Overall we had a pretty jam packed schedule. A few days in Beijing, then a quick trip to Datong to see temples and giant Buddha statues in the mountains, then rivers and shows and oh my.
Here were some of the fun highlights:
- All the sights. Including the Great Wall, several temples, rivers, the Reed Flute Cave, and pandas. Also, we had several shows including recreations of Tang dynasty work, a light comedy/variety show in a recreated "opera" house, and a spectacle on the Li river done by the same guy who did the Beijing Olympics. If there's one thing that's lacking in China, it definitely is not human labor.
- Whole family fun! And no one killed each other.
- The variety of tourguides. We got a national guide that stayed with us the whole way, and local guides who knew the area intimately. So we had some younger, some older, a teacher, and some "hip" guides. They were all exceptional. Apparently you have to know 6 different languages besides Chinese to work in tourism.
- Food, food, and more food. Our national guide figured out we could pretty much anything, so we got a good variety of local specials from the different regions. If you think Chinese cooking is all the same, you've never had real Chinese food. Oh, and we got snake for one meal.
- Bargain shopping! As it turns out you can bargain quite the bargain around China. Nabbing thing for less than 1/2 the original price is easy, but the really fun times were getting it closer to 1/4th the price. Sometimes they chased you down the street to finally agree to your final asking price. And remember, walk away at least 2 times or else you're getting jipped. I only really bought gifts though, but my cousin scored a huge load of random shiny things. Some to wear, some for her home.
- Visiting our original village. We also learned the story behind how my grandmother was able to come to the states and met others from the clan.
- Coming home to less crazy drivers and way less smog. Oh, and potable water coming out of the faucet again.
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