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In October 2008, six of us took a three week guided tour of China. It was a trip we had talked about for several years. It finally happened when Bill and Pat joined us along with Roger and Lani. We figured that it would be fun to have a larger group and that Pat could help all of us since she speaks Cantonese as well as Mandarin. After some research and based on a recommendation, it was decided that we would go with China Spree, a tour company that seemed to have the best itinerary and accommodations in the various cities we wanted to visit.
 
Sharon
Pat Lani Jay Bill Roger

I have divided the pictures and comments into several pages. There are cities and rivers with special places of interest, as well as a couple sections dealing with food and other items I thought worthwhile.
So click on any of the following to see the details.
Beijing - Forbidden City Great Wall Summer Palace & Temple of Heaven Around town

Xian - Terra Cotta Warriors Yangtze - River Cruise Hong Kong & Macau

Guilin - Lang Sheng Li River Cruise Suzhou & Shanghai

Chinese cuisine Jade & Silk Youngsters & Panda Bears

But first a couple comments about our group and general observations about China.

There were twenty of us plus the guides. Five couples were from the west coast and ten women came from the east coast of the US (five guys and fifteen gals, whoa!!). China Spree was an appropriate name for all the shopping that was to take place. We had Tom as our tour guide for the whole trip except in Hong Kong. It requires a special permit for mainland Chinese to enter, so Tom skipped that part. In addition we had a second guide in each city and special places we visited. A couple are shown below. Tom is the one in the yellow shirt.
   

We all loved Tom. Let me show you what I said about Tom in an email we sent to his boss Wilson Wu:
Dear Mr. Wu,

This is just a note to express our sincere thanks to your national tour guide Tom.
He was not only informative and very good with his English, he has a great sense of humor, but, above all, he became our dear friend because of his diligent attention to all our needs and desires. Tom to us became a ‘mother-hen’, a person who would call us for a wake-up call in the morning, make sure we had our pass-ports handy, and arrange to have some of your wonderful dinners ready at each occasion. He really went overboard to please each and every one of us.  
All of us in our group loved Tom and relied on him to answer all our questions.
We had several guides in each city and they contributed a lot (like Rose in Xian), but Tom was on top to provide additional details.

We realize that Tom will not be touring again until next year. So, hoping that the economy will improve by then, we also hope that Tom will be your number one  guide in the future.
Although I am not speaking for the whole group of twenty of us, I know they will all concur with what I wrote above.

Jacob and Sharon Brentjes

The first thing we all noticed about China is the contrast between the new and old. Modern high rise buildings, bridges and new roads were everywhere, while tiny shops for the locals could be found in alleys and side streets. There were some homeless and poor beggars on the streets, but all and all the people seemed satisfied with what they had and did. The guides certainly were proud of the achievements of their government and did not mind that billions of dollars were spent on new projects such as the Yangtze River dam and subsequent relocation of thousands of poor farmers who continued to scrape a meager living of the new land or new trades.
 

The labor force is huge and often we noticed an abundance of service and sales people standing around yawning or chatting when half the staff would suffice. Air pollution from the coal burning power plants and millions of new cars abounds. It is a shame, because the technology to clean up the exhaust systems is available at a relatively small cost.

 
Traffic could be horrendous with cars and busses weaving around pedestrians, bicycles and the electric scooters. Yet, all was quiet and peaceful; no road rage, no honking except when passing. Crossing a road as a pedestrian was a challenge for the brave, but we only saw one fender bender. Notice the different modes of transportation. Most of these pictures were taken from our bus.

 


   

 

 

Despite the air pollution, the streets were quite clean because of the street sweepers we saw in several cities. Most people were genuinely interested in us and often asked to have a picture taken with a relative. Although the spoken word was an obstacle, sign language with a smile always seemed to work. The children were delightful and I have included some pictures. Most of the time they were with grandparents while both parents were working during the day. The kids would stare at us and then smile. Was it because of our 'large noses', as our guide Rose suggested in Xian?
   

 
Oh, that reminds me of one other little detail: potties in China. Of course, when at the major hotels, no problem; when out in public, be aware. There are western style and Chinese style potties (simply a hole in the floor). Believe it or not, they actually have a star rating as to what the facilities are like and the ladies had a giggle and made faces depending on what was to come or go. One day our bus made a road stop at a 'service station' and the trough in the floor rated minus two.

 

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