Home

I am now home and going to bed.  That was an amazing adventure.  Flew into LAX on time and then a short flight to Sacramento.  Will review my post and add some photos from the camera. 

Shanghai River Cruise

Shanghai River Cruise

Today was a day of sightseeing, shopping and we ended it with a cruise around the harbor and river.  It is the first time it rained and so glad I have my REI raincoat.  And I am so ready to go home.  This has truly been a really great trip and I am so glad I had the opportunity to to this.  Part of the day was spent in the shopping area called the French Concession, a distinct district that was once an enclave for foreigners but now is mostly shops and restaurants. 

Shanghai

Pepperdine University, Shanghai

Concordia International School, Shanghai

Shanghai

And one more photo from our Li River Cruise

This is truly a large city.  Traffic is awful, we never know when we will get somewhere.  Oh, and when you fly, your plane leaves the gate on time, so you can claim you left the gate on time.  Then you sit.  We visited some amazing places, like the Concordia International School and is shaping  lives.

More Photos From China

Four Points Sheraton, Shanghai, our hotel

A typical meal.  Tim would not be happy!

 Above is an example of some of the intricate work at the Forbidden City. 
 The photo below it is from the U.S. Embassy.
All clothes you see me wearing are staying
in China, by the way, and my suitcase is 
getting much lighter.

 This is Beijing and below 
is the Great Wall.  Made it
to the top.  It was not easy.

Tiananmen Square

Lots of Rules

Forbidden City

Terracotta Soldiers

Tang Dynasty Show

Rhonda, Jodi and Chris at the top of the Great Wall!

Shanghai

Guilin Is Beautiful

Finally seeing the China I imagined.  Guilin is an amazing place with beautiful greenery.  We went for a cruise along the Li River and it was a welcome relief from the busy city of Beijing.  In Beijing we went to the top of an office building and as far as one can see in any direction was city.  We visited a tea plantation and tasted some true Chinese tea.  If everyone ever feels like their job is hard imagine hand picking tea.  We all enjoyed a foot massage based on reflexology and it took away the last of the sore muscle pain from the hiking.  Tomorrow headed for Shanghai which will include some visits to universities and Intel.  Miss everyone at home but am having a once in a lifetime experience.  Keep us in your prayers as we travel home.  Oh, and one see red doors all over China.  Love Rhonda

Another Amazing Day

Xian was wonderful and I will try to post some more photos but I am using my camera which is not compatible with my I Pad.  This is one photo and it was incredible.  We are now in Guilin and it is supposed to be beautiful but we arrived in the dark so I really have not seen it yet. It was supposed to be a three hour flight but since I fell asleep before takeoff and did not awake until we landed, I am not sure.  Here is a photo of me at Mozilla Firefox China. 

Xian

So, we flew to Xian from Beijing tonight.  Traffic control was backed up and we were number 19 to take off.  Our tour guide berated the Captain and we managed to sneak up a runway beside the crowd of planes and take off early.  I think that they were told we were VIPs.  We are.  The hotel was great and I talked to Tim and Skyped as well.  Should be an interesting day. 

Another Amazing Day

This was a very interesting day.  We began by visiting with some individuals from the United States Embassy and they were very professional, informative and personable.  One question we asked was how do our students get a job as a foreign service officer and they told us the new exam stresses writing and just being informed, especially reading journals like the Economist.  After that we went to the Forbidden City which was impressive.  Lying at the center of Beijing, the Forbidden City, called Gu Gong in Chinese, was the imperial palace for twenty-four emperors during the Ming and Qing dynasties. It was first built throughout 14 years during the reign of Emperor Chengzu  in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Ancient Chinese Astronomers believed that the Purple Star (Polaris) was in the center of heaven and the Heavenly Emperor lived in the Purple Palace. The Palace for the emperor on earth was so called the Purple City. It was forbidden to enter without special permission of the emperor. Hence its name 'The Purple Forbidden City', usually 'The Forbidden City'.

