Day One-China At Last
After “resting” at Betsy’s and Steve’s in Los Angeles for a
few days ( and slipping in a healthy dose of delightful Rider), we were joined by Judy and Ted and we
began our Chinese adventure. The flight was scheduled for almost midnight so we
opted for a stateside dinner. Our last meal in the US was Paul’s choice: his
favorite restaurant in Los Angeles- Roscoe’s
Chicken and Waffles. Now, don’t get me wrong, this place has delicious
Southern food but we can eat such every day at home. Yet, Paul and Ted ordered
the fried chicken livers and dove right in. After we all ate our favorites,
Betsy drove us to the airport for a three-hour early check-in. The check-in
itself took all of five minutes and the rest of the wait was spent in the
international terminal, which was certainly lacking in charm and amenities.
In the waiting area, we did spy a few people with the
telltale orange tags that would become other “Smart People” on the tour. Most
intriguing were definitely the tall, blond twin women with the deep Southern
drawls and matching zebra patterned sweaters. Was this to be a harbinger of the
next couple of weeks?
While we were looking forward to meeting our other
sojourners , first we sought out a bar to quench our thirst.
Korean Air proved to be a delight in service and
accommodations. The late evening flight took off on time and deposited us at
the Incheon Airport in Seoul a mere 12.25 hours later. In between take off and
landing we were served juice and water numerous times, a questionable chicken
meal that actually tasted much better than it looked and a breakfast choice of
rice mush or something named an omelet, spotless bathrooms (flight attendants
actually cleaned the bathroom after every person!) and lots of choices of
movies. I watched three, which is more than I’ve watched in three years at home
and slept about five hours. Paul slept almost the entire trip as he usually
does when we travel together. I can’t vouch for his patterns when I’m not
around. The flight attendants were
all clones_each lovely with flawless complexions, spotless uniforms,
chopstick-like hair ornaments and unfailingly pleasant dispositions.
The downside of this connecting airport was our arrival at
4:30 in the morning. Nothing in the airport opened until six and we all wanted
coffee. After a transfer within the airport, and while we waited for vendors to
open, we visited the gorgeous restrooms. They had wood paneled walls and a
gadget I’ve never encountered. Mounted on the panel next to the toilet was a
square box labeled in English “Etiquette Bell”. Since I could always
plead that I was jet lagged, I pushed the button to activate. To my surprise,
there was an immediate tinkling sound of a bell, some white noise and the sound
of water running which completely masked the personal noises one makes while
toileting. Though a bit disconcerting, it did relieve the possible anxiety of
someone overhearing the noises one emits when in the bathroom. Guess this must
be a Korean concern as I’ve not seen the Etiquette Bell elsewhere in the world.
Eventually we had $3.50 cups of coffee and shared a small
plate of $10.00 dumplings. Suggestion:
go to the Burger King in the food court on the second level rather than
the restaurants across the way. However, it was there we met the twins who are
from Alabama travelling with their
husbands and a couple from North Carolina.
Promptly at 8:40 we boarded Korean Air again for a short hop
of less than an hour to Pudong Airport in Shanghai. Somehow the additional airline clones managed to serve everyone breakfast which was
a little strange by American standards. It consisted of mixed greens, beef
sauté, sticky rice cake with raisins and Coke. Admittedly, I often served
breakfast for dinner while raising the children but never dinner for breakfast.
Arrival In Shanghai, often called “Paris of the East”, signified it was now March 15 as we had lost a day crossing the International Date Line but our bodies actually held up well. The four of us were awake and alert and ready to see the first of our Chinese cities. The airport was huge with all signs in both Chinese and English. We soon met our Chinese Smartour manager, Owen, and, after corralling our luggage, we boarded our bus for the one-hour ride into the Fudan section of the city. We were officially Smart People.
There were many sights in juxtaposition along the way
including very modern high rise apartment buildings, large single family houses
(which Owen explained might well house several generations of the same family)
and then piles of rubble that were the sign of the demolition and rebuilding
that was rocking Shanghai. The road was clogged with late model cars mostly Volkswagens,
Fords and Buicks. Later Owen explained that all these cars are manufactured in
China and are very popular. Strangely, everything looked so modern to me. Guess
I didn’t expect that to be true.
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| Hotel Lobby |
Anyway, we deposited our bags and assembled for a brief bus ride to the oldest section of the city and a visit in the drizzle to a glorious 16th century garden, Yu Yuan Garden. The garden was constructed by a man who wanted to give a gift to his parents and constructed a place to “stroll” in their old age. It was filled with scenic ponds, limestone rocks and pavilions and, at every turn, was mesmerizing.
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| Garden vistas |
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| Lining up at DQ |
Later we wandered around the adjacent square and discovered, to Ted and Judy’s delight, our first Dairy Queen. I can attest that the chocolate dipped twist cone tasted was a doppelganger of one in their Canton store. Love that DQ product consistency. Paul and Ted tried their first weird street food. It was fried something and they declared it good. This is probably just the beginning of eating unusual foods.
The evening was rounded out with a welcome dinner at the
hotel. The bounty was incredible and very good but we were ready to jump
between the bottom only sheet and
the silk comforter and get some rest for the coming day. 
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