Day 69 - Tianjin, China

Sunrise over Bohai Bay, China

Our ship arrived in the Bohai Bay off the Yellow Sea early this morning and sat waiting for an hour or so for the pilot.   He must have been early too because we got into Tianjin Port about an hour earlier than expected.    There is a thick smog haze over the area, as expected.   I have masks for us, in case we feel like we need them.  This area suffered from very high pollution, so I'm not taking chances.

This port is about 2 hours southwest of Beijing.  There is what appears to be a fairly new passenger terminal here.  We went out to it looking for currency exchange this afternoon, but of course the office was closed.  It was probably only open for a few hours when we first arrived.  We did not schedule any tours today because we are leaving tomorrow on what promises to be an intense 3 day tour in and around Beijing.  It is cold here, but at least there isn't any snow.  I think it got into the 50's today.  There is rain in the forecast though.  I hope that doesn't make the tours over the next 3 days difficult.  We have been very lucky so far on this grand voyage.  We are also crossing our fingers that the weather doesn't delay our flights home.   We are flying Beijing to Newark and then connecting to a Newark to Orlando flight next Tuesday.

Our main objective today was to pack. We took turns so we could each have room to spread our suitcases out on the bed.   I went first and got my original 2 suitcases plus a new one we picked up in Hong Kong packed with my clothes and all the souvenirs we've picked up along the way.  It only took me about 3 hours!  Ray then started packing his 2 suitcases.  As I write this he is still working on it.  This is not counting our carry-ons.  It's going to be interesting managing all these at the airports.  At least we won't have to worry about them until then.  Once we put them out of our room tonight they will be picked up and sent to our hotel.  We won't see them again until we get to the hotel in Beijing tomorrow night.  I don't know whether we will have an internet connection there, so if you don't see another post for a few days, don't worry.  I'll keep writing and catch up the posts when we get home.

We went to the Italian restaurant upstairs for dinner last night so we could say goodbye to the members of the crew we've gotten to know there.   Tonight we'll eat at the restaurant downstairs to do the same with the waitress Riski and assistant Tegue,who have been so good to us there.  It has been a standing joke with these two that they can predict what we are going to order, especially Ray.  The crew on this ship has, on the whole, been really great.  Friendly, helpful, patient, and always smiling.  We will miss them.

Day 68 - Dalian, China

Last night was a bit rocky.  It wouldn't have been too bad if I hadn't pushed myself yesterday to keep up and see everything on the tour.  Between walking for 3 hours on the tour and getting a chill in my back from the wind when I got back to the ship, I was feeling a few aches and pains last night.  Combined with the ship movement on rough seas, I didn't sleep well.  Ray still feels like he is on the verge of a cold too.  The tour we had scheduled for today was just a bus ride with photo stops and an hour of shopping at the end, so we decided to save our energy for Beijing and not leave the ship today.

Last night we stayed in our room up until dinner time so we could watch the ship go out through the locks. Although the area can have tide variations up to 10 meters, the difference in the water level in the lock this time only appears to be a foot or so.  We missed the crew show by watching the locks, but we'll see it on the DVD.  Ray & I may be a bit unusual, but we both enjoy watching the technical aspects of cruising.

We must have been distracted by the locks because didn't realize the night's attire was set as "optional formal." Every other time we dressed up, Ray in his tux an me in a long black dress with a different formal jacket each time.  We didn't realize we were a little under-dressed until we were at the restaurant and saw most of the others in formal.  We were OK, but since we like to dress up, we were a little disappointed that we forgot to check.   Mishap continued, as Ray tried to cut a carrot on his plate and the knife broke in half in his hands, blade separating from handle and flipping back at him.  No harm done, but it did wake him up.  Our assistant waiter, Tegue, made our night however, with some jokes and a little magic trick.

We didn't get into port until 11:30am and will be leaving at 7pm, so it's a short day.  I took a little video as we came in, but there were no photos of note.  Dalian is a city that has Chinese, Russian and Japanese influences.  It is not a real old city, so the sights are mostly modern parks, bridges and buildings.  There is nothing near the pier for us to visit and we would have to take a shuttle to get into the city on our own.

We listened to Sandra Bowern's lecture on "The Art Forms of China" and checked the news this morning.  One of the perks we have had on Regent because we have cruised with them for so many days is delivery of a newspaper to our room every day.  We choose the Miami Herald and have been keeping up with the world with that and BBC news on TV.  We were pleased to see that a Jesuit from Argentina has been chosen as the new pope, and that he chose Pope Francis I as his new name.  When reviewing the newspaper summary of the credentials of the top 15 cardinals, he was in my top 3 choices.  He has a big job ahead of him and I pray he has the strength for it.

For some reason we left port an hour earlier than what was in the schedule.  The show was scheduled for 6pm so everyone must have been on board early and the captain decided to get a head start on our trip to Beijing.  He usually comes on the PA system to tell us what's going on but he didn't tonight.  We're guessing he didn't want to interrupt the show.  Anyway, we are now on our way to our final port of call.

