China

Our 4th tour with George Booth took our group of 26 travelers who were Blind, vision, impaired and guides on a wonderful trip to Shanghai and Beijing, China.

Saturday 18 May 2013

We departed Perth just after midnight on Cathay Pacific Airways Inc (160) flight CX170 to Shanghai via Hong Kong.

7:50 a.m.
we Arrived in Hong Kong for a 09:30 a.m Departure on Dragon Airlines (043) flight for a 12:00 p.m.
Arrival in Shanghai, Pudong.

Shanghai

on arriving in Shanghai we were transfered to the Majesty Plaza Hotel on Nanjing Road East, where we would spend the next 3 days.

Sunday 19 May

The morning was spent on a private group tour with our English speaking guide where we visited the Bund and the Yu Garden. Enjoying lunch at a local restaurant at the gardens, then we were off to a traditional tea house where we had a chance to learn something about tea in China and a taste of the multitudes of teas and how best to serve them. Then back to the hotel

In the afternoon we walked and explored the Bung which was literally a step just outside our hotel. The Bund is a huge pedestrian mall makeing it a very enjoyable environment to take in some of the Chinese culture and life without battling any traffic; well, vehicle traffic anyway!

Monday 20 May

The morning was spent on a private group tour with our English speaking guide visiting the Shanghai Museum, then went on a Jin Mao Tour, followed by lunch at a local restaurant. Mid afternoon it was back to the hotel.

In the late afternoon we set off on a river cruise; the commentary explaining the modern engineering wonders and the traditional chinese life melding into the new Shang Hai.

After the cruise it was A quick drop in at the hotel and then off for dinner enjoying some traditional music with our meal at a restaurant. close to the hotel.

Tuesday 21 May

A transfer to the train station for our 5 hours fast train to Beijing. A fantastic trip at over 300kms per hour.

Erika was describing how the closer we got to Beijing the more smoggy it got, reducing visibility quite a lot.

Beijing

On arriving in Beijing we were welcomed by our local guide, transfering by coach to the Beijing Marriott City Wall Hotel, Jianguomennei Avenue. This was a very nice hotel.

Wednesday 22 May

Today was a pretty full day private group tour with our English speaking guide to the Sacred Way, Ming Tombs and the Great Wall.

It was a fantastic experience getting hands on and the spacial awareness of such an icon as the Great Wall of China. The stonework was just oosing history.

On our way back from the Great Wall of China we stopped in at a Jade factory where we were able to learn about the working of Jade and pick up some lovely carvings.

After the Jade factory we then stopped in on a silk workshop. We were taken through the history of silk in
China, how it is produced and then made into the wonderful articles on offer. I bought 3 silk shirts, a scarf for Erika and we also purchased a silk doona set; and had it all shipped back to Perth.

Thursday 23 May

today we were off on our private group tour to visit Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Another great experience to get the spacial awareness of such a place as Tiananmen Square, quite a feeling.

We had some traditional chinese food for lunch in a local restaurant in the embassy area of Beijing, then back to the hotel.

Friday 24 May

Today Erika and I had to leave the tour as we had a conference to attend in Sydney.

We made our way to the airport for our 12.30pm Dragon Airlines flight from Beijing arriving in Hong Kong at 04:05pm

We had a few hours layover in Hong Kong which we thought would give us a chance to take a look around but the massive size of the airport had us using most our time just getting to our gate.

We departed Hong Kong at 07pm on our Cathay Pacific flight touching down in Sydney at 06:20am the next day.