Time & Sleep

Well, I am not adjusted back to the EST time zone yet. I did well when we arrived home Monday. We went to bed around 11pm and I got up around 7am. But then Tuesday I was so tired by 5:30pm, I was falling asleep on the couch and couldn't keep my eyes open. I dragged myself to bed...and woke up at 11:30pm. I couldn't fall back asleep so I got out of bed. By 4:30am I was tired again and went back to bed and woke up at 10:30am. Wednesday night I was tired at 6pm but forced myself to stay up until 9pm. And woke up just before 3am. It appears I can sleep for 6 hours at a time.

When we arrived in China, we both adapted to the 12 hour time change fairly well. Sleeping at night and getting up in the morning (sometimes sleeping in a bit). Then again, we were on an adventure with daily activities and everything new - and it kept us on a schedule and tired us out. It is interesting that for as large as China is, the entire country is on one time zone. We stayed in the eastern half and it does get light around 4:30am.

So I am awake now at 4am - the kitties were fighting (growling and paw slapping) over my lap - and I am feeling hungry. I am getting back into my exercise today so that should help my body. During the trip, I did hours of walking on a daily basis. My life in Ohio does not currently have that kind of exercise every day. But it is a great time to start since my legs and feet are used to it. The challenge with physical activity for me is I get bored easily. Luckily spring/summer is here and I have more outside options.

Train: Qingdao to Beijing

We took a day train from Qingdao to Beijing. The route used to take 10 hours but now with the high speed train, it takes just under 6 hours. We paid the extra 30 Yuan each (60 total is less than $10) for First Class seats and enjoyed the extra space and comfortable seats - and free bottled water. A much different train experience than our overnight, "coach" class, old train journey. I spent most of my time watching the scenery and reading. It was a relaxing and interesting ride. We read that with the enormous amount of trains & tracks and the large population of China that there about 10 million Chinese traveling on trains at any given moment. Below are photos of the train and the scenery. There is also one video of the digital display in our section - it was in Chinese and English. Click on photos for a larger image.

The train's top speed during our journey was around 248 km/hr which is about 154 mph.

Back in Shanghai - less than 24 hours to go

We are back in Shanghai and staying at the Younkins - and using their computer power cord. We had a great time in Beijing and seeing it with Brett & Leslie (who arrived from USA on Friday) and Ron & Joey. With the computer back in commission, we have transferred the photos from the camera to the laptop. It's late here (1:48am) and I am too tired to blog much more. I am a bit sunburned and possibly allergic to Beijing (lots of things in bloom and much wind to blow stuff around). We have a few hours tomorrow before getting back on a plane for a long 14.5 hour flight...may have time to blog, but may not. Either way, will catch up with photos and entries during the week.

Wet in Beijing

The train ride went smoothly with lots of interesting scenery along the way. We arrived in Beijing between rainfalls. It didn't rain again until we left to walk around the area of our hotel which is quite fancy. I've never been to Beverly Hills or Rodeo Drive...but this area has car dealerships like Ferrari, Rolls Royce, and Lamborghini plus all the shopping you could ever want like Gucci, Cartier, and malls on every corner. A much different China that what we have experienced thus far. Unfortunately, the computer power cord has died and the battery has less than an hour of juice left. We ventured into the upscale shopping area for a cord replacement but no computer stores. This may be my last blog entry from China. I will catch up on entries once we get a power source or back to the states. Time to relax and hopefully dry out.

Last full day in Qingdao

We just returned from a lovely dinner and are unwinding for the night. Since yesterday was a food-challenged day for us, John researched restaurants online to find some with English menus and more than seafood (we are in a port city so there is fish widely available but John doesn't eat fish). The more diverse restaurants are not in the area near our hotel. Tonight we hunted down the supposedly only German restaurant in town. With the German heritage / history of Qingdao, we wanted to experience that too. Our taxi driver had to make calls to find the location and I could tell he was getting nervous about finding the address - John had found it on our map so we knew we were close. Monnemer Eck (restaurant name - not in my German vocabulary!) is the real German deal. German accents & conversations and spatzle galore, although the spatzle was long like spaghetti. Tasty food and a fun, friendly atmosphere with regulars coming in (Guten Tag! Gunther!!). It was a bit confusing sitting in a German restaurant while in China with English Christmas carols coming through the sound speakers. The music played in shops and public places vary from current Chinese music & lyrics, Chinese music with a bit of English lyrics thrown in here & there, 70's USA love songs, and Christmas carols in English.