Day 67 - Inchon (Seoul), South Korea

Houses in Korean Folk Village

I woke up about 5 o'clock this morning, sensing a change in the ship's engines.  When I first looked out, I saw the ship appeared to be in between 2 piers.  Half asleep and confused, I went back to bed.  Then I felt the ship moving down instead of horizontally and remembered that the captain said something about going through a lock.  I got up to look again and saw that the ship was moving out of the lock and into the harbor.

Guardians Keeping Evil Spirits Away

We had breakfast in our room again so we could get to our tour on time.  Ray felt like he is coming down with another cold and decided to stay on-board, so I went on by myself.  It was very cold out today, probably in the 40s, with wind on the pier making it feel worse.  Today's tour was to a "Korean Folk Village."  It was about an hour bus ride from the ship.  This turned out to be a replica Joseon Dynasty village, something like Williamsburg, but without the actual craftsmen in the buildings.  Each building was outfitted with artifacts representing a local craft and some had dummies dressed in period costume.



There are various shows staged every hour during the day, demonstrating arts of the period. When we arrived, the Farmers' Dance had just begun.  This was a combination of traditional music, dance, and juggling.  The music of Korea is not on the top of my list, but the dance was fun to watch.

Farmers' Dance

 We then took a walk and the guide showed us the building that would have been the court.  She told us about the various punishments that would await someone who committed a crime.  Some were similar to European stocks.  There was also a jail with dummies in the cells.  They all wore a long board on their necks with only a hole for their neck.

Our guide then took us back to the show area to see an equestrian show.  Riders brought their horses into a circular arena and performed various stunts.   They were very good.  It's hard to explain so you'll just have to wait for my video.

Equestrian Show

Next we had time to visit a set of buildings that would have been the home of a wealthy man.  Near the gate there was a small one room building for servants.  All the buildings were only one room deep, and all were entered through a door facing the central courtyard.  Moving clockwise around the courtyard, the first building was for the husband.  There was a bedroom and a study.  The kitchen and storeroom appeared to be next.  At the back of the courtyard were the rooms for the wife, husband's mother and children. They were heated by a fire built in a room to one side, with the heat directed under the floor to the rooms next to it.  The buildings on the opposite side of the courtyard from the husband's rooms appeared to be more storage.

The last show we saw was a reenactment of a traditional Korean Confucian wedding.  This was an interesting ceremony.  It was narrated in Korean, so our guide explained it to us before the show and we just had to try to follow along.  Two women assisted the bride in getting up and down.  They have no chairs, but squat when they are at rest. The "priest' was in the middle and two attendants stood at the sides to assist, bringing cups to the bride and groom to drink from.

Korean Wedding Re-Enactment

Our guide explained that up until recently, couples often never met until the wedding day.   Men were king in their house and women were kept in the back rooms to limit their exposure to outsiders.  She said that much of this is only now beginning to change.  She was probably in her 30's and had only been married 3 years.  She said at first her mother-in-law called every day, telling her what a good wife she was for her son.  One of the obligations of a new wife is to cook a meal for her mother-in-law, so a few weeks after the wedding she invited her mother-in-law to dinner.  After dinner, her husband began helping with the dishes and her mother-in-law got very upset.  Our guide said her mother-in-law did not call again for months.  Now after 3 years, she has begun to accept that today, because both husband and wife work outside the home, the husband helps with household chores.  She accepts outwardly, but not in her heart.

We saw another building after the wedding, which our guide said explained how they make kimchi.  There were large pots around it that she said the kimchi was stored in for up to 3 years.

Kimchi Preparation & Storage

On the ride back to the port, our guide talked a little about the situation between North and South Korea.  SHe said many South Koreans are on the list requesting to visit relatives in the North, but ply 200 are allowed to cross the border each year.  South Korea is on high alert since Kim Jung-Un made some serious threats a few days ago.  The U.S.A. and South Korea are also conducting military drills this month.  Things are just a bit tense in this area at the moment, but when we asked our guide about it, she said this is pretty normal for them.  North Korea makes a threat or does something to provoke them every couple of years.  So far South Korea has kept their cool.   From what I heard in Dr. Elovitz's lectures and other things I have learned on this trip, North Korea seems like a petulant child throwing an occasion temper tantrum to get what it wants.  It doesn't have enough food or natural resources to survive and recent U.N. sanctions are hurting them.  At any rate, I will be glad when our ship is away from these waters. 

It's about 5pm now and we should be leaving the pier any minute now.  The captain announced that the seas are going to be a bit rough tonight, so they postponed the show with the ship's dancers until tomorrow night and are putting on a comedian instead.  The crew show is still scheduled as an early show at 6pm though.  I hope we aren't out in the rough waters yet when they are on the stage.

Day 66 - Along West Coast of South Korea

We were at sea again today.  Once out of Japanese waters we finally got internet access back.  Everyone on the ship must have been online this morning.  It took about 3 hours of off and on connections this morning to publish the post 63 on Hiroshima.  I waited until after dinner to upload the posts for days 64 and 65 and they went much quicker. 

