ADVENTURES IN CHINA

by Kat and Si Kroll

Adventures in China

(as of 12/26/2000)

This fall, after seven years of service as a professor of Computer Science at SFSU my husband was awarded the luxury of a well-earned sabbatical. It was in our minds to use some of this time to explore China. At one point, when all sabbaticals seemed to be at risk, I threw out at a faculty event, “Well, we’ve already put down money for our China tickets.” Si was aghast, it seemed he was now committed. Coincidentally, his Tui-Na (acupressure) doctor, Gordon Xu – who keeps him healthy! – was planning a 3-week tour in the right time slot. To our joy, Karen and Jon agreed to join us. Also our good friends, Meadow (Nanci) and Jim Sears decided to come. A nucleus! Archie MacPhail, a Tai Chi classmate, and Wendy Gee and Lillian Wong, two savvy San Francisco sisters, approached Gordon to complete our group. We put together our ideal tour - spectacular scenery, Chinese healing arts (in Yichun, a country village), balanced by temples, museums, palaces, shopping, and 4-star hotels in major cities.

- Kat Kroll

Edited by Si and Kat Kroll

Photos by the Nanci Sears, Karen Kroll, Si Kroll and Lillian Wong

Illustrations by Kat Kroll

The Plan

Oct  08 Leave SF for Beijing

09 Arrive Beijing

10 Tour Great Wall, Summer Palace, Beijing duck dinner, acrobatics show

11 Forbidden City

12 Beijing to Nanchang

13  Tianshi Palace, Long Hu Mountain, afternoon drive to Nanchang

14  Drive to Yichun, stay at Post Sanatorium

15  Ming Yue Mountain

16  Explore Yichun town

17 Visit Yichun Elementary School

18 Visit Farmer's family    

19 Drive to Nanchang, fly to Hangzhou

20 Soul Retreat Temple, boat on West Lake, and visit Six Harmonies Tower

21  Visit tea farm

22 Silk Museum, afternoon fly Hangzhou to Guilin

23 4-hour Li River Cruise to Yangshuo

24 Yangshuo bicycle tour

25 Return to Guilin, dinner Minority show

26 Reed flute cave and Seven Star Park

Afternoon Guilin to Shanghai

27 Yu Yuan garden, Jade Buddha Temple, and the Bund

28 Tour to Suzhou, Tiger Hill, Humble Administrator’s Garden

29 Home

At each city CTS personnel met us. CTS = Chinese International Travel Service, a government commercial enterprise that provided us with a private bus, a tour guide and interpreter to take us anywhere we wanted to go, three meals a day, and tickets for boat trips and tourist site fees. They did a good job and did not restrict us in any way.

Our Route through China

Yichun Hangzhou

Guilin

Yangshuo

Traveling Companions

Gordon Xu, Chinese Tui-Na doctor and leader

Archie MacPhail, sports writer

Lawrence S. Kroll, (Si), Computer Science Professor

Margot A. Kroll (Kat), Tai Chi Master

Jon Andrew Kroll, Hollywood Writer and Director

Karen Rosencrans Kroll, Graphic Artist and Photographer

Lillian Wong, Financial Analyst

Wendy Gee (sister of Lillian), lives on aristocratic Nob Hill

James McKee Sears, Publisher

Nanci Sue Yoder (Meadow), Psychologist

FINANCES

Cost/person: $2650 included all transportation, 3 and 4 star hotels plus 3 meals/day.

We were each to bring about $100 in Yuen (8.28 Yuen/dollar) for miscellaneous plus whatever we plan to spend on shopping and gifts.

HEALTH
Gordon said we would be traveling only in safe areas, drinking only bottled water, and shots were not required. One safeguard was to be current on normal immunizations – tetanus, polio, and our lifetime hepatitis A. As for other shots, hypochondriacs could have a wow of a time.

PACKING SUGGESTIONS

Temperatures on October 3, 2000

San Francisco, CA 59…70F

Beijing 57…79F

Shanghai 70…81F

Gordon suggested we bring a backpack or handbag for day trips and a small roll-on suitcase.

Travel light. Bring 1 sweater, one jacket. The weather may be cool in Beijing and by the mountains. Dresses are not required for women.

For small gifts Jim and Nanci brought California poppy seeds and awed the Chinese with postcards of the giant Mendocino redwood trees. An adult standing beside one of the trees (so tiny I almost missed him) showed how giant the redwoods were.

BOOKS: The Lonely Planet’s China is the guidebook of choice.

SHOPPING

By the end of the trip group purchases included: pearls, huge handmade art brushes with carved handles, silk shirts, opium pipes, and scarves for friends. Karen and Jon bought silk quilts (very light, very warm, allergy-free without cotton or duck feathers). Also popular were T-shirts, personal hand chops, and lots of knick-knacks.

“Hello, hello, look at this. Only 100 Yuen!”

“That’s $12. I can get that in the ‘States.”

“Special to you for 50 Yuen.”

“I just don’t want it.”

“Make any offer!”

“10 Yuen? Go away. I don’t want it.”

“I take it. Sold!”
COMMENTED ITINERARY OF OUR CHINA TRIP

(City and tourist descriptions enclosed in text boxes are from the Lonely Planet’s China)

Saturday, 10/7, SAN FRANCISCO

Si: I am getting very excited. I was worried about food and health till Gordon discouraged me from getting shaved by strange barbers in China. I had looked forward to the bargain shave/head massage, but I imagine he was concerned about razor cuts. Gordon’s warning was appreciated and made us feel in good hands.

Kat said, “What? No baby-soft cheeks as in Japan?”

Sunday, 10/8, SAN FRANCISCO

Today is the day! We leave at 3:30pm for our big adventure. The flight takes almost 12 hours. To minimize jet lag we plan to exercise in the aisles, drink water, and avoid alcohol and caffeine. We are also stocked with melatonin, Sudafed for the ears, “no-jetlag” homeopathic remedy, and tons of books.

Monday, 10/9, BEIJING
6:20pm: We will be met by Gordon, and (as in every city we will visit) a CITS guide, who will meet us at the airport and transfer us to Hotel Xiyuan – an elegant modern 4-star hotel that even has a Muslim floor with Koran and Prayer Mat in every suite.

Hotel Xiyuan in Beijing

Though we had just eaten on the plane, a second dinner awaited us at our hotel (the first of many eating marathons).

Our hotel is said to have the best city view on the 26th floor of the revolving roof garden & restaurant. 

Si: Deciding to check out the top floor, I was met at the elevator by a smiling young woman in a very tight miniskirt. Inside the disco were about 25 B-girls. A number of businessmen left the bars with their “daughters.” I was able to escape with one brandy.  

In each hotel we stayed at Kat managed to ferret out some small hidden garden for her morning Tai Chi practice. “She-who-loves-rocks” is very impressed with the ubiquitous rock arrangements and intricately laid stone walkways that enhance even miniature sparsely planted city gardens.

The Chinese love rocks and transport them at great expense from all over the country.

About Beijing:

Area: 16,800 sq km (6552 sq mi)

Population: 12 million

People: 95% Han Chinese Main language: Mandarin (putonghua)

Time Zone: GMT/UTC plus 8 hours

Tuesday, l0/l0, BEIJING

Welcome to the big hotel Chinese/Western breakfast – a stunning buffet of congee (rice soup with assorted pickles), dim sum, smoked fish, fresh fruit, granola, French pastries and omelets made to order.

This morning we visit the Great Wall.

Badaling Pass, the Great Wall: we arrived (after a mountainous 90 minute drive) to a huge parking lot packed with tour busses. We are at the most easily accessible and crowded point from which to view the world-renowned landmark. The path to the cable car was garishly lined with banners, curio shops and wheedling hawkers. After running this gauntlet we hopped aboard a small funicular and found ourselves in groups of 4 or 5 airily suspended over the trees. Disembarking, we elbowed our way through the hoards and hauled ourselves up a steep concrete incline. At the top the sight of miles of wall crowning the mountains in serpentine grace was awesome.

This afternoon we visit the Emperor’s Summer Palace. With its cool harmonious features – water, gardens, and hills, it was the place of choice for vacationing emperors and Dowager Empresses. Kunming Lake takes up three quarters of the park. There are over 700m (2300ft) of corridor, filled with mythical paintings and scenes. If some of the paintings have a newish patina, that's because many of the murals were painted over during the Cultural Revolution.

The Lake at the Emperor’s Summer Palace

Kat: Enthralled by the misty scene of trees and a bridge to a tiny island where one lone figure practiced Tai Chi, I stopped for a moment to sketch the scene. When I looked up, I saw our group had moved up on out-of-sight. For fifteen long minutes I played an anxious exhilarating game of hide-and-seek within the puzzle of interlocking courtyards. Finally I found everyone and was reunited with Si, my lost sweetheart.

