It has been 8 years since I last posted anything. Wow! Talk about nothing to say, or as I like to call it, "The Trump Years."

Here's book review I wrote about the first book in The Wheel of Time series. 

The book is  better than the filmed version, but just as exciting as the TV show. So excellent! I am afraid if I gush too much, I will reveal spoilers, so I won't do that. Just know that the book tells more things about each character. I love reading the backstories, and there were plenty of them. I savored the book. That's the best compliment I can give to a book -- did I enjoy reading it, did it take me away to mystical and magical lands, was it filled with interesting characters, and am I taking some time to read it, so I can wallow in the nuances of the writing? The answer is a resounding YES!!!

Shia shia, China

Today was both terrifying and exhilarating -- terrifying because we have to get up at 5 a.m. tomorrow to catch our flight back to Beijing and exhilarating because we just saw a fabulous acrobatic show that had me on the edge of my seat!

This morning was fun. We went to The Bund, which is Shanghai's waterfront park. On one side of the river is the old part of Shanghai -- the old British section with beautiful old world buildings on one side of the river and all the new, modern buildings on the new Chinese side. Everywhere we went, we saw buildings either being demolished or built. It seems like the taller the building, the more prestige for the Chinese government. Skyscrapers that almost scrape the sky dotted the landscape, each one attempting to outdo the next one. It is as if the country is experiencing another Cultural Revolution by destroying the old way of life and building a new one, ushering in a new wave of moderniation and progress. There were some things that were so new that our tour guide didn't know they were there.

The Bund was beautiful. Ships of almost every size were entering or leaving the harbor and the boardwalk was filled with people. We met a young lady from Tsing Tao, where they make the beer. Her English was very good and she told us her teacher was from Philadelphia. When we told her we were from Oregon, she exclaimed, "America!" She was excited to meet us and asked how we liked Shanghai. We said we liked it and she said, "It is cosmopolitan." She was very sweet and she took our photo next to sculptures of colorful cows. The cows were a new art display on The Bund and similar to the cows in the Portland area.

We also saw a huge bull which had been designed by the same person who designed the bull on Wall Street. We stopped to take photos of a beautiful bride and her handsome groom as they posed for wedding photos. Such a lovely couple and so full of promise for the future.

Our next stop was a silk rug factory. For only a few thousand dollars, we, too, could be the proud owner of a gorgeous Persian-style Oriental silk rug. The silk rugs are all woven by hand and it can take up to two years to make one rug. One angle of a rug can have a totally different color to it due to the nap of the rug. They showed us a rug that from one angle, it looked white and from another angle, green. I was quite taken with the soft feel of the rugs but when I stuck my bare foot on one, it didn't seem as soft as it did to my hand. A bit disappointing.

Our lunch was one of the best because it was Mongolian barbecue. Yum! Lots of veggies, some chicken or pork and a splash of garlic, chili sauce and soy sauce and voila! Perfect lunch!

However, it was after lunch when our adventure began. We spent the afternoon at the old Shanghai market, where we haggled for a good price on jade, silk, chopsticks, Chinese vases and all kinds of other things. If you couldn't find it in that market, you weren't really looking very hard. Everyone got something a littledifferent, which made it fun to see the treasures people purchased. It was fun to bargain but I have to say, thank goodness someone else went with me because I am a terrible haggler!

The highlight of the evening had to be the acrobatic show we attended. We had seats right in the center and the show was amazing! I didn't know people's bodies could bend and stretch like that -- at least I couldn't have done one-tenth of one percent of what these athletes could do. It was truly an edge of your seat experience. The finale was fabulous. At first, one motorcyclist rode his bike inside a huge metel mesh ball. Then slowly, more and more motorcycles were added until there were EIGHT cyclists inside the ball, spinning upside down and around -- I couldn't believe they could do what they did with one motorcycle, let alone eight of them. Astounding control. The music was fantastic, too! What a great way to end our trip to China!

