From Vancouver to Montreal and travel pictures

I have now assembled some of the many pictures we took on this trip and have grouped them in albums which correspond to the places we visited.
These can be seen at:

Vancouver:  

https://goo.gl/photos/RTDz5LUe7VskR9QA9

Hong Kong:  

https://goo.gl/photos/LJL9UYpbJdEgMhAX9

Hong Kong/Macu:  

https://goo.gl/photos/MfBH1wFLK61QcZeX8

Macau:    

https://goo.gl/photos/tG6CL5nn4RzRJ8jN9

Shenzhen:  

https://goo.gl/photos/QY9DaKUzCNRXMxS56

Guilin mountains:  

https://goo.gl/photos/aHYZGukk5W7vUmyYA

Montagnards and terraces: 

https://goo.gl/photos/HCLwuTjoy1NoDMQM7

Xian hotel:  

https://goo.gl/photos/6ChdYj6qe5H6FRdF9

Xian terracotta museum;   

https://goo.gl/photos/grVwvRhgzCN2DkjW7

more Xian: 

https://goo.gl/photos/hf9xy1y92US8w5Rx6

Xian 6000 year old village dig:  

https://goo.gl/photos/UoeG24wdNS4gQwhZA

Tibet: 
https://goo.gl/photos/Sh7g2g5vmP6r61NH6

Beijing, Great Wall:  

https://goo.gl/photos/WNxw6J5NS6SnKmu98

Our flight back to Montreal went smoothly in about 5 hours.  It was great to sleep in our own bed after almost a month on the road.  The impressions and experiences of this trip have given both of us a good insight into China today. It is a country which continues to grow but there are pieces which have not kept up with modern standards.  Toilets are a huge problem as are the constant lung clearing noises one hears all around.  The people are a friendly bunch for the most part except in Hong Kong where I found to my consternation that the taxi drivers for the most part speak no English and no Mandarin.  This situation is very frustrating but I am told that the younger generation are far more proficient in English and Mandarin.
One sees highly developed infrastructure such as trains that go 350 kms/hour and road with impressive overpasses leading to stunning bridges all through the country,  yet the arrival steps in Langshou where millions arrive each year are primitive and dangerous if one is carrying suitcases.  The Chinese have serious difficulties in properly pronouncing English so that we had a few guides who spoke English fluently but in a way no one could understand.

For Monique, this was a real introduction to things Chinese as we stayed in simple quarters in Beijing in a Hutong, then in international hotels such as the Sheratons and again very Chinese in Xian where we stayed in a replica of a royal residence, complete with art and music. It was a strenuous trip with lots of walking and climbing but that is evitable as many of the historical sites are high up or just huge in size.
I would strongly recommend to all readers that they plan a trip to China to see how the country continues to invest in its own future with infrastructure projets in roads, ports, airports and trains give the country a huge advantage over most other countries in this world.

The political situation is of little concern to visitors and the Chinese do not discuss the subject much with outsiders. They seem content as long as the government tries to make their lives easier and leaves them to get on with their endeveours. Life in China is tough but they have made huge progress. The amount of housing built and under construction is astounding but it is needed to house the increasingly urban populations.

A note on how travelling has become so much easier is that the only peice of paper I took with me on this trip was my passport. All my travel arrangements, planes, trains, hotels, guides etc were all held on my cell phone on an app called Tripit. I recommend it to anyone who goes on a trip. It is free and works like a charm.

Hope you enjoyed the story and the pictures.
I would love to hear back from you.

Alexander Keyserlingk
Montreal Canada
November 9, 2016

Vancouver pictures- Diner at my sister's house.

https://goo.gl/photos/RTDz5LUe7VskR9QA9

Left Xian for Guilin, Langshou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Macau

We had checked into our very Chinese hotel in Xian. It has the complicated name of Tang Dynasty art garden Hotel. Not exactly a very catchy name for a hotel but I presume for Chinese people it sounds very historical and they are definitely proud of their history. Xian was for many centuries and through several dynasties the capital of China. The famous silk road started here. Merchants from all over Europe and Asia came here to buy silk, spices and other products unknown at that time in Europe.  The Chinese guarded for a long time the technology of developing silk. It was a state secret which many Europeans try to break.In fact, it is a simple process which requires silk butterflies and mulberry bushes. The butterflies lay eggs around which they weave a cocoon using their natural silk. The cocoons hold some 7000 feet of silk each although they are less than an inch long. The cocoons are harvested and plumped into water. Then they are opened and worm inside is removed ( and eater),and the cocon is stretched over a half moon shaped wooden form with a width of about 6 inches. These cocoons are the pure silk and are very  thin but strong. When woven together they can make bullet-proof vests and parachutes.

