Back in the USA

Like we often do, we stopped at Joel's on our way to Arizona.  Joel was planning to build a new wood shed so I had a chance to help him with that while Yvonne spent some quality time with the grandchildren.  It rained for most of our visit but we still had a great time.

Seve announced he had another loose tooth so everybody provided creative advice on how to speed up the inevitable. Milton took out his bow and arrow and described, in detail, what had to be done while Atti reached for his Nerf super-shot-gun and tried to configure a way to tie a string to a foam bullet.  In the end, Seve decided the tooth would be removed by Nerf gun. Not Atti's semi automatic multi-burst rifle but by using his own single shot Nerf pistol. We set up our cameras and waited while Joel tied one end of a dental floss thread around the loose tooth and the other end to a foam Nerf gun bullet. After the third unsuccessful attempt, we turned off our recording devices. It just didn't look promising. The tooth was in too solid.  Seve kept shooting away, trying different angles and suddenly the tooth flew out and landed on the floor halfway across the living room. Sadly, nobody caught the action on film. Tooth in hand, Seve had only one request... Is it possible to get bills instead of coins from the tooth fairy?

Here's Milton with his newest guitar. I've lost count on how many he's had. 

And here's Atti on his way to the Slocan Youth Centre where he and Milton watch movies, eat popcorn and generally just hang out with other school kids. 

We left Joel's house early Sunday morning and arrived in Dillon, Montana in time for supper. We were tired and asleep by 9PM. 6AM breakfast and on the road again. Mid afternoon on Monday, we arrived at our favourite B&B in Panguitch Utah. Pizza for supper and early to bed. Tuesday, we faced a short 6 hr. drive into Phoenix and then to neighbouring Mesa.

After a quick stop at Sprouts and Walmart to pick up a few essentials, we drove into the Leisure World complex. It was around 3PM on Tuesday afternoon and there didn't seem to be a soul around.

Just a regular October day in Mesa. Quite a contrast from what we left back in Alberta less than 5 days ago.

We never know what to expect after our six month absence. Our 4 year old citrus trees are finally producing fruit and doing great. The Washington Navel has a dozen oranges growing and the Arizona Sweet has too many to count. Our old grapefruit tree has it's usual bumper crop of sweet pink grapefruit. The new fan palm tree seems to like it's summer watering schedule. It grew to about 8 ft in height.

Most of our cacti are doing fine but we did have a couple Mexican Fenceposts fall over. If it rains a lot during the summer monsoon season, and it usually does,  these fast growing cacti absorb a lot of water. They tend to grow tall and straight and fatten up in an effort to store water for leaner tines.  In doing so, they get top-heavy for their relatively small root systems and sometimes they simply fall over when the ground gets soggy and the wind picks up.  It's the third time since 2011 that we've had that particular grouping fall over.  Falling over doesn't necessarily mean the whole plant will be tossed out. If the tops haven't been damaged by the fall, I will usually cut off the top one or two feet of each arm with a pruning saw and simply replant them into the ground. Resist the urge to water them. They'll do just fine.

Regarding the house and the rest of the yard, everything was just as we left it last April.  A quick rinse of the front and rear patios and the outside furniture was moved out of the garage and living room.  Sheets draped over the inside furniture were folded up and stored. The house was virtually dust-free after six months of being shuttered. By 6PM it was cool enough to enjoy an IPA on the back patio and light the BBQ.

We go to China

CHINA 2017

Enjoy your last Tim Horton coffee girls. China is known for it's tea. 

Because of the size of the China 2017 group, the Morinville Chamber of Commerce offered us a free bus ride to the Calgary Airport, approximately 200 miles away. There were three pickup points available, the Morinville Town Office, the St Albert Inn in St Albert and the Cedar Park Lodge in South Edmonton. Sixteen of us decided to take the bus from Morinville. We gathered in the parking lot behind the Town Office, as we were told to do, for the 6:30AM departure.  All sixteen of us arrived by 6:15AM, eagerly waiting for the bus in near freezing weather.  Most of us had been dropped off so there was no warm place to wait. Did I mention the parking lot is in the rear of the Town Office.  As it turned out, our bus driver had driven by at 6:15 and saw nobody on the street in front of the town office so he continued on to his 2nd pick-up spot, in St Albert, without us. Luckily, everybody carries a cell phone. Someone in our group called ahead to another traveller waiting in St Albert and had the bus come back for us.