Now known as the Palace Museum, it is to the north of Tiananmen Square. Rectangular in shape, it is the world's largest palace complex and covers about 180 acres.  It is surrounded by a wide moat and a high wall and there are more than 8,700 rooms. The wall has a gate on each side. Opposite the Tiananmen Gate, to the north is the Gate of Divine Might (Shenwumen), which faces Jingshan Park. 

The Forbidden City is divided into two parts. The southern section, or the Outer Court was where the emperor exercised his supreme power over the nation. The northern section, or the Inner Court was where he lived with his royal family. Until 1924 when the last emperor of China was driven from the Inner Court, fourteen emperors of the Ming dynasty and ten emperors of the Qing dynasty had reigned here. Having been the imperial palace for some five centuries, it houses numerous rare treasures and curiosities. Listed by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage Site in 1987, the Palace Museum is now one of the most popular tourist attractions world-wide.

Construction of the palace complex began in 1407, the 5th year of the Yongle reign of the third emperor (Emperor Chengzu, Zhu Di) of the Ming dynasty. It was completed fourteen years later in 1420, and then the capital city was moved from Nanjing to Beijing the next year. It was said that a million workers including one hundred thousand artisans were driven into the long-term hard labor. Stone needed was quarried from Fangshan, a suburb of Beijing. It was said a well was dug every fifty meters along the road in order to pour water onto the road in winter to slide huge stones on ice into the city. Huge amounts of timber and other materials were freighted from faraway provinces.

Ancient Chinese people displayed their very considerable skills in building the Forbidden City. Take the grand red city wall for example. It has an 8.6 meters wide base reducing to 6.66 meters wide at the top. The angular shape of the wall totally frustrates attempts to climb it. The bricks were made from white lime and glutinous rice while the cement is made from glutinous rice and egg whites. These incredible materials make the wall extraordinarily strong.

After that we were supposed to go to a park, but instead ended up going to The Eastern Chinese Medicine Clinic for a checkup, they take your pulse and tell you what ails you; I was fine, just getting older, and then we had a foot massage, which was wonderful.   We also went to a fine jewelry store where my husband bought me a very nice black pearl necklace and matching ear rings, though he does not know it yet.  We ended the day by going to a Peking duck dinner, which included taking Peking duck and using spring onions and something like tortillas you make a wrap.  We leave Beijing tomorrow for Xian, China and I am anxious to see that city. 

Great Wall Of China

Scratch that off my bucket list.  I have seen it and climbed the over 1200 uneven steps to the top.  It is pretty amazing to see and is wonderful.  Having a great time and loving it.  We also went to Tiananmen Square which was impressive.  After another good dinner we went to what can only be described as theater, ballet and yes, Kung Fu where we saw the show "The Legend of the Kung Fu.  Above is YouTube sample.  Tomorrow we go to the Forbidden City and tomorrow night is Peking Duck night!  I also spoke to someone who told me that members of the Communist Party cannot belong to any religion as Communism embraces atheism.  That is sad. 

China Arrival in Bejing

Classmates After A Long Flight

We had a good flight and it was not that crowded.  Managed six hours of sleep.  The first day we went to an expatriate bookstore and cafe for breakfast and then some K-12 students taught us some rudimentary Mandarin.  Visited some Microsoft Learning projects as well.  Went to the Supermarket last night.  Interesting mix of packaged food and traditional items.  The past versus the future seems to be a theme.  Dinner last night was amazing and the Kung Pao chicken was superb.  After getting back to our room, my roommate went to the restroom before bed and by the time she came out I was asleep and did not say goodnight.  Slept pretty well, awake a couple of times.  Great buffet this morning and excited about today, Going to The Great Wall and Forbidden City today.  Will send pictures. Above photo is the Beijing airport, and it is huge. 

China a country of vast contrasts. Cities like Beijing and rural areas with no electricity. Microsoft reps described their work with the Partnership through Learning Program. Schools that participate must first show they have reliable power.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Photo testing with Bella

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Packing

You would think I was going to upper Mongolia. Need to trim down the suitcase.