On our last day, we arranged for our driver Ding Yi  to pick us up at noon to take us to the airport. He suggested we stop and visit the underground Tang dynasty museum which is on the way to the airport. It was only dicovered some 20 years ago when they decided to expand a highway. It is a site about 100 acres with a burial mound for the emperor an other for his concubines and some 80 trenches fanning out from his burial mound which is about 50 meters high.  The trenches are about 20 feet underground and only 10 have been excavated. One enters underground to see the open trenches showing the terracota forms which are  all in miniature form. This is really not as impressive as the other terracota museum.Interesting for archeologists but not much to see.
We arrived at about 10pm in Guilin and were picked by the Sheraton hotel driver I had contracted. I did not relish the idea of trying to find a taxi and to have to negotiate a rate at 10pm. Our hotel was downtown and it was a 45 minute drive from the airport even at 10pm.

The next morning our guide was a young lady calling herself Emily. We were the only persons with our guide which was nice. Moving in groups is not the way we like to travel.  All Chinese people give themselves a western name when dealing  with foreigners. We visited the famous caverns of Guilin. They are spectacular and very nicely lit. The disadvantage is that there are lots of steps up the hill, again, to reach the entrance.  There is an elevator installed but it is only used once or twice a year to ferry party officials  when they come to visit the caverns.  The rest of the world is obliged to climb the steps. Welcome to the people's republic where party officials are a few notches above the people...

We then went to visit a local silk factory showroom and were convinced to buy a beautiful king bed duvet out of silk with a silk filling as well as silk pillow cases.  It is put into a compressed package which takes up half of my trunk but should be beautiful when installed.  It has a duvet in it with 2 kilos of raw silk so it should be warm in winter. 

Our last stop for the day was at a huge pearl store which was the size of a football pitch. This was very well laid out with rows and rows of pearl jewelery going from moderately priced to hugely expensive items all tended by ladies who spoke all sorts of language and who were expert marketers.  One of them latched on to Monique with the result that a sale was consumed and a nice set of earrings and a ring came into our possession.  These are sea water pearls which grow only in a small section of the Chinese coast where the water is still clean enough for oysters.

The next morning we were picked up at the hotel by a new guide in a rickedy mini van with 2 other tourists.  We now headed out into the hills to visit a spectacular mountain area inhabited by one of the minority groups of China. These are montain people who seem to live in the mountains of Vietnam also as they dress in the same way. The trip is a 2.5 hour drive from Guilin up a rather good road for the most part which climbs the whole time.  The morning was rather foggy so one did not have to see down the gorges which were often over 1000 feet deep we found out on the way home.  After a rather harrowing drive we came to a village of these mountain people and were treated to a dance and singing show by some 50 local ladies all done in their native tongue. The distinguishing feature of these people who are no more than 5 feet tall is that the women never cut their hair which is pitch black and hangs down to their feet when undone. Normally, the hair is twisted and worn on the head in a way that makes it look like they are wearing black hats. After an hour of rather monotonous singing and dancing, we were treated to a heavy soup containing most vegetables and looking ominous. It tasted of not much but it was at least filling. It is surprising that these people have maintained the way of living and speaking in this huge China but it seems that the Chinese government has taken the position that minorities should be left to their own. Thus these people live far from any centers and have maintained their style of life and archetecture which is very unique.  They live in large family houses of wood with several stories hung on the edge of the river which flows through their valley. They farm huge areas of the mountains using terraces which rise thousands of feet. Their main crops are rice grown in water held in these terraces. After the lunch we drove up higher into the mountain area where these terraces are maintained.  We had the option of taking a 2 hour hike up the mountain or of paying to ride the gondola up the mountain, some 5000 feet up.  After no deliberations, we opted for the Gondola which is a new installation and which rises up for 25 minutes. It is the longest gondola  we had ever ridden and we were quite happy as we  looked down on the hardy souls who were struggling up the hill on uneven steps.  The view from the top was spectacular. The sun even appeared and the terraced mountain sides were beautiful in all the different shades of light as far as the eye could see.  We spent over an hour taking in the sights and taking endless pictures of the very unique place.  The ride home was mostly downhill and seemed much quicker than in the morning. Back at the hotel, I was able to get a nice swim in the hotel pool as the weather was still warm.  That evening we went back to a small restaurant around the corner from our hotel for dinner.

