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China: our first visit..... but not our last!

Beijing Travel Blog | Travelogue | Travel Journal

David & I traveled to China in May 2007: We spent the first 7 days with a Friendly Planet Tour & last 2 weeks on our own. This is quick telling of our travels. We loved the Great Wall, Forbidden City, Ming Tombs, jade stores, tea farms, Beijing, Harley Davidson (Beijing), Guilin, Li River, Yangshou, Suzhou, Shanghai, Xi'an, Terra Cotta Soldiers...the food, street scenes,tourist traps, scenery, museums, gardens & most of all the people!China is a Hoot! We LOVED it: anyone can do it on their own!
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Eureka, California to Beijing China....

May 1, 2007
Our first day in Beijing:with Chinese music
What a ride! David and I caught the 1 PM plane out of Eureka.   The flight served beer so we had one.... free beer I might add!  We flew to Los Angeles and arrived at 3:30 and found out the Air China staff didn't come in until 8:30:   One of the airport guys suggested we go over to the Hilton and look around.    So we had dinner at the Don Shula restaurant.... (he is a sports guy)  then we hung around some more and had Texas margaritas and then we finally went over to the airport again.  We stood in line for an hour then Air China showed up.  We were the first in line so we got the bulk head seats....   it was great.  David is 6'6 so his legs don't really fit a regular seat.
ha ha.... McDonalds: amazing how many languages ronald mcdonald can speak. loved their menu: they had taro pies.... i kept the box.


The flight was really funny.  no individual movies.  We boarded at 2 am and the first thing they did was serve us a meal.   Yikes.   It was really good but we had been fighting to stay awake for the last 3 hours.... waiting to take off to sleep...   So we ate and died......   then woke up we saw a strange sad movie that was Chinese and the lady died at the end.  .....but beautifully.   Then they showed an American movie:  but there was no sound...  we did have the Chinese characters at the bottom of the screen to refer to (not very informative to us...LOL)  ....   each section had a screen in the front.   The families at the front of the plane did shadows on the screen to amuse their kids.
These strange things had a thick peel like an orange (only purple) then inside was a little like a lechee fruit. It has a great tropical taste... i had no idea what they were called: a fellow travbuddy identified it as mangoesteen. Thanks, Jojo!
... during the movie.   It is funny to think of it but all of the kids here are "only" children.  (We will check this out later.....)  very old plane.  but very very clean.

May 2, 2007   We got into Beijing an hour early: 5 am.  The Friendly Planet  tour guide , Vivian, met us (she had actually stayed the night at the airport to make sure she didn't miss us...) and we boarded a bus. she gave us a long and thorough lecture about the city of Beijing,  and told us about the history of china.  a really long history.   and the city is the oldest city in the world and the center of the world (she really said that....  I thought it was Eureka, CA)...   and told us about the Peking man so it is is also the cradle of civilization.
ctcsherry says:
Wow that's a lot of places you've been to in China (more than I did lol) We have very similar destinations actually ^^ Great to have you in my friends list.
Posted on: Oct 06, 2008
awenlily says:
I like your vedio, you enjoyed your china journey very much, i hope you can come here again in the future
Posted on: Sep 21, 2008
a1or57 says:
Great video! by the way, the "strange" looking fruit is also named manggis, or Mango Dew, which you can find in South Asia. It's one of my favourites!
Posted on: Sep 20, 2008
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Our first day in Beijing:with Ch...
ha ha.... McDonalds: amazing ho...
ha ha.... McDonalds: amazing ho...
These strange things had a thick...
These strange things had a thick...
beijing international hotel; my ...
beijing international hotel; my ...
this is a very typical scene. S...
this is a very typical scene. S...
nestles icecream; delicious in a...
nestles icecream; delicious in a...
decorations at the beijing inter...
decorations at the beijing inter...
Many of the sidewalks had darlin...
Many of the sidewalks had darlin...
this was a door: I stopped and t...
this was a door: I stopped and t...
fruit stand.... i love them and...
fruit stand.... i love them and...
this was out our motel roof wind...
this was out our motel roof wind...
we did not see the sun in beijin...
we did not see the sun in beijin...
Beijing International Hotel: waa...
Beijing International Hotel: waa...
table decorations at the motel
table decorations at the motel
a plant growing in the motel: it...
a plant growing in the motel: it...
grocery store candy
grocery store candy
Grocery store: this is peeking d...
Grocery store: this is peeking d...
7,194 km (4,470 miles) traveled
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