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Japan & China 2017

October 2017
A 19-day adventure by Greg and Cathryn Wignall Read more
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  • Greg and Cathryn WignallJapan & China 2017
    Day 14

    Tianjin to Beijing

    October 21, 2017 ⋅ 🌫 15 °C

    We arrived in port an hour early, around 7am. There was some sun this morning but you could hardly see it for the smog. We met up with the other members of our group (organised through cruise critic) at 9am. We have Scott and Rana from Las Vegas, Tony from Toronto, Andrea and her son Matthew from California, and Don and Mary also from California. We didn't disembark until about 10:15am and then we had to go through immigration. Our bus was waiting and we left for the Great Wall at 11am. We only had the bus driver and no guide. We were to pick him up nearer to Beijing. Well what a journey we had! We were travelling along well until 1pm when we came to a standstill. Due to the five yearly meeting of the Communist Party there are police checkpoints on the outskirts of the city. We were caught in traffic for an hour and 40 minutes. We finally passed the bottleneck and then made a comfort stop and picked up something to eat. Sometime later picked up our guide, Jackie. We finally reached the Mu Tian Yu section of the wall at around 4:30pm. We had about an hour of daylight left. We didn't realise what a steep climb it would be to actually reach the wall and because of the time constraints we ended up taking the cable car up and down. Some of the steps had a rise of around 750mm and others only 50mm. You had to watch your step very carefully. Taking photos was difficult but hopefully some will be okay. We caught the last cable car down and then made our way to the restaurant for dinner as we had missed lunch. The food was great but the service was fairly ordinary. Because of the traffic issues Jackie suggested we go to the Birds Nest and Water Cube tonight instead of in the morning. We were glad we did because they looked fantastic all lit up. We were then dropped off at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. It wasn't too bad but I don't think maintenance is a priority. We are leaving an hour earlier than scheduled at 7:30am (to beat the crowds), so another early start.Read more

  • Greg and Cathryn WignallJapan & China 2017
    Day 15

    Temple of Heaven

    October 22, 2017 in China ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    After a late finish last night we had an early start at 7:30am this morning. First stop was the Temple of Heaven. We were there by 8am and there were already lots of people around even at that time. We wandered around and saw some of the local people doing Tia Chi. Next was Tiananmen Square. We were told on the ship that we probably wouldn't be able to get near it.Read more

  • Greg and Cathryn WignallJapan & China 2017
    Day 15

    Tiananmen Square

    October 22, 2017 in China ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    We were lucky at Tiananmen Square, being a group we bypassed the lines and most of the security. There were a large number of people there but not too bad. The Communist Party "election" and meeting only had a couple more days to run. There was lots of security both in suits and uniform.Read more

  • Greg and Cathryn WignallJapan & China 2017
    Day 15

    Forbidden City, Tianjin

    October 22, 2017 in China ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    After Tiananmen Square we went under the road to the entrance to the Forbidden City. Some very stern looking security at the entrance. One Chinese tourist went to take a photo and was quickly reprimanded. The Forbidden City seems to go on forever. We basically walked through the centre. The crowds had started building and it would be easy to become separated from your group. We all made it to the end okay. Our guide took us to lunch at one of his favourite local restaurants. The food was similar to last night. The service is pretty well non existent. We wondered why there wasn't any service cutlery until we watched the guide just eat straight from the platters. The food was good but toilet facilities were very ordinary. Not so bad for men but squat toilets are not all that wonderful for the ladies. After lunch it was time to make our way back to the ship. We made good time and were back at the port by 4pm. The Americans handed out tips but we didn't feel they were justified. Our guide gave next to no commentary which was a pity. It will be interesting to compare with the ships tours we have booked on the last two stops. There was a great show on board tonight, Mark Haslam performing Sleight of hand. Amazing!Read more

