Viking River Cruise on the Yangtze River in China

...on the Viking Emerald; build in 2011, 365 feet long with a crew of 138 and carries 256 passengers.  We will spend 8 days exploring sites on land in Beijing, Xian, Chongging, Wuhan, and Shanghai and 5 days cruising the Yangtze River from Chongging to Wuhan.

  
On land we will visit 3 UNESCO World Heritage Sites; Forbidden City, The Great Wall and the Terra Cotta Army.

We booked the cruise almost a year ago and a few months before the trip we started preparations; selecting what to pack, bringing down the suitcases, ordering Yuan (Chinese currency) from Wells Fargo.  At current conversion rates,  $100 will get you 610 Yuan.  We traveled to the Chinese Embassy in San Francisco to get our VISA's.  We submitted our apps, pictures, passports and a few days later we returned to pick up our passports with our VISA's.  Easy.

Kaiser has a great Travel Clinic.  We met with a consultant and she informed us of what health hazards we might encounter in China, what vaccines we would need and warned us not to drink the water, do not eat any fresh foods that would be washed in water and do not eat fresh foods we can not peel.  We both got shots for hepatitis A & B.  I got a shots for tetanus and typhoid.  Dave already had a tetanus shot and he got pills for typhoid instead of a shot.

All is done and now we are ready to go.  Bon Voyage! 
#charlestoncruises

DAY 1 - (April 23) ~ SAN FRANCISCO TO BEIJING

It is a 12-hour, nonstop flight from San Francisco to Beijing.  At 10:55am we flew United, Flight #888.  We paid extra $ for extra leg room.  We had the bulkhead row right over the wing.  We thought we would have lots of leg room being the bulkhead row.  But there wasn't.  We were not able to really stretch our legs because we lost the room under the seat in front of us.  But we had enough room to pass by the aisle seat without bothering the passenger, and we did not have any reclining seats in front of us.

  

We had the window and middle seat.  Unfortunately, we had the sun following us all the way to China.  We had a blinding glare from the wing coming in through the window.  We had to keep the window shade closed the whole time.  In fact all the shades on the plane were down for the whole trip.  The plane stayed dark for 12 hours except for reading lights, computer screens and movie screens.

  

It was a very smooth flight and the time did go by fast.  I watched 3 movies; Smallfoot, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Sargent Stubby, An American Hero.  I read a bit and got a few hours of sleep.

  

DAY 2 - (April 24) ~ BEIJING

We arrived in Beijing the next day around 2:30pm (3:00am our time).  After getting off the plane we walked a long distance (following everyone else). All the signs in the airport had an English translation, so it was easy to follow the signs. We went through passport check, then took a shuttle (train) to the baggage claim.   

Pizza Hut, KFC and Starbucks at the Beijing Airport.

At the baggage claim we retrieved our luggage (yeah!) and went through the "nothing to declare" path and put our luggage and carry-on through an x-ray.  I walked through with my backpack on and was not stopped.  That was the customs check.  Easy!
  
We continued around a corner onto a roped off long path that went on forever.  Lined up along that path were, people (shoulder to shoulder) holding signs with names on them.  I felt like I was walking the red carpet with everyone staring at us.  We had on a large red Viking stick-on dots that identified us as Viking.  At the end of the path someone was standing there with a Viking sign waving at us.  Whew! Because we arranged our own flights I was so worried that we would have to find our own way to the hotel.

There was another Viking couple with that was on our same flight.  They are from Richmond, CA.  We were directed to follow this driver who led us into the parking area to a van.  It was a long drive through the city so we got a good look at the metropolitan city of Beijing.  This is a big city with lots of sky-rise apartments.  Some were run down and looked boarded up, but they were occupied.  The financial area was large and high with buildings.  I got a picture of an unusual one that housed a TV and radio network and probably other offices.

Regarding the other couple that was riding with us; the wife said to us "I heard your name is Charleston, do you happen to know an Elinor Charleston (Dave's mom)....  This woman was in DUP (Daughters of the Utah Pioneers) with Elinor.  She was in Elinor's home many times for meetings and had wonderful things to say about Elinor.  Wow...talk about a small world...

  

After a very long day and night and about 40 minutes of grid lock traffic and downtown driving in the rain, we safely arrived at our hotel in Beijing with our health and all our luggage.

KERRY HOTEL

This is a luxury hotel.  Before our van even got into the driveway, porters were at the door to assist us and also a Viking rep was there to direct us.  We were swept out of the van with people holding umbrellas over us and walked us into the lobby.  Others took care of our luggage.  Wow, what service.  We were checked in and walked to our room.  It is now about 4:30pm.

