China - Day 3: Big museums, another airport and a lost bus driver

Most of today was a travel day. Before our flight we went to a museum that we were supposed to go to the day before. 

 
The museum was quite large. Everything was organized into big rooms that also had many hallways like a maze. The artifacts here are the oldest I have ever seen! The artifacts in our museums aren't anywhere near as old because our history doesn't go back as far as China's. Each room displayed different things like pottery, bronze artifacts, calligraphy, clothing and weapons.

When we arrived at the airport we were given sandwiches for the plane. Our flight was about an hour and a half and everything went smoothly. My bag was held at the bag inspection because I had an external battery pack in it. In China batteries have to be transported in your carry on bags and have capacity restrictions. It wasn't a big deal. I grabbed the battery from my bag and continued on my way. This was a short flight and I fell asleep before we took off. I must have been exhausted! I was planning on updating my blog but after my nap the airline fed us! Food on an hour and a half flight? How cool! We were served some sort of pork stew and rice. After we landed our tour group gathered at the baggage claim area and boarded a bus.

The bus ride was the longest bus ride ever! We were the first group to leave the airport. The bus ride was supposed to be 3 hours but our driver took what he thought was a short cut. We went through a residential area with narrow roads. Our driver got lost. We ended up going the wrong way, ran into inaccessible roads and we kept having to stop to ask for directions. Our 3 hour bus ride turned into 5. We didn't get to the ship until 10.

We checked into our rooms ate dinner and went straight to bed. There hasn't been much time for sleep on this trip.

China - Day 2: Yuyuan garden, silk and skilled acrobats

Because we got in so late we didn't have time to sleep once we got to our hotel. We showered got breakfast and went out on our tour.

The first place our tour guide took us was the financial district of China. This area is filled with modern skyscrapers referred to as, The Bund. One of the weird facts we learned was that all of the buildings were owned by foreign companies at one time. He gave us time to look around and wander for a bit before taking us to Old Shanghai. It reminded me of Oakland Chinatown. My grandma said it reminded her of San Francisco Chinatown in the 30's. She claims she wasn't around then but she saw pictures.

After walking around for a bit we went to Yuyuan Garden which means garden of happiness. It was really crowded and hard to navigate a tour group through. This garden is listed as a must see when visiting Shanghai. The land in Shanghai is very flat and mountains in Fung Shui represent protection so hills were made in the garden for protection and pagodas were built on top. This garden was built during the Ming Dynasty and is the was the most prestigious garden at the time. It's separated into 6 sections and is surrounded by a dragon wall. 

There are a lot of places to shop and eat near the Garden. We were given free time to look around and went to a silk shop where they farmed silk worms, made and sold silk goods. We watched a demonstration on how some silk goods were made. They also taught us how to test the quality of silk and how to differentiate between real and fake. On our way out our local guide took us to a tea house that was a little ways away from the touristy area where locals like to buy tea. We were told this is the best tea in the area! it was a little expensive.

Before lunch we walked to a silk art gallery where they displayed and sold silk art. We were able to watch how silk embroidery was made. The gallery was quite large and arranged like a maze. There were lots of rooms and hallways. Some of the needle work was so fine that it looked like a printed photo!

We had lunch at a local restaurant that was in the same mall as the silk art gallery. Some of the items served to us didn't seem like authentic Chinese food. I wonder if they altered there menu for us Americans. Some of the food we were served was fried rice, pork buns and some sort of noodles.
  
We headed back to the hotel and went straight to bed for a nap before dinner. It was amazing! It was the first time we've been able to lay in a bed in at least 36 hours!

We had dinner at Elemental Fresh, a restaurant near the hotel. We had a choice between a fish, beef or vegetarian dish. I got the beef dish. It was pretty good.

After dinner we went to an Acrobatic show at a local theatre. They did similar acts to the ones at the acrobatic show at Global Winter wonderland in Sacramento. I liked the acts here better. They were more daring and had more flare. A lot of the performers were young amateurs who did acrobatics as a hobby while going to school.

After the acrobatic show we went back to the hotel to retire to the night. We have another flight tomorrow!

China day 1- Longest travel day ever!

Even though the day isn't quite over yet I've decided to write a blog entry while we're waiting for our delayed flight in Beijing. I feel like I've been here forever! I'll edit and add as things happen.

Just like most Day 1 blog entries today was a travel day. But this one has a lot more twist and turns! We left Sacramento around 6 am and arrived at the San Francisco airport at about 8, which was wayyy too early. Our flight wasn't scheduled to leave until 2:50 that afternoon! Our check in counter wasn't even open yet. Since we couldn't get our boarding passes we spent some time outside of security. We had access to a few shops and a food court. There was also a museum at the airport that showed airline attendants uniform styles throughout the years. I thought that was pretty cool.

After we checked in we got burgers and boarded the plane. The airplane ride was the longest I've ever been on - 11 hours! While on the plane I watched a few movies and shows. I was able to watch Cinderella, Cars and Triple 9. Some of the shows I watched was 2 broke girls, Community, Modern Family and Top Gear. Our travel documents said that we would only be provided with a snack this trip but we ended up getting 2 meals. Score! The first meal was served about an hour into our flight. Our choices were chicken and rice or beef and rice. I got the beef with rice. The menu for the second meal consisted of shrimp and rice or pork chow mein. I got the chow mein. Wine and beer was offered as part of their beverage selection. We took full advantage of that! There was nothing spectacular about the meals. It's just airline food.

When we arrived in Beijing we wanted to use the Air China Lounge but by the time we made our way through security and customs there wasn't enough time. We ended up shopping for a while. I've noticed that high end Italian and American stores are very popular here.

This layover ended up being the longest ever. Our flight was delayed for what seemed to be an eternity! We didn't wonder very far from our gate in fear that we would miss our boarding call. Eventually, I went and explored more shops. There's only so much you can do in this terminal so after a short while of exploring I went back to the gate to wait some more. I was able to catch up with Facebook and my email which was a pleasant surprise. I thought Facebook and Google services were blocked here.  A couple of hours into the delay the airline announced that they would provide us with food and drink. Disappointingly it was just water and crackers. After a short nap and what feels life a million lifetimes later we were finally able to board the plane.

The second plane was a lot smaller and it didn't provide as many entertainment options as our first plane. Good thing this plane ride was a lot shorter.

We arrived in Shanghai at 6:30am and we didn't have any time for sleep. We had to be settled in, showered and ready for our tour at 8am. Off to the tour we go!