On our third day, we again were picked up at the hotel and driven for an hour to boat harbor to board the boat up the Yi river to Langshou.  This is the most beautiful trip in China as it takes one through the gorges of the Karst mountains.  These are huge rock formations which come straight out of the ground and reach heights of 1000 feet.  These are where many of the classical paintings of China are made showing misty moutains. The formations are covered with greenery and have mostly conical shapes.  The ships hold some 100 passengers on two decks and are fairly modern.  The river itself was very low and one could see the bottom in many places  The 4 hour trip was a highligh of our trip.  I was our on the upper deck most of the trip admiring the landscape as we floated by.  At one point, the scene shown on the 20 Yuan bill of Chinese money shows up and the guides show us the bill which depiticts that exact spot.  We eventually arrived at the city of Langshou where the boat puts it bow onto a city wall.  As we were spending the night in Langshou, we had our 2 suitcases with us.  As there was not port there,  we had to carry our bags up some very rough steps  and then walk a half mile through a market before finding transport to our hotel.  For a country which can build trains doing 350 kms per hour this was really bad. Considering that millions of tourists take this trip each year,  one should expect that some money would be invested in improving the infrastructure.  This is the irony of China where one sees such primitive situations alongside the most recent and highest level of technology. The contrasts of China, a country with one foot in the 22nd century but with the other in past centuries.

The next morning were driven from Langshou to the railway station in Guilin to catch our train to Shenzhen.  We boarded our bullet train for the 4 hour ride to Shenzhen which is on the coast facing Hong Kong.  This train is a modern rapid train which reaches some 300 kms an hour and is a nice way to see the country side.  We arrived in Shenzhen around 2 pm and we took a taxi to our hotel which took about 40 minutes.  Shenzhen is a very modern and clean city where China launched its move away from Communism to Capitalism.  It is a  city which blossomed and is now a rather attractive city with large swathes of green spaces and broad roads.  We took a monorail tour around part of the city and were  impressed how clean everything was. That evening the Chinese were celebrating Halloween and were met thousands of kids all dressed up and wearing all sorts of make up for the occasion.

The following morning we went to the local harbor and boarded a fast ferry to Hong Kong.  The trip takes about an hour and one leaves China at the harbor and then enters the Special  Admin region of  Hong Kong on arrival.  It is a nice trip as one approaches the skyline of Hong Kong and Kowloon.  We then got a taxi to get to the apartment of a niece who had invited us to stay with her and her family.  We gave the driver the address and the driver headed off.  After 10 minutes, I questionned him whether he knew where he was going.  As it happened most of our time in Hong Kong, these drivers spoke no Manadarin and even less English. At that point, I fired up my Google Map app on my phone and it showed that the driver had gone the wrong way around the island. I showed the driver who at one point wanted to turn around. I showed him the phone and insisted he continue on. After 45 minutes we arrived at Katherine's  Parkview apartment. By this time the meter was at 200 Hong Kong dollars.  The driver excused himself and insisted we pay only half that as he admitted it was his mistake.

Katherine is a daughter of a first cousin of mine. She is married to an executive of Moody's and they have lived in HK for 6 years with their son and daughter.  The parkview is a huge complex of 18 25 story buildings looking down into the central area of Hong Kong.  A stunning view from a 6 bedroom apartment hung on the hillside.  On our first day, we went down to Central as I needed to get a new tablet and phone for Monique. We went to WanChai centre and found what we wanted. At noon, we headed out to Repulse Bay for lunch we had set up to meet with the mother of a friend of our grandson Emmett. Sadly, she had caught a bug and could not join us. Repulse Bay is on the other side of HK and on the beach. It used to be a hotel but is now only a very nice restaurant with a beautiful terrace.

