Viking China (Part 2)

[irocks]

Day one we were on our own as some of our fellow travelers were still arriving. Day 2 We met in the lobby of the Faimont at 8AM. We had 4 bus loads on this tour. Each bus had their own tour escort and about 28 tourist. Each of the escorts do a great job, easy to understand, very organized and full of information. Our travel escort is Richard. 9/23/2014, first stop was Tiananmen Square. Security lines to get on the square were very long so we did not go on the square. Instead we walked on the sidewalk across the street from it. Then we went to Forbidden City where we spent 2 1/2 hours. Richard shared lots of information about the Forbidden City. I felt like our 2 visits complimented each other. When we went a few days ago on our own we saw much more but this time we had Richard with all of his input. After lunch lazy susan style we went to the Summer Palace. Here we took the Dragon Boat across the lake where we saw the Marble Boat and walked down the Long Corrider and then the Dragon Boat back towards the bus. Our stay only lasted about 1 1/2 hours. If I were to do this trip again I would have spent a whole day at Summer Palace prior to the tour. It rained all day today. We arrived back at the hotel at 5:15PM and those going on the optional Opera show needed to have supper at the hotel and meet back in the lobby at 6:15. Those that went said the show lasted 1 hour and they were back at the hotel by 9PM. We instead returned to Black Sesame Kitchen for another outstanding meal. Our only problem was the traffic. We waited 45 minutes for a taxi and then it took 1 hour to get to Black Sesame. Our return to the hotel only took 15 minutes. While touring Viking gives us a Vox to wear with an earpiece. This is wonderful because we do not need to stay right by Richard to hear what he is saying.

[irocks]

9/24/2014, Today we left hotel at 7:15AM for the Badaling Section of the Great Wall. We were glad it was not raining today because it would have made the wall difficult to walk on. This section is much different from Mutianyu section. I liked them both. We spent 2 hours here then went to Run Ze Jade Garden where we learned about Jade, had a wonderful lunch and did some shopping. Next stop was Sacred Way which is a fine area for a stroll but we did not go to the Ming Tombs. Then we had a drive by of the Birds Nest off the left side of the bus. We arrived back to hotel at 5PM. Tonight we had our choice of doing the optional Peking Duck dinner or going to Huas Restaurant for supper. Since we already had fantastic duck at Made in China we choose to go to the lazy susan dinner at Huas. Both groups departed hotel around 6:30 PM. The Hua group returned to hotel at 8:30PM. Cost for optional Peking Opera was 150 RMB, Cost for optional Peking Duck Dinner was 300 RMB.

[Lola911]

irocks...thanks for your reports as we are soon to travel in opposite direction out of Shanghai. I am quite put out to read your group did not walk on Tiananmen Square nor see the 13 Ming Tombs. I call 1.5 hours at the Summer Palace a complete bust...my temper would be flaring. These things are on the itinerary and should be done to some kind of satisfaction. What did people say about the Peking Duck Dinner?

[jkerr]

Yes, we are enjoying your posts also. We leave in Oct and hope these monumental visits are not cut short. But really enjoy reading about your adevture. We just received our package today from Viking, bit getting close enough to get excited. Thanks for all the details.

[irocks]

I really think Viking is doing a wonderful job. I believe we are hitting all of the highlights but we do not have enough time in a day to see everything. My best suggestion is to arrive a few days early or stay a few days late if you would like to see certain things in more detail. Today, 9/25/2014, we left our beautiful Fairmont Beijing at 9:30AM for a tour of the Hutongs via pedicab. This was very enjoyable. We stopped at a private Hutong where the owner allowed us to look around her home and her niece demonstrated the art of painting inside of bottles. These were lovely and she had many available for purchase, price ranging from $23-$100 USD. As we left the Hutongs we were given a box lunch on the way to the airport. Arrived at the airport at around noon for our 2PM flt to Xian on China Eastern. China Eastern is partnered with Delta. Once thru security I stopped by the airlines service desk. Richard had written on a paper for me in Chinese that I would like frequent flyer miles. With this paper and my Delta number I was able to get credit for this flight. Our flight was delayed by close to one hour. We arrived in Xian at 4:30. By the time we all had a chance to visit the happy room and ID our checked bag we left the airport at 5:30. Viking is great at taking care of our luggage. We were each allowed one checked bag. I think they were all put together and not weighed individually. As far as carry ons, no one weighed these and their overhead bins appear to be the same size as our planes in the US. You were allowed a carryon and another small bag to take on the plane with you. Richard suggested packing all liquids in checked bag. We arrived Hilton Xian at 6:40PM and back on the bus at 7PM to go to the optional Tang Dynasty Show. Everyone on our bus choose to go to this show and all were happy that they did. It was a wonderful show that also included supper. We were back at the Hilton at 10PM. Our new hotel is just as lovely as the Fairmont.