Peking Duck Dinner

This dish of very tender meat is prepared in a 'hanging' oven. The roasted duck looks date-red, oily and smooth, and tastes crisp and fragrant.

We coaxed our guide to eat at our table, against CITS policy. Otherwise he would be fed common food. His mouth practically watered as he described its preparation, and he confessed that he rarely had an opportunity to partake of it.

Preparation of Peking Roast Duck

(This recipe is from the Emperor’s family, kept secret and then given to the people.

Use a 65-day-old duckling that has been force-fed it to fatten it up.

Slaughter it and pump air under the skin. Fill this space with water.

The skin is the major concern and should be very dry.

Use a special oven with moderate temperature.

Make the oven fire with peach or Chinese date branches as fuel.

Cook a long time to absorb the special flavor.

Hang the duck inside the oven letting it touch the flames of the fuel.

Remove the duck and oil the skin. Then roast it again.

Cut the duck into 180 pieces, each one with skin and muscle.

To eat, pick each piece, dip in soybean sweet salty sauce, roll into a small pancake with onion and cucumber strips, and savor Royal Duck.

Our Guide Karl: Do you have a car? You can buy a good used car by working only two months? It’d take me 10 years to buy one and I’m a working professional! I studied four years at college to be a tour guide. My parents were farmers. After me came a brother (a second child!). Later when we had another (my illegal brother) my family was fined. When you have extra children you will lose your government job. Another difficulty with living in a land of excess population is that every family must pay for the education of the children. This is an incentive for birth control. The dead are not buried here, always cremated.

Tickets at a Chinese acrobatics show have been reserved for us.

We skipped the Beijing Opera, as what we had seen (and heard) of it.o n TV had sounded like screeching to our untrained ears. Instead we visited a show of acrobatics. The performers were skilled, but in part due to jetlag, in part jaded by more sophisticated presentations like “Cirque de Solei,” there were snores heard among us. From the spirited response of ooohs, aaahs, cheering and clapping many country folk were having their big night out on a rare visit to the Capitol. We discussed child exploitation of the smaller performers aged 6 – 13. We wondered if they grew up in near slavery. In the past it was probably better than begging or starving, but we couldn’t assess the likelihood in modern times.

Wednesday, 10/11, BEIJING
Tour the imposing Forbidden City, the largest and most intact ancient architectural complex in the world. It was off-limits to most of the world for 500 years, is the biggest and best-preserved cluster of ancient buildings in China. Although the 'hundred surnames', or hoi polloi, are now permitted entrance, its original owners, the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasty, insulated themselves from the masses and maintained a rigid one-way communications flow. Regal fiats from the nerve center of the country were delivered to peasant subjects beyond the wall by eunuchs and other powerful court officials. No communications flowed the other way thus re-enforcing the difference between inner and outer, secrecy and openness, the divine and the mortal, subject and emperor.

Forbidden City Courtyard

In ancient times, despite the heavy security maintained by eunuchs, one of the emperors became terrified of assassins. Entire vast courtyards were paved over and no trees or other vegetation was permitted for fear of ambush. Cold, windy, and austere, we found this place truly forbidding.

The guidebook had recommended we take a pedicab tour of Beijing's quaint old Hutongs neighborhood, a maze of alleyways and courtyard homes. Instead, we cut loose from our bus and tour guide and explored on foot. The frail man-powered pedicabs seemed not only constraining, but also dangerous mid the chaotic Beijing traffic. As often, when venturing off on our own, we remembered to take our “hotel card” with instructions in calligraphy that we assume read, “Take me home to Mommy.”

Absent of Falon Gong or any other protest demonstrations the square seemed merely large, although the 30’ Mao portrait on one building was impressive. Despite his prominence Mao was not universally loved. Upon his death many people mourned publicly for fear of repercussions were they to celebrate the death of the tyrannical cultural and revolutionary hero.

At lunch Jon was introduced as a Hollywood director. All our waitresses wanted his autograph. Someone even wanted my autograph because I was his father.

Jon held a world culture discussion to determine what personalities were best known worldwide. He announced:

Michael Jordan (“Who’s he?” “Shut up, Dad.”)

Michael Jackson

Madonna

Muhammad Ali

Gong Lee (?)

Monica Lewinski (“We ALL know her!”)

Kat, with her 2 semesters of Mandarin, can communicate somewhat. Jon, with his quick mind and courage, learns more words every day. He practices by ordering food and teasing the female staff.

This afternoon Jon and Karen are invited to visit the Beijing Film Institute.
Jim and Nanci are visiting an old Mendocino buddy, Rainbird, whose younger Chinese husband is a member of the hottest Asian Fusion band, “Cold Blooded Animals.”

Kat and I plan to relax and enjoy the luxury hotel.

Dinner will be a special Mutton Hot Pot.

Our hotel room had 20 channels of Mandarin.

The only English Channel was HBO with a subtitled version of Godzilla.

Thursday, 10/12, BEIJING - NANCHANG COUNTRYSIDE
Morning we fly to crowded Nanchang, population 6 million. Nanchang is the capital of Jiangxi province in the countryside. Jiangxi is known for traditional architectural landmarks, scenic beauty, and great food fresh from the farms. It sees few foreign visitors. In Nanchang itself (ravaged by WW-II) older noteworthy buildings were greatly outnumbered by awkward unappealing structures of dirty white tiled concrete. The inhabitants were bustling and unfriendly, definitely a city in need of Feng Shui.

Si: We are about a foot taller than most of the locals, and a lot heavier.  Toilets around here are a stinking hole in the floor. Phew!

I saw an Internet Café with 24 computers, all in use. The web browsers were all in Mandarin, so I can’t access my e-mail.

Friday, 10/13, NANCHANG COUNTRYSIDE

Kat: Feeling adventurous I arose early to take a predawn taxi to a neighborhood playground where local Tai Chi players were sharing the space with an impressive uniformed 100-person high school ROTC and marching band.

Morning we tour Tianshi Palace.

Later we bus to Long Hu Mountain (another 4-hour bus ride!);

We are now deep in Southwest China. Our group is pretty comfortable, but after a 4-hour bus ride we are starting to get on each other’s nerves. There are no Westerners here, and people stare at us in a friendly way. The food is getting less familiar. Breakfast included mushrooms, congee with pickles, and thousand-year-old eggs.

Boating by Long Hu Mountain with a pagoda in the clouds.

Upon arriving at Long Hu Mountain we took a 2-hour river ride on bamboo rafts. A smiling woman poling a smaller raft sidled up and sold us sticky-rice wrapped in a green leaf for 1 Yuen (about 12 cents). She followed along for a ways, joking with us to promote further trading.

We traveled through arch-typical misty mountains replete with tiny pagodas atop the rocky peaks.

Another group joined us and the raft was enlarged by lashing it to it twin.

The water plashed between the bamboo and over the sides when our weight shifted.

At a poor river town Gordon obtained a beautiful young bride for $5 by catching the tasseled red silk ball she tossed to him. He was loaned a red robe and a marriage ceremony was performed. He was then lifted onto a paladin where he and his bride were carried around the square while old men played ancient instruments and beat their gongs.

Lunchtime we ate fish fresh from the river. The food here is all local, natural, and getting spicier. The chicken served was so hot I had to dilute it with rice. Jim ate 3 helpings.

Jim and Nanci renew their vows.

Another 4-hour bus ride back to Nanchang where we were served pig’s knuckles, bamboo shoots, bok-choy, freshly slaughtered chicken soup, creamy tofu, and custard.

Afternoon we returned to Nanchang.

Outside our hotel in Nanchang

Saturday, 10/14, NANCHANG - YICHUN
Morning we have another 4 hour bus ride to Yichun in the country for our Health Resort.

Si: Kat and I have not overly hated the long bus rides. My portable horseshoe-shaped foam I brought for the trans-Pacific plane ride to China takes turns comforting my neck and my butt. Some of the people in the front seats claim that there have been many near misses traffic-wise, and if they were able, they would helicopter to Yichun.

In the front of the bus there was a loud political discussion about China and Taiwan.

“Would the US intervene in Chinese action against Taiwan?”

“You refer to our One-China policy?”

“DON’T TALK POLITICS!”

“Pardon me for being wet blanket, Professor.”

“Our guide is a country redneck and only sees one point of view.”

“What are they talking about?”

“I didn’t talk politics in the front of the bus, and I won’t in the back. That’s why I moved here.”

I am surprised to find central China so industrialized. The people are all well shod and even well dressed. The population seems to be industrious with a great interest in commerce. Though I am not a proponent of totalitarianism, I am amazed at China’s modernization as a 3^rd world nation. Buses and trucks fill the well-paved roads carrying goods everywhere. There are lots of motorbikes and bicycles. Get a little money; buy a motorcycle; give a girl a ride. Just as in the USA, motorcycles give you attitude.