The next morning we jumped on the ferry and headed out to Macau  which is about an hour away.  Macau was the Portuguese area of China going back to 1511, long before any other Europeans arrived in China. It has been turned back to China but still has an old town with lots of Portuguese influence.  We hired a driver for the day, visited the old city and then headed out to Taipa island for lunch at Fernando's restaurant. It was a nice day so we enjoyed the sights. In the evening we headed back to our apartment in the hills for a last evening in HK. It is such a modern town and very much different from the rest of China. It has a feel of being in New York, only it that it is much more expensive. It is the most expensive city in the world but it is  a very beautiful place.

We flew out the next day from the very modern and efficient airport of HK builty some 50 miles from the downtown on an island fully reclaimed from the ocean. In very little time, we were on board of our Air Canada flight to Vancouver where we are now recovering.

From Beijing to Lhasa, Tibet and Xian, China

On our last evening in Beijing, we had a lovely dinner with my Beijing friends. Bing, who used to manage the inns I stayed at, asked me where I would like him to invite Monique and me for dinner. I chose the restaurant we ate at last year which consists of 6 houses on a garden compound in the middle of Beijing which used to belong to the brother of a previous emperor. Everything is of the period even the uniforms of the period. I will post the pictures of this event a little later.

The next morning at 0515 we took our taxi to the Beijing airport as described in the first chapter and flew to Lhasa Tibet.

Our first day in Tibet we were on our own and we walked from our hotel to the old part of Lhasa which is totally different from the more modern part of the city no doubt built up by the Chinese after they took over the country in 1950.  The center of Lhasa is a huge square on which there is one of the oldest Budhist temples. On that day, as apparently every day, thousands of faithful were marching around the temple praying and doing full body prostrations. It was our first experience of how religious these people are.

The other thing that struck us was that these people look almost as if they had been transported from Ecuador or Peru. The resemblance is almost like a deja vu. Not only do they look like Incas but they even dress in a very similar way.

We noted the high level of chinese police and military presence on and around the square. This reflects the high tension which exists between the Tibetans and Chinese as a result of the Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1950. The justification that Tibet had always been part of China is not based on history and the Tibetans never accepted the Chinese presence although it has been there for almost 60 years.

The next day we joined a small group with our guide to visit the monestaries of Drepung and Sera. Drepung is a huge structure which is built on a mountain face. We set out climbing but about one third of the way up, Monique decided she had enough and the guide helped her return to the base.  We continued our climb to the top and awaited the guide. At the top we were shown many of the 1000 rooms of statues and other religious memorabilia of this very complicated religion.  Again, we were amongst many Tibetans who were all praying and stuffing bills into plastic boxes at the feed of the many statues.  Given that all the construction is of wood, and that there are candles everywhere, it was a little creepy to be in this mass of people in rather cramped spaces. We were told that before the Chinese occupation, there were over 1000 monks in this place.  There are now less than 200. 

After the tour, we all went to lunch and then walked to the Sera Monastery to witness the daily discussion which takes place with about 100 monks standing in a large garden and throwing questions at each other. Strange thing to be doing each day with about 200 tourists sitting around the edges.

That evening, Monique and I had dinner in a small Tibetan restaurant around the corner from the hotel run by two young Tibetans. The food was simple but nourishing.

The next morning, Monique decided that she did not want to attempt to visit the Johkand and Potala temples so she took the day off. The Potala palace is the classic Monastery one sees on Tibet pictures. It is a huge building set on a mountain painted white and purple. To get there one has to go up some 300 meters on steps made of rough stones. At 12, 000 feet, I seriously doubted I would make it by the half way mark. But as usual when climbing, one gets a second breath so I did make it to the top. But I ain't doing that again... On top again there are hundreds of rooms including what used to be the private quarters of the Dalai Lama. The views were great once the heart had stopped pumping at 100 miles an hour...