Now it is off to bed for some much needed shuteye before we head back to Seattle and home. I have learned a lot about China, the Chinese people and about myself. It has been a worthwhile experience and one I hope to do again in the future. I know I am not spelling this correctly but I am spelling the Chinese words for thank you phonetically -- shia shia, China!

Hangzou & Shanghai

Today was a trip! We spent the night in the Crown Plaza Hotel Hangzou Xanadu Resort in Hangzou -- pronounced HanJoe -- and I got my first glimpse of the lake. Beautiful swans, ducks and geese swam on the lake as we ate breakfast outside on the patio. So gorgeous! Rich people must live in the houses along the shore because the houses were pretty fancy. Cool koi ponds dotted the landscape of the resort. Look it up online -- very nice. About 200 Mary Kay ladies were there -- all Chinese and all beautiful.

We then went to the Longjing Green Tea Plantation where we sat through an informercial about the benefits of green tea. For only $250, we, too, could have a longer life. Too rich for my blood -- and pocketbook. The plantation was truly beautiful and very peaceful. A 700 year old village and many of the people can trace their ancestry for all those years. Then we drove to the centuries old Lingyin Temple, a Zen Buddist monestery which had a basketball court and a 64 foot camphor wood carved Buddha, a room with 500 Buddhas and limestone rocks with statues carved in the walls. Pretty smoky from all the incense and filthy bathrooms. I miss my toilet at home!!!!

After an interesting lunch at the Lily Hotel, we took a boat ride on West Lake, where we saw many pagodas. It was cool on the lake, which was very nice since I was so sweaty. It is very humid in Hangzou -- not my favorite climate. I spend a lot of time wiping my face. Yuck!

We spent three hours on the bus to come to Shanghai. It gets dark here so early and the city is lit up like Times Square. Our hotel is the Renaissance Park Hotel -- very fancy. I am on the 48th floor and I can see this huge shopping mall down below me. Had dinner at a place called Mr. Pancake House. We had free time so another girl and I had dinner there. Should have gone to the Korean BBQ place.

Tomorrow is the big shopping day. Going to The Bund, a famous water park, then the silk rug factory and then shopping in the Pudong District. In the evening, we will see an acrobatic show -- should be fun!

Cricket Lui, rickshaws and silkworms

I realized this morning that I did not write about my all-time favorite day -- Cricket Lui Day! On Wednesday, Oct. 8, we spent the day visiting a neighborhood in old Beijing and having lunch with a local family. Mr. Lui is a famous cricket fighter -- he trains crickets to fight and also raises grasshoppers. He had his picture taken for a Chinese magazine which he had laminated and also in a book about Beijing created for the Olympics. He and his wife live in this sweet tiny little house with a lovely courtyard filled with bird cages and the most amazing birds. There were two mynah birds -- one of which said. "Me how!" as you walked by. There were pigeons, exotic birds and little birds that looked like wrens. Two guinea pigs sat in another cage and there were fish ponds and about five turtles in a tub. We had a wonderful home-cooked meal that was the best yet! The old couple were so sweet and kind. When Cricket Lui, as he is called, was 16, he was sent to Mongolia as part of the Cultural Revolution. He spent many years there before he came home to Beijing. I don't think anyone ever explained why he was sent there. He was such a sweetie. He showed off his crickets and I saw the largest grasshopper I have ever seen. We rode rickshaws to and from his place -- it was great! They have no bathroom at their home so when nature called, we had to use the public toilet. Most toilets, I think I have written, as basically holes the ground. This one did not have stalls and smelled horrible. A girl from Montana and I had to pee basically in the same stall and because I couldn't squat very low, I splashed on her. I was so embarrassed! She was, thankfully, not upset but I felt terrible! Life in China is interesting!

We had an early night because we had to get up at 5 a.m. to catch our flight to Shanghai.lt was so hard to get up but we made it on time to catch our two-hour flight to the city. The air pollution was really bad in Beijing that morning and most of us were glad to get out of it but so sad to leave our wonderful guide Tom. He took such great care of us and so much fun!