We were fortunate to have this opportunity to travel to China. The Morinville Chamber of Commerce was offering an organized tour to Beijing and Shanghai with optional side trips like seeing the Terracotta Worriers excavation site or a cruise down the Yangtze River. 

We chose the 4 day/ 3 night  Yangtze River Cruise and had to forego the Terracotta Worriers tour. We attended a couple group meetings over the summer and met most of the other 70 participants, 10 of which we already knew. 

Finally, we're in Calgary and we're actually on the Hainan Airbus A330 to Beijing.

The Temple of Heaven

China seems to be in a constant state of celebration. 

I shot this scene through the window of the Wanda Realm Hotel in Beijing. I have no idea what was being advertised but the colour and scale of the sign caught my eye.  We spent 4 nights in this luxury hotel while we toured Beijing and the surrounding area.

Breakfasts at 7:00 and bus trips at 8:00 was the usual schedule.  We went to shrines and temples and visited famous places like China's Great Wall, Tiananmen Square, the Olympic Bird-Nest stadium and the Three Gorges Dam. We saw how silk is processed into artworks, carpets, bedding and clothing and how pearls are grown and harvested and made into jewelry and face creams. We also learned how jade is mined and processed and how to tell good jade from the fake stuff. 

It's always meal time and this is the way we ate. We had a choice of drinks, which always included a small glass of beer but the dishes were pre selected by our hosts. The dishes were placed on a large turntable and we all helped ourselves to the Western Chinese Food. 

I wonder how these three wheeled mini vehicles would stand up to our Canadian winters.

My favourite model.

Lost or need directions? These friendly gals are here to help. Surprisingly, not knowing the language did not hinder us. There was always somebody around that could translate for us.

The Happy Buddha. If you rub his belly and you will experience eternal happiness. Apparently, eternal happiness is easy to obtain in China.

Rental boats, lined up in rows, ready for China's 8 day National Holiday. This photo was taken at Kunming Lake near the Dragon Lady's summer palace, a popular place for holidayers and tourists.

Here's a novel idea. I'd like to do this in my yard. No more grass to cut.

Lotus flowers and giant leaves were in abundance at Kunming Lake. 

Soaking your feet in scalding hot water and getting a foot massage is something you're expected to do in China.

 Experts in Chinese medicine diagnose Tito. Sadly, they gave him only 30 more years to live.

Peking Duck. Best eaten hot. It gets a bit greasy when it cools off.

Diane and Yvonne pose by some street art in Beijing.

Sandi showing her unbiased approval of Tito's interest in purchasing "Authentic Rolex" watches. Betty is next in line with her money in hand. 

3 for $10 USD

Government buildings and flower gardens skirt Tiananmen Square in Beijing

Ornate roof tiles in the Forbidden City. Apparently there were 9,999 rooms in this gated community.

Cathy, Yvonne and Sandi with Caroline, our Yangtze River Cruise guide.  Caroline looked after us. She made sure we were first in line for everything including shore excursions.

Focused with her selfie stick.

This side-trip adventure came as a total surprise for us. All 300 passengers left the cruise ship and boarded these pea-pod boats to row down the Shennongxi Stream. Traditionally, these boats were pulled from shore by naked men, so the story goes. They pulled us for a time but they kept their clothes on.

The Seven Alberta Gals on a night out.

George and Diane's silk embroidery treasure. Being shipped home in a crate.

Shanghai at night.

The Great Wall is 4000 miles long and over 2000 years old. This section of the wall, which is accessible to tourists, has been rebuilt to represent the original design.

This youngster celebrates climbing the wall.

Tito, Sandi, Don and Cory climbing the steps of the Great Wall. The steps are all at irregular heights, a deliberate design to trip-up invaders during border conflicts with Mongolia, the Northern enemy at the time.

This is a common sight on the side streets of Beijing.

One afternoon in Beijing we boarded rickshaws for a tour of the Hutong area.  There were thousands of traditional homes, of similar style and architecture, densely packed on both sides of the zig-zag streets. The rickshaw tour ended at one of those homes and we were treated to traditional music and a home made dumpling lunch.

Cathy and Yvonne

Like a boss, Sandi takes on the task of cleaning up the place.

The dragon, a symbol of power.