In Yichun city we pick up our new beautiful guide for the area. She will lead us to our hotel in Yichun village. Her name is Hu-Mi.

“What’s your name?”

“Who, me?”

“Hu-Mi.”

“Yes, what’s your name?”

“This is Wai, our driver.”

“Why?”

“Wai.”

…

Chinese dirty joke from one of our guides:

“You want a date with Hu-Mi? You must bring Spanish fly.”

Our guide’s favorite American expression is “Spanish fly.”

He thinks adding it to any sentence about a girl is high humor.

A short ride away is the larger town with good shopping.

Yichun is a city of 200,000 people almost five hours from Nanchang by bus.

Despite its size, Yichun appears to receive few foreign visitors. The local residents were very curious about us as we moved around the city, and often gathered to get a good look at us. Our coordinator explained that few of them had ever seen a Westerner before!

Kat: We arrived at the Post Sanatorium (a 2-star (?) health center). The water in this rural area was famous. It came directly from the earth, was hot, odorless, clear, and was piped directly to our rooms… though at a leisurely pace. Those furthest from the source had a 30-minute wait. The sanatorium had a cracked moldering concrete ambiance reminiscent of pre-yuppie Calistoga. The courtyard lagoon was murky. We found the bevy of friendly staff members, good food, health treatments, and delightful side trips made up for the lack of luxury.

Si: There was a terrific hubbub in the kitchen after we arrived. Gordon was informing the staff we wanted no MSG, no deep-fried in fat, minimum red meat, and more fresh steamed greens.

When the food arrived it was sensational. We were served fresh crab, beet greens, hot peppers, and an unknown small animal. Because of the bamboo in the area I asked if we were eating Panda. They said, “No, that is too expensive. This is not a rodent, it is a friend of raccoon.” We are still trying to determine what it was we ate.

We spent a lot of time eating.

Saturday, 10/14, till Thursday, 10/19, five days in YICHUN
The country spa will be the trip highlight. It is in a very small un-modernized town, only two blocks long. Food will be good here, no pollution, fresh, very original, cooked by small families. Last tour some people stayed all 20 days here and skipped the rest of the tour.

Gordon gave a seminar on Chinese medicine. I said I’d try most of the bodywork treatments. The Chinese government oversees all health services in this country. There is a fixed price of 40 Yuen ($5) for professional doctors. No tipping.

The spa and environs offers the following health treatments at very low prices.

- Acupuncture by an expert doctor (good if something ails you);

- Tui-Na by an expert doctor (like acupressure, good for healthy tune-up);

- Reflexology (massage feet at key-points to increase circulation in the body);

- Herbalist;

- Massage; and

- Hair wash and head rub for 45 minutes followed by a body massage for $5.

Gordon gets Tui-Na

Gordon said he might have a massage every morning and reflexology every evening. Treatments can be in our private rooms or by going to town ($2-3 for 2-3 hours). The doctors are mostly men, the masseuses mostly young women. For $5 a Chinese doctor, graduate of a 5-year medical school and with 15 years of experience, will come to your room and do a 1-hour relaxation deep-tissue treatment to release body toxins and improve muscle function and blood circulation.

For $5 an herbalist will give a diagnosis or health tune-up of special herbs that will be provided daily in the restaurant. Good herbs for low energy, arthritis, etc.

We had heard Dental Specialists, X-Rays, and MRIs were also available at low cost. American Chinese frequently fly back to China for these services as even with a round trip air ticket treatment can be had at a fraction of the US cost.

Si: The first night at the sanatorium the Chinese Tui-Na doctors were at our door.

Two 4’ 11” blind men were led into the room and their hands placed on our shoulders. For the next hour they kneaded our muscles. Every so often they would mumble what I assumed was “turn over.” Their hands were very firm, and I slept well that night. What a creative occupation for the blind with their heightened sense of touch.

“Who wants Tui-Na from the blind master again?”

“I do. I won’t have to put on my makeup.”

“I do. He won’t see the hole in my long undies.”

“Not me. I gave him 100 Yuen and he didn’t give me any change.”

“How could he know? He’s blind!”

Sunday, 10/15, SPA

Si: At breakfast there was much discussion whether we were massaged or tortured. Kat claims that in two nights she has had ten years worth of deep painful massage and in fact Tui-Na may have taught her to be a person who doesn’t like to be touched.

Next door is a pool filled with hot mineral spring water. I paid my 30 Yuen ($4) and swam 30 laps in a sauna-like environment. The exercise invigorated me, and I felt the better than in weeks.

Tour Ming Yue Mountain.

We climbed through mist up a green-forested mountain with creeks and waterfalls. Everyone in the group climbed to the halfway point except Archie, a veteran hiker, who sprinted out of sight to the top. Our plump and panting guide was relieved to finally sight Archie wending his way back, else his job would have required him to hike all the way up to find him. Some of the group are in their 70’s and in great shape. Just this year much of the path was paved in myriad complex changing patterns of rock and concrete. This means that the tons of brick, stone, and cement have been carried up on the backs of laborers.

Kat and Nanci on the misty mountain.

One of the dozens of different stone patterns marking our way up Ming Yue Mountain

Si: Lunch was a deserved feast of wild rabbit, lots of greens, local fish, squash, red peppers, and a fruit plate. In China dessert is usually a plate of watermelon slices. Beer is served at every lunch and dinner, so we haven’t had to worry about bottled water.

The herbalist came to our rooms, with Gordon translating. He carefully took our pulses, looked at our tongues, and then asked questions on what ailed us. He wrote me a prescription for herbs to be prepared by the kitchen and served each of us a special brew each evening. He had no cure for my weight gain or exercise laziness.

Monday, 10/16, SPA

Si: We drove to the nearby town where Gordon took us to a foot parlor that advertised 45 Yuen/160 minutes ($6). We trooped in and were met by a bevy of teenagers in platform shoes who vibrated our feet in herbal of water and gave us pedicures. The reflexology girls gave us good foot-rubs, but did not work on our pressure points. Gordon found them lacking in knowledge. No pain, no gain?

Lunch was at a Farmer’s Restaurant decorated with pictures of Mao. They served us authentic local fresh food: duck’s beaks, tofu, chicken with large snails cooked in hot sauce, watermelon seeds, small fishes, and lotus soup. The guide showed us how to eat the duck’s heads by spreading the beaks and starting to eat from the tongue. She used her chopsticks so delicately and gracefully that she inspired us all to sample the “treat.” Kat felt she was eating like a barbarian after watching Hu-Mi’s geisha-like performance.

Gordon is having such a good time he is considering offering yearly trips to rural China for the health treatments and the natural food. At the restaurant, some of us were still staring at their snails and duck’s beaks.

Gordon treated us to herbal whiskey (like Hadacol, it’s good for you). He told us of his life during the Cultural Revolution. At that time a “new China” was to be born by destroying all old and foreign things. There was no law at the time, and he was considered bad because he had a relative living in the USA. He and his brother became Kung Fu fighters to protect themselves. His goal was to be “steel inside, cotton outside.” Later he gave me a first lesson in martial arts. “Punch me,” he said. As I moved forward to punch him he didn’t dodge or back away. Instead he crouched forward to meet the blow, raised his arms from the inside, deflecting my blow upward, his elbows pushed into my chest knocking me back while his knee went forward into my groin. Lesson One.

Karen went to the zoo and saw what we ate the other night. It was a big rodent. We went shopping and we bought chocolate, a Mahjong set, coffee, red wine, and a reasonable brandy. After dinner Wendy gave me a lesson in Mahjong. It is just like Gin Rummy, matching tiles instead of cards. I’m confident in a couple of evenings I’ll master the game. Once I learned the numbers and symbols it was easy.  I credit this to my having played 3000 computer games of Shanghai on the computer. Since the characters are etched on the tiles, the locals can play the game by feel. Wendy warned that the game was addictive. She has two sets at her house, one for the family to practice on and a very old set she uses for the important games with friends. The gambling stakes are high at these games, and hundreds of dollars change hands.

Si: Gordon is my Chinese healer. I go to him every two weeks for a Tui-Na tune-up.

Kat says he understands “chi,” the invisible life force.

Gordon Xu, the Shuminator

He has great hands and never hurts me.

I challenged Gordon to a ping-pong game; he beat me handily. This sport is so big in China that every day on TV they show matches between champions.