[irocks]

Those we talked to the went to the Peking Duck Dinner said it was OK. Nothing great.

[caribill]

I really think Viking is doing a wonderful job. I believe we are hitting all of the highlights but we do not have enough time in a day to see everything.

 

Thanks for the continuing updates.

 

Enjoy the warriors.

[irocks]

Last night we had no WiFi connection in our hotel room. The hotel staff brought up a TP Link to plug in the wall and we now have a great connection. I checked on getting Hilton hotel points for our stay but they said they do not give points for group rate rooms. We left the hotel at 8AM and arrived at the Terra Cotta Warriors by 9:15. We stayed here until noon and I felt like that was adequate time to see what we wanted. I purchased a box of 5 Warriors from a street merchant for 20 Yuan. Lunch was at a Terra Cotta Warriors Workshop. Here they showed us the process of how the warriors were made and they had a shop where you could make purchases. Lunch included some great noodles and yogurt. We spent 2 hours here and the prices were negotiable. Then went to the Wild Goose Pagoda where we spent 1 1/4 hours, also adequate. Back to the hotel around 5PM then we were to meet back on the bus and 6:45. I wanted to be able to walk on the city wall. The east gate is pretty close to the hotel but we had trouble figuring out a safe way to cross the 4 lane street to get to it. There are no cross walks or stop lights. People just run in and out of the busy traffic. We did not want to chance it so we walked back to the hotel. Supper was at a dumpling restaurant called De fa Chang and then the group walked thru the Muslim Market. This was a very busy place with lots of food vendors. Back to the hotel at 9:30. Richard is very good about finding happy rooms. It seems like every hour someone needs to make a stop. Tomorrow morning we fly to Lhasa.

[jkerr]

Really enjoying your informative posts. So much to look forward to.

[Rodie H]

I am supposing adapters are needed. Please let me know and if the European adapters work in China, which I either read or heard about.

 

Any one know what I can expect about April weather? I have read it can be cool and rainy in Beijing but also wondered if it warms up as you travel south.

 

Really enjoy reading all the posts! Thanks a million to the posters.

[irocks]

At the hotels I have been at so far I have been able to use US plugs without use of any adapter. Last night our checked bags needed to be outside our hotel door at 10:30PM. Early wake up call today. Breakfast at 5AM and we left for the airport at 5:30AM. It sounds like all flights to Llasa try to arrive in morning or the weather may cause some problems with landing. Our flight was again on China Air but I could not find a service desk once thru security to request airline miles so I will see what I can do when I arrive home. Our flight left on time at around 8AM. It was so nice to see a blue sky when we arrived in Llasa. We were pulling out of the airport at 11:45AM and stopped by the home of a Tibetan Family and learned about their way of life. Then we stopped at a buffet for lunch. We certainly are not going hungry. They feed us well and I have no complaints about the quality. We were at our hotel, St. Regis by 2:30. This is a lovely hotel. They each have been nice. The Fairmont had Toilets that washed and dryed you, had a great tub, close to the subway which was easy to use. The Hilton in Xian had great service and the showers had really good water pressure. This hotel is also beautiful. I will let you know the top things I like about it after I have spent a few nights here. This afternoon they want us to rest to get use to the change in elevation. We will go out for supper at 6:30, otherwise nothing else is planned for to day. And to tell you the truth I think we were all ready for a day of rest. This is a very busy tour.

