some medals are still to be won and the celebrations are still on. And no matter what Spanish tenor Placido Domingo and Chinese soprano Song Zuying sing tonight, the words will mean Amigos para siempre or We'll be one.
But the parting has to wait. Not so soon. China had to wait more than a century since first expressing its desire to host the world Games. It had to prepare for seven long years for 17 days of joy, with its 1.3 billion people rising as one to turn that dream into sweet reality. So when the dark cloud ultimately shrouds Beijing tonight it will not be without a silver lining."
Tom and I have been truly touched by this experience. We have been moved beyond words by the spirit and enthusiasm of the young people who are volunteers for these games - young men and women whose eyes just shine when they meet you and say: "Can I help you?" There is a lot of talk about a new, open China and a Beijing with a resolve to keep its air cleaner in the future. My hope, for the sake of these young people, is that this will all come about because of the big Coming Out Party which was called the 29th Olympiad.
We have been moved by the huge effort that went into putting these games on and by the sheer beauty of the venues; the whole city is manicured and for over two years, people in Beijing planted 1,000 plants or trees every day just for these 17 days.
I really get the feeling that China wants to promote peace and harmony, and that is what their slogan "One World, One Dream" was all about. I hope we can all live to see this happen.
I want to share my experience of two days ago. I had a day "free" so I went off alone to the Beijing Zoo, which is in the heart of downtown. Actually, all of Beijing seems to be downtown, as this is a city of 17 million people.
I had a wonderful afternoon with the pandas and tigers (see my photo album) - but when I left the zoo at 5:15 p.m. and tried to hail a taxi outside, I found myself out of luck. There I was in the heart of the city with 17 million other people trying to get taxis.
After 15 minutes in the hot sun, I decided to walk somewhere and try to find a nice hotel, which could hopefully get me a taxi. I only got as far as the first corner, where four young volunteers were standing. As I approached, one of them said, "Can we help you?" I said, "I can't get a taxi."
They said, "Oh, we'll help you." And help me they did. It took them ONE HOUR to locate a cab, but the boys all stayed with me the whole time, walked me a long way through a tunnel to a hotel, and gave the cab driver one of their cell phones to call our hotel for directions.
I LOVE these boys!
The ride through the stalled traffic in Beijing was exactly one more hour. I could never deal with the conjestion here on a daily basis, and everyone tells us, "Oh, this is GOOD. Half the cars are off the road now for the Olympics". They use an odd/even license number rule to determine who drives on which day.
OK, more later. We leave early in the morning for our post tour with a flight to Shanghai, on Wednesday we go to Yi Chang for a transfer to a boat on the Yangtze River and on Sunday we arrive in Chongqing, after the river "cruise", and fly from there to Shanghai and home from there.
Here is the link to my latest photo album: http://picasaweb.google.com/ecker.carol/ATTHEBEIJINGZOO
More later,
Carol
"It is almost as hard for friends to meet, As for the morning and evening stars. Tonight then is a rare event."
"But meet they did for the Olympic Games as Beijing kept its date with history. The lines by Du Fu, composed centuries ago, are truer than ever in this materialistic world where it has become so difficult for true friends to meet.
Tonight, friends will gather at the National Stadium (athletes, sport officials and journalists) and those across this wide expanse of planet we call our home will get a second glimpse of what China, its people, history and culture are all about.
Some medals are still to be won and the celebrations are still on. And no matter what Spanish tenor Placido Domingo and Chinese soprano Song Zuying sing tonight, the words will mean Amigos para siempre or We'll be one.
But the parting has to wait. Not so soon. China had to wait more than a century since first expressing its desire to host the world Games. It had to prepare for seven long years for 17 days of joy, with its 1.3 billion people rising as one to turn that dream into sweet reality. So when the dark cloud ultimately shrouds Beijing tonight it will not be without a silver lining."
Tom and I have been truly touched by this experience. We have been moved beyond words by the spirit and enthusiasm of the young people who are volunteers for these games - young men and women whose eyes just shine when they meet you and say: "Can I help you?" There is a lot of talk about a new, open China and a Beijing with a resolve to keep its air cleaner in the future. My hope, for the sake of these young people, is that this will all come about because of the big Coming Out Party which was called the 29th Olympiad.
We have been moved by the huge effort that went into putting these games on and by the sheer beauty of the venues; the whole city is manicured and for over two years, people in Beijing planted 1,000 plants or trees every day just for these 17 days.
I really get the feeling that China wants to promote peace and harmony, and that is what their slogan "One World, One Dream" was all about. I hope we can all live to see this happen.
I want to share my experience of two days ago. I had a day "free" so I went off alone to the Beijing Zoo, which is in the heart of downtown. Actually, all of Beijing seems to be downtown, as this is a city of 17 million people.