Gordon and the Chinese staff address me as “Professor.” Many of us now have nicknames, a combination of pidgin and mistakes. Archie is “Arch,” and the stately Jim Sears is called “Jimmy.” Gordon Xu is referred to as “The Shuminator” and he likes to go off to get a “massagee.” Gordon has dubbed Jon a “master” in the humor department, saying the tour would be less fun without him. Jon is called “Joker,” and Karen was furious to be called “Joker’s wife.” Here’s an example of one of Jon’s jokes told to our interpreters at a restaurant:

“It’s been said that the Chinese are the Jews of the Orient. Have you any Chinese Jews?”

“We have O-range juice, Apple juice, but no Chinese juice.”

Jon got sick today and stayed in bed while we toured. In the evening he asked Gordon for a treatment. Gordon pinched him hard at a dozen painful acupressure points. He finished by sticking Jon with a single needle that caused him to spasm, releasing the “bad chi.” Exhausted he went to sleep. Gordon said, “He is very sensitive. That was the effect I was looking for. Lillian watched in horror and though she is a patient of Gordon’s and has her own set of needles, she avoided acupuncture for the remainder of the trip.

Si: Back at our spa some of us had our second Tui-Na treatments. Although I love bodywork I wondered how many would cry “Uncle.” I had looked up the Mandarin translation of pain (tong), but under the steely hands of the dungeon-master I forgot every Chinese word I knew.

Tuesday, 10/17, SPA

Visit School. Afternoon free.

I was amazed to find Jon at breakfast this morning acting completely healthy.

Si: With local officials and a film crew we visited the nearby primary school. Hundreds of children all dressed in red uniforms piled into the center square and did aerobic warm-ups. Kat started doing aerobics along with the nine-year-old fitness trainer/leader. Gordon and I joined her as our embarrassed children looked away. It was certainly more fun than watching. We didn’t mind the children laughing at our red faces. As they filed past us to go back to the classrooms they would fling one arm up over their head in a half moon sort of gesture. Kat started to return the salute, but one of the teachers said, “No, no, no. That’s a sign of respect.” Respect for our ability to be little children?

A sea of children swarmed about Karen as she took pictures.

At the break they gathered around us and shook our hands, staring at our round eyes. The film crews interviewed us, wanting our opinions of the misty mountain that they are developing for future tourism. Jon, with lots of interview experience, told them of its great beauty. When they pushed him to elaborate, he joked, “I felt the forests and streams were filled with many ghosts and spirits.” The communist dignitaries looked appalled at his antiquarian spiritual imagery. Laughing, he told Kat, “Don’t worry. They won’t print that.” Kat said, “I wish they would.”

In later expeditions up and down the few blocks of town it was great fun to actually recognize individual children’s faces and to know every child under 11 had seen us at school and felt friendly towards us. “Hello, hello.” “Ni hao, ni hao.”

Jon is fearless, and took me out for a street walk. His Mandarin vocabulary is growing. He is not afraid of making mistakes, and once I found him talking Japanese to a group of tourists. We were introduced to some locals who had never seen a Westerner. He shows people his fancy camera that allows one to see the video just taken on an LCD screen. The village kids love to see themselves on “video.” They follow him around like the Pied Piper.

They call us the “hello” people. I feel safe here. Everyone appears equally poor, and there is no apparent crime. The absence of gangs is reassuring. On the street was a man walking a pig the size of a cow. Apparently he was a stud pig off for a date. A man on a bicycle leads his flock of 50 ducks through the center of the town twice each day. The most interesting shop was an open-air karaoke joint where men and women crooned to popular music as they gazed at popular movie stars singing and dancing. Gordon and I got our heads shampooed for 45 minutes followed by a full body massage. The girl walked all over my back while she hung from overhead pipes.

Wednesday, 10/18, SPA

Visit Farmer's family. Afternoon free.

Chinese tapioca and congee was for breakfast. At each meal we get Chinese bao (buns). Lunch was chicken-daikon soup and mountain goat. Tonight we had a dish of meat (from a rodent) known as a marmot. The latest bottle of red wine is undrinkable, but Chinese brandy is making a hit.

Kat: We visited a soybean farmer who showed us how to mill the beans into tofu by hand. He was in a suit, obviously his best clothes, as he showed us how to grind and pound the soybeans. His wife too had dressed up for us, lovely in a maroon velvet embroidered blouse. She had rosy cheeks and a dimpled shy smile. We enjoyed trying to emulate the farmer’s rhythm as he ground and pounded the beans. Then he mixed the soy flour with water and grilled us some bland earthy tasting buns.

Si: I pointed out the adjacent stream and asked why they didn’t do it using the water energy. They said human labor at home was free, and a device would cost money. It was bizarre to see a color TV set in a home with only two chairs, a concrete floor, and an outdoor pump for water.

Party Night at the Sanatorium Dinner featured pigeon followed by a karaoke dancing party. All the hotel girls danced with us and grabbed us to pose for pictures with them. They had as much fun as we did – there is probably very little excitement for them in this small town. Two of the girls sang lovely folk and popular Chinese tunes. Though they refused tips, we thank our help by contributing to an envelope that we give at the end of our stay. I was very surprised to see most of them crying when we left. Kat suspects that the usual Chinese guests might not be so egalitarian and friendly to mere servants. Every time she saw the three young adorable girls at the front desk, she thought of “Three little maids from school are we,” from the Mikado. (Yes, wrong nationality.)

Gordon sings love songs with our driver, Mr. Wu.

Thursday, 10/19, YICHUN – NANCHANG - HANGZHOU
Bus 4 hours back to Nanchang.

Si: We are halfway through our trip. Some of us have had intestinal upsets, but nothing serious considering the variety of what we’ve eaten. This is a long bus ride on a two-lane road. Some personal tensions have arisen. For example, anything I say seems to elicit a reaction from my son. Lillian got mad at me because I teased her. Nanci accused Jon of being sexist because he joked about filming “Babes of China.” Jon accused her of being a whiner because she complained about the bus and food that made her sick. After 5 days in the humble sanatorium we will welcome the 4 star hotels again.

Gordon left us at the hotel after distributing “male brandy” to the men. When the women complained about his sexism he told them that the liquor would make them grow mustaches. His attitude doesn’t bother most of us for we enjoy his spirit and energy. He is off to meet his girlfriend.

Fly Nanchang to Hangzhou

At the airport Karen and Gordon’s bags lit up the metal detector. Packed inside were 2 swords. Though they would have been stowed in the belly of the plane, the airport inspector refused to let them pass. He indicated that we could leave the swords with him or he could call the police and arrest us. Much arguing ensued. Finally we said, “OK, we’ll give the swords as gifts to our bus driver, Mr. Wu. The inspector refused this, saying we must leave the swords with him. It became clear that he intended to sell the swords for his personal profit. Up stepped Mr. Wu who asked for the inspector’s name and badge number. He claimed to be friends with the airport supervisor. The inspector backed down, and we were allowed to board with our souvenirs. Three cheers for ballsy Mr. Wu and Gordon. Kat was a little afraid we might end up in prison with the Falon Gong.

Friday, 10/20, HANGZHOU
Arriving in Hangzhou where West Lake here is said to be one of the most beautiful spots in China. Boat on West Lake, covered with mist, tour the Souls Retreat Temple, and see Six Harmonies Tower.

Kat: This is the loveliest city yet – lots of trees. So far we’ve seen just a glimpse of the West Lake, the most beautiful lake in China. Already we’re missing the friendliness of the 3 little maids in our Yichun hotel and the kids and grownups that would “Ni hao” us. We’re even missing obnoxious guide, Bruce, and his redneck grin. Our new guide, Mr. Dai, seems overly conscientious. Let’s see if Jon can find his funny bone. Whoops! Our 4-star hotel is really a 3-star hotel. There is no gym or pool, and the food is not good. Fortunately, the toilets are not holes in the floor. A new discovery brought great excitement.  Our hotel did laundry for the first time in two weeks. My happy mantra was, “Clean undies, clean undies.”

Si: Nanci got sick from the food. While others tell her to drink herbal tea and try some of our strange foods, she has been eating only pure rice and a little tea. As we get fatter she is looking better.

Dr. Nanci: I’m writing about this trip. Maybe I’ll call it Diary-Ah of China.

Arch: We’ve eaten a lot of rare foods here. I had this feeling in my stomach, and wondered if I was going to be sick again. Then I realized it was hunger.

Professor: I enjoyed the duck’s beaks and the rodent.

Arch: No one would call you chicken.

The government is behind the scene here in charge of the Chinese people.  There is construction everywhere, with large public buildings in every city, lots of bridges and roads going up.  Cars are now competing with bicycles and motorbikes, so the traffic is a mess.  I would never consider driving here.  It takes good eyesight, constant horn blowing, and a lot of luck.  In every city we have seen big sports stadiums, often 2 or 3.

