China Chapter 13

Let's talk about yesterday.

Well, as you know, we landed out boat off the Yangtze in the City of Chongqing. I was a little worried about how we were going to meet our guide, get our luggage to where it needed to be, get to the airport on time, etc. All this was going through my head at about 3 a.m., which made for a very poor sleep.

Anyhow, mom and I got ready for the day, and got everything packed. We had our breakfast, placed the luggage outside the room so the porters could bring them down. And waited for our local guide. Nancy (so far, we have met a Judy, a Barbara, a Nancy.....I can't wait for a Martha....and to TOP it all off... a Doug...WHOOPPPEEEE!) was there to pick us up. All we were waiting on was To Wong Fu and the Empress.

And we waited.............and we waited............and we waited.......We were the second to the last passengers still on the boat. FINALLY, the dynamic duo showed up. It was about 80 degrees, humid, and hazy, and the Empress had her full length wool winter coat on, her cardigan sweater, and gloves. Ugh..........make it stop......

And, they have acquired more things....I think by the time we get to Hong Kong, we'll need a second van for all of their merchandise. THAT would be an entourage...

Anyhow, we toured through the city of Chongqing. It's the mountain city, and literally clings to the mountainside, up the banks of the Yangtze. The roads are really winding, and there is a lot of pollution, both in the smog of the air, and in the streets. We toured the Stillwell Museum, and the Flying Tigers Museum, which were both a yawn, unless you're really into military history.

We then toured an awesome garden, called Eling Gardens, which is like a park where people get together, play cards, drink tea, they have kiddie carnival rides, etc. It's really nice. I took mom's picture with some Chongqing natives playing mah jong, and then ventured our way through the park.

After going through the park, and getting back into the van, we ventured down to the old town of Chongqing. There was a COMPLETE difference in lifestyle. Nancy, our tour guide, took us through where the poor live. I only took one picture, and that was looking up the street of old town. And really, I didn't think it was appropriate to wander through, snapping photos of the less fortunate, etc. But, the streets were winding, with lots of little stalls for food, herbal medicines, etc. After about a 40 minute walk of this, I was glad that we were back in the van, and thankful for what we have at home.

We went to lunch. Nancy asked us what we would like to eat, and whether or not we would like to try some spicy food (after all, we were in the Sichuan area of China). The Empress and TWF of course said "no" (they don't like spicy food either), mom and I said "yes" since we like to try all different kinds of things.

Well, we got to lunch, and had Kung Pao chicken (which a HUGE kick to it!), this unappetizing beef dish (the meat looked unnaturally pink with a clear mucus like coating on it.....I'm still gagging as I thinkg about this), chinese cabbage, and this awesome potato dish that had hot peppers in it.

Looks like we got spicy food. I don't know why it really matters what we have at this point, since the Empress doesn't eat anything anyway, and she usually eats rice. Of course, there's a HUGE production about how she needs to have soy sauce, and that she needs to have ice in her drink, and how the drink glass is too small, and how she needs to have a fork...

Anyhow, after lunch, we went to a preserved area of Chongqing, where we saw architecture from the Ming and Qing dynasties, lots of artwork, and a lot of young women in their bridal gear, getting their pictures taken before their weddings. It was really a beautiful place.

We then headed to the airport, as we needed to catch our 5 p.m. flight to Xi'an on Hainan Airlines. We got to the airport a couple of hours early. All the time we were in Chongqing, we had nothing but our carry on luggage in the van (which took up the the whole back of the van with all the crap the other two are accumulating....I'm thinking "editing" is a great word for them). I had no idea if we were going to see our bags again, as I was really leery about letting people take care of them without me holding on to them.

We got through security, both mom and I got through it without a hitch.......and yet again, the Empress, and TWF got stopped for their lighters, their bottled water, etc. JEEBUS CHRISTMAS...you'd think they'd know by now..... Mom and I didn't wait for them this time, because we knew it was going to be another unnecessary production. We just went to the gate, got a Pepsi, and mom surprised me with some TCBY.

We got onto the plane, and it was a 737-800 with the 3 and 3 seating. Mom sat on one aisle seat, me in the other across the aisle, and the gruesome twosome sitting next to me in the middle and the window. Well, of course that wasn't acceptable for the 45 minute flight, as TWF needed more room. I wasn't about to move, and at least he was smart enough not to ask me to switch seats.

Anyhow, they HAD to get different seating, had to have more room, and of course made the flight attendant let them switch seats. Mom and I got a whole row to ourselves, and all was right. After we took off (and mind you, the weather was about 82 degrees), they turned on the heat in the airplane. After sweating for 25 minutes, we finally told the flight attendant (whose English was very limited) that it was hot. Then the air conditioning came on again.

We then got to Xi'an, landed, and then went down to get our luggage. TWF had a HUGE trolley full of bags, and mom and I just had our same two that we started the trip with. We met Susan, who is very young, and very smiley, and very cute, and weighs probably all of 85 pounds. And of course the Empress wanted to make her push their mammoth luggage trolley to the van, this time it was about a quarter of a mile away. Susan helped mom with one of hers instead. Smart girl.

We got to the van, and headed into Xi'an. Of course we needed to stop at a liquor store, so that the Empress and TWF could get some wine and booze. And after monkey-farting around for 15 minutes, we were at our hotel in less than 2 minutes.

We checked in (which was another ordeal since the other twosome needed a smoking room, and needed two beds, and needed......ugh....I got tired listening...). I just made sure we had non-smoking with 2 beds.

Well, we got up to the room, and there was only one queen-sized bed. We walked out, to an attendant on the floor, and said we had requested a room with two beds. She quickly got things changed for us. As there is a huge convention here for the American Diabetes Association (of all places in Xi'an), there were no regular rooms available. As a result, they would have to upgrade our room to a suite.

We didn't mind.

We had dinner, a beer, watched some TV, and then fell asleep. It's now Friday morning, and we're off to see the terra cotta warriors, and the Xi'an museum. It should interesting today!