Janet and Steve's 5^th Trip to China

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On Wednesday, December 23, 1998, four University of Maryland University College Asian Division faculty members (Rebecca Bogart, David Rowson, Janet Smith, and Steven Usdansky) departed Okinawa for a trip to Hong Kong and points west. Below are thumbnails of the digital photos (taken with a Fuji MX 700 camera that document our travels. To see the full-size photo, just click on the appropriate thumbnail.

Hong Kong December 98

Upon arriving in Hong Kong, we as intrepid backpackers, proceeded to that well-known backpacker hangout, Chungking Mansion where we secured rooms for the evening. After cheking in, we found ourselves a harbor cruise for the evening. Thursday morning found us in the offices of the China International Travel Service where Steve and Janet made visa arrangements (only HK $320 apiece) and we all booked seats on a flight to Guilin and rooms at the Rong Ju Hotel for the evening. After lunch at Planet Holywood, and a very enjoyable hazy afternoon at Victoria Peak, we picked up our visas and tickets, and headed back to the airport for our excursion into China.

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Yongshuo December 98

The first thing we did in Guilin was get out. After quick taxi ride to the train station, and an outrageous (triple the proper price) payment of RMB 15 apiece, we were on the minibus to Yangshuo. As soon as we stepped off the minibus in Yangshuo, we were mobbed by touts touting (what do you expect them to do?) their accomodations. We settled on the Zhuyang Hotel (RMB 160/night for a nicely-paneled, heated double). One note about these photos - the last photo in the table below was actually taken in our hotel room in Guilin when we were departing. The gentleman in the front center is "Uncle Bob" Wang, our travel/tour-booking agent who operates out of one of the hotels midway down the main shopping street of Yangshuo toward the river. Although he has a sign that says CITS, his service is incomparably better. We highly recommend him.

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Bicycling Around Yangshuo December 98

Christmas day in Yangshuo. A very pleasant day to bicycle around the countryside. Our guide, Feng led us through a most enjoyable day which included lunch at her sister's house.

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Cruising the Li December 98

The next day, it was our Uncle Bob-arranged cruise on the Li River. In addition to the boat owner, his wife, and young son (who spent most of his time doing his math lessons), our fellow travellers were a group of of English speakers (Australian, British, and American) all of whom work in Shanghai.

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Guilin December 98

We decided we'd like a full day in Guilin before going our separate ways (David and Rebecca were off to Thailand and Vietnam). We spent our morning along the Li River and climbing around Elephant Trunk Hill; the afternoon was spent checking out the stores on Zhongshan Lu.

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Cruising the Yangtze December 98 - January 99

Whereas David and Rebecca headed south, we turned north flying to Chongqing and booking ourselves passage on a ferry down the Yangtze River through the Three Gorges. Recommendation: don't do this trip in the fog and rain of early winter. You just can't see as much as you'd see during the summer. The Minor Three Gorges side-trip was the highlight of this section of the trip.

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Beijing

We left the ferry at Sha Shi, took a bus to Wuhan, and departed the next morning for Beijing (on a less than 25%-filled plane). Upon our arrival in Beijing, we arranged for tours two days of tours to the Ming Tombs (not shown below as no photos are permitted in the only tomb open to the public), Great Wall (where we met three traveling Zimbabweans), Forbidden City, Summer Palace, and Temple of Heaven. Tienanmen Square was closed for construction work, but the McDonalds across the street was open. Our last day in Beijing was spent shopping (we almost bought a large cloisonne vase) and at the Lama Temple (well worth-while and very easily accessed via subway). After that it was back to Hong Kong for a day before returning to Okinawa.

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Janet and Steve's 5th Trip to China