This morning we had a safety drill.  New rules require ships to hold a drill every 14 days on cruises that are more than 14 days.  This segment is 16 days.  The drill is the same as when you initially get on the ship - instructions on how to use a life jacket and what to do in an emergency evacuation.  That took up about an hour after breakfast.

This afternoon Ray went to Dr Elovitz's final lecture on "World Affairs Hot Spots."  This was a question and answer session, not a presentation.  While he attended that, I sat in on the last art auction.  This one was very lightly attended, but there were a couple of new artists discussed that I was unfamiliar with.  I always learn something at these.

Nothing else to report today, other than the fact that I finished another book this morning.  I have finished 5 books on this cruise in my spare time.  Usually I am so busy with other stuff it takes me several months to finish one.  Limited internet access and other distractions can be good.  I do love my Kindle.  On past cruises I use to bring several paperbacks and leave them in the library for someone else's enjoyment when I was done.  Now all I need is my kindle.

Day 65 - Along Coast of Japan

We left Osaka about 4 am this morning.  Today and tomorrow we are at sea.   Originally the ship was scheduled to stay a second day here, but the captain received some information about the currents that made him cut our time in this port back.  A 4 am departure is unusual though.  I woke up when the ship started to move and looked out to see what we are doing.  The ship was just turning around to head out of the harbor.  I took a little video of the lights along the shore and went back to sleep.

After breakfast we went to hear the next lecture in Dr. Elovitz's series on "World Affairs Hot Spots."  This one was titled "North Korea Before and After Kim."  He put North Korea's actions and threats into perspective, based on history combined with the little we really know about North Korea.  The fact that we will be visiting Seoul the day after tomorrow is a little scary in light of recent events.  One of the tours offered is actually to go see one of the tunnels North Korea has built under the DMZ.  We are not going on that tour! 

Dr Elovitz's lectures provide an insightful view of the motivations that drive various countries to act the way they do.  He presents the facts in what appears to me as a very neutral way, but in a way that really make me think about U.S. foreign policy.  I don't think I've really understood much of this before and feel like my eyes have been opened quite a bit. 

This afternoon we attended another of Sandra Bowern's lectures.  This was "An Introduction to South Korea."  Where Dr Elovitz talks about political issues, Sandra talks about culture.  She touched on Korea's history, noting that the penninsula has been inhabited for at least 500, 000 years.  Mostly, she talked about Korean music and other art forms.  She played a few short clips of the various music styles and I have decided that this is probably my least favorite Asian music.

We purchased the DVD's that the ship's videographer put together for each cruise segment and have spent our free time today reviewing the first 2.  They are good because, for the most part, the videographer seems to have gone on different tours at each port than we did.  Many of these were tours that were listed as the most strenuous, so the DVDs are  giving us a chance to see the tours we couldn't go on. 

Towel Dog Created for Ray's Birthday

Day 64 - Osaka

Shinto Shrine

 It was a 22 hour trip from Hiroshima to Osaka.  We arrived about 12:30pm and tours started leaving by 1pm.  Our tour didn't leave until 2:20pm, so I had time to get some local currency for a change.  Unlike most of the recent ports that don't accept U.S. currency, Osaka sent an agent on-board to change money.  That has been one of the problems with the Asian ports.  Most do not accept U.S. currency and only large stores accept credit cards.  Most of the stores at the port are small, temporary vendors who only accept local currency.

Footbridge to Shrines

Place to wash before praying at Shinto Shrines

Cats in Shrine for Business Success

Saki Kegs to be offered to the Thunder Kami

It was raining today so we were debating on whether to go on the tour or not.  The rain slowed to a drizzle before our tour time so we finally decided to go. We are very glad we did.  Our tour was to the Sumiyoshi Taisha Shrine. At previous ports we saw Buddhist and Taoist temples, but this was our first chance to see a Shinto Shrine. 

The Shinto religion is only practiced in Japan.  Although translation of these concepts is hard, my understanding of what our guide said is this.  Shinto practitioners believe in 8,000 gods or "kamis."  These relate to the forces of nature. There are kami of the sea, wind, trees, lightning, thunder, etc. The shrine we visited was originally built to pray for safe passage on the seas.  However, over the years people began coming to this site to pray to all the other kami too.  It got very crowded near the one shrine so they built additional buildings for the other gods. 

Although burnt down and rebuilt several times over the centuries, there has been a shrine here for over a 1,000 years.  I believe the current buildings date from the 19th century.  We only visited a few of them.  Our guide showed us how to pray for a safe voyage to the imi of the sea.  We also visited a tree shrine and a shrine for businessmen praying for success in their business.  A common theme for business success throughout Asia is a statue of a cat.  Having one of these in your business is supposed to bring the money in.  The ones in this shrine were stationary, but in other Asian countries they all had one arm that moved up and down, waving the money in.

