AFS Imperial China & Mighty Yangtze River

(I spent a month in China leading two groups.  This is on my first group of 42 singles.)

 We begin in Peking renamed Beijing in 1949, now bloated with 17 million inhabitants.  I barely recognize this city that seemed to revamp itself overnight. With the '08 Olympics; the local populace will be granted a 2 week vacation in order to make room for the millions of incoming tourists.

 We were assigned by the Chinese government a national guide named George who remained with us 24/7 throughout both trips. Our local guide named Willy was excellent.  The country remains communist but under a far more gentle yoke.  Wiley is trained to delicately skirt around some of the more intimate questions with vague answers.  He expounds on crime, punishments, religion or the lack thereof and the one child policy.  Also about the two great walls here – The Great Wall and the firewall to block certain internet sites.  We ask him if people have the right to vote and he responds "of course, but there's only one candidate."  We ask,

'Who is President?"  Willy says, "Hu."  This is repeated back and forth like an Abbott and Costello comedy bit until we got it.   China is an enigma to me now.  In 1980, it opened itself to the world and capitalism seeped in.  Until 1999, it was a cash only society with no loans and few cars.  Its government is struggling to bridge the gap between east and west, rich and poor. 

We set out on a basic cookie-cutter tour of Beijing for 4 days.  Although this is my 6^th visit, I'm still able to enjoy it as I look through the new eyeballs of my group.  Early morning at the Temple of Heaven, retired locals filled the park practicing Tai-Chi, dance, singing lessons and games of mahjong.  After walking Tiananmen Square, we toured the Forbidden City where "The Last Emperor" came to life before our eyes.  This was the imperial court of 24 emperors from the Ming and Qing Dynasties.  At its height of power, it housed 9000 concubines and 100,000 eunuchs.  Mortals dared not enter.  These 183 acres were off limits to commoners for 500 years.  After a visit to the remote Ming Tombs, we hiked the Great Wall which is said to be the only manmade structure visible from outer space.  The 3783 mile wall was never completed and was built piecemeal over a period of 2000 years by a million peasants, slaves and prisoners.  Ironically it was constructed to keep foreigners out yet now is a major lure to draw them in.

The highlight for me was our "Hutong Tour" as we set out on 24 tri-cycles through a labyrinth of alleyways.   The neighborhood was lined with houses over 200 years old and portrayed an authentic Peking.  The only sounds were the ding of our bicycle bells and ducks quacking in hidden courtyards.  Soon enough though, we heard the pleas from peddlers biking along side us. Their baskets were laden with everything from chopsticks to silk bags for only one dollar.  These were the best buys to be found anywhere.  These quant hutong areas will soon vanish as the government has begun to relocate the families to cement high rises outside the city.  Several generations have lived in these houses with an extreme sense of community.  They feel it is a jail sentence to move. 

The Holiday Inn is our home here with the worlds best breakfast buffet.  All meals are included in this trip and they are all Chinese.  As I slowly detox from my "nacho addiction", all meals begin to taste the same.  We did enjoy a Peking Duck Dinner where the duck is de-feathered, bloated with air, glazed in molasses, set over a fire and served with crepes and plum sauces.  We generously said goodbye to Willy at the airport.  George was as efficient and organized as Chairman Mao as he moved my troops with 60 pieces of luggage to Air China check in.  A 2 hour flight and we arrived in Chongqing.  It proclaims to be the biggest city in the world now with its population of 32 million and the square mileage of Austria.  It's said that Shanghai is the New York of China as Chongqing is China's Chicago.  There are over 10,000 factories here and the air quality reveals such

From here we board our "5 star" riverboat of Regal Cruises, an erroneous rating unless they are using a 20 star scale.  It is a relaxing journey as we floated gracefully down the ancient Yangtze.  Colored like chocolate and green tea, it is the world's third longest river.  Shore tours included the "Ghost City" of Fengdu which was the gateway to the afterlife and the engineering marvel of the new Three Gorges Dam.  By 2009, hundreds of cities and villages will be submerged, millions relocated, cultural sites flooded and vertical cliffs cut half in size.  The face of the Yangtze will be changed forever.  As we passed the 3 scenic gorges of Qutang, Wu and Xiling, I believe it was the most tranquil moment of all my travels.  They were postcard perfect.

We enjoyed a side trip up the lovely Shennong Stream in wooden "peapod" boats.  Each was manned by 5 weathered "trackers" to navigate us through the narrow gorges.   They had already rowed 3 hours upstream to greet us.  Dressed in only underwear and sandals made of rice straw, they looked like slaves from a past century.  Some surrounding cliffs rose up to 900' high and held hanging coffins placed nearly 2000 years ago.  Ancestors were placed in these coffins to be closer to heaven.  After 4 nights sailing 150 miles through 4 locks, we docked in Wuhan and after a tour, boarded our flight to Shanghai. 

In the 1800's this was a sleepy fishing village.  By 1930, Shanghai was called the "Paris of the East."  It thrived as a trading port for tea, silk and opium.  The Huang po River separates the old retro-Euro area of the famous Bund from the ultra-modern skyline of Pudong that rivals Hong Kong.  This city dramatically exemplifies China's fusion of old and new.  It's now hurtling headlong into the future.  Every young person carries a cell phone.  They are called "bananas"- yellow on the outside, white on the inside.  We toured the charming 16^th century stylings of the Yuyuan Gardens with its perfect balance of Feng Shui.  We rode an elevator to the 88^th floor of the Hyatt tower and visited a silk factory.  The finest silk in the world is spun here from worms that feed only on mulberry leaves.  Free time was spent exploring vibrant streets, museums and shopping.  "Shopping guides" led us deep into hidden slums that held the illicit knock-off boutiques.  It was a virtual cultural immersion to see the hidden sweatshops and how poorly many locals live behind the glitzy facade of the big city.  I entered a dark tiny kitchen where a family was eating bowls of peas.  Suddenly the guide slid open an entire wall to reveal a brightly lit, air conditioned store of pseudo-designer goods displayed from floor to ceiling.  I exited through a bedroom where a man slept on a cot and the wall slid shut to hide the treasures.  Later I wondered along Nanjing Road.  It was Children's Day and many adorned children filled the streets.  With the one child policy, parents spoil them.  Boys are "Little Emperors" and girls are called "Pearls in Gold Prongs." 

Laden with bargain basement treasures, we loaded up our newly purchased "Simsonite" luggage and prayed to the goddess of travel that US Customs would have mercy on our entry.  I reflect now back home how we safely moved beyond the familiar to discover the immensity of the world's third largest country.  It was a lesson in history to a land where civilizations dates back 4000 years.  And it was a peek into the future to witness such intense economic expansion.  There were amazing scenic landscapes and beautiful cultural riches in China.  An Asian Affair never to be forgotten.