Imperial China
Imperial China
Day 1
OAT Day 1-01 - Sunday, April 6, 2008 - Flight from Denver to Los Angeles - Trans-Pacific Flight
The luggage was all packed in the car when our alarm went off at 3:15 AM! By 4:10 we were on our way for another Overseas Adventure Travel journey. Ready with a...
Day 2
OAT Day 1-02 - Monday, April 7, 2008 - Flight from Narita, Japan to Shanghai, China
We arrived in Narita, Japan a bit late and went right to the World Club Lounge to freshen up after our 12+ hour flight from Los Angeles.
We were able to check our e-mail...
Day 3
OAT Day 1-03 - Tuesday, April 8, 2008 - Visit the Bund - Home-hosted Lunch - Shanghai, China
New time zone, different sleep patterns! Long before the alarm we were both up, getting caught up with our emails and Gennie’s University of Phoenix class materials.
After a leisurely start we...
Day 4
OAT Day 1-04 - Wednesday, April 9, 2008 - Explore Zhu Jia Jiao Village - Acrobatic Show
It was warm in our room as the air-conditioning was not working last night. I guess it was switched back to the “cold season” mode. We opened our windows and heard the sounds...
Day 5
OAT Day 1-05 - Thursday, April 10, 2008 - Optional Suzhou Tour - Shanghai, China
We had to be out early this morning as we were all going on the optional trip to the city of Suzhou. We had breakfast and a great conversation with Marvin and Don, professors from...
Day 6
OAT Day 1-06 - Wednesday, April 9, 2008 - Explore Yuyuan Garden and Shanghai Museum - Flight to Beijing, China
We woke up to another cool and cloudy day in Shanghai. Today we did not leave the hotel until late morning so we had lots of time to chat at...
Day 7
OAT Day 2-03 - Saturday, April 12, 2008 - Beijing City Tour Including Tiananmen Square & Forbidden City-Welcome Dinner - Beijing, China
We were awake before the alarm went off, but we slept well and did not wake up on Colorado Time; I think we are adjusting to China! After...
Day 8
OAT Day 2-04 - Sunday, April 13, 2008 - Visit Cloisonné Factory-Explore Great Wall of China - Beijing, China
We woke up to sunny skies and a cool day; it was 57° and 59% humidity. It is interesting that the sun brings out the smile in all of us!
At...
Day 9
OAT Day 2-05 - Monday, April 14, 2008 - Visit with children at Beijing Opera School-Optional Summer Palace Tour-Optional Peking Opera Tour with Dinner - Beijing, China
The weather is improving each day we are in Beijing; it was 74 degrees and only 50% humidity. The smog seems much worse...
Day 10
OAT Day 2-06 - Tuesday, April 15, 2008 - Optional Summer Palace Tour-Explore Hutong Neighborhood-Home Hosted Lunch-Board Overnight Train for Xian
Our last morning in Beijing was a leisurely one. The sun came up at 5:37 AM here and the workers began scraping and drilling at 6:30 five stores below...
Day 11
OAT Day 2-07 - Wednesday, April 16, 2008 - Arrive in Xi’an-Tai Chi Demonstration-Explore Shaanxi History Museum-Explore Muslim Quarter-Water-Light Show - Xi’an, China
Morning came later here in Central China. The sun came up at 6:12 as we were traveling west. China for all of its expansive land mass only...
Day 12
OAT Day 2-07 - Wednesday, April 16, 2008 - Visit Lacquerware Factory and Herbal Market-Noodle Making Demonstration at Local Restaurant-View Terra Cotta Warriors - Xi’an, China
We received our wake up call at 7:00 - nice to have a good night’s sleep after the train ride. We had breakfast and...
Day 13
OAT Day 2-09 - Friday, April 18, 2008 - View City Wall-Tour Jade Factory-Visit Hu Xian Farmers’ Village- Visit Big Wild Goose Pagoda-Visit Guang Ming School - Overnight Homestay in Hu Xian
The morning began for us at 6:15 for our last day in Xi’an. We had breakfast with Jeanette,...
