Chrissy and I booked this insanely cheap trip to China before I shattered my shoulder, and there was some concern about whether I would be able to make it, but again, major thanks to the physical therapists at the VA American Lake campus and a pretty darned good shoulder surgeon at the VA in Seattle, the trip went off without a hitch. I really wasn't up to the pace of this trip, but the guides were good at making sure I didn't miss anything, and if we got too far behind, Chrissy would run ahead and stop them. By the end of the trip, my whole body was so fatigued, I needed help just stepping up and down off the curb on the road (even when we had plenty of time) and my balance was pretty much shot, but between Chrissy, the rest of our group, and the guides, I made it and got to see most everything that was planned. Bruce didn't want to go, so he stayed home and babysat Grandkitty.
I've already talked about the financial underpinnings of this trip on the Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/travelingeezers/), so I won't repeat that. As far as the Great Firewall, it's not as strong as people will make you believe. If you have a non-Chinese sim card, the Chinese government doesn't block access to domains on your phone while you are in China. There are some locations in which those signals don't appear to be able to get through, but that's mostly in governmental areas, such as Tiananmen square. If you use wi-fi, the signals for Google, Facebook, Twitter, and many other platforms will be blocked. But, if you use your US sim card and data from your US carrier, you can access these websites most of the time. One of our local guides said a cheap VPN will bypass the GFW if using a Chinese sim card. I had just switched to T-Mobile before the trip because they offer free data in multiple countries, which will reduce the requirement for purchasing sim cards and service every time I cross a country boundary. I did have some difficulty maintaining a signal at times, but we did a lot of moving around and drove through some pretty remote areas. WeChat was still more reliable than Facebook or Google, so I stuck mainly to that platform for communicating with individuals from the US.
When we got to Beijing, our initial guide, Fei-Fei, met us at the airport. Nexus Holidays, the company that offered this tour, had multiple groups coming in on our flight, and each group waited in particular spots for all of their group to assemble. We were lucky enough to be hanging out by the ATM, so I took that opportunity to pull out RMB 3,000, which was a little over $400, on my debit card. That turned out to be all the cash we needed for the trip, as credit cards were welcome at most places.
Once everyone arrived, we boarded our bus and headed to our Beijing hotel, which was the Nangong Hot Spring Resort. The rooms were nice and roomy. As for the spa portion, we had massages in our room, but we never had the energy to check out the rest of the spa. http://www.nangonghotel.cn/. With breakfast included, Expedia lists it for $87/night for the double room with two twin beds. It was a nice hotel. Breakfast was good (a buffet with fried eggs, fruit, toast/breads, bok choy, noodles, rice, sausages, and a variety of other foods). The room was nice, but the beds were a little firm for my taste.
If you go, don't forget to take a power converter. They use 220 volts instead of the 110 we use here. The hotel desk had some for people to use, but it was just so much more convenient to have our own, and we can use it when we go to Europe this spring, too. It was pretty cheap and easy to pack. I don't remember how much, but it was under $100. Probably under $50, but I just don't remember.
It was plenty for both of our phones and my CPAP, which was all we used while there. I never had the energy to pull out the computer, and I ultimately put the camera away and only used my phone for pictures, so I didn't need to charge that battery, though it probably would have handled both of those with ease.
After sleeping overnight, we were up early. Because it was Monday, Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City were closed. So we started off adjusting the itinerary. A couple of people in our group were upset about the schedule changes. They had made some alternate plans for the optional excursions in Beijing, and by changing our itinerary, it caused their plans to have to be changed, too. So, if you do this trip, you must be flexible if you plan to go off and do your own thing for part of it.
We started out at the Summer Palace. This is primarily associated with the Dragon Lady, who came for the summer. When you first arrive, there is a blocking stone in front of the gate.
These big, porous stones are placed strategically around the grounds to block bad spirits from entering.
Behind the blocking stone and in front of the gates to the outer courtyard, are dragons, lions, and other stone creatures placed strategically for protection from evil that gets past the blocking stones.
Most of the inner courtyards look very similar to this one, though once you pass through this gate, there is a courtyard that is primarily highlighted by the lake with views of the palace and related buildings. It's a stunning view.
The Dragon Lady had a covered breezeway built from this courtyard, along the water, and winding up to the entrance to the palace so she never had to brave the weather while being carried up the hill. It's the white expanse to the right of the picture.
While the different gardens stand for different things, they are all pretty similar. We did not have access (or time) for the extra attractions inside the actual palace. The grounds are large and sprawling. To see the whole thing, would take more than the few hours we were allotted. Since I like to take my time enjoying the different elements, I could spend all day here. If we go back to Beijing, I probably will schedule a day for just enjoying the Summer Palace and all of its various gardens and inner sanctums. In the meantime, here are a few other pictures for you to enjoy. I have an upcoming physical therapy appointment, and I know she's going to chastise me about not keeping up with my exercises while I was gone. I'll write more about day one later.