[Peregrina651]

I am supposing adapters are needed. Please let me know and if the European adapters work in China, which I either read or heard about.

 

Any one know what I can expect about April weather? I have read it can be cool and rainy in Beijing but also wondered if it warms up as you travel south.

 

Really enjoy reading all the posts! Thanks a million to the posters.

 

The Europrean style snake-eye adapters will work on the ship and in the hotels. Bring a couple so you can plug in multiple items. (Not suggesting six; it was the best picture I found).

 

 

 

As for weather, the climate in China is similar to that of the US and you can expect the weather to be pretty much what you are familiar with in the US--cool but fluctuating, rainy at times. Suggested dress is layers including a weather-proof layer.

[Lola911]

This could be the battle of the adapter information, but I am taking the Australian 3 pin plug adapter.

 

http://gochina.about.com/od/tripplanning/qt/Current_WallPlug.htm

 

We are at very nice hotels so I don't anticipate a problem as 'irocks' mentions all is well so far.

[Peregrina651]

This could be the battle of the adapter information, but I am taking the Australian 3 pin plug adapter.

 

http://gochina.about.com/od/tripplanning/qt/Current_WallPlug.htm

 

We are at very nice hotels so I don't anticipate a problem as 'irocks' mentions all is well so far.

 

Note: There is no need to go out and buy an Australian 3 pin plug adapter if you already have the European snake eye adapter for a two bladed plug.

 

Also, not all of the outlets that you will run into on the trip will look like this one. Some of the ones on the ship will be in circular recesses, not flush to the wall like the design below. Sorry I don't have a picture but maybe if IROCKS reads this he will start photographing the various outlets and share them when he gets home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[irocks]

I am sorry, I mixed up my days a few days ago. Today is actually day 7, (9/28/2014), Sunday. As for last night, we returned from supper at 8:30. It sounds like many on our tour are taking Diamox to prevent altitude sickness. However, I think we are all getting short of breath when we go up steps and some have headaches. None of this is bad enough that I would not do this same tour again. I am very glad I came to Lhasa. All but one person from our group of 28 still joined us on our tour today. We left our hotel at 9:15 AM and first toured the Jokhang Temple then walked around the Barkhor Market. Next was lunch followed by The Tibetan Museum where we spent 1 hour walking around. While we were on our bus the local tour guide explained what we would see in the museum. At the museum we were given audioguides and walked around on our own. I liked doing it this way because we could spend more time at the things that interested us. It sounds like there must be something going on at the Sera Monastery tomorrow so we went here after seeing the Museum. It was not to much to add it on today. We had an hour rest at the hotel before we headed out for supper at 6PM. This was at the Tsedang Hotel Llasa where they also had a short show with some local dances. Back to hotel by 8PM. Still nice beautiful blue skies here. The temperature varies a lot each day. It began in the low 30,s and got up in the 70,s by afternoon. As far as the St. Regis Lhasa, if we were booking a hotel on our own I am sure we would not book one as nice as this(same goes for all of the other hotels we are staying in). Their rooms are the largest of the hotels we have stayed in so far in China, nice bathroom with double sinks. Great view from the lobby. Housekeeping knocks on our door each evening around 5:30 to freshen our room, we tell them we will be going out in a few minutes but they never return until the next morning. I will try to remember to take pictures of the plugs on the ship and in the remainder of the hotels we stay in and post them when I return home. By the way, when we were at the Hilton Xian we purchased Macaroons from the pastry shop in the hotel, right by where they serve breakfast. They are delicious! I got all my pointers from earlier posters on this forum. Thank you!

[irocks]

We had a quite morning. Met at noon to go to lunch then the Potala Palace. There are a limited number of tkts available each day for entry to the Palace and a limit nb can enter at each time so our group was divided. There are 400 steps up to the Palace and at an elevation close to 12,000 feet there was a lot of huffing and puffing going on. 21 of the 28 in our group were able to make it. The others either decided not to go or turned around. We were back at our hotel at 5PM and had a wonderful supper at the hotel. Our luggage had to be outside our door at 10:30PM. Richard told us that Tibit can be strict with the luggage and may weigh our checked bag individually but they will not weigh our carryon. In Lhasa the humidity is very low. We have been washing out our clothes and they are dry by morning. We leave the hotel tommorrow morning at 8 AM to fly to Chongqing and embark on the ship. I here the WiFi on the ship may not be good so it could be a few days before I send another update.