We had two treats while visiting this shrine.  When we first walked in we found a group of children playing traditional drums.  Our guide explained that they were practicing for an upcoming competition.  We got to stay and listen to the a few minutes and they were great. 

Children practicing for Drum competition

The second treat was that we encountered a Shinto wedding ceremony and were able to take a few photos of the bride and groom.  The groom was dressed similar to the groom we saw in Hiroshima yesterday, but the bride was dressed very differently.  The Hiroshima bred was dressed in a colorful, elaborately embroidered kimono, while this Osaka bride was dressed in a white kimono and had on a distinctive hat.  I wasn't able to ask the guide why the difference, but plan to ask Sandra Bowern if I get a chance.

Shinto Wedding Procession

Today was Ray's birthday, so we had reservations at the steak restaurant onboard, "Prime 7."   After an excellent surf and turf dinner, the waiters brought Ray a cake with one candle to blow out and wished him happy birthday (without any embarrassing singing).  Birthdays and anniversaries are also announced on the ship channel on TV and Ray received that birthday wish this morning.  When we got back to our room, the room attendants had decorated the room with a happy birthday sign, balloons, and a towel dog.  Ray really liked that and went out to find the attendant and thank her.


After dinner we also had to check in with Japanese immigration again.  This was our last port in Japan so they collected our shore passes and stamped our passports with exit stamps.  The ship's crew then collected our passports again.  So far, Japan has been the most stringent in immigration requirements of all the ports on this trip.  Our next stop is in Seoul, South Korea, so it will be interesting to see what they require. 

Day 63 - Hiroshima

Hiroshima Streetcars, a collection of old and new

We arrived in Hiroshima at 7am this morning.  Since we visited China in between Okinawa and Hiroshima, we had to go through Japanese immigration again. The immigration officials came on board with the pilot before we docked so they could start processing us early.  The cruise director called us by tour number and floor to go into the theater, pick up our passports and immigration forms, have our photo and fingerprints taken again, and see an agent who checked our paperwork and stamped our passports.  It took about 2.5 hours to process everyone and no one could go ashore until everyone had been stamped.

Peace Bell

After immigration we went back to our room to wait to be called a second time, to join our tour bus. There were only 2 tours offered today "Highlights of Hiroshima" or "Miyajima."  The second was to take a ferry to a nearby island with a famous shrine and shopping, so we chose the first one.  We are glad we did.  It was a good tour. 



Riding through the city there are streetcars everywhere.  Our guide said they are like a streetcar museum, buying old cars from other countries.  The first stop was at the Peace Memorial Park and Museum.  This is a beautiful park built near the epicenter of the atomic bomb strike.  At one end you can see the remains of a building that was partially destroyed.  At the other end is a museum documenting the effects of the bomb.  In the middle between the two there is a flame that they say will continue burning until all nuclear weapons have been eliminated. The flame is at one end of a pool.  The other end has a concrete casket containing the names of all the people who died because of the atomic bomb.

View from casket  of names to Peace Flame

The park has a number of monuments that our guide took us to, mostly paid for by private group donations.  One was dedicated to a little girl who died of leukemia at age 12 after being exposed to the atomic bomb as a 2 year old.  Her classmates raised the money to build the memorial.  Another monument was dedicated to schoolchildren who had been conscripted into service for the state near the end of the war because there was a labor shortage.  Many of them were working outside in Hiroshima that day.

One of the few buildings left standing after bomb hit

The museum was heartbreaking to go through.  Dioramas showed what Hiroshima looked like before and after the bombing.  Both the immediate and long term effects on the people are documented and graphically shown.  There are lots of photos and a few artifacts.   I asked our guide how long it took before the radiation levels were low enough to come into the city and she said that it was gone by the next day.  The first day, the main problem  was the heat.  Everything was burning at such a hot temperature that it melted the teal girders in the buildings.

Children's Memorial

After we left the museum we went to the Shukkeien Garden.  This is a lovely garden around large Coy ponds.  The garden was once part of the grounds of the Hiroshima Castle.  The leading distributor of Coy fish donated 200 of them to this garden.  It was a lovely, peaceful way to spend an hour.  Near the end we had a pleasant surprise.  A bride and groom were having their wedding photos taken in the garden and our guide asked them if they would mind if we took their picture too.  They consented and all the photographers in our tour group got photos of this nice couple in traditional Japanese wedding attire.  What luck!

Japanese Bride, Groom & Family in the Park

Our guide gave us a paper folded crane as a parting gift.  This is a traditional good luck symbol.  Since all the tours left around the same time this morning, they all arrived back at the same time too. The result was a long line to get back on the ship.  It took about 10 minutes to make it through the line.  We had already invitation to attend a traditional Japanese Kagamawari ceremony at 1:45PM in the ship theater, but arrived on board after it had an begun.  In this ceremony, a sake cask is broken with a mallet as a traditional acknowledgement of important guests.  We stood in the back and arrived just in time to see the mallet being struck.  At the end they distributed paper cups of the sake to anyone who wanted to taste it.  I got a cup and gave Ray a taste.