Today, Friday, Oct. 10, we spent time at the Lingering Garden in Suzhou. It was so peaceful and serene. I think we could have stayed for hours, just sitting in the garden, watching the koi swim in the ponds and the breeze blowing through the trees. It was fabulous. It was built by a rich man for his family 400 years ago but they didn't live on the grounds -- their house was elsewhere. They entertained dignitaries and other guests there. Lots of ponds filled with koi, a bonsai garden which was spectacular and rooms where the family could entertain and worship. It was awesome. We hated to leave.

Our next stop was for lunch at another restaurant but this one was attachesd to a silk factory. I was able to purchase a king-size silk quilt for only $114. Amazing. I also picked up a couple of silk scarves and a little silk coin purse. It was fascinating to see how the silkworm cocoon threads are threaded onto spinning reels and then transformed into beautiful things. We couldn't take pictures, which was sad but the ladies who waited on us in the shop were so sweet and helpful.

The last stop was at the Suzhou Industrial Park, where we listened to a boring guy talk about how proud the Chinese were that so many American companies have moved to China to manufacture goods. It just made me sad. They have this beautiful building with marble floors and an exhibit about the projects Suzhou is doing to turn itself into a modern city. A model of the city was in one of the rooms and it was quite impressive. The coopertion between China and Singapore is extremely exciting and I hope that this cooperation continues but I wish American companies would quit worrying about their shareholders and care more about the working conditions of both the American and Chinese people.

Tomorrow is a visit to a tea plantation and then a long bus ride to Shanghai. We will be there for two days & then we head back to Beijing and home. This has been a great trip but I miss my family and kitties and my own bathroom.

Farewell, Beijing

This morning we bid farewell to our tour guide, Tom. It was bittersweet. He was so gracious and really seemed to care about us. He is truly a lovely man. He put us on a plane to Shanghai, which took about two hours. As we got off the plane, beautiful Chinese girls greeted us each with a rose. Chai is our new guide. He likes to tell silly jokes and is very nice. However, the consensus is that we already miss Tom. Chai rushes us around a lot and that makes it hard for those of us who move slower than the rest of the group.

Since we had to get up at 5 a.m. this morning, I ended up falling asleep on the bus into Suzhou -- pronounced Suze Joe -- so I missed a lot of what Chai had to say about the city. What I do remember is that, like Beijing, Suzhou is a city of skyscrapers and rebuilding. Many of the homes that people have lived in for sometimes centuries are being torn down to build modern high rises. Chai joked that the national bird of China is the crane; but not the bird type of cranes but the cranes that move tons of steel to make skyscrapers. We saw many cranes as we drove through the Suzhou Industrial Park to our lunch restaurant. It was a modern building along a beautiful natural lake. The food is slightly different in the south than in the north in Beijing. More noodles, fish and pork dishes. Good food in both places but again, as in Beijing, way too much of it.

We took a ride on one of the canals in a sweet little motorized boat through the old part of Suzhou. People have lived in these neighborhoods for centuries and the buildings do show the wear and tear of the centuries. People dump their grey water into the canal and I saw trash thrown into it as well. An old lady was washing her clothes in the canal while down river, two men fished for their supper --one even had fish in a net floating in the water. We were able to get out and walk -- more like speed -- though an open air market with vendors selling everything from live frogs to live chickens, steamed breads, cut meats, vegetables and other goods such as metal bowls, blankets, clothing and other household goods. It was fascinating to see as the "street" was only about 15 feet wide and bicycles and motor scooters were also sharing the road with pedestrians.