On TV every morning they show aerobics with pretty girls in tight outfits, just like we do. There are also motorbike racing, Chinese soap operas, business reports, and Chinese news. The set in this hotel has 33 channels with lots of cartoons, pop singers, historical dramas, and violent martial arts. My favorite was a TV station devoted to fashion. Beautiful French, Chinese, and Italian tall anorexic models wore the latest Haute Couture. Last night I found an Italian station with the Pope, a German station talking about the new Macho Man, Chinese sports, a few dubbed popular programs, and for the first time, English CNN.  The Mideast news and the stock market were so depressing I turned the TV off.

We toured the silk factory and numerous Buddhist statues and temples. The Soul’s Retreat Temple awed Kat with its larger than life statues of 152 sages. All expressions represented: anger, fear, love, contemplation, laughter, smiling, all body types, each in different postures, some playing with birds or kittens or monkeys – it felt like the faces and souls of all mankind (not womankind!). Built as a peace offering to the Gods to protect the city from flooding, the Six Harmony Pagoda loomed over the landscape. We climbed a charming hill studded with greenery and “100 pagodas” of various configurations. We stopped to admire our favorites, and Kat and I paid 20 Yuen to ring a 10-foot Iron bell with a huge mallet suspended on two chains (photo-op). Together in harmony we pushed the mallet, letting it swing back for six resonant gongs. We saw Arch doing the same, aligning his swing to his breath in a Tai Chi manner.

After 50 years of atheistic Communism, I suspect that religion has been virtually eliminated outside the countryside. It feels like commerce is the religion here. Everyone wants to work and improve his or her lot.  I expected utter poverty, yet we have traveled unrestricted through the country and found the people shod and often well dressed.

Guide: We have instituted freedom of religion, but these temples are mainly a curiosity. I believe in NOTHING. Some people think if you give money to the statues then your dead parents go to heaven. I think they are stupid.

In the area with West Lake as its center the natural sceneries of lakes, rivers, brooks, springs, hills, caves, etc. and the artificial sceneries of temples, pavilions, and gardens are beautifully and harmoniously integrated.

Most of the skies, unfortunately, have been gray and the fog so intense that we could barely see the lake banks let alone the decorative landscape. Our guide tried to enliven the gap by proclaiming the lakes beauty in other season. The beauty of West Lake shall remain a mystery to us. What happened to Golden Autumn?

Saturday, 10/21, HANGZHOU

This morning we will visit a farmer of Chinese tea.

Picking Tea Leaves

Tea Selection

Kat: We visited the tea farm where we saw lush tea bushes and were informed that the finest tea came from early spring new growth. Later our tea hostess, the daughter of the family, spread these tiny dried leaves out on the table and proceeded to pack them competently into tins with a masterful thump. Her spiel (“a marketing marvel,” said Archie) almost convinced us that green tea was an anti-oxidant that could cure disease, dissolve cholesterol, and make us “slim like me.” Her promotion was effective. Charmed, most of us bought one or even three 6-ounce tins of early spring tea for the exorbitant amount of $30 each. Si thought the expensive green tea tasted like grass in dishwater.

Gordon taps the table 3 times with two fingers when tea is served. Legend had it that an emperor exchanged clothes with his guard to visit the populace incognito. Each time he was served tea by his master, the guard tapped his fingers thus on the table. When the emperor queried him, he said, “Since I am not allowed to alert the commoners by kowtowing, this represents knocking my head on the ground 3 times.” In modern times it is a common form of wordlessly saying “Thank you” for tea.

The afternoon is free to shop for silk shirts, Hangzhou fans, scissors, cloisonné enamel, Chinese calligraphy and traditional paintings, and Chairman Mao memorabilia. Silk should feel smooth and soft between your fingers and thumb, else it could be polyester.

Kat: Tired of shopping, Nanci and I explored gardens outside the factory and found an old style bamboo bridge with a walkway of thin resilient bamboo slats that bounced with our rhythm as we walked on them. The feathery plumes of vegetation, swaying bamboo stalks, water irises, and aged gardeners in blue work clothes with peaked straw hats spoke for a moment of an ancient era.

Si: Most of the pagodas we saw were built before our country was even discovered.

Housing is very expensive here. An apartment is leased from the government for a man’s working life (70 years), after which it is returned to the government. Since there are no bank loans available, people start building their homes and each year add more bricks or windows as they earn money. Throughout the countryside there are many unfinished buildings. In this expensive town an apartment may cost $100,000. Other towns had apartments for half of that.

Sunday, 10/22, HANGZHOU - GUILIN
Fly to Guilin, known for its mountain crafts and weaving. 

The poetic hills and waters are said to be the most beautiful in the World. 

Si: China is in the midst of great change.  There is an increasing sense of ecology (at least this is the government line) and lots of green talk. This started when it rained mud in Beijing last year, and the tourists complained. Beijing was unbelievable noisy with car horns, but the last two cities we’ve visited have outlawed honking with a 200 Yuen fine and a public apology on TV as punishment.

I made the mistake of asking the guide to take me to a store that would sell me a chocolate bar and a bottle of brandy. He immediately had the driver take us to a big Friendship Store that sold pearls, jade, and all the exports of China. As we entered we were given discount cards. I think the guide got a big commission for every sale. By now we had found these ubiquitous government stores were way overpriced, unappealing, generic, and commercial.

For 4 nights now I have had vivid dreams about protecting my property while living in the country. The neighbors are encroaching on my land and I am surveying my land and putting up strong fences while they attempt to trespass. I guess this is the result of traveling with a group. The only other organized tour I’ve been on was in India, where I took my family off the bus at the midpoint and hid behind a store till they drove off.

Monday, 10/23, GUILIN – YANGSHUO – LI RIVER CRUISE

Kat: The individual hills along the river cruise were beautiful, amazing, unique, and had been given colorful names (that probably sounded even more romantic in Mandarin) such as: Elephant Trunk Hill, Tunnel Hill, Pagoda Hill, Crown Hill, Yellow Cloth Hill, Nine-Horse Mural Hill, Embroidery Hill, and Green Lotus Peak. The river cruise made us feel as if traveling in front of a huge traditional Chinese landscape painting. The Lijiang River cruise was the most beautiful by far scenery of our trip.

Si: Our luxury cruse to Yanzhuo was followed by culture shock as we disembarked at Western Street. Every kind of hawker yelled, “Hello, hello, lookee here.” They sold jade, pizza, T-shirts, opium pipes, espresso coffee, Tibetan artifacts, and antique (?) jewelry. I tried to resist, but after turning down offers to buy they begged me to make any offer. I ended up with a bone hand-carved box and lots of clever T-shirts. Kat got ox-hair brushes for painting. Last time I saw her she was running madly for the “real coffee” shop, saying she can no longer remember what coffee really tastes like. Up till now the best hotels have offered a Nescafe like brew. As they say in Mexico, Nescafe “no es café.”

Today's tourist city is the only time we have seen non-Chinese food.   We are embarrassed to be attracted to the first place to offer pizza.  I'm so full of bok-choy I may turn into a vegetable. What the hell, it is now 15 days and I can't remember going to the bathroom.

We are staying at the only 4-star hotel in town, the place for all dignitaries. On the wall are pictures of the greats who have visited: US presidents including Clinton, Bush, and Nixon, other foreign leaders, the premiers of China, and even Ho Chi Minh.

While rooms here retail for $150/night, the local International Youth Hostel has student prices that cannot be beat. A dormitory bed costs $2.25/night, a double room with toilet, air-conditioning, hot water, and TV costs $10/night.

Si: I finally logged on to the Internet at a café and sent a trip report to my school and friends. There is a big need for English teachers since that is the language of commerce.

The Internet Cafe handed out job requests offering:

For dinner they served us Peking duck, squid, lotus, bamboo shoots, and taro with crystallized sugar. I’ve been traveling through China on a seafood diet. I see food; I eat it. We have given up on the local wine but found another bottle of the good brandy that cost $2.

Jon with a cool old guy

I saw Karen on the streets of Yangshuo.

“I thought you were sick.”

“Shopping cured me.”

Gordon corresponds with Chinese girls all over the country by email. Tonight he has another date with a local.

Just when I thought every young educated person in China was an atheist, our new guide turns out to be a Buddhist and Taoist. She is a strict vegetarian who told me that those who eat dog are reincarnated as a dog. Karen and Jon smiled at this. They had fits when eating dog was mentioned. Our guide took a broad view of the government, claiming that because of China’s history of civil wars she understands her leaders brooking no opposition. This justifies to her Tiananmen Square, the crackdown on the Falon Gong, (it was okay as a health movement, but not for dissent), and rigid control of Tibet (always a part of China). Freedom of religion is accepted if it doesn’t threaten the status quo; freedom of the press may come in 50 years.