The ship left port about 2:30PM, so we have the afternoon to rest.  We can sleep late tomorrow because we don't get to Osaka until afternoon.

Day 62 - Northeast on the East China Sea

This will probably be the last entry I will be able to upload for the next 3-4 days.  We are on our way to Japan and, as I mentioned in an earlier post, Japan blocks the satellite frequencies that the ship needs for Internet connections.

We are resting today to recover from all the activities of the last 3 days and prepare for touring Japan.  We will be in Hiroshima and Osaka during the next few days, before moving on to Seoul, South Korea.

I did a load of laundry this morning, then went to a short lecture on pearls.  They had a contest to see who could identify the fake pearls out of 3 necklaces on display.  Of all the entries they picked one out of the box for a prize.  I picked the correct fake pearls but did not win the raffle.

As usual on a sea day, there were 2 lectures on the activity list.  We went to Dr. Elovitz's  lecture this afternoon called "The Thirst for Water (not Oil) & Looming Flashpoints."  North America consumes more water per person than any other area of the world.  In the U.S., we consume an average of 570 liters (150 gallons) per person per day, while the average consumption per person for the entire world is only 100 liters.  I  wonder what it would take to reduce our consumption down to that level.

Sandra Bowern gave a lecture on "The Historical Culture of Japan" this morning.  We woke up late and didn't make it on time so we watched the replay of it on TV this afternoon.  She illustrated her talk through Japanese art, touching on samurai, kabuki theater, sumo wrestlers, geisha, courtesans, poetry, and the art itself.  I wish I wasn't so tired, I would have appreciated her talk more if I wasn't dosing.  Ray's eyes were closing too.  When I finish this I think I am going to join him in an afternoon nap.

We have plans to meet 2 other couples for dinner tonight.  These are people we met in Auckland at the beginning of the cruse who are also getting off in Beijing.  We have seen them sporadically through these 2 months, but this will be the first time we've spent planned time together.  It should be fun.

Day 61 - Goodbye Shanghai

MagLev Train Approching Station

MagLev Train

This was our third day in Shanghai port.   We weren't scheduled to sail until 1:30 pm, so we had time for one more short tour.  They offered a ride on the MagLev train this morning so we signed up.  For anyone who doesn't know, MagLev stands for magnetic levitation.  There are only 3 trains of this type in the world, one in Germany, one in Japan, and this one in Shanghai, China.  


It was about a 45 minute ride from the ship to Longyang Road station.  The train only travels a short line, between this station and the Shanghai Pudong Airport.   It is an 8 minute ride each way to cover the 30.5 km (18.95 m) run and reaches a top speed of 431 km/hr (268 mph).   There are 2 tracks, with a train running every 15 minutes each way.  When the train on the other track passed us, several people tried to take a photo, but it went so fast there was no chance.  The train left the station at 10:15 and it took us about 3 minutes to reach to maximum speed and another 3 minutes to decelerate.

After this round-trip thrill ride,  we got back on the bus for a trip to the Jin Mao Building again.  We visited this tower on our first day in Shanghai, but it was included in today's tour as a ride on the fastest train combined with a ride on the fastest elevator.  I don't think I mentioned the other day that it takes 45 seconds to travel to the observation deck on the 88th floor. 

We came to the tower from a different direction this time so we got to see a different part of the city.  I liked this sundial sculpture that is located in the center of a roundabout.

We hesitated about going up in the tower again because it was another foggy day, but finally decided it was better than sitting in the bus for 45 minutes waiting for the rest of the group.   We had a nicer day yesterday, but of course, no tours left the ground that day.

Jin Mao Building

Our ship left the pier on time this afternoon, but we did an unusual maneuver getting out.  The captain actually backed the ship down the Huanpu River for the first mile before turning the ship around.  I guess there wasn't enough room for him to turn the ship around until we got that far down river.   We had 2 tug boats following us down the river until we got to the wider Yangtze river.   I understand that it will take until about 8pm to get to the mouth of the Yangtze and back into the East China Sea. 

Tomorrow we have a day of rest - a day at sea.  We are both tired out from the past few days so we are ordering dinner in the room tonight.  We'd like to go to the show, but I'm not sure we're going to make it.  After dinner and a bottle of wine we are probably just going to fall soundly to sleep.

Day 60 - Shanghai and Zhujaijaio

Water Town of Zhujaijaio

Today has been a really good day!

We had to get up early this morning to join an 8am tour.  This one was called "Ancient Water Town of Zhujaijaio," and was one of the best tours we have been on.  The guide was really good.  He talked about the Shanghai area for the first half of the 1.5 hour drive out of Shanghai, then let us enjoy the countryside once we were out of the city.  During our walking tour of the town he stopped to explain the town's history and the merchandise in the shops.  He also made sure no one got left behind in the winding streets and gave us hits on where to meet him if we did get lost.  (No one did.)