Another of our stops today was at Tiger Hill. When an ancient king died in battle, he was buried on the hill. People swore they saw a tiger on the hill where the king was buried and thought it was the reincarnation of the king. The king's son built a temple over the gravesite and it is called Tiger Hill. The really interesting part is that the tower leans, just like the Tower of Pisa. It was a beautiful place, with bamboo gardens and lovely flowers and of course, the famous Suzhou stones. So peaceful and tranquil -- I could have stayed there all day. Alas, we had to keep moving. Our last stop was at an embroidery factory, where master embroiderers make the most amazing embroidery pieces that look like real paintings. It can take up to four years to create a piece of embroidery and pieces sold anywhere from $300-$16,000. We could not take pictures inside, which was a shame but could not have done justice to the finished pieces. Simply beautiful.

We are staying at the Marriott Hotel. The hotel rooms are only on the 25th floor and above so we have great views of the city -- but you can still hear the cranes and honks of the motorists 40 floors below -- I am on the 40th floor. Traffic is less here than in Beijing, of course, the the motor scooters and bicyclists do not heed traffic lights or use their lights at all. Very scary, especially since little kids are riding some of these scooters.

Tomorrow is a silk factory and a visit to a government building. Then on to Hanghou. Should be lots of fun!

The Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Tiananmen Square

Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Tiananmen Square

I am EXHAUSTED!!!! We must have walked 20 miles today. Not really but it sure seemed like it. Only about five or six miles but I have a blister on my left foot to prove it! Woke up at 4 a.m. again this morning but we had to get up extra early to beat traffic since most of the day was spent in the city. Traffic was busy. One of my fellow travelers, Harry from the Woodburn, Oregon Chamber of Commerce, and I sit in the front of the bus and I think Harry and I will be bald before the end of our time in Beijing. We have had many near misses with bicyclists and motor bikes. We both gasp a LOT!!!! Frightening but so far, Wu hasn't hit anyone.

Our first stop was at a pearl factory. Monica, our tour guide, was very conscience of her boss the whole time she was talking to us. It was kind of weird; like if she stepped one toe out of line, she would be fired. She talked about how the fresh water pearls were grown and harvested and showed us the difference between real pearls and fake ones -- rub real pearls together and there will be a slight rough sound. If you rub the pearls on your skin, there will be a bit of dust. In the showroom, she took us to the most expensive room, of course, so we could see the beautiful colors of black, pink, white and lavendar. Some of us got to model necklaces, too. I had on a gorgeous set of black pearls -- which can range in color from a deep blue to a deep purple. So pretty. One of the ladies from Woodburn, Sharon, had on a green scarf and modeled a saltwater pearl that was gold in color -- the rarest pearl in the world, according to Monica. The gold pearl picked up the beautiful green in her scarf -- a beautiful color against her skin. It was hard not to purchase pearls but I avoided it as best I could. My personal sales person tried to haggle with me on a strand of pearls that I could use to make my own necklace but I resisted the temptation to spend $50. At one point, she offered me the strand for $15 but I still couldn't do it. I want to save my money for our trip to Shanghai!

Once we left the pearl factory, we entered the Summer Palace. If you have ever seen the film, "The Last Emperor," the Summer Palace was built by the last emperor's aunt. She was apparently an ugly woman who was one of 3,000 concubines of the third to the last emperors. She was a great gardener and also had a beautiful singing voice. One day, asTom told the story, she found out when the emperor was going to be walking in the garden she created and decided to sing a song to him. He heard this song and thought it was the most beautiful thing he had ever heard. He took her to bed and they had a son. The son died soon after the emperor did but she did not want to give up her power and influence. They called her The Dragon Lady, but not because she was like a dragon, but because she was so powerful. She built the Summer Palace as a monument to her power. She ended up killing the emperor -- who was her nephew -- by poisoning him right before she died herself. She built the Summer Palace with a huge lake -- it covers three quarters of the total area of the palace and is 0.85 square miles -- using slave labor. The lake had many boats on it and was quite lovely. The garden was not what we Americans would consider a garden -- mostly trees and rocks cover the grounds. There are weeping willow along the banks of the lake and locust trees along the walkways.
Pagodas dot the landscape and in one, an elderly man was playing a stringed instrument. Very discordant sounding but hauntingly beautiful. It was an amazing place. The Dragon Lady was not exactly well-loved and after she put another nephew on the throne before she died, he was the last emperor. Watch the movie, it was great.