Tomorrow we rent bicycles and tour the local villages.  I am having a fabulous time, but that's the way I usually feel when I am traveling to strange places with my children. Someday I'd like to take a trip to the un-holy land and tour the Nile, but I always wait for peace.  It looks like that'll be a long time from now.  

Tuesday, 10/24, YANGSHUO

A picturesque small mountain town, Yangshuo is dramatically surrounded by 18 weirdish peaks with rivers flowing on two sides. This is a fantastic city to rent bikes in.

Kat: For two mornings Arch and I rose early to venture out to the huge park 3 blocks away to practice Tai Chi in the shadow of an awesome camel-like peak. We made friends with a younger woman who did folk dances with fans; her grace was outstanding. Later she joined a larger group doing what may have been Wu-style” Tai Chi. To my delight she invited me to join along. Moving with the group was exhilarating, though slightly awkward with their unfamiliar form. Later, when we took out our cameras, she shook her head “No.” Unlike the country folk she didn’t pull her hat over her face as she refused. We put away our cameras, exchanged more smiles and bows, and left the park. It was a joy to communicate without words through Tai Chi with this lovely Chinese woman.

This is the Park in Yangshuo where Kat and Archie did Tai Chi.

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Yangshuo now has plenty of local guides offering bike tours plus lunch in their village. One guide said there were now 120 of them!

Si: A woman from a minority tribe introduced herself to us in a coffee café, showing us her notebook of references and clippings. The four Krolls wanted some quality time together, so we hired her as our private bicycle tour guide. We cycled on country paths, through rice paddies and red mud to her country farmhouse where she and her farmer husband fed us their fresh-picked produce. Slipping and sloshing we had followed her through rice patties for our desert. Her pomelo grove yielded us two giant succulent sweet grapefruit-like citrus.

Wendy’s pomelos

All along the bicycle route we were passing and circling around amazingly shaped mountains similar to those on our river trip. We were in a green and red Martian landscape. Karen stopped us frequently for “Photo-ops,” and Kat would grab the opportunity to pen sketches she later colored.

Near our guide’s home was the Buddha Cave, where the entire village of 500 hid during the Japanese occupation. Everyone still remembers how the Japanese bombed civilians during the 2nd world war. Jon and I lowered ourselves deep into the earth by holding onto stalagmites and a knotted rope to an underground river and waterfall. As the water poured from above, we showered and felt like Indiana Jones. The bicycle trip was one of the highlights or this tour for us. The guide told us she had been surprised to find her tourists preferred riding over the muddy paths rather than on the paved road she took to work.

Our bicycle ride

Jon helping with the rice harvest

Wednesday, 10/25, YANGSHUO - GUILIN

Afternoon we drive back to Guilin for a dinner show featuring local ethnic cultures with different costumes, language, song, and dance.

Kat: When we attended we were disappointed to find true ethnic performers significantly absent – Tibetan or otherwise. Instead, the dominant Han Chinese performed in costume. My favorite was a cute dance of the Buffalo Boys (2 youngsters) riding two-person human buffalos with bells and a catchy tune. There were lots of beribboned festive dressed maidens. The show seemed long. We are “cinema spoiled” and have a low tolerance for innocent tourist entertainment.

Thursday, 10/26, GUILIN - SHANGHAI
Morning in Guilin we tour the Reed flute cave and Seven Star Park.

Si: The Seven Star Park was a zoo with thousands of shrieking grade-school children. No wonder the ratty looking animals appeared in a state of shocked boredom. The poor 29-year old flea-bitten Panda bear was comatose. We felt sorry for her in spite of her reputation as a shrewish old maid who had chased away all suitors. As each class of school kids saw us, they all began to say, “Hello, hello,” friendly-like, but there were too many of them and the noise was irritating. They reminded me of Barbarella’s cannibalistic doll children that ate people, so I returned to the bus to read.

Here are the Pandas we were looking for.

Ludi Cave was quite beautiful, though kitschy with its multi colored spot lights illuminating shapes like Buddhas, castles, and clouds. Our Yangshuo cave was a more adventurous experience.

The trip has peaked and we are now counting the days before we return home. People’s tempers are getting short. The tourist shops that ring the tourist sites bother me, and we have learned how to ignore them as they call, “Hello, hello.” I am surprised that I have only seen 2 beggars on my entire trip.

We had a couple extra hours before our plane and none of us wanted to go to any more silk shops or Friendship Stores. Our guide took us the Guilin Traditional Medicine Center and all 10 of us had a classic reflexology on our feet with a pillow under our heads. Everyone’s spirit picked up.

Fly to Shanghai.

Shanghai info: Area: 6200 sq km (2418 sq mi)

Population: 14 million (Another count is 16 million with 6 million more in the suburbs.)

People: Han Chinese

Main language: Mandarin

Time Zone: GMT/UTC plus 8 hours

Si: It’s hard to believe that outside my hotel window are 1.25 billion people. I walked down some subway steps and found an entire world of shops underground. There were so very many people walking in the shops I turned around and went back to the hotel.

Friday, 10/27, SHANGHAI
In Shanghai we tour the Yu Yuan garden, Jade Buddha Temple, and the Bund.

Nearby are the College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, herbal medicines, acupuncture and massages and qigong exercises.

Si: Wendy, Kat and I are the only people on the tour that have not gotten sick. Since we have eaten everything we can only brag to ourselves how lucky we are. Nanci, who is a great traveler, got sick the first week and has been eating only the purist rice and water at every meal. Although this is a disappointment for her, she looks great and must be losing weight. We were worried about our diet of 15 dishes and a chocolate dove bar at every dinner, but we have each lost 5 pounds due to the constant activity.

Si: We took a day off from the group and skipped all of the tour activities. This was the same Shanghai that we had visited last year at a computer conference, but I was seeing it with new eyes.

6:30am: Kat taxied across town to Jing An Park where she was happy to find her old friends Mr. Jiang and Mr. Zhang. She invited her “Wild Goose Form” Tai Chi friends and their wives to lunch with us, the 75-year and 85-year old guys she had practiced with for 5 days last year. They were very surprised to see her. “We never in this lifetime thought we would meet again”. They had communicated via email at least once, proving how the Internet can connect us all, regardless of geography. Figuring they were vegetarians, and not knowing where to go, she reserved a table for 6 at the “White Cloud” guest restaurant in our expensive hotel.

Professor: “Did you check the prices here?”

Kat: “No, we have to eat somewhere.”

We were the only customers in the banquet room. Two Maitre-de’s in slit brocade skirts and 7 waitpersons stood 10 foot back from our table to serve us. The locals arrived, humble folk who looked over the specialties menu and ordered all sorts of meat and fish dishes. I was a little disappointed Kat didn’t jump at their suggestion of snake soup. The chef came out with a bucket containing a fresh flopping trout. “Will this fish do?” One of our guests nodded and accepted the fish to be cooked for us. He spoke English.

“I’ve seen many changes in China. Sun-Yat-Sen, then Chang Kai Check, the Japanese, the Cultural Revolution where there was no law, and now a strong central government.”

No one moved till Kat or I began eating. I spooned some noodles and tofu onto my small plate. The guests then used their chopsticks to put the same into their rice bowl.

Kat picked up a sliver of fish with her chopsticks. It slipped and dropped into the beef sauce.

There was a gasp from one of the wives who appeared to say, “Contamination” or “Abomination” in an unknown language.

After the seventh dish was served I began to wonder if this was going to be a very costly expense account type meal from a 4-star hotel. I dreaded the bill, and when it came, Kat picked it up to charge it to our room. I saw the numbers 42200 Yuen, trying to figure out the bad news. When I got to our room I determined it was $50, not $500, and was happy as a birthday boy. We could have tried the snake and still been within our budget. Wasn’t I a vegetarian this year?

I am very impressed with the capitalistic aspects of Shanghai. Imagine 16-22 million people live here! Magnificent skyscrapers are everywhere. There is incredible interest in technology.  People hear that I’m interested in computers and want to know if I can get a DNA chip for them. I'm typing on a PC running Internet Explorer and Outlook Express. Microsoft Word is on this box as well as a dozen other Mandarin programs. Microsoft may own this world, or is the software all pirated?

Hoping to get in on this capitalistic action I considered importing some Chinese items and retailing them in the USA or on the Internet. At 1/10^th of the US prices I found:

· Good whiskey with large snakes in the bottle (considered very healthy here);

· Cashmere sweaters (already done, but I’d go for a thick one with a good collar);

· Silk shirts (I bought a beautiful black silk dress shirt for less than $30); and

· Disposable underwear for travelers.

Lately I’ve been doing my laundry in the hotel bathtub or sink, washing with shampoo. Once I found the disposable underwear (attractive, sanitary, 10 cents each!) I stopped worrying about laundry problems. I thought this would be the perfect item to market and bought a few packs, distributing them to the men in my group. They all said, “Thanks,” and gave them back to me. I guess I’m not cut out to be a businessman.