Only Covered Bridge in Zhujaijaio

Largest Bridge in Zhujaijaio

The town is built around man-made canals.  Our guide explained that, just like we build railroads and highways today, for this culture, water travel was important.  They dug out these canals to tie them to the rivers and built their homes and  shops along the canals.  It looks like a small, Chinese version of Venice.  There are only a few towns like this left and the Chinese government is encouraging the people to preserve this town as a tourist attraction.   They may have modern conveniences inside, but have to get permission for any external changes. 

We walked past all the shops where vendors sold food, household goods, crafts, and tourist souvenirs.  Our guide took us into a Chinese Traditional Medicine Museum and explained how the Chinese doctors would diagnose ailments and prepare herbal medicines, and how the patient would use the medicines at home.  He said that every Chinese city still has a place to get traditional medicine. 

We also visited the ancient post office.  Originally, this was only used by nobility, but now it is a full post office for the local residents.  This also had a museum upstairs and he explained how the postal system worked in ancient times when few people could read or write.  They would dictate their message to a person at the post office and the message would be read to the recipient by someone working at the receiving post office.

Chinese Canal Boat

"Gondolier" steering our boat

After walking around town for about an hour, we had a half hour on our own for shopping.  Despite the language difference, bargaining with the vendors is not a problem.  Each one has a calculator.  You pick something and they enter the price into the calculator and show it to you.  You can then take the calculator and enter a lower price.  They will then counter with another number.  In this way you can almost always get the price down.  I bought a lovely little wooden fruit basket that is cleverly designed to fold flat, making it easy to pack in my suitcase.


The last event in our tour of the town was a boat ride on the canals.  The boats are something like the gondolas in Venice, but wider so that passengers sit on benches facing each other.  The boats are also easier to get in and out of.  They are steered from the back with a long paddle, just like to gondolas are.  No singing though.


We were surprised at how much the outskirts of Shanghai has been built up.  Factories and high-rise condos have been built far out of the city and many more are under construction.  Our guide said that many people are coming into Shanghai from the provinces, and it is obvious why.  The work is here.

Pearl TV Tower at night

Both last night and tonight the upstairs restaurant opened early with a Mediterranean buffet because there were evening tours to see Chinese Acrobats perform.  We had tickets for tonight's show.  It was a little over a half hour bus ride into the city to get to the show.  Our guide led us to really great center seats.  The show was simply fantastic - sort of like a Cirque de Soleil.   Our guide said that the troupe we saw are the best in China and are celebrities here. It it very hard to explain what we saw in just a few words, but these are very talented acrobats.  In addition to the physical feats, the finale was a show of motorbikes zooming around inside a globe.  They started with one and added another every few minutes until there were 7 bikes all running inside the globe.   It was crazy good!  Unfortunately, no photos were allowed.

Shanghai Night Skyline

To top off a wonderful day, it was a clear night.  When we got back to the ship we headed up to the 12th deck to take photos of the Shanghai skyline Our ship is docked across the river from the main city so we have a great view.   We made it just in time too.  At 10pm chimes rang from somewhere and all the lights began to go off.  We have been very lucky!

Day 59 - Shanghai, China

We arrived in Shanghai this morning to a city engulfed in fog.  We can see to the other side of the river and the first few blocks of the city, but beyond that is just haze.  Internet access is sporadic, going in and out, so I don't know how long it will take me to post this or other posts while in China.

Old Soviet Union Consulate, now museum

China immigration wasn't too bad.  They called us by tour again and we were in the 4th group off the ship.  Our tour today was a simple tour of the city called "Shanghai Old & New." 

Carved Ivory Fish

Carved Temple

Ivory Ladies on Black Lacquer Cabinet

This is not a real old city.  It was built up in the late 1800's to provide the British, and later the French, a trading port with China.  Many of the original buildings have been demolished so new high-rises could be built, but they have preserved a few sections.  The tour bus took us through the British section, called the Bund, and across to the French section.  We made 3 stops on the tour. The first was at the Shanghai Museum of Arts and Crafts.  They had a beautiful collection of jade carvings, wood carvings, needlepoint and embroidery.  Of course, they also had a gift shop. 


The second stop was to go up to the observation deck on the 88th floor of the Jin Mao Building.  The building is very impressive. We took some photos but the haze prevented us from getting any really good pictures of the city.

Looking Down Center of Jin Mao Building from Observation Deck

Our third stop was at the base of the Oriental Pearl TV Tower.  This was just a photo stop. We decided it wasn't worth getting out of the bus. We got pictures of the tower and other buildings both from the bus and from the ship.

Oriental Pearl TV Tower

Since we are going to be visiting several ports in China and spending more than one day in each, we thought it would be good to get some local currency.  The ship's crew said there would be a place to exchange currency in the terminal, but we couldn't find it.  After dropping of our cameras & stuff back in the room, we went out again and started asking officials in the terminal where the currency exchange was.  They directed us out of the terminal and to a bank a little ways down the street.  When we got there  we were happy to find an English speaking agent.  She told us the ATM's would not accept credit cards but we could exchange U.S. currency for yuan. All we needed were 9 forms, 3 of which needed to be signed and only one that had an English translation. Plus, they made a copy of Ray's passport.  It took about 15 minutes to get through the paperwork.

