China trip with Vantage report

[npphotog]

We got back from our China experience (21 days) on May 28. Finally got all my photos in order and over our jet lag. WIT asked for a report so here goes.

Flew from Tampa to Chicago direct to Beijing. We had 5 internal flights in China (the shortest was about 1 1/4 hours and all included a hot meal) When we fly to Philadelphia from Tampa all we get are pretzels. All in all we had many forms of transit in China. A subway, bus, 2 sampans, Victoria Star river boat, a smaller boat, a trishaw and a large golf cart. The food was outstanding and evening meals were served buffet style on a lazy susan. Became proficent with chop sticks. We had two meals served where we had a choice of entrees. Breakfast was buffet, western and eastern food. One morning at breakfast I saw a meat loaf on the buffet table. More like a ham loaf with a gravy boat. I love meat loaf and that made my day. Our tour guide as excellent - Kelly Wea. Like a mother hen. Did Tian'anmen Square, the Forbidden City, The Great Wall ( I thought I was taking a stress test it was so steep - coming down was worse) the Ming Tombs and the Peking Opera. Was able to take photos everywhere and the lighting inside the Opera, museums, the acrobat show and the Tang Dynasty show was excellent and I didn't have to use flash. Did I mention the two kind of toilets - western and eastern? The western are like here and the eastern are ones you do not want to use. Called squat toilets, holes in the floor, Enough said.

The Terra Cotta Army in Xi'an are amazing. I thought the Wall and the soldiers would be the highlight - not so. We visited a primary school in Guilin and the children were outside for recess when we got there. They mobbed us and were so cute. As soon as I raised up my camera they went nuts. Then when I showed them the photo (digital) they got so excited. One little boy came up to me and asked me to sign my name on a small piece of paper. All of a sudden a mob of about 25 kids showed up all wanting me to sign their papers. I had to sit down on the cement and there were all kinds of kids trying to get my autograph. That visit was the highlight of the trip. I have to say that anyone that wants to go on this trip better be in good shape. A lot of walking and climbing steps. Very little down time - We were keep busy and saw a lot of different things. The River cruise was really neat. The Victoria Star was very nice and we had a small balcony and a tup in the bathroom. This boat was not a nice as the Odyssey that we took with Vantage on their Holland to Hungary but the Vantage line is supposed to be one of the better lines on the Yangtze. Food very good. The staff was excellent. Side trips very good. Only complaint we had was the pollution in China. Always a grey sky. They said they are working on that. Anyone have any questions that I could answer I will try. Didn't mean to write an essay WIT. Willard

[FLMO]

Hi Willard,

 

Glad to hear that you had such a good trip with Vantage. How was the weather in May? Did it rain a lot? Also, did people get sick on your tour?

Thanks

FLMO

[npphotog]

Hello FLMO - Only had one day with a little rain - when we left the river boat but not enough to ruin anything. Didn't last long. Like I said, only one day where we say a blue sky, always overcast (pollution I think). No one got sick. One woman tripped and seperated her sholder going thru the Forbidden City. Her and her husband left for home after 10 days. Older woman and she had a loss of feeling in that hand...Vantage took her to a hospital and they fixed her up but chose to leave anyway. All in all a fantastic trip. Weather temps were in the 70s and 80s. Would not want to do it in June, July or August. Willard

[npphotog]

Forgot to mention that in every bathroom in the hotel there was a sign saying "Do not drink the tap water". The hotels supplied 2 bottles of water every day. On the bus you could buy 3 bottles of water for a dollar and if you wanted cold water that was 2 for a dollar. Even used it when we brushed our teeth. Water at the resturants was ok to drink. We had the choice of water, hot tea or beer for every meal. The chinese beer was really good. Willard

[WIT]

Forgot to mention that in every bathroom in the hotel there was a sign saying "Do not drink the tap water". The hotels supplied 2 bottles of water every day. On the bus you could buy 3 bottles of water for a dollar and if you wanted cold water that was 2 for a dollar. Even used it when we brushed our teeth. Water at the resturants was ok to drink. We had the choice of water, hot tea or beer for every meal. The chinese beer was really good. Willard

Willard - Thanks for the detailed report. Our school visit in Jingzhou was also a special part of the trip. Totally agree about the food, beer, pollution, and the trip overall. Glad to hear there was minimal sickness. We had a lady who badly sprained an ankle the first day. Any plans to share those photos? I use picassawebalbums.

WIT

[smeyer418]

pollution on the Yangtze....

 

 

http://www.share.dell.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AbsWrRu1ctGWG

 

I did a similar trip and loved it as well.

[WIT]

Willard - Thanks for the detailed report. Our school visit in Jingzhou was also a special part of the trip. Totally agree about the food, beer, pollution, and the trip overall. Glad to hear there was minimal sickness. We had a lady who badly sprained an ankle the first day. Any plans to share those photos? I use picassawebalbums.

WIT

Willard - Here's the link for my China photos, generally grouped by location.

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/billwitowski

 

WIT

[npphotog]

I am looking for a web page place to upload some of my China photos so other folks will be able to view them. Can't us Picasa ( think that's the correct spelling) as I have Microsoft Vista and their web site said they only go up to Windows XP. Just getting used to this computer/photo business. I retired 15 years ago and my newspaper was still using film. Two years after I left as chief photog they went digital. I missed the training. Trying to learn how to get a web site to display. Photos really turned out good. Need a site that will work with Vista. Willard

[smeyer418]

try http://www.shutterfly.com

[SakeDad]

You can see my China pics (as well as Alaska, Bora Bora and others) at www.sakedad.smugmug.com They are free with LOADS of space and easy to click and drag to upload. If you decide you need more space it's only $25.00 a year.