Return to China – Five Years Later, and Add Tibet Sept. 2007
Aug 8, 2008 8:08PM – Is China ready for the Summer Olympics or are they just counting on their 080808 good luck? Good luck it may be but it is good planning and hard work that will have China ready for the world’s media scrutiny.
It’s been five years since our first visit to China and the changes are mind blowing. Beijing seems rebuilt with new hotels and high rise apartments that have completely changed the skyline. Bicycles and motorcycles continue to weave their way among the thickness of car traffic as insane as that may be. The city is “fatter” by the new 6th ring road and some call the city streets a giant parking lot! The sites of the Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace have been cleaned, restored and are ready for throngs of sightseers. Add to the list of sites is the new “Bird’s Nest and “Water Cube” the new stadium and swimming pool added for the Olympics. Yes, Beijing and China are ready and they will showcase themselves wonderfully. The world will be watching and I think will be impressed.
Beijing is amazing but Shanghai is the gem. Shanghai easily competes with Hong Kong or Dubai for creative skylines, the unbelievable flair in architecture, and Shanghai is much easier to get around than Beijing. There is such a feeling of wealth and consumerism here with luxury shops, over the top hotels, and trendy restaurants. The business suits of the surrounding Asian countries, including Japan and Korea, far out number the western suits.
This time around, we decided to visit the Great Wall at the MUTIGYANU Gate, about the same distance from Beijing as the Badaling Gate but far less a commercial carnival of Chinese Great Wall trinkets. BUT, the climb is more challenging. In fact, if you have trouble with steps, be forewarned. First, you have to take a cable car unless you really want the exercise of about 300 steps up. Even getting to the cable car requires a climb of about 50 steps. At the end of the car line there are another dozen STEEP steps but finally you are on the wall.
It seems I will be destined to visit the Great Wall again in my life for as with the first visit, it was raining and foggy and therefore we still don’t have pictures with great views! Oh well, the Wall has lots of up and down stairs along its route so it’s not an easy walk in the park anyway.
The City of Xian has changed as well. Again, many more new high-rises are the indication that the shift in population is from urban to rural. In China, the young generation are seeking jobs in the cities rather than continuing the small family farms. The young today are seeking their own apartments and cars, MP3 players and hip, trendy clothes. Xian has 43 universities.
The Terra Cotta Museum hasn’t changed but the line of tacky, junk vendors has. Today there are neat shops, fountains and treed sitting areas lining the road from the parking lot to the museum, but still selling the same souvenirs.
This year our venture took us into Lhasa, Tibet for four days. I’m at a loss of words to really describe this experience. I think it has to be the strangest place I have ever been. To me, it was surreal. Perhaps it was the altitude adding to the foggy head I felt the entire time. Do be prepared for the altitude of over 13,000 feet, take things slowly. You can easily pass out climbing just five steps when you first arrive.
Most of China is non-religious or atheist. Tibet on the other hand is very much about Buddhism, it is a way of life and not just a religion. In the morning you encounter the locals walking with their prayer wheels and some chanting prayers. Most will go by their temple for more prayers, lighting candles and other gestures of faith. But there are many signs of a modern Tibet such as monks with cell phones.
The Lhasa of today is suffering from growth and the streets are choked with diesel spewing cars and trucks. Many homes burn wood or coal for fuel and these smells combine with yak butter candles. Because of the high altitude, the sky is brilliantly blue and colors are sharp and defined. The white wash of the Potala Palace just glares and makes the Palace appear even more majestic. Although the palace in now used by the Chinese army you can still climb the 300 – 400 stairs up and be rewarded by the gold relics and Buddha statues of the former home of the Dali Lamas.
We visited the Sera Monastery and Jokhang Temple, both of which have hundreds of Buddha's and both are still active in the study and worship of Buddhism.
We stayed at the Bhramhaputa Hotel – considered a deluxe hotel and the amenities were very nice but this hotel was eccentric in décor and a museum of its own.
The food was wonderful and yak meat is surprisingly tender and a bit sweet. The meals were spicier for the average American palate due to the influence of Nepalese and Indian heritage of the region. We really enjoyed it.
The Yangtze River update: Following Tibet we went down river from Chongqing to Yichang. Our ship was the Victoria Star. Victoria Cruise Lines dominated the areas but there are many other smaller cruise lines. Be careful of what you pick and go with a Western tour company that understands the American tastes as the ships differ greatly in standards. The shore excursions, food, river guides, ship personnel, and onboard activities were are very satisfactory and the experience was great.
Along with the changes in the cities, the countryside along the Yangtze is just as dynamic. The damn is complete although the river “flooding” or reservoir has not reached the 175 meters above sea level completely. This is expected to be 2009.
The Danning River, the entrance to the Lesser Three Gorges has changed a lot. Five years ago we took old metal “sampans” scrapping the bottom of the river. Today, our ship docks in the same spot, we transfer to a smaller boat, but one that can still has a draft of about 15 feet, and travel up the Danning for about an hour before transferring to small sampans. (Now they are bamboo and being poled by a hard working Chinese man and not an engine) Gone though are the junk vendors with their colorful umbrella stands the lined the riverbank.
We ventured further upriver than before and enter what is now referred to as the Lesser, Lesser Three Gorges.
With the building of the damn the Chinese government had to relocate 1.5 million residents along the river. The new cities are done, new high-rises everywhere and the riverbanks are shorn up and all evidence of the old is gone. Although it has been 17 years since the damn project was started, the changes we have seen from five years ago are just amazing.
I think we have to plan another return visit, perhaps five years again. I am sure we will continue to be amazed at the transformations of the country. Be sure to watch the 2008 Summer Olympics and I think you will find that China will enchant you to visit for yourself.
Ray and Cecile conduct one or two "Owner's Invitational Tours" each year. We travel to destinations off the beaten path and have a limit of 15 to 20 guests. Please contract Ray or Cecile Schutter if you would like to consider this itinerary for a future experience for yourself or wish to be in the invitational list for future trips.
If you would like more information or more pictures please contact me at 713-665-4767 or cs@westutravel.com