2019 Jewels of China

Last Morning In Xian
Finally, a morning we can sleep in. Yeah! But of course, we were wide awake at 6am. Our flight to Chongqing, where the Viking Emerald is waiting for us, is at 4:45pm. We leave the hotel at noon, have lunch at a local restaurant, then off to the airport.

We finished packing and left our luggage (except for carry-ons) outside our door and went downstairs to breakfast. After breakfast, around 9:00am, we went for a walk.

We walked several blocks to Qujiangchi Park, one of the many parks throughout this city.

Here are some pics of city scenes on our way to the park.

Qujiangchi Paradise Park is a large park that surrounds two lakes. The park is beautifully landscaped with lots of sculptures and colorful flowers. There are several sections of exercise bars and obstacle courses.

Jogging path

Exercise area

See the bird in the upper right.

That's actually a kite that the guy in the red shirt is flying

On our way back to the hotel we walked along a green-belt park with sculptures and paths.

Monorail system.

Local residents volunteer to maintain the landscaping.

See the men in the orange uniforms.

They are the street cleaners. They are everywhere on the city streets. They even polish and clean the sculptures, benches, etc.

At noon we left the hotel for lunch and the airport. We stopped at a local restaurant inside of a shopping mall.

By this time we are really tired of Chinese food. Looking forward to getting on the ship. Steak and salmon here we come!

The drive to the airport was scenic.

Now this is interesting; these overhead wires along the city streets. You can see several wires branching off into the buildings. Not power or phone wires, but government run cable TV wires! Satellite dishes are not allowed.

Our two day visit in Xian was wonderful. The city is as large as Beijing, very clean with lots of colorful parks. The area round our hotel was very festive with the streets around it having lights and lanterns hanging from the trees. And the chance to finally see the Terracotta Warriors is the highlight of our trip so far.
Today is Dave's birthday. Happy birthday Dave!

CHONGQING (chon-king)
Our flight to Chongqing was short and quick (about 45 minutes). It was almost dark when we drove from the airport, along the Yangtze River into Chongqing. What a delightful sight!

The sky-rise buildings were all lit up with projected lights. It was like watching a movie on the sides of the buildings.

The Viking Emerald is docked just beyond the opera house that you saw in the above clip.

We boarded the ship, found our room, dumped the carry-on and headed for the dining room for dinner. We will unpack and settle in later after our luggage is delivered into the room.

As we slowly left port, we viewed Chongqing at night.

We had a very nice dinner this evening. I had my salmon, Dave had beef medallions (something that is on the menu every night).

Tonight we start our five day cruise along the Yangtze River on the Viking Emerald.

The Viking Emerald was built in 2011, 361 feet long, 5 decks (but 6 levels), with a crew of 138 and holds 256 passengers.

Our cabin is on the Observation deck (4th deck, but 5th level), room 502.

We are the first room in our hall. A tea shop is right beside our room and next to the shop is a coffee and tea bar with pastries in the morning and baked cookies in the afternoon. How convenient.

A few feet beyond that is the grand staircase and you can see all the decks.

On each side of the two floors below us are shops and demonstrations:

You can have a stamp of your name in Chinese at the end of stone carvings...

You can have a silk jacket specially tailored for you...

Drawings on fans and inside of jars, or your name...

Other rooms on the ship:

Observation Lounge

Library and computer room on the Sun Deck

We were still cruising the next morning. It was a nice day on the river, but a bit smoggy. Some river sights:

See the sights from the Sun Deck

Wow, how did we get back to San Francisco?!?

Zhongxian Yangtze River Bridge, one of the earliest road crossings of the Yangtze River. Located between

Chongqing City and Yichang City.

Close up pic of the bridge, copied from Google search.

Saw lots of Pagodas along the shore.
Notice the stair case along the cliff.

Do not know what this building is. Maybe offices.
Notice the Pagoda below on the left side.

We are now docked at Shibaozhai, our first stop on the Yangtze River. The Temple is to the right of this pic above the white retaining wall. Notice how far we are from the shore. To access the shore, we had to walk across several floating bridges linked together by metal platforms. I easily made it across thanks to my trusty walking stick.

SHIBAOZHAI TEMPLE

This Buddhist temple is built on top of a steep hill that rises from the banks of the Yangtze river. The steep sides made the temple inaccessible. However, this did not stop the builders from building it. Later a red pagoda was built alongside of the temple so people could climb the spiral staircase inside the pagoda to the top and then access the temple. This was much easier then the chain lift that had been in use.

Today, due to the Three Gorges Dam. The site of this temple is almost an island.

Once on shore, we walk up a steep street wading through several locals with motorized carts who would drive you to the site for a fee. They were persistent. When we reached the top of the street we turned left onto a street lined with vendors who all sold the same junk, but their prices "is better" than the next person. They were also persistent, almost grabbing at you.

We passed through an ornate gate into a nice garden with a pond.

At the end of the garden are bronze replicas of the Chinese Zodiac animals of the Old Summer Palace.

Sometimes the English translations are unclear. These bronze heads do not spray water. The originals did.

Dave and I both stand with our Zodiac signs.

Another ornate gate stands at the entrance to the suspension bridge that takes you to Shibaozhai Temple, an Historical Site and National Park.

The Pagoda is built against a cliff. The back of the Pagoda is open, exposing the cliff that it is bolted to.

Unfortunately, I am not able to walk those steep stairs inside the Pagoda, even with my walking stick. So Dave takes the adventurous journey with his camera.