Fresh from our day off we took a cab to the Shanghai Bund and found the famous Peace Hotel where the rich Chinese and the American expatriates would go to practice their French and listen to American Jazz. Tired old musicians were playing, and it sounded worse than a high-school band. They stood by their instruments till you tipped them for a song with none of the joix-de-vivre we’ve seen in our older musicians like Louis Armstrong. Our guide explained, “Our generation does not listen to that.”

Saturday, 10/28, SHANGHAI - SUZHOU - SHANGHAI

Bus about 1 hour to Suzhou, known as the Venice of the East.

In the afternoon we tour Tiger Hill and Humble Administrator's Garden. The hill is densely forested and has around its base a running stream and a stone-paved circular walk with rural surroundings.

There are over 150 gardens in number, some more than one thousand years old. They are not large, but are fascinating in their delicate design, containing hills and ponds, pavilions, terraces, corridors and towers. The Humble Administrator’s garden is especially lovely.

This is in the Humble Administrator’s Garden.

“Humble,” representing his disgrace for losing his high office due to graft.

Kat: Gordon picked this garden as the seminal influence on all gardens of China and Japan. Its intricate use of ponds, bridges, and doorways make a relatively small area seem infinite. Beautiful as it was, like other beauty spots here it is crowded with hoards of tourists. I stopped for a moment to contemplate the serenity and was swept away from our group. I used my best Mandarin for “Where is the entrance?” (Rukou zai nar) A relay of advisors helped me find the gate. If I just practice Tai Chi here they will find me, I thought, and they did.

Si: Lunch included eels cooked in garlic and peppers. Jim and Nanci snuck off to Gino’s (an Italian place a block from our hotel). They said the cook was Chinese.

Sunday, 10/29, SHANGHAI – SAN FRANCISCO

5:30pm leave on Air China and arrive the same day at 11:55am.

The flight takes 10 hours, 25 minutes.

LAST MORNING IN CHINA

Surprised awakening to adventure’s end.

Only 11 hours of restless airborne confinement

Till we are unlocked from our chain

Of 10 mouths, 20 eyes, 40 limbs

Linked through 21 days in a strange land.

Goodbye to schools of children ni-haoing

Buffalos, pigs, and ducks walking down Main Street

Friendly country folk grins and giggles

And conical hats protecting faces of the camera-shy.

No more dawn taxi hunts

For neighborhood parks

Where elusive Tai Chi dancers

Skip off to work

Before 7am park fees are due.

No more crowded gardens of people

Where I lose and find myself

Through puzzling mazes.

We’ve come to an end of obsessive pre-meal hand washing

With shared drops of antibiotic soap

From tiny bottles

Before each many-dished banquet

Of mystery spices, sauces, weeds, and animals.

Only in memory shall we see the unending Great Wall ribbon

Miniature landscaped rock gardens

And river trips unscrolling

Along fog-teased hills

Followed by earthly maneuvers on bicycle wheels

Through red squishy mud puddles and paths

And neon rice fields

Under the auspices of these same

Awesome mounds, humps, and cones.

And always the light and warmth

Of Jon making friends through humor

And Karen’s depth of perception.

-Kat
HOMECOMING

Bursting forth from weeks of exotic dreaming

Into freshly sparkling normal lives

Pets, friends, classes, gardens

E-mail and telephone connectivity.

Click your heels, Dorothy

There’s no place like home.

-Kat

Goodby to China

Si: Special thanks and appreciation go to our organizer and leader,” the Shuminator,” Gordon Xu.

This trip has been so successful I am already dreaming of other places and adventures.

Possibilities are:

Florence and Venice;

London for the theatre;

Banff National Park in Canada;

Australia and New Zealand? That’s a lot like the Mendocino coast.

The Amazon River and Brasilia;

The Galapagos Islands and Machu Pichu, Peru;

Rio de Janeiro?

Burma. There’ve been wars there so that land must wait.

Kashmir, India. Again, Kashmir is not safe.

Egypt, Israel, and Jordan include a Nile cruise by the pyramids.

I hope we get to do this in my lifetime.

CHINA TRIP SURVEY AND FEEDBACK SUMMARY

October 2000

Transpacific flight = 8, 8, 3, 7

Airline food is never good. Airline showed movies all night from SF to Beijing. Much better on return flight from Shanghai to SF where there were no movies.

BEIJING portion = 7, 7, 7, 10

Hotel Xiyuan = 8, 8, 9, 9

Location a little remote from city center and sights, but hotel service was excellent. Does Beijing have a Metro system? If it does, a hotel near a Metro station would be more convenient.

Food = 8, 8, 7, 7

Breakfast in the hotel was excellent. Dinners including the Peking duck dinner were ok, but not great. The Hot Pot dinner was good.

Summer Palace = 8, 6, 8, 8

Great Wall = 8, 7, 8, 5, 10

Bad entrance, too crowded, touristy. I would prefer another site.

I couldn’t go to China without visiting the Great Wall. We should have taken more pictures of us on the wall.

Forbidden City = 8, 5, 6, 9, 10

Tiananmen Square = 6, 5, 3, 6, 8

Interesting to see, but not much to do there unless there is an opportunity to see the museum (the one that we ate in, but never saw) or is the Temple of Heaven within walking distance?

I needed more time there.

Beijing Opera = 0

No one complained about not going to the opera.

Acrobatic Show = 8, 7, 5, 9, 8

Peking Duck Dinner = 6, 5, 4, 6, 3

I’ve had better Peking duck in San Francisco.

Good idea, we need a better restaurant.

Hot Pot Dinner = 10,

A lot of work, but well worth the experience

Other - The CITS dinner on the night of our arrival from SF was unnecessary.

I think most of us would have preferred to get some fresh air or go to bed.

The Hutong tour that we cancelled seemed a little pretentious. I would have been uncomfortable about paying someone to let me walk through their home (maybe Americans place a greater value on their privacy). I would rather have a few hours of free time to wander around a neighborhood or town center.

Domestic flight = 10 for the first one, 8, 9, 8

Beijing to Nanchang domestic flight was the best (all other domestic flights went downhill from this one)

NANCHANG/DRAGON TIGER MOUNTAIN portion = 6, 3

Hotel Yingtan = 7, 7, 7, 4

Very hard bed.

Bad beds, too hot.

Food = 7, 6, 3

Non-memorable

Tianshi Palace = 0

I can’t remember the place. Was this the Taoist Temple that we saw in the afternoon? Or was it the Teng Wang (shopping) Pavilion in Nanchang. The Pavilion was nice. Merits at least an 8

Bus rides = 4, 3, 9, 4

Too many, too long. I would eliminate the Dragon/Tiger Mountain portion of the tour and keep the Guilin Yangshuo River cruise. The Dragon Tiger Mountain tour did not merit a 6-hour round trip bus ride.

Dragon/Tiger Mountain was really beautiful. Don’t skip this.

YICHUN portion = 10, 9, 10, 8

Accommodations (Financial Training Centre, not a sanatorium) = 8

Excellent service from the friendly staff. Poor lighting in rooms, floors were not clean, and water stains and mildew on ceiling and walls. Excellent food except for the mystery meats.

Herbalist = 9, 9, 9, 10

Knowledgeable and had a dedicated and professional demeanor

Tui na = 8,n 8, 8, 10

I heard too many negative comments about the workouts, so I didn’t let the therapists work on me.

Health treatments = 0, 9, 8

Massage = 8, 7, 9, 4

Acupuncture = 0, 10

I was disappointed in the quality of medical/health services in Yichun.

Acupuncture CURED me!!

Reflexology = 2, 8, 4, 3

Foot massages were not reflexology treatments. I would have preferred to pay more for a good treatment. The best treatment was in Guilin

Pedicure = 0, 7, 7, 1

Hair/Head = 0, 8, 10, 8, 3

Food = 9, 6, 10, 9, 9

Excellent except for the mystery meats. Chicken and especially the fish were good.

Sanitarium = 6, 10, 8, 9

Party/Karaoke = 8, 10, 10, 8, 9

Swimming = 9, 8

Waterfall mountain hike/walk = 8

It would have been better if the weather was clear.

School visit = 9, 10, 10, 7, 10

Cute kids. Would have preferred a less circus-like media affair. Who was on display, the kids or the Americans?

Farm Visit = 9, 10, 10, 6, 10

Would have liked more.

Long Hu Mountain = 10, 10, 8, 10

Scenery along the Long Ju Mountain/River = 7

Pales in comparison to the Li River to Yangshuo

Boat Ride = 7, 8, 9, 6, 10

Horse Ride = 1, 3, 8

Sedan Chair = 6, 8, 6, 3

Marriage Show = 7, 10, 9, 5, 2

I wish I’d done it.