I had a wonderful afternoon with the pandas and tigers (see my photo album) - but when I left the zoo at 5:15 p.m. and tried to hail a taxi outside, I found myself out of luck. There I was in the heart of the city with 17 million other people trying to get taxis. After 15 minutes in the hot sun, I decided to walk somewhere and try to find a nice hotel, which could hopefully get me a taxi. I only got as far as the first corner, where four young volunteers were standing. As I approached, one of them said, "Can we help you?" I said, "I can't get a taxi."
They said, "Oh, we'll help you." And help me they did. It took them ONE HOUR to locate a cab, but the boys all stayed with me the whole time, walked me a long way through a tunnel to a hotel, and gave the cab driver one of their cell phones to call our hotel for directions.
I LOVE these boys!
The ride through the stalled traffic in Beijing was exactly one more hour. I could never deal with the conjestion here on a daily basis, and everyone tells us, "Oh, this is GOOD. Half the cars are off the road now for the Olympics". They use an odd/even license number rule to determine who drives on which day.
OK, more later. We leave early in the morning for our post tour with a flight to Shanghai, on Wednesday we go to Yi Chang for a transfer to a boat on the Yangtze River and on Sunday we arrive in Chongqing, after the river "cruise", and fly from there to Shanghai and home from there.
Here is the link to my latest photo album: http://picasaweb.google.com/ecker.carol/ATTHEBEIJINGZOO
More later,
Carol
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Current Events
I have been very delinquent with this blog, and I do apologize. We have been SO on the go that I haven't had time to even look at a computer. This going to Olympic events isn't for sissies.
Today we went to the Great Wall and I thought Tom said we were going to the Great Mall of China. I was in for a shock when all I saw was mountains and trees and rocks and a glimmer
of a big wall through the clouds.
Guess what else I saw:
We had a nice day in spite of the rain, and while Tom and I have been here twice before, the others in our group were eager to climb the steep steps on the wall. That is, after they paid 45 yuan or $6.75 to get in the entrance. We also had to put bags through a security belt, so things have certainly changed since the days of the Ming Dynasty. Wouldn't these emperors be shocked to come back in time and find women yelling "Hello, buy my hats" and see the hotels and gift shops at the Wall's entrance? I think so.
We have gotten to see some wonderful events at the Olympic Green: three world records broken in track and field (the 100 meter dash, the 200 meter dash and the women's pole vault), some exciting water polo between rivals the U.S. and Australia (women) and yesterday we went to synchronized swimming.
The late Jim Hay, Tom's dear friend from New Zealand, always said that the people who need to be drug-tested are the ones who watch synchronized swimming. Well, there we were yesterday, watching 12 pairs of beautiful women do their routines and they were stunning. Russia won the gold medal, with Spain and Japan next, and the U.S. women fourth.
More from me later - now I will go to work on my photos, which can be viewed at: http://picasaweb.google.com/ecker.carol/ChinaSights and http://picasaweb.google.com/ecker.carol/THEFORBIDDENCITYBEIJING
AND http://picasaweb.google.com/ecker.carol/OUTANDABOUTINCHINA (LATEST)
When these open, go to the top and choose SLIDESHOW.
Carol
Today we went to the Great Wall and I thought Tom said we were going to the Great Mall of China. I was in for a shock when all I saw was mountains and trees and rocks and a glimmer
of a big wall through the clouds.
Guess what else I saw:
We had a nice day in spite of the rain, and while Tom and I have been here twice before, the others in our group were eager to climb the steep steps on the wall. That is, after they paid 45 yuan or $6.75 to get in the entrance. We also had to put bags through a security belt, so things have certainly changed since the days of the Ming Dynasty. Wouldn't these emperors be shocked to come back in time and find women yelling "Hello, buy my hats" and see the hotels and gift shops at the Wall's entrance? I think so.
We have gotten to see some wonderful events at the Olympic Green: three world records broken in track and field (the 100 meter dash, the 200 meter dash and the women's pole vault), some exciting water polo between rivals the U.S. and Australia (women) and yesterday we went to synchronized swimming.
The late Jim Hay, Tom's dear friend from New Zealand, always said that the people who need to be drug-tested are the ones who watch synchronized swimming. Well, there we were yesterday, watching 12 pairs of beautiful women do their routines and they were stunning. Russia won the gold medal, with Spain and Japan next, and the U.S. women fourth.
More from me later - now I will go to work on my photos, which can be viewed at: http://picasaweb.google.com/ecker.carol/ChinaSights and http://picasaweb.google.com/ecker.carol/THEFORBIDDENCITYBEIJING
AND http://picasaweb.google.com/ecker.carol/OUTANDABOUTINCHINA (LATEST)
When these open, go to the top and choose SLIDESHOW.
Carol
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