ROOM 1325
Our room is on the 13th floor.  We have quite a view of skyscrapers and city streets.  We have a great view of that weird shaped building that has the TV and radio station.  

Our room was spacious with a king size bed with large fluffy pillows. Lots of closet space, a very long desk with lots of plugs and USB outlets.  

The fridge had lots of goodies in it a a drawer with snacks.  All complimentary.

The tall red can is coke. 
The black trim on it means it is diet, or Coke Zero. Yeah!

The large Samsung TV screen had lots of channels, mostly Chinese.  But CNN, BBC World, Bloomberg, HBO and CINEAMAX is in English.  HBO and CINEAMAX had Chinese subtitles. 

The bathroom was interesting.  It was large with a glass room to the side that housed a large tub with a stand-up shower next to it.  The bathroom had what I would describe as a tech toilet.  It was electric with auto-flushing.  When you lift the lid a light would come on and also a fan.  On the wall next to it was a row of buttons that would make the toilet do other things, like spray like a bidet.  Did not touch any of the buttons.  Was afraid to.

 

 

The bathroom also had complementary goodies, plus slippers and robes.  We kept the goodies and slippers.

Working the lights in the room took a while to figure out.  At the entrance to the room is a slot that is the master lighting.  You have to put your key card into it to turn the power on.  There are lamps on both sides of the beds that have their own switch as well as the the desk and the bathroom lights.  But to turn off all the ceiling lights you have to push the 'master' button on one side of the bed.  On the first night we found out that the master button beside the bed also turns off all the power.  
  
When nature called in the middle of the night and you need light, you have to push the master button by the bed in order to make the bathroom light button work which also turns on all the lights in the room.  Or you have to handle things in the dark.  But wait, if you have no power, the toilet will not flush.....
  
On the second night we found a button on the other side of the bed that turns off all the lights, but not the power.  I hope the other two hotels we will be staying at are not so complicated.
  
There was complementary internet in our room, but it had a weak signal.  We were able to get our e-mail.  China has blocked Facebook and GOOGLE.  So I will be going through Facebook withdrawals for the next 13 days.  Unfortunately my travel BLOG is on GOOGLE so I will have to wait until we return from this trip before we can share our stories and pictures.

KERRY KITCHEN
All our meals during the land part of this trip are included.  So after we explored our room we went downstairs to the Kerry Kitchen to have a buffet dinner.  There was lots of choices, both Western and Chinese.  We sat with other Viking passengers.  This was a great way of meeting our fellow travelers.

 

When we returned to our room after dinner at around 7:00pm, we found all our luggage had been delivered to the room.  So we unpacked and retired for the night.  Tomorrow is going to be a busy day.  We visit Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City.

DAY 3 – (April 25) ~ A DAY IN BEIJING

Even though our bed was very comfortable, we had a restless sleep on our first night in Beijing.  We both got up early and at around 6:45am we went downstairs for a buffet breakfast.  The buffet was wonderful.  So much food; bacon and eggs, meats, hot cereals, cold cereals, fruit, cheeses, Chinese food (with strange names such as pea cake, jellyfish, etc), pastries and so much more.  
  
At 8:00am we met our Viking guide; Chuck (Chinese name is Qi) in the hotel lobby.  Chuck will be with us through the whole trip (land and river).  The 250 passengers have been put into 2 hotels and divided up into manageable groups of about 35 to 40 people each.  By the way, all the guides have been give Western names such as Leo, Peter, etc.
  
The comfortable buses were waiting for us outside to take us to our first stop.
  
TIANANMEN SQUARE

Well, Tiananmen Square was closed.  Some dignitaries from Russia (not Putin as he visited last year) were going to be given a tour, so the Square was blocked off.  But we were across the street and could see the Square.  Actually, since the Square was empty, we had a better views of it. 

Tiananmen Square is considered the "front door" of the Forbidden City.  At 100 acres, it is the world's largest square.  It can accommodate a million people.

We walked parallel to the Square, following Chuck with his "lollypop" as he called it.  A long stick with a Viking sign on the end of it.  Ours had the letter "E" on it.  Of course there were lots of 'lollypops' on the street for the other Viking groups.  But we followed E.  We also had headphones on so we can hear Chuck talking.  When you hear static, you are getting out of range and you better hurry up and catch up with Chuck and not get left behind.