Day 14
OAT Day 2-10 - Saturday, April 19, 2008 - Visit Hu Xian Farmers’ Painting Village-Fly to Wuhan-Transfer to Maoping-Embark Yangtze Cruise Ship - Yangtze Cruise, China
We spent a quiet night in our rural village. Caryl from Edwards, CO and Jim and MaryAnn from Prescott, AZ and Gennie and I...
Day 15
OAT Day 2-11 - Sunday, April 20, 2008 - Cruise Through Xiling Gorge-Explore Three Gorges Dam Site - Yangtze Cruise, China
All: please change the Google map to 'Satellite' or 'Hybrid' – the Gezhouba Dam is the closest to Yichang while the Three Gorges Dam is 40 km upstream.
We...
Day 16
OAT Day 2-12 - Monday, April 21, 2008 - Explore Lesser Three Gorges-Wu and Qutang Gorges - Yangtze Cruise, China
We left our overnight docking area about 6:10 AM. We could hear the engines working hard to pull away from our mooring site. At 6:15 our alarm went off -...
Day 17
OAT Day 2-13 - Tuesday, April 22, 2008 - Explore Fengdu -Visit Relocated Families - Yangtze Cruise, China
All: please change the Google map to 'Hybrid' – You will be able to see the immensity of the city of Chongqing, China on the Yangtze River.
We had docked in Feng...
Day 18
OAT Day 2-14 - Wednesday, April 23, 2008 - Cruise to Chongqing-Museums-Overland to Chengdu - Chengdu, China
The rain was heavy this morning as we woke up in Chongqing where we had docked for the night. This is the end point for many of the Yangtze River Cruises. After breakfast...
Day 19
OAT Day 2-15 - Thursday, April 24, 2008 - Fly to Guilin-Elephant Trunk Hill-Fubo Hill-Pedestrian Street-Night Market - Guilin, China
Our overnight stay in Chengdu was brief and uneventful. The hotel A/C is not turned on until the weather is warmer and reaches over 20º. Even though this Xin Hua...
Day 20
OAT Day 2-16 - Friday, April 25, 2008 - Fish Boat Journey River Li - Guilin, China
We had a very nice buffet breakfast in our hotel atrium and then met Matt and our driver, Mr. Ma for our 45 minute drive to the river cruise. It was cool today,...
Day 21
OAT Day 2-17 - Saturday, April 26, 2008 - Tea Research Center Optional-Reed Flute Cave-Guilin Children’s Palace - Guilin, China
Our alarm went off at 7:00 and we had a lot of time for our breakfast. The atrium was not crowded today, so we were able to enjoy a leisurely...
Day 22
OAT Day 2-18 - Sunday, April 27, 2008 - Fly from Guilin to Chengdu-Walk to People’s Park-Chinese Massage Optional- Szechwan Province Opera Optional- Chengdu, China
The weather in Guilin held for us and only rained today as we were leaving for the airport. Matt arranged for us to pick up...
Day 23
OAT Day 2-19 - Monday, April 28, 2008 - Visit Giant Panda Sanctuary-Fly to Hong Kong, China
Monday morning in Chengdu was gray, but not raining; a good omen for our last day in the city. We had to have our bags out at 7:30 and then went down to...
Day 24
OAT Day 2-20 - Tuesday, April 29, 2008 - Hong Kong City Tour-Hong Kong by Night & Asian Cuisine Optional Tour - Hong Kong, China
Hong Kong was as busy at 6:45 AM as it was at 11:45 last night when we went to bed. We had a great variety...
Day 25
OAT Day 2-21 - Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - Day at Leisure - Hong Kong, China
We woke up at 7:30 and had a leisurely breakfast at our hotel. We ate with Matt and had more questions to ask him about his beautiful country of China.
We had the whole...
Day 26
OAT Day 2-22 - Thursday, May 1, 2008 - Flight Across the International Date Line - Home to Colorado
We woke up to a 4:30 call and we had to have our bags out by 5:00 AM. Matt had arranged for us to have a breakfast box delivered when the...
Featured Journal
Day 13: Azores & Madeira: Portugal's Unspoiled Archipelagos
Day 13 - Saturday, April 22, 2022 - Depart for U.S.
The hotel prepared a box breakfast for us as we had to be in the lobby way before the breakfast room was open.
Last night we found out that our departure flight back to...
