Guilin to Shanghai

Our last leg of the China tour took us to Shanghai.  It was such an amazing city to see and the perfect combination of new and old.  We toured the Yuyuan Park that is 453 years old (with a Starbucks in walking distance), walked along the Bund, visited Nanjing Road, toured a silk factory, and got to see the Shanghai Circus.  24 million people living in that city and mind-blowing just how big it really is.  I have to say after experiencing the restrooms in rural China, I found it refreshing to be in a more westernized city.  Shanghai reminded me of Hong Kong only better.  We had the sweetest tour guide Ren Min (we called her Min) and I enjoyed hearing her personal stories of growing up in China and now living in the big city.  I know I'm a blessed girl, but after talking with her, I felt that even more so.   

Xi'an to Guilin

So we hopped a flight from Xi'an to Guilin to experience rural China.  Rural, it was.:)  Our first day we toured the Reed Flute Caves and then onto Elephant Trunk Hill which you can see from the pictures where it gets its name.  Our second day in Guilin we took a cruise down the Li River to another town called Yangshuo which was an awesome way to really see the landscape.  A few neat highlights were all the water buffalo, the man on a paddle boat bringing fruit to our boat, and the limestone formations.  Really beautiful.  Once in Yangshuo, we walked through the local markets which are obviously there for tourists and then we drove back to Guilin in our van.  That drive back was the bumpiest ride I've had since offroading in West Texas one summer at Camp Meeting.  The next morning we took a stroll through Seven Star Park before catching a flight onto Shanghai for our last leg of our tour.   

From Beijing to Xian

We hopped a short flight to Xian one of their middle sized cities at a population of around 8 million people.  Our main goal there was to see the infamous terracotta warriors.  Ching Li was our tour guide in Xian and did a wonderful job showing us around.  Our first stop was to the Ancient City Wall.  After the wall, we were off to see the only place the make replicas of the warriors.  We saw the kiln, little replicas, life-size replicas, and the boys even got to try their hand at making one too.  The replicas were cool, but nothing could compare to seeing the real deal.  The whole story is pretty amazing from the detail in each of the warrior faces to the fact that they were only discovered about 37 years ago.  Remarkable to see.

China Tour - Beijing

China has been on our list of places to visit since we moved to Okinawa.  We couldn't imagine leaving this part of the world and not having seen The Great Wall, so now was the time.  With CeCe and Pops coming to visit and Fletcher only having a small window to take off work, we decided we'd combine their visit and our trip all in one.  It was terrific!  Lots to share, so I'll break it down into the cities we toured.  Our first stop was Beijing where we spent three full days exploring.  We had a great tour guide, Mark, leading us all over the city.  Traffic was crazy (actually beyond crazy) and our driver felt more like a Nascar guy than tour driver, but we lived to tell about it.  Our first day included Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, and the Temple of Heaven concluding with a Peking Duck dinner.  Our second day we spent at The Great Wall, riding a pedicab through Hutong, and watching a Kung Fu show.  And our last day we went to the Summer Palace and a fun market where they sale EVERYTHING under the sun....probably because they make everything!  Beijing was cool, but it was only the beginning.