Inviting archway to an inner courtyard.

Somebody's back yard retreat.

After 4 nights in Beijing we flew to Chongqing to board a cruise ship. Chongqing experienced rapid growth since the Three Gorges Dam Project. According to  our guide, self proclaimed Handsome David, Chongqing's population grew from 7 million to 32 million over a period of 20 years. Considering that the population of Canada is around 37 million, that's quite impressive for a city most of us have never heard of. 

During that expansion timeframe over 40 bridges, like the one pictured above, were built to handle the increased traffic. Unlike most Chinese cities there are hardly any bicycles here because of the mountainous terrain.

The nighttime view from our cruise ship patio.

Disembarking from our ship, the President #7

This was the first time the Morinville Chamber of Commerce offered a river cruise as an optional component of the China trip. It was also apparent that Citslinc had had very few cruises, if any, as part of their China trip packages. 

Peter, the Citslinc rep that we met in St Albert prior to the trip, seemed to downplay the cruise and stated that we would likely encounter inferior food and accommodations on the ship compared to the hotels. While the rest of the tour group flew off to Xian to see the Terracotta Warriors dig site, 14 of us were undeterred by Peter's comments and signed up and paid the extra $800 for the 3 night/ 4 day Yangtze river cruise. We found the President 7 accommodations to be great and the ship food was even better than what we had eaten at most tourist restaurants. This is not to say the food offered in Beijing and Shanghai was bad but we found that, regardless of where we ate, with the exception of the Peking Duck supper, the menu was virtually always the same. While in Chongqing and on the President 7 we had Szechuan style Chinese food which, in my opinion, is tastier because of their spices. Peter was right about one thing. The beer will be acceptable but don't expect to find a good Chinese-made wine.

Arrow points to the Three Gorges Dam

Our river cruise began in Chongqing and ended in Yichang. Along to way we stopped in Fengdu Ghost City, Qutang Gorge, Wu Gorge and Shennong Stream before descending through the locks at the Three Gorges Dam.

 The Three Gorges Dam and ship locks

Incense sticks and candles burning at a temple shrine.

Local lady working on the Lama Temple grounds.

It did sprinkle a bit while we were in Beijing but it didn't stop us from getting around.

George hedging his chances at eternal happiness. George, I thought you were Catholic!

Standing and balancing on a ball 30 seconds will give you eternal happiness. Again, eternal happiness seems easy to obtain in the Chinese culture.

Yangtze River boat traffic. This part of the river was relatively clean.  

When in China....

The main hall and staircase of the President 7 cruise ship.

Our cruising speed on the Mag-Lev bullet train to the Shanghai airport.

The Crowne Plaza, our Shanghai digs.

Yvonne and I in front of one of countless pagodas.

This is the typical reaction you get when you ask if you can photograph someone. 

Beijings Forbidden City

Facts on Concubines and Eunuchs

Chinese Emperors kept themselves busy with ceremonial and administrational duties during their working hours but it was the pursuit of happiness that occupied their time come nightfall. According to Chinese belief, frequent contact with young girls could sustain one's youth, so the emperors sought to prolong their lives with as much frolicking with the imperial concubines as possible.

The names of the concubines were kept on jade tablets near the emperor's chambers, making it easy for the emperor to chose his companion for the night. Stripped naked (and therefore weapon-free), the lucky lady was gift-wrapped in a yellow cloth before being piggybacked over to the royal boudoir by a eunuch.

As for the palace eunuchs, the royal chop was administered using a swift knife and a special chair with a hole in the seat. Around half died after the operation. Mutilation was considered grounds for exclusion from the next life, so many eunuchs carried their former appendages around in pouches believing that at the time of their death the spirits might think them as whole.

A local artisan working at the Cloisonne Lacquer / Copper Factory.

Kunming Lake tour boat.

The new architecture in both Beijing and Shanghai is truly surprising for first-time visitors. It's quite the opposite from what we'd expected for China. 

Mao Tse Tung would surely turn over in his grave if he saw the rampant "freedom of expression" being displayed in modern day China.

50 ft wide television screen on a skyscraper in Beijing.

All in all the trip was well worth it and we strongly recommend to sign up for the next one if you're interested in guided tour of China. Apparently the Morinville Chamber is offering the trip again in the spring and so is the St. Albert Rotary Club.