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Important
Notice For Dec. 2005!
Many
who have visited this site have contacted me expressing their thoughts
about the site and the photographs on the site. These expressions
have been overwhelmingly positive and I have enjoyed reading them.
Anne and I are happy to know that the information and photos we
have on the site for our trip to China in 2001 has been appreciated
by so many that they took the time to write and tell us. Thank you.
Since
so many have expressed their fondness for the photos on the site
I have put together a calendar for 2006 with 12 photos from our
trip. The calendars are small desktop size (5 inches by 7 inches).
Each page contains a single photo. They are intended to sit on a
desktop using a plastic bent frame, or hung on the refrigerator
using a magnetic frame. Each page is an actual photo print and not
computer generated print so the quality is excellent. You can purchase
a calendar for $12.00 (plus $4.00 for shipping within the US only).
If you would like to purchase a calendar just send an e-mail with
your name and address. Upon receipt of your e-mail I will e-mail
a payment page for you to make your payment using PayPal.
Click
Here To View The Calendar Pages Now!
Click
here to e-mail your order now!
The
story you're about to read and the pictures you're about to see
are the realization of a dream. A dream Anne and I shared for many
years. It was a simple dream ... to one day visit and walk
on the Great Wall of China, but it took almost twenty years
realize it.
During
our first trip to Hong Kong (1984) we saw brochures for tours to
the Great Wall and thought how wonderful it would be to do that,
but it was too far and we had little time. I believe it was then
we first began to dream about walking on the Great Wall. We suffered
the same problem on our second trip to Southeast Asia (1994), no
time and still to far away. However, we were confident we would,
one day, realize our dream, we just didn't know when. It was only
a matter of time and planning.
The
time finally arrived late in 2000. My sister, Carol, and her husband,
John, came for dinner one evening and the topic of discussion turned
to our wanting to visit China. They, too, wanted to visit China.
It seems that the pending completion of the Three Gorges Dam was
creating a sense of urgency for all of us. Another dream we developed
over the years was to cruise through the Three Gorges of the Yangtze
River before the area was flooded and gone forever. Construction
on the dam began in the early '90s and the initial flooding is scheduled
for 2003, so there was limited time for us to act. With that in
mind we began planning for our trip and searching for the right
tour. Within a month we'd all agreed on Grand Circle's 3-week China
and Yangtze River cruise tour. We also decided to add on the optional
4-day extension to Bangkok. Having visited Bangkok previously we
knew my sister and her husband would enjoy seeing the sights in
and around Bangkok, especially the Grand Palace.
The
selected tour covered much ground in the three weeks. Beijing, Shanghai,
Suzhou, Wuhan, a 5-day cruise of the Yangtze from Wuhan to Chongqing,
Xi'an, Guilin and Hong Kong. Just reading the names of the cities
doesn't tell the story of what we would see and enjoy. While we
spent only a few days in each city they were jammed-packed with
sightseeing. Among the tour's highlights would be:
In
Beijing: The Forbidden City (Imperial Palace), Summer Palace,
Tiananmen Square, Ming Tombs, Temple of Heaven, and the Great Wall
of China. Shanghai: Yuyuan Gardens, the Bund, the Temple
of the Jade Buddha, and a full-day excursion to Suzhou, China's
Venice, on the Grand Canal. Wuhan: time for dinner only before
boarding the ship for the Yangtze cruise. Five days cruising the
Yangtze with stops at: Three Gorges Dam Project, the DaNing River
(known as the Lesser Three Gorges), and Wanxian, a city soon
to be underwater. Chongqing: a quick tour of the city, including
a visit to the local zoo to visit China's best known ambassador,
the Giant Panda. Xi'an: home of Qin's Terra-cotta Army and
the city wall. Guilin: home of the famed limestone peaks
of the Li River. Hong Kong: Repulse Bay, Stanley Market,
and much more.
The
trip sounded so wonderful my niece, Alicia, decided to join us and
several of our friends were also interested in going. As it turned
out, only the five of us would make the trip. Others who had signed
up canceled after the tragic events of September 11, 2001.
Meet
the happy travelers:
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