On our final day in Lhasa we were picked up at our hotel and taken to the rail station to catch our train to Xian which is some 3000 kms away. The train is a specially build one with cars which are presurrized like an airplane as this train takes one to highest point of any train in the world. We left Lhasa from the very modern and pompous train station built by the Chinese to receive this special train.  The distance from Lhasa to Xining China is some 900 miles and goes from 12,000 feet altitude in Lhasa to 16, 600 feet before going down from the Tibet plain. This railroad is the highest ever built and cost China some US$ 4billion and took 5 years to build. Before it was built, the consensus had been that it was not possible to build a rail line the under these conditions.But the Chinese did build it.  The track runs along the foot of towering Himalayan mountains which are constantly melting into the valley making the ground wet and marshland. In fact, the line runs over some 340 of tundra which meant driving huge piles deep into the permafrost to support thousands of cement supports carrying the rail. There are mile long tunnels, some 675 bridges spanning 160 kms.  The vistas are beautiful and impressive . For some of the views, You tube has a numer of video taken from and of this train. It is so high, that oxygen is pumped into the cars and they are oxygen outlets at each seat and bunk. And they are needed.

  By 8 pm it was dark, so Monique offered to take the upper bunk which was quite an atheletic exercise.  We spent the night with two Chinese men in the opposite bunks. These men spent the day eating, chatting and clearing their throats and spent the night snoring... Not great travel companions...

The next morning at 10 am we arrived in Xining and changed to a normal train for the 10 hour trip to Xian. Travelling by train gave us lots of time to watch the countryside and see China from the ground. At 9.40 pm, we arrived in Xian and were met by a driver I had ordered from the hotel. I did not want to have to find a taxi at that time of night. When we arrived in our hotel, we were both exhausted and we asleep in minutes.

The next morning, I noticed our room was small,the toilet was leaking, the TV did not work and I was not a happy camper. I had chosen this hotel because of its very Chinese decor but I had expected it to live up to its 5 star rating. At the breakfast room, I demanded to see the manager who was a small lady who came asking what the problem was. Well, she got an earful from. I noticed Monique was not enjoying this so I went for the kill. I demanded an upgraded room and the manager quickly agreed. We were shown a full suite with 2 rooms and a wonderful balcony giving on to the courtyard garden. I graciously accepted and we have enjoyed the suite since we got here.

We decided to visit the terracota warrior museum the next day so I arranged for our driver to pick us up at noon that day. He insited we also visit the  Banpo museum which anarcheological dig of a 6000 year old village. It is a very interesting site as the dig has discovered enough to allow the experts to reconstruct what had existed back that far.

We then went on to the BingMaYong museum which is the famous terracotto dig.  We were lucky to have a driver who knew his way around as this site is huge and some 40 kms from town. He first brought us to a little restaurant for the best lunch we have had so far on this trip. He then pointed us to the entrance of the Terracotta museum and left us on our own. We got to the main pit and spent a lot of time walking around this most impressive site where several thousand of the these full life soldiers stand in testimony to the folly of the emperor who had these monuments constructed.  He then had all the statues buried under some 10 feet of dirt and supposedly killed all those involved in this project in order to keep it a secret.  I have visited this site now 3 times and each time I get more depressed thinking of the thousands of lives waisted by this insane emperor who thought it a good idea to have an army at his command in the afterlife.

Today is our last day in Xian and we walked by the Giant Wild Goose pagoda which is beside our hotel. We then took a taxi to the Xian Bell tower which we climbed. Bell towers were used in the past to mark the time of day. It is a huge structure in the middle of the old city. We then walked to the north gate of the Xian city wall which is still intact.  It is a huge construction running some 11 kms around the city.  The wall itself is 40 feet wide and is some 60 feet high surrrounded by a moat.  It was a cold day but we walked along the wall for some time before returning to our hotel.

Flying to Beijing and then to Lhasa, Tibet.

This is the description of our October 2016 trip to China.  This first posting was circulated earlier in the form of an email and many would have already seen it.

We left Montreal last Monday  October 10th and flew to Toronto to catch our flight to Beijing. There are direct flights from Montreal but the cost is almost twice as expensive.  Our flight out of Toronto with Air Canada left on time. I had booked us into premium economy which put us in the emergency exit row with about 2 meters of space in front of us which was great. The flight was 13 hours and we both got a few hours sleep with the help of little pills.