[Mark_T]

Our 'tickets' arrived a few days ago, less than 2 weeks before we leave now :)

 

All seems in order and the pack contains plenty of good information for anyone who hasn't been following this thread.

[irocks]

Tuesday, 9/30/14, We loved or time in Lhasa but we were all looking forward to getting to a lower elevation. The temp. in Lhasa was 32 when we left our hotel at 8AM. We flew Sichwan Airlines on a 2 hour flt to Chongquin. This airline also partners with Delta and there is a service desk once you get thru airport security that will sign you up to get your miles. We were in Chongqing by 2PM with a temp. of 82. We could get on the ship at 4PM so were spent some extra time at the Grand Hall taking pictures. Viking took care of getting our checked bags to our rooms. There were lots of porters willing to carry our carryon bags down the stairs to the dock for 20 yuan. The boats were tied up side by side and we needed to walk thru 2 boats to get to ours. Check-in was easy, once on board we walked right to our cabin and our keys were in our room. Supper was at 6:30, food good, noise level in dining room very high. They need to put some type of sound proofing in to dampen the noise. You can only hear the person sitting beside you. I enjoyed all the lights on the bridges, buildings and boats near where we were docked. We pulled out at 8:30PM. The ship will hold 256 Passengers and 140 cruise members. We are sailing with 250 passengers.

Wednesday, Oct. 1st, National Day. Knowing how busy the big cities in China can be on this holiday I was glad we were on the river. 6:45 AM there was Morning Exercise with Master Tom doing Tai Chi. Various classes were held thoughout the day that we could attend e.g. Chineses Painting Demonstration, Presentation of Yangtze River and evening entertainment of Traditional Dress Show which I enjoyed. During the morning there was a shore excursion to the Shibaozhai Temple. They guide you up the first 9 floors but if you want you can climb 3 more levels to the top of the Temple using a ladder. The best part of the day was the wonderful back message with oil that I got at the spa by Master Tom. He does double duty. Cruise members are very interested in making this the best experience for each of us. The front desk takes care of any concerns immediately. I asked for a dehumidifier for our room and by the time I walked back to the room housekeeping was already there with one in hand. There is no WiFi on the ship but they do have 8 computers available for us to use for free.

[Mark_T]

I asked for a dehumidifier for our room and by the time I walked back to the room housekeeping was already there with one in hand. There is no WiFi on the ship but they do have 8 computers available for us to use for free.

 

Is the humidity at this time of year still high enough to make the dehumidifier essential?

 

Also you report there being no wifi at all; previously it has been reported as available, but poor and also as not available. Given the ships computers are working they must have an internet connection so have they simply decided to disable wifi for guests?

[magnumtravel]

irocks. Thank you so much for your updates on your trip. We leave on October 12th, spending a few days in Beijing before our tour on the 17th. We are going Uniworld but I imagine they are all pretty much the same. I do have a question for you. We are also going to Tibet and I am a little concerned about the altitude did you take the diamox (spelling) and how did you feel? I am debating on getting it or not. Some say lots of water and ibuprofen and a coke works as well. Also what was the average age of your tour and was there anything that some guest were not able to do because of their ability to get around? One last question what was the weather like.

 

Thank you again for your comments just reading about your adventure has started to make it real for me.

[irocks]

The dehumidifier decreased the humidity in our room from 88% to 65%. We have been washing out clothes daily and hang them on a hook that is on the wall above the dehumidifier, they dry quickly. However, we did not bring jeans, just quick dry clothes.

As far as the WiFi, we have not found a way to connect and the reception desk says they do not have WiFi. I am sitting in the computer room with 8 computers and 7 of them are not being used. Those with gmail, facebook and twitter are not able to connect to these sights. I have had no trouble connecting to my hotmail acct.

I have 3 words to discribe this cruise, Magical, Mystical and Marvelous!!!

