Back on Track! or shall I say Sailing?

It's been a while, but I'm back!  In fact, I never really was away (well that's not quite true either!)  I'm back, in the sense of getting blogs out to you again!  I've been away, in the sense, that I've continued to travel and experience great places!  It's time to get back to sharing them!  I'm here, in the sense, that my office hasn't changed!  So, on to something new!


Star Clippers - a privately owned sailing company - what a wonderful experience!  I joined fellow passengers on the Star Clipper around Cuba, back in December.  It was wonderful!  The ship is completely "clipper authentic" in style, building, wood, cabins, sails and more!  I enjoyed great food, prepared by award winning chefs.  The excursions were great, and the pristine, virtually private beaches, outstanding!  Take a look!

The sails were unfurled each evening to majestic music as we "sailed away" from our beach stop.

You could play all day or just lie in the sun.  Ship staff had sail boards, beach balls, and lots more for you to do.  These Cuban beaches were so pristine, and not another non-ship person in sight!

The beach BBQ was wonderful.  All kinds of food were cooked in this little shelter, and after serving yourself you sat at long wooden tables and on wooden stumps! (beware the nipping bugs)





This is just a taste of this trip.  It was delicious in every way!  More to come in days ahead!

Electrics, plugs, and the internet in China

So, today, something a little on the "boring" side, but for many, an absolutely crucial question!  I know I read up on all the info I could before going, but really, it was so simple, I was really pleased.

Our hotels were state of the art, and as such, we had no problems.  I was armed with my usual battery of international plugs, usable anywhere, covering all the angles of prongs and voltages.  Not required!! Yay!!

This is a picture of the wall sockets we had to work with.  You could have used an adaptor plug (it was recommended to use one with the Australian prong configuration), but sincerely, all you had to do was directly plug in your computer, netbook, laptop, camera charger, or whatever, into the top holes, and all was fine!  Everything charged quickly and fully and you didn't have to worry about plugs or adaptors.  Personally, I never travel without mine, but if you did find yourself having forgotten one, or it was packed at the bottom of the suitcase - no worries.

As for the internet - that was a bit of fun.  There was WiFi in the the lobbies and at many locations in the cities.  Access was relatively easy.  There was also WiFi in the hotel rooms, so again, access was easy.  However, I will admit, my computer caused me a bit of a stir.  My travelling companion had no trouble logging into the internet in the room.  But when it came my turn (they recommended only one be logged in at a time), I couldn't get on.  I couldn't even get to the page to try logging in.  I simply got a message - IP address - Access Denied.  I have to say, I wasn't happy.  It was just plain odd.  

Due to our early departures and late returns, I was unable to get help from the hotel IT man until my 4th day.  When he came, he punched a bunch of numbers, called his own help desk, and voila - all fixed!  So, too bad for me, not being able to get on early, but I had no further issues the rest of the trip!  Lesson here?  Be persistent and get help right away.

One thing I do know, is that Facebook and Google are blocked.  It would be a good idea to NOT have one of those as your start-up page when in China.  Pick something else to start with and then go from there.  There are various information sites on the internet, where you can find what media is blocked or not.  I used this one -  http://whatblocked.com and it seemed fairly accurate.

And finally - media, television.  When travelling I usually watch BBC as I find it is somewhat more rounded with news from all over.  However, you could also get CNN if you wanted it.  What was fun and peculiar, was you would be watching the news and taking it all in, when suddenly the screen would go black and the TV would turn off! Chuckle - now you know that the Chinese censorship of certain material is still alive and well.  What we were having blocked was news about the demonstrations in Hong Kong.  Kind of a pain if more than one story followed the other.  But, we managed with the news.  Lesson here?  Don't panic, just turn the TV back on.

Technology was everywhere and you shouldn't worry too much!  Go and enjoy the sights - that's what you are there for!

The Summer Palace - Beijing

Another clear day with warm weather saw us heading for the infamous Summer Palace.  This location, on a huge parkland of over 300 hectares (over 740 acres).  The Kunming Lake covers most of the area but this Royal Park is spectacular in beauty, bridges, and buildings.  Construction started in 1750 and continued.  It became a summer retreat for the royal members and continued through the reign of the Empress Dowager Cixi.  It is a World Heritage Site, designated as such by UNESCO in 1998.

This was inside the East Gate that we went through.  Just over the threshold and down a little path, you come to the edge of Kunming Lake - a huge man made lake that dominates the park.

People go to the park daily and enjoy walking along the edge of the lake, and riding in the various pleasure boats there.