After lunch -- which was quite good -- we hit Tiananmen Square. What a huge place and so many people. You have to go through a security checkpoint before you enter but we were waved through, thanks to our guide, Tom. We got a few strange looks as we breezed through the gate. Tiananmen Square is named after the Gate of Heavenly Peace, Tiananmen Gate. It is there that Mao Zedong is buried and where he announced to the Chinese people that the People's Republic of China was founded. There was a huge flower basket filled with 30 foot long flowers in the middle of the square. Families littered the square, children dancing and street vendors trying to get people to buy their wares dotted the landscape. It was an impressive sight -- especially since The Forbidden City entrance was on the other side of the road. Everywhere, police and soldiers watched the people. No subversives allowed here!

The Forbidden City was impressive. Nine thousand, nine hundred ninety nine rooms housed the Emperor, his up to 3,000 concubines, and his soldiers and servants. Parts of the outer gates were covered in green screening due to renovation. There are four gates before you get to the actual living quarters of the emperor. Many parts look shabby, with paint peeling, cobblestones broken and parts of the beautiful wooden decorations on the roofs falling apart. It was still a very impressive place. We were able to see where the throne room was where the last emperor -- only a small boy of three -- sat with the Dragon Lady behind a screen, telling him what to do. We saw a tiny little bed where the boy king slept. The rooms were much smaller than I thought they would be but the garden! Wow. It was truly magnificient! The Suzhou stones -- the ones with the holes in them -- were everywhere and the trees were so beautiful. A pagoda sat in the middle of the garden, all red and golden. It was so spectacular. I took way too many photos but again, will have to wait to get home before I can download them.

There were hundreds of foreign visitors there. We spoke to a few Australians and Americans and heard German being spoken as well as other languages. Considering how many people were there, it was wonderful to see and hear how courteous people were. No one shoved people out of the way or tried to cut in front of you in the narrow doorways. It was very nice.

When we were leaving the Summer Palace, a group of Chinese tourists from a rural area near the Russia/China border stopped us and wanted us to take photos of them with us.One little lady was surrounded by two very tall Americans in our group. She couldn't have been more than 5 feet tall and two of our well over six feet members of our party towered over her. She had her hand over her mouth, trying to keep from giggling out loud. I took their photo and she ran over to me to see the picture. I wish I could have sent the photo to her. She was so delighted to see the picture, it was quite sweet.  
The children are delightful. The Chinese may only have one child unless they want to pay a huge amount of money to have another. Tom said only the rich can have more than one child. Since there is only one child per family unit, the children are treated like emperors. As a matter of fact, Tom said that the children are called Little Emperors. They are denied nothing, it seems. The children in the city were all well-dressed and seemed so happy. Perhaps spoiled like a lot of American only children but so adorable. We watched two little four-year-old girls -- their mothers looked like they could have been sisters so they must have been cousins -- giggle and flirt with us. They playfully pushed each other while they laughed. It was so cute. We watched another little boy -- probably about six -- who tested the laws of gravity with a small stone he found in the Forbidden City courtyard where the last emperor probably played the same types of games, rolling the little stone down the marble steps or the sloping sides of the steps over and over again. So cute!

The air was very smoggy today. It was difficult to breath by the end of the day. My throat burned and my nose dripped down my throat all afternoon. At least I did not cough, just cleared my throat like a lifelong smoker. Dinner again was an excercise in excess -- we left so much food behind but we had no place to put it in our hotel room or did not care for the taste of the dish. Tom says that to not have enough food on the table would be to lose face with your guests. The restaurant where we ate lunch was also a gastronomical museum, giving us a history of the evolution of food in China. It was a fascinating exhibit and our guide was dressed in traditional dress with the funniest platform shoes. How she balanced herself on those things, I have no idea. Lovely young lady who learned English in university and is studying business while working at the restaurant as a tour guide.