After arriving in Beijing, we took the airport express train into Beijing as it was rush hour and the roads would be clogged even on the dedicated airport express road.  We got to our little inn in and old Hutong about 8pm and were shown our room.  I had wanted to  spend our first days in China in a traditional inn so that Monique could get a sense of where China has come from in the last 50 years  The hutongs which still exist in Beijing a small areas which have on story buildings also small narrow streets built centuries ago.  Most of these hutongs have been destroyed to build high rise apartments and modern office buildings.  These hutongs have their own Chinese characteristics and form strong communities which have resisted being displaced. The housing is basic and small and most have no indoor toilet facilities. They rely on toilet facilities which are found spaced out along the hutong streets.  It is a mode of life which is gradually disappearing. Our inn was located in  a trading family home which is built around a central court yard leading to the 6 rooms of the inn. We had the biggest room which had its own bathroom and a fairly rudimentary shower facility but one which worked. The inn is very nicely situated within walking distance to many of the attractions of this city.

On Wednesday, one of my Mandarin teachers, Lee came to our inn to take us out to lunch at a little restaurant close to our inn where we had a hotpot lunch consisting of a boiling pot of water in which one puts rolled pieces of beef and lamb along with spices and greens. One is then given a peanut based sauce into which

We were up this Saturday morning at 4.30 to catch our plane to Tibet. The taxi we  had ordered  last night was waiting for us at 5.15. We drove through the heavy smog of Beijing to the airport. At 0600, the  airport was full of people going places. It is a huge airport with some 250 check in counters spread over a terminal which is close to 500 meters in length. A daunting sight so early in the morning. I had not been able to check in on line so I was a little worried whether our booking with Air China (or as Trump would probably say, Air Jina...) was still on the books.

To go to Tibet, which is part of China, you need a special Tibet permit in addition to the China visa. So  we lined up behind 70-80 people at one of the check-in counters and waited our turn. The line moved ahead smoothly and we came to the counter. I presented our passports and Tibet permits and waited while the agent typed in our information. After waiting a few minutes, out popped our boarding passes. What a relief. Travelling these days with only electronic tickets can be a little nerve racking.  Off we trotted to security; again with 30 lines of many  people but the lines moved ahead smoothly.

Our flight departed on time in a very foggy airport which is huge. Our flight was only 1/3 full which is something I have not seen in many years. One reason is that it is rather expensive to fly to Tibet and also it is off season. It was a beautiful flight on a clear day so that we could see the landscape below as it unfolded. The most impressive part was flying over the mountains of western China and Tibet. One flies for over 2 hours over mountains which are for the most part snow covered.As one approaches Lhasa, the mountains rise higher and higher as these are the foothills of the Himalayas. The approach into the airport of Lhasa is impressive as all one can see are huge mountains and one wonders where one could find an airport in this terrain. But we made a sweeping approach on a clear sunny day and we were on the ground after a 4 hour flight.

We were met by our 2 Tibetan guides who drove us the 60 kms to our Sheraton hotel in Lhasa. It was really great to see the blue skies and brilliant sun after 5 days of smoggy and dark weather in Beijing. It was also great to be in a modern hotel room after our days in Beijing in our little inn in the Hutong . Very traditional old Chinese.

The first impression of Lhasa is one of a city which was built last week. Everything is very modern Chinese with large streets and roads and huge apartment and office buildings lining the streets. The Tibetan people seem genuinely friendly but our guides warned us that the locals do not like using Mandarin as there seems to be a lot of tension between the Chinese and the Tibetans who still resent the invasion and control of their county by the Chinese. However, my first encounter was when I went out across the street to get some bottled water in a little store. The owner was a Tibetan and we were able to communicate in Mandarin with no difficulty.  Interesting for me to find that I can converse with Tibetan because I can speak a my basic bit of Mandarin.

  One is warned to take it easy for the first days in Lhasa which is at 12.000 feet. It is so high that the hotel provides oxygen bottles  in the rooms which one can use to compensate for the lack of oxygen at this altitude.  We both noted the light headiness which the altitude produces.  It is a bit of the sensation that the ground is moving and one feels pressure in the head. After a light lunch, we retired to our room and slept for a couple of hours. I had been warned of this so that I set up our schedule here with no fixed visits today and tomorrow to give us time to acclimatize.  This evening we will not even go out of the hotel but rather stay and rest for a day on our own tomorrow. Our official tourism starts on Monday with visits to the local sights. I presume by then we will be on our feet and ready to go.

1. For now from Lhasa good night.