    

At first I thought this might be the famous Marble Boat, commissioned by the Empress Dowager Cixi, but soon found out that that boat is located on the other side of the park - about 1 1/2 hour walk, away!  Sadly, we did not get to see it.

This is the Seventeen Arch bridge, built in the mid 1700's.  It links the shore to Nanhu Island.  There are 544 distinctive lions on the columns of the bridge making it truly beautiful and auspicious.  There are 17 arches 9 from either end of the bridge.  The number 9 was believed to be the biggest "yang" number and special to the emperors.

 

These are two more stunning views of the lake and buildings on it.  The pagoda in the far distance simply shone in the sunlight.  I liked this second arched bridge.

This was the main Summer Palace building we'd come to see.  One can just imagine emperors of earlier days, passing the time in this serene spot - much cooler than the compartments in the Forbidden City.

 

We crossed this footbridge to a tiny island where people rested and enjoyed the views across the lake.  This park is especially popular to seniors who live in the area.  They are granted full passes, to come here any time, and enjoy the outdoors.  One can appreciate this, as people retire so early in China (50 and 55) and have little to do and have tiny houses, which they are quite happy to leave during the day to enjoy the many parks.

  This is the building called Longevity Hall.  It was a place for the Empress Dowager to go and work.

  Note the ornate eaves, with many layers of decoration, carving, and features.

 

These are the dragon and phoenix outside the Hall of Longevity.  Signs of the Yin and Yang of power.

Just loved this floral phoenix outside the gate.  We had a group picture here.  Hard to believe all the flowers in bloom in October!

Food - our exquisite array at the Beijing Kerry Hotel (Shangri-la chain)

My goodness we were spoiled at the Kerry Hotel.  Our first morning, people rose and attended the restaurant, with a little trepidation, not knowing what was going to be on offer.  But WOW, you could not believe the number of food stations, the number of choices, the huge variety at each one, both western and eastern!  You could not want for more, nor in fact, try it all - even in the 5 days we were there!

Here are some pics of the wonderful choices we had!  Everything was clean, tasty, and labelled. You could not help but want to try it all, along with all your old favourites.

Jade Factory

One of our many tours on this trip was to a Jade Factory.  Strictly speaking this was not a factory, but a sales venue with an area for demonstrations.  Regardless, what we saw was beautiful.

We were greeted enthusiastically and taken to a small room where a manager showed us various types and colours of jades and explained the quality and how to identify real from fake.  We also saw a couple of craftsmen demonstrating how jade is carved, although the main body of that work was clearly done elsewhere.  It takes many hours of diligent and careful carving and grinding to create the exquisite shapes and statues available for sale.

               

There are a number of colours - red, black, white, purple, yellow and of course, the familiar green.  We learned that lighter colours of jade are more valuable, contrary to what many Westerners think.  Most Chinese wear at least one piece of jade all the time for good life and good luck.  Women receive a jade bangle from their mother or mother-in-law, upon their wedding and it is worn thereafter.  Some are handed down through generations on the female side.  Others are made new, on the male side.  All are beautiful and most, quite valuable.

We saw the balls of life being ground.  They have 3 balls within each other, all from one piece of stone.  Most have the dragon and phoenix, symbols of strength and perfect balance.

We also learned that the 2008 Olympic medals were actually jade on one side and the bronze, silver, and gold on the other.  All were very heavy.

 

A trip to China would not be complete without a visit to see and learn about jade.

Ming Tombs

Today I want to share about the Ming Tombs that we visited.  This area is out in a mountainous region about 40 km northwest of Beijing and spreads over approximately 40 sq km.  It is quiet and provides a sense of tranquility in keeping with the desire of the Emperors.  The Ming dynasty (1400's onward) have 13 emperors (of 16) buried in this area.  We saw the main buildings. Excavation plans were interrupted in the 50's and later abandoned.  They are now are outlawed. This is a World Heritage site - not to be missed.

This floral arrangement greets the visitors before entering the site.

Leading towards the Hall of Eminent Favour.

A most welcome map showing the overall area.  It helps people appreciate the enormous site and ingenuity of the Chinese people.

Outside the first building was an area set up for offerings to the gods.  There was fresh fruit on the table and as you can see, a large musical instrument.  At certain times, you would see a ceremony at this point.

This huge bronze statue of a Ming emperor graced the first building.  The 4 large wooden columns behind were 14.3 meters high, 1.1.7 meters in diameter and of a single piece of Phoebe (nanmu) wood. There were beautiful jade, silk, calligraphy and other artifacts to see, within this building.

This is a map showing the overall site and location of each of the tombs nestled into the slopes of the Tianshou Mountain.

Overall, a spectacular site to visit - and much more to see if you wish to spend the time.