We have been treated very royally -- we have a refrigerator on our bus with bottled water, Coca Cola -- Diet Coke is very hard to find, which is just about killing me! -- and TsingTao beer. I have been keeping well hydrated with water but sometimes, I wish I could just have a Diet Coke. At the factories we have gone to, there are little bars with alcohol, soda and water. Thankfully, I get my Diet Coke fix then. The Chinese drink a LOT of Coca Cola.

Tomorrow is a day of seeing how families live. We will have lunch with a family and ride a rickshaw. Then dinner with local dignitaries and then the following day, we leave very early for the airport for our 8:25 flight to Shanghai. This has been such a wonderful experience and one I will not soon forget.

The Great Wall is, well, pretty darn great!

The Great Wall was amazing!!!!! The steps just about killed my knees but so worth it! I mdade it up only about seven flights of stairs before I gave it up as a bad job but the history of the place was astounding. Mostly built between 220-206 BC, it kept the Mongols out of China. Over 13,170 miles long, it is a UNESCO World Heritage site and the only manmade structure astronauts can see from space! It was fascinating.

Went to a jade factory. Gorgeous stuff. Learned a lot about jade. Not sure I can remember it all but when I get home, I will write more about it. Then off to one of the Ming Emperors' tombs. Gorgeous ceilings and such beautiful work. A huge statue to the emperor -- whose name escapes me right now -- in the middle of the tomb. There was a 400 year old pine tree on the grounds; so majestic. The architecture was really cool. The ceiling was so colorful. Our guide, Tom, is pretty honest about what happened to all the beautiful furniture and jewelry that was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. He is very matter of fact. It happened in their history and it makes no sense to try to deny it. Kind of refreshing and not what I expected. Of course, he doesn't question the government too much.

For lunch, we went to the largest government-run restaurants in the country. It also housed a cloisonne factory. Young people are our tour guides at these factories and do an excellent job of explaining the processes. Cloisonne originated in Beijing during the Yuan dynasty and continued during the Jingtai period (1450-1456) of the Ming dynasty. It is called "Bule of Jingtai" due to blue being the dominant color used for enamaling. Just like jade and pearls, only royalty used it. It was considered a symbol of authority and status. Not something I care much for, but the works of art were lovely. I took lots of photos of the process but can't download my digital camera until I get back to the states.

The afternoon ended with a trip to the Great Wall of China. Almost everyone of us kept saying, "Pinch me, I can't believe I am actualy here!" What a feat of architecture. One of our party, a young lady from Canada named Laura -- who looks remarkably like Katie Perry -- went up one side to the top, back down and up and down the other side! She is in amazing shape and is probably about 25. This old lady barely made it up those flights of stairs she did get up -- haha!

Dinner was at the restaurant all the U.S. presidents go to when they visit Beijing. Peking duck is their specialty. I still don't care for duck but it was fascinating to see how many ducks the chefs cut up for everyone's meals. The place was packed and I believe had five floors filled with tables. It is still the national holiday here so people were still out celebrating that evening. Meals are served family-style, which allows you to pick and choose what you want to eat. I tried everything but the anemone-looking stuff and some funky looking mushrooms that one person said tasted like rubber. I don't even like to chew gum so chewing rubbery food doesn't not appeal. So much food on the table that you feel guilty for not eating more. The leftover food goes to feed farm animals, Tom says. There has been so much food leftover that the animals must eat like emperors!

The best thing about the day was the massage that Tom arranged for us. For 35 U.S. dollars, I received a 90 minute massage from a sweet young lady right in my room. Deep tissue massage, too, just the way I like it. It felt fabulous! I slept, as Tom would say, like a pig! A pig's only jobs in China are to eat and sleep and if you slept really well, you say you slept like a dead pig. I didn't sleep quite that well, but it was a restful night's sleep with lovely dreams of Chinese ladies massaging my feet. I could get used to this.