  • Greg and Cathryn WignallJapan & China 2017
    Day 16

    Sailing towards Qingdao

    October 23, 2017, Yellow Sea ⋅ 🌙 13 °C

    We were woken this morning to the ship moving quite a bit and spray hitting our window. By the time we went up to breakfast it had settled down. On our way to breakfast we ran into Sarah and Ann, so we joined them and heard all about their time in Beijing. After breakfast we went to a talk on Qingdao. We had a wander around the shops and bought a couple of $10 watches. We had our Mariner lunch today and on the way we met Dolores who organized our Beijing excursion but was unable to go because she had a fever. We had planned to sit with Sarah and Ann but they had just been presented with silver medallions for spending 300 days at sea with Holland America and had to sit at a reserved table. The lunch was very enjoyable and the food was excellent.
    After lunch we went to "Ask the Captain ". Captain Chris Turner answered questions from the audience which was very informative. After the Captain we stayed on to hear Master Kam talk about modern China. At 6pm we did our laps around the promenade deck. Its a good time to go as a large number of guests are at dinner. Went to dinner at 8pm as usual. Our two wait staff were very tired tonight. They did breakfast in the Lido followed by the Mariner lunch and then dinner. We gave the show a miss tonight and had an early night.    Read more

  • Greg and Cathryn WignallJapan & China 2017
    Day 18

    Qingdao

    October 25, 2017, Yellow Sea ⋅ 🌙 13 °C

    We were up early again today for another tour. The ship docked about an hour early at 7am but due to delays in receiving clearance we were an hour late leaving on the tour. The terminal was enormous and I would estimate it was about a kilometre just to walk out. We had a lovely young girl called Sophie as our guide. Little did she realise what was to come. Her English wasn't the best but she was trying hard. Unfortunately, she had to deal with a vocal minority of guests (Americans of course!) who were extremely rude. "Turn on the air", "we can't hear you", "you're too loud ", "why are we stopping here" and "when are we stopping at a rest-room" were some of the many comments. Of course please and thank you don't exist for these people! The first stop was at St Michaels' Cathedral which seemed a bit unusual but this area was occupied by the Germans. There were lots of brides and grooms having their photos taken. The weather was perfect which may have explained their presence. After the church we went to Zhaoqiao Pier which is used as the symbol for Tsingtao Brewery and Qingdao. We then drove through Badaguan another favourite spot for brides and full off more European style buildings. Lunch was at a rather grand hotel and then on to the Zhanshan Buddhist Temple. The last stop was the Tsingtao Brewery for a whirlwind tour and tasting. Sophie sang a traditional Chinese song at the end of the tour. Not long after boarding the ship the Captain announced that a guest had to leave and we would be late leaving. We watched proceedings from the promenade and saw a lady and all her luggage loaded into a waiting ambulance. While we were waiting to depart a car turned up and two ladies got out one of whom had a bandaged eye. They were both wheel-chaired on and we set sail. About half an hour later we could hear the bow thrusters and the First Officer announced another guest had to be disembarked. We did a 360 and headed back to port. We left port for the second time at about 8:30pm. We didn't go to the show tonight. It was Annie Gong. We have seen her 3 times now. We are starting to sound like Bill and Mary-Ann!.Read more

  • Greg and Cathryn WignallJapan & China 2017
    Day 18

    Sailing towards Shanghai

    October 25, 2017, East China Sea ⋅ 🌙 17 °C

    We started late today and didn't go to breakfast until 9:30am. At 11am we went to a talk on what to see and do in Shanghai. Lunch was next and then another talk by Master Kam on modern China. His talks are excellent, it's just a pity he wasn't given more time. We stayed on to hear what we would be missing on the next leg of the cruise to Hong Kong. Then it was back to the cabin for a little snooze before our walk around the deck. Our walk was cut short tonight by the crew scrubbing the decks. It was gala night tonight so we had a pre-dinner drink in the Ocean Bar and then headed off to the dinning room. We are not supposed to arrive in Shanghai until 8am tomorrow but we are already heading up the river as I write this at 11:15pm.Read more

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