I decided to be brave at dinner tonight and order the "Destination Dish" of the day.  This was a prawn dish with noodles and vegetables.  It was very good as long as I was careful.  The first bite set my tongue on fire, but I figured out the culprit green bits to bypass and then enjoyed the dinner.

We will be here 3 days, giving us time for 2 more tours tomorrow and another the last day. 

Day 58 - East China Sea

No photos today.  We are sailing west on the East China Sea, on our way to Shanghai, China.  It's been nice and calm since we left Japan.  The ship should reach the pier about 8:30 am tomorrow. I'm hoping to wake up around sunrise to see the scenery on the way up the river.

Today we got to listen to 2 lectures after breakfast.  The first was Sandra Bowern's talk on "Modern China."  She explained China's recent history from the early 1900's when the last emperor abdicated to the present.  I am familiar with most of the leaders she talked about, even though I can't always spell their names.  The details of their rule were mostly unfamiliar and eye=opening.

The second lecture was by Dr. Mark Elovitz.  It was a follow up on the one he gave a few days ago.  This one was titles. The Chindian Rivalry: Will the Dragon Devour the Elephant or get Stomped?"  In this lecture he talked about the importance of the Indian Ocean, the Bab el Mandeb (Suez Canal), the Strait of Hormuz, and the Strait of Malacca in terms of ships importing resources to China.  He also discussed several border disputes between China and India that we were unaware of.  The picture he painted of the potential future conflicts was pretty scary.

I rounded off the afternoon by going to another art auction.  They really do have some wonderful works of art on the ship.  I enjoy looking at them and hearing the stories behind them.  Plus every time I attend an auction I get a free small print.

We considered going to the show tonight, but once we got back to the room after dinner, decided to settle in.  That's one negative on this ship.  We like to eat early, which means getting to the restaurant when it opens at 6:30 pm.  Even taking our time, we are done by 8 pm, but the shows don't start until 9:30 pm.  Since we do not like sitting at the bar, we wind up with over an hour free time before they open the theater doors.  Once we get back to our room, we rarely feel like going out again. 

Day 57 - Naha (Okinawa), Japan

The seas were really rough last night after leaving Taiwan.  Ray got seasick pretty quickly so I went to dinner by myself.  I would have sat with other people, but there were so few people in the restaurant that they just put me at a table by myself.   I brought a basket of bread back for Ray to get something in his stomach.

It was tough sleeping with the rocking, rolling, and occasional shudder of the ship. By morning it calmed down a little and we managed a few hours sleep.  Ray was still sick so I had breakfast by myself too.  It was too late to go to the restaurant downstairs so I went up to the buffet.  All the waiters we know kept asking me about Ray.  The crew here is so nice.

Naha, Japan

The ship didn't get to Naha until 1pm. We had a tour scheduled for 2:15, "Okinawa Preferral Museum & Shopping," but decided to skip it.  The tour choices here didn't really interest us and we still have 2 more interesting ports in Japan later in the cruise.   Ray needed time to settle his stomach and I needed some sleep more than a military museum and shopping.

We still had to go through Japanese immigration.  They called passengers by tour so people could get to their tour buses on time.  After all the tours they called everyone else.  I think we may have been the only people left on the ship, at least the only ones not still in our room.  We walked around the ship and saw no one but crew.

Voyager Lobby

Immigration was more involved than prior ports.  We picked up our shore passport form (already filled out for us) from the crew first, then got in line.  Japanese agents took our temperature, then sent us to one of the agents at a table in the front of the theater.  There we handed in immigration and import forms (saying we weren't bringing anything into the country that isn't allowed) and they fingerprinted our index fingers, stamped the shore pass and sent us on our way. The shore pass was only needed for going off the ship and had to be handed in before we left port, so we just handed them in again before dinner.

This is the first time I walked around the ship with my good camera, so I finally got some photos of things I like on the ship.  There are 2 photos I'd like to share.  First, in the center of the main lobby, at the foot of the stairs, there is a lovely sculpture of a sailing ship.  I took this photo from the floor above.

Chocolate Voyage Map

In the lobby on the floor below the main lobby, just outside the restaurant, the chiefs have created a chocolate map, showing where this ship has traveled on the current around the world tour.  They started in Rome and I believe the world tour finishes either there or in London. There are a few passengers on board for the entire voyage.  Each time we get to another segment of the cruise, the chiefs add a few more things to the map that represent the areas we will be visiting.  This last photo is a close-up of the current additions. 


There were children performing the Lion dance with accompanying drums on the pier as we left port.  We were at dinner so we couldn't get a photo of them.   Our next day of sailing promises to be smoother.