That's me in the straw hat

Before we crossed over into the Forbidden City, we had to go through a security check.  By then we were shoulder to shoulder with people.  Hundreds of people.  This I was prepared for as I read about it and saw the pictures.

We made it through security and are waiting to enter the Forbidden City.  That's Tiananmen Square behind us.

FORBIDDEN CITY
...is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  It's the world's largest palace complex, home to 980 buildings with 9,999 rooms; all of it protected by a 20 foot moat and a 32-foot wall.  The Forbidden City served as the imperial palace during the Ming and Quing Dynasties. 

The grounds are several blocks long with about 8 sections.  Each section has a courtyard which you enter through a building and gate.  There were lots of people and lots of groups.  So any pictures you take will have crowds in it. 

Went to use the restrooms and came across this sign.  This 5-star restroom (women's) was large and very clean with about 20 stalls. There was a long line outside and several from our group were patiently waiting.  Suddenly a wave of locals and Chinese tourists started to pass us to enter the restroom.  We were angry at the rudeness.  But when we finally entered the restroom, we found that only 3 stalls had toilets.  All the other stalls were squatters.  So of course a long line of us non-locals were waiting on those 3 stalls.  This was our first experience with public restrooms.  I'll talk more on this later.  

At this point we were on our way to the 4th courtyard when the special police started to move everyone to the right and away from the middle of the courtyard.  They were closing off the court yards and buildings for a visit from some dignitaries.  
  
During our visit to Beijing there was a world wide conference going on in this city.  The Belt and Road Initiative.  Read about it as it is very interesting.  About 120 countries were participating, except the US.
https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/chinas-massive-belt-and-road-initiative
   
In clearing the courtyards, everyone was pushed off to a smaller gate on the side of this ornate building and then into a narrow alley that runs through the outside of the courtyards.  OMG, what a nightmare.  Shoulder to shoulder people aggressively pushing their way along.  If anyone had fallen they would have been crushed.  It was hot and people were not very nice.  

However, there was one point where I was having difficult on some steps and a local young man held out his arm to help me along and someone to my side had reached out to help me balance.  Dave was nearby, but out of reach.  So, there are nice people after all.  Our guide was way ahead of us.  We could see his "lollypop" and hear him talking, but we were having a difficult time getting to him.

With no crowds on the main grounds, we were able to get some great pictures.

Finally we reached the north end of the Forbidden City near the Imperial Gardens.  The crowds spread out a bit and you could move around easier.

The forbidden City is a fantastic place and I would have liked to spend more time here and explore some of the buildings.  And the gardens are beautiful.  I wish I had more time for pictures.  But at the end we were glad to get out of there.
  
   Next stop was a delicious, leisurely lunch at Hua's Restaurant.

BELL AND DRUM SQUARE
Our last stop is one of the hutong neighborhoods, the Old China area.  Here there are narrow city alleys that border courtyards where local families have lived for generations.  Most of the hutongs were build during the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties; from 1279 to 1911.  Over 600 years ago.  
  
We walked through a few of these alleys to the Bell and Drum Square.  This is a courtyard with two towers on both ends.  Originally built in 1272.  The towers, which were used for telling time until 1924, were built during the reign of Kublai Khan and were rebuilt after two fires during the Ming and Qing dynasties.  The drum tower had 24 drums on the 2nd floor to be reached by 70 steep steps.  Only one drum remains.  The other drums have been replaced for shows.

Bell Tower

Drum Tower

Sadly we did not get a tour of these towers.  I would have loved to see a drum presentation.  We were here to visit the Bell Tower Tea House to sample some local teas.

The presentation on how to make the perfect tea and the tasting was very interesting and one of the teas; Pu-erh Tea (black tea) can only be bought locally.  It is not imported to any other countries.  This tea supposedly reduces blood pressure, prevents diabetes, reduces cholesterol and helps you lose weight.  

Of course there was a tea shop next to the tasting room where you could buy the teas you just sampled (at about 24 to 45 US$).

Back to the Kerry Hotel to rest before our buffet dinner at the Kerry Kitchen.  We sat at a table with 2 other couples from Texas and Connecticut.  Again, the buffet had a great selection of foods; lots of crab, oysters, mussels and of course Chinese food.  We did not eat much as we had such a large lunch.  But we had great conversation with the other two couples.  Stayed there for a long time talking about RV traveling, sights in Texas and tornadoes.  We are meeting such nice people so far.

Tomorrow we visit The Great Wall.