This morning we headed out to May 4th Square (named for the May 4th movement of national protest that started in Qingdao) since it is near the naval activities and on the shoreline. The plaza has a large red sculpture "May the Wind" in a fiery red color and spiral shape of the wind. Many people were out enjoying the weather and gathering around any wandering sailors from other countries. With the 60th anniversary of the Chinese navy celebration bringing in vessels and navys from around the world, we weren't the only foreigners around. Anyone not native was attracting crowds and requests for group photos so some people I don't know have photos of me with their friends / family members. Weird but whatever. We saw the Olympic Sailing Center and walked along the coastline. We haven't been able to find a schedule of naval celebration activities and we didn't see any today - the big parade and sampan (oar boat) race are tomorrow. Of course, we leave tomorrow morning.
After a nice lunch (another place John found online), we went to Beer Street to tour Tsingtao Brewery. Unfortunately the brewery was closed today and will open tomorrow (of course). Here is a very disappointed John in front of the brewery.

We walked down Beer Street which is basically wall to wall bars with kegs all wanting you to come into their establishment for beer.

We wandered down the street and found Beer Square. All the benches are the in the shape of the word BEER; there is a sculpture of beer cans; the back side is a large bookcase display of beer cans & bottles; large walk-through kegs and beer cans. Funny, especially with the people in oversized, cutesy animal costumes. All the man-hole covers are decorated with animals holding beer.

The sign declaring the area "The birthplace of beer culture" cracked me up - the brewery opened in Qingdao in 1903 and beer had been brewed around the world way before that.Tomorrow we are taking the train from Qingdao to Beijing. John is excited since we are on a D train route (there is also L, K, and Z trains) which is using the new high speed train. Our trip should take just under 6 hours - it was a 10 hour ride before the new trains. We paid the extra US$10 to sit in "soft seat" [First Class] which has reserved seats and more space.

Catch Up Photos - Xi'an

Xi'an is the only city in China with the city walls still completely intact. The city goes well beyond the walls. Our hotel was near the South Gate.


Within the city walls are the Bell Tower and Drum Tower. We took tours of both in the evening.

The Bell Tower in the foreground with the Drum Tower in the back to the left.

View from the Bell Tower on a rainy night - North Street, South Street, East Street, and West Street meet at the Bell Tower.

John and the Giant Bell

Bell concerts are held at the tower several times a day.

View of the Drum Tower from the Bell Tower

John and the Giant Drum

Amy didn't get to bang on the drum all day but a couple times was enough.

Drums lining the tower (don't know the characters on the drums)

View of the Bell Tower from the Drum Tower

It's good to be short in China. There are lots of signs around warning to watch your head - many doorways and staircases are low.

Catch Up Photos - Terracotta Warriors & Big Goose Pagoda

Here are the photos from our evening at Big Goose Pagoda and the morning excursion out to the Terracotta Warriors.

Me in front of the walled Big Goose Pagoda - we got there after tour hours and enjoyed walking around the park area.

The main entrance to the pagoda

Good kite flying day - the only ones flying kites were the ones trying to sell them.

Most of the warriors are in pieces - jigsaw puzzle, anyone?

A few samples of the type of military warriors are in glass cases so that tourists can get a closer look.

The warriors were actually colorfully painted. Once unburied and exposed, they turn back to the terracotta clay color.

Pit 1 - the largest and most impressive of the 3 pits of warriors.

The warriors were discovered in 1974 by some farmers digging a hole for a water well.

John and I at the back end of pit 1 where the Emperor's men and horses are being put back together and some of the restoration is done.