The people of China continue to go out of their way to be kind to us. Viking employees have exceeded my expectations. There is not anything that they will not do to try to make our stay better. If you have a chance to go on this trip I highly recommend it!

Day 11 Oct. 2nd. We cruised thru gorges down to the Lesser Three Gorges where we got on smaller boats that could navigate this area. There was a lesson on the Three Gorges Dam for those who were interested. I enjoyed spending the day sitting on deck watching the scenery. We had blue sky and temps in the 70's. At 8PM we began going thru the 5 locks of the Three Gorges Dam. It is well lit so easy to see what was going on. Rainy season in June -Sept. and navigation on the Dam stops when the water level gets too high. It first opens back up to cargo ships then to passenger ships. It had been closed for 1/2 month to passenger vessles and just opened back up 3 or 4 days ago.

Day 12 Oct. 3rd. This morning we toured the dam from land. This area has a lot of fog which can make viewing difficult at times. Today was pretty clear. We arrived to the Dam at just the right time. Being National week things get crowded and as we were leaving the dam swarms of people were arriving. Todays choices in onboard classes included a Demonstration of Vegetable Carving and also a class on how to play Mahjong. I went to the salon and got shampoo and dry. It included a wonderful head, neck and shoulder message. Tonights Entertainment was the Crew Cabaret Show- Not to be missed!

[irocks]

We took Diamox and felt fine taking the drug. We both still got headaches the first night. There were others in our group who did not take Diamox and did well. I would see what your doctor recommends. The humidity is very low in Tibet which made us very thristy. Drinking lots of water is recommended. The high altitude made us short of breath with activity. Because of this some were not able to make it up the 400 steps to Potala Palace. I wear a pedometer and it read that I did 17,000 steps on one of the days we were touring. It is a very active tour. I would say of the 250 passengers on this boat we probably range from ages 45-75 with the majority being between 65-70. As far as weather: we have had one day of rain so far and temps have been 60-80 degrees except in Tibet where it was as low as 32 in the morning but got up to 60's by afternoon.

Have a wonderful trip! It am in awe of all we have seen in such a short time in China.

[Happy Tourista]

My husband and I were on the Roof tour this past May/June. We did not take diamox. I drank a lot of water, stayed away from alcohol the day before we traveled to Tibet (and the first day in Tibet) and took Advil gelcap prophylactically. We both felt slight headaches but were otherwise fine and were both able to climb the steps to the Potala Palace. (We're in our mid 50's and are active.) The guides are very good about pacing the climb, with lots of rest. We both drank some wine the last night in Tibet, which triggered more severe headaches, so my recommendation would be to totally stay away from alcohol during your stay. It was a fabulous trip all in all!

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[irocks]

This was our last full day aboard the Viking Emerald. We visited a Viking sponsored school this morning. The children are lovely and so eager to meet us. They do not speak english and I do not speak manderin. I had a small pad of paper with me and taught the girl I was sitting with how to play tic tac toe. She caught on right away and she explained to the other 2 children next to us how to play. The children sang us songs and we sang Row Row Row Your Boat to them. On the way out of the school grounds, there was a box and a money collection container if anyone desired to leave anything. Back on the ship was a presentation on China Today that was very informative. I had a long silk jacket made by the onboard tailor. He measured me and made it to fit perfectly. The cost was about $200 US dollars and I had it withen 24 hours of when I ordered it. As far as which room to pick on the ship: We had a room on the 2nd floor, it was good and the balcony has enough room for 2 to sit on comfortably. It appears that all of the standard rooms are the same size. I have not seen the suites. The staff was wonderful. Candy & Tracey in the Dining Room, Christina in Housekeeping, Frank at the Bar, Daisy in the Salon, Message and Tai Chi by Master Tom, Activity Director Paul, Entertainment by Stan and Alice and everyone at the front desk were excellent!

[jkerr]

Thank you again for making the time to post. I am getting more excited by reading about your trip. Glad to hear you can make a donation at the school, I am sure they have plenty of penciis that were made in China, shipped here and then returned to China.

Edited October 4, 2014 by jkerr