Day 56 - Taipei, Taiwan

Voyager in the rain at Keelung

For our second day in Taiwan, we had an early tour scheduled - "The Best of Taipei."   Ray decided his feet hurt too much from yesterday's walking, so he stayed on the ship and I went without him.  It has been raining all night and it continued to drizzle off and on all day.  I understand yesterday's nice weather was unusual for this area.  I'm very glad we took the tour to Yeliu Geopark yesterday, as it would not have been pleasant in the rain.




The bus left about 8:45 am for the hour drive to Taipei.  Taipei is the capital of Taiwan, so it is a much more modern city than Keelung.  Many companies that have their factories in China have their headquarter buildings in Taipei.

Guard at the Martyr's Shrine

Changing of the Guard

 Our first stop was to the Martyr's Shrine.  This is a monument dedicated to military, police, and firemen who have given their lives in service to Taiwan.  There are 2 guards stationed at the outer gate and 2 at the inner gate.  These guards are similar to other monument guards in that they are required to stay motionless for the hour they are on duty.  Every hour there is a changing of the guard ceremony.  The inner guard is changed on the hour and the outer guard is changes 15 minutes later.  Our guide gave us the option of following him in to the inner area or staying by the outer gate.  I decided to stay by the outer gate and was glad I did.  As people moved in to watch the inner gate changing of the guard, I was able to establish myself in a great position to video the outer guard change, without anyone in my way.

Taipei 101

Our next stop was to the National Palace Museum.  This is wonderful, modern museum containing priceless and beautiful objects from China's history, dating back thousands of years.  Our guide was very good.  He took us through highlights of the first 2 floors, not only showing us significant pottery and porcelain, but explaining the significance of the colors and designs.   We only had an hour for exploring and 20 minutes in the gift shop, but it was filled well.  This museum is considered on of the top museums in the world and I can see why.  We were not allowed to take pictures inside the museum, but I've included a link above.

The last stop was at the National Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall.  There wasn't too much to see here, just a statue of  Sun Yat-sen and another changing of the guard.  There was a great view of the Taipei 101 building from the courtyard however.  This was the world's tallest building from 2004 to 2010.  A building in Dubai is now taller.

We were back at the ship before 2 pm.  Tonight is the "meet your neighbors in the hall" night, so we'll get to find out who moved into the rooms around us in Hong Kong.   We sail for Naha (Okinawa), Japan tonight so I probably won't be able to post again until the next day.  As I said yesterday, Japan blocks the satellite channels we need to get internet.

Day 55 - Keelung (Taipei), Taiwan

Keelong Harbour

Our ship arrived in Taiwan at 8am this morning.  I was out on the balcony taking video of the harbor, as usual.  After breakfast, everyone on the ship had to go through immigration, regardless of whether they planned to go ashore.  They processed all the people with morning tours first, then called everyone else by deck. Our tour wasn't scheduled to leave until this afternoon, so we went down when they called for deck 7.  It was a simple process - we picked up our passports and a copy of our passport photo page, signed an immigration form that the ship's crew already had filled out for us, and brought these to an immigration agent in the terminal.  She checked our passports and stamped the passport and copy.  They we handed the passports back to the ship crew member and kept the copy to show as we get off and on the ship later.    Each port has it's own process. 

Lion Dance in Keelung Port, Taiwan

People with morning tours got to see a "lion dance" show as they exited the terminal.  Since we weren't going out yet, we watched a little of it from the deck.  It was similar to the dance I saw in Vietnam.

Happy Buddha

We left on our tour about 1:30 pm with a very amusing guide, Aidan.  He had a little trouble translating numbers and we had fun helping him remember the right English words for the stories he told, but he was a good guide.  The tour went to 2 sites, Zongzheng Park and Yeliu Geopark.

Zongzheng Park is a combination Buddhist temple and mini amusement park.  The entrance is marked by a large Happy Buddha.  I was told the small figures on the Buddha represent the priests who serve him.

Above and behind the Buddha is the temple. On the other side of the temple is a white 25 meter high statue of the Goddess of Mercy.   Buddhists call her Guanyin.  This goddess is found protecting every waterway in Asia.  She is the one who looks out for fishermen.

Buddhist Lady of Mercy, Keelung Harbor

The odd thing about this park was that there were children driving kiddy-cars  around the Lady's statue.  It appeared that they rented them there.   There were also several "statues" that appeared to be cartoon characters catering to children.

Mushroom Formations

After leaving the temple we drove to Yeliu Park.  This is a wonderful cape on Taiwan Island that has been transformed by wind and water into fantastic rock formations.  The whole cape is about 1,700 meters long, but we did not walk the entire distance.  We had an hour and a half to walk around the nearest formations. 

Ray & I next to the "Queen's Head"

Fairy Slipper formation

"Lobster" rock

The tour was rated difficult because of all the walking over uneven surfaces, so we were unsure how we'd do.   It was worth the effort.  We were really tired out by the time we got back to the ship, but we did OK.   We will be staying in port tonight and have an easier tour tomorrow morning.