Free time in downtown Yichun = 9

I like the idea of having a few hours of free time in the heart of any city to see and mix with the locals. Sure beats being bussed to another Friendship store!!

Other - See attached new article from the China Business Daily.

Instead of visiting the museum (which wasn’t open anyway) could we have visited a factory or business that embraces ecologically friendly practices? Or maybe have a government representative/business-owner talk to the group about its high-tech economy and ecologically friendly practices.

HANGZHOU portion = 6, 7, 7

Hotel Hua Gang = 4, 8, 7, 8, 8

Food was bad and the front desk personnel were unfriendly. Hotel location was good.

Food = 6, 7, 6, 7, 4

Meals in the hotel were terrible, but dinners improved after we started eating out (never got the name of the hotel where we had our last 2 dinners)

Soul Retreat Temple = 7, 8, 7, 10

Beautiful but crowded.

Inspiring.

West Lake Boating = 6, 5, 7, 4, 6

This should be an optional free time activity. I would have preferred to walk around the lake, weather permitting.

Six Harmony Tower = 7, 9, 7, 8

Tea Farm = 8, 7, 9, 4, 6

Slick marketing pitch, but entertaining. Our hostess’ dialogue was a marketing marvel.

Silk Museum = 8, 8, 9, 7, 5

Shopping = 3

Too many stops at Friendship stores. It would have been more interesting if the bus/local guide dropped the group off in the downtown shopping/sightseeing district and let us have 2-3 free hours. Have the bus stay in one place so individuals can return early to the bus if they wish.

GUILIN portion = 8, 6

Hotel Gui Shan = 10, 8, 10, 8, 8

Excellent food, good location, friendly service and good recreational facilities

Food = 0 (outside of hotel), 8, 7, 7

Minority show = 8, 6, 2, 4, 8

Red Flute Cave = 6, 10, 8, 7, 7

Too commercialized. Worse than Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco

Seven Park/Zoo = 4, 5, 2, 2, 5

Seeing the panda bear was nice, but not worth spending a morning at the park. Visiting the park should be an optional free time activity and not an organized group outing.

Art School = 4

Didn’t see any students at work. This was just another shopping stop! Could have skipped it.

Other - We could have eliminated the last day in Guilin if we returned from Yangshuo

early in the morning instead of in the afternoon.

YANGSHUO portion = 10, 8, 10

Hotel Paradise = 9, 8, 10+, 9, 8

Accommodations excellent, meals ok, but not exceptionally good.

Li River Cruise = 9, 10, 10, 10, 10+++

Spectacular scenery, comfortable boat, terrible food. Could we have brought our own picnic lunch aboard? Could we have ordered it from our hotel the night before (cold lunch would have been better than the deep fried foods)?

Shopping = 10, 8, 10+, 10, 7

Bicycle tour = 10+, 9, 10+++

Food = 8, 8, 8, 8, 7

Scenery = 10

SUZHOU Day Trip portion = 8, 5, 7

Tiger Hill = 8, 8, 4, 4

Too crowded

Humble Administrative Garden = 9, 7, 5, 8

Silk Factory = 7, 6, 5, 3

We shopped at too many silk stores. Should try to limit silk factory tours to 1 or 2 (becomes very old fast)

SHANGHAI portion = 8, 7

Hotel Jianghuo = 10, 10, 10, 9, 8

Excellent location and good service. Easy access to Metro (if only we had time to use it)

Food = 7, 6, 9, 8, 8

Too much food, but not exceptionally good

YuYuan Garden = 8

I would have liked to have free time to wander around the street bazaar outside the gardens for an hour.

Jade Buddha Temple = 8

The Bund = 7

I would have liked to have free time to walk around the area (not just the Bund) or along Nanjing Road for an hour or two (and meet the driver at a designated time and place)

Other – Jon, Archie and I enjoyed our visit to the Shanghai Museum. I would rate it an 8.

OVERALL TRIP = 7 or 8, 8, 10, 9, 10!

Flexibility unsurpassed, cost unbeatable, execution needs polishing. I think some problems were related to the last minute preparation and changes to the trip.

QUESTIONAIRE

1. Why did you sign up for this tour?

Medical treatments. I was disappointed by the quality.

Martial Arts culture and Gordon.

Gordon, rural places, health aspects, Kat’s Mandarin practice;

Had never seen China;

Price, flexibility, small group, good food, massage.

2. What did you like about the tour?

Flexibility;

Price, flexibility, small group, good food, massage;

Gordon’s personal attention to comfort details;

Rural aspects, low price, health treatments, all the small details taken care of by CITS, small group, flexibility, Gordon taking care of our health problems.

3. Constructive criticism to improve it?

Need to hand out/send out more written information and description of the trip.

I have some forms as examples (a suggested packing list, health and personal information form, list of optional free time activities and sights in major cities, commonly asked questions, etc.)

A prettier, less-crowded Great Wall Site, 2 ½ not 3 weeks.

Just as much shopping but not at Friendship Stores, more bargains, not kickbacks for the guides, less tourist restaurants, let Gordon pick Restaurants,

I don’t want to see a Western face;

Gordon should take a class in English to improve his communication skills.

4. Other comments:

Size of group: 10 – 12 is a good number.

OK

Good

Good

Great! The smaller the better

2 weeks vs 3 weeks (leave out what): 3 weeks was too, too long. Maximum should be 16 – 18 days. I could have skipped Dragon-Tiger Mountain and the river trip (pales in comparison to the Li River to Yangshuo). Eliminate the last day in Guilin, and eliminate one day in Hangzhou.

16 days, leave out Hangzhou, less time in Shanghai and Beijing.

Leave out Hangzhou and Suzhou.

Hard question.

Less activities, more free time: If each group member is given a list of optional free time activities along with a brief description of each option, I would think that each person could choose what was of interest to him or her.

Good balance.

No, people can take time off when they want.

More free time.

OK. Encourage us to take time off and skip events.

CITS drivers and guides: We had a lot of guides. Sometimes I was confused as to who had the authority to change the itinerary (if we didn’t want to do something that was preplanned). There wasn’t always a consensus.

Good

Generally good, but would like better restaurants and shopping, not tourist places.

Ditto to that

Good

Good

Trip cost: Excellent value for the money paid.

Good

Great

Reasonable

Excellent

Safety/health concerns: Prepared materials should include current information from the Center for Disease Control (lots of other websites have similar information. I have website names if anyone is interested)

Excellent

Great

Check out kitchens in rural restaurants. Sanitation problem.

OK

Packing suggestions: Prepared handout for the trip should include a suggested packing list.

Excellent

Pack light

Buy a bag enroute.

Laundry is cheap outside the big cities

OK

Orientation lunch before the trip: Nice touch. It would have been nice if we had a handout with responses to some commonly asked questions.

Excellent

I would have liked to be included

OK

Closure: Should we have a more formal or clearer goodbye at the airport?

I’d like a reunion in San Francisco

I never want to see some of these people again.

Photography: This is a personal issue. I brought 7 rolls of film but needed to buy more film. I’ve been to China before, but I’m still taking pictures. Different themes, different people, different places.

Bring twice as much film as you think you will need.

Language/translator suggestions: It would REALLY be helpful if our guides spoke English and Mandarin, but that’s obvious.

OK Good

Morning Scheduled Activity of Tai Chi, yoga, other? Gordon should hand out a questionnaire before the trip to gauge the member’s interest in any organized morning group activities.

Yes, put on the (optional) schedule

No on Tai Chi, yes on yoga NO to anything

Evening Scheduled Activity like cocktail hour, party, music or dancing? Gordon should hand out a questionnaire before the trip to gauge the member’s interest in any organized evening group activity.

NO

OK

Cocktail Hour

Cocktail Hour

Guest speakers including Buddhist, Taoist, and Businesspersons? I would have liked to talk to and listen to a businessman in Yichun (i.e., import-export business and issues relating to doing business in China’s new free market system; or the trials and tribulations of doing business with foreigners.

No

Buddhism, Taoism, Business

No

Other:

I enjoyed Gordon’s discussion of the different branches of TCM (I think he explained them to us during lunch in Nanchang). I would have liked to hear more about how eastern and western medical practices are different and how they are the same, how eastern medicine and how western medicine would treat the same disease or ailment, and if there is a move to integrate eastern and western medicine in China.

Yangshuo is one of the most beautiful places on Earth, not to be missed.

Yichun Village was a treasured experience. Openhearted people, the school, the farm, and the mountain visits are memorable. Fewer cities. Take the Yangtze Triple Gorge Boat Cruise.

Traveling with my children and wife made the trip a pleasure. This was a wonderful visit to China. I was very impressed. Thank you, Gordon.