Traveling in STYLE in an authentic rikshaw through the Beijing Old Town area. Brett and I were pedaled about the narrow streets of Old Town Beijing, with cars whizzing past us mere inches away. But our driver was very careful and considerate, and even supplied a warm quilt for us on this cold day in Beijing.







In each city we visited, we had our own private guide to the highlights. Here I am with Mei, our Chongqing city guide. This was actually a clear day in Chongqing. The haze you see in the background is smog, primarily from automobile exhaust. China expects to have a 140 million autos on their roads by the year 2020. Currently, there are about 600 million autos in the ENTIRE world, so by 2020, China should account for about 25% of the total vehicles on our planet's roadways. (cough, cough. Hey...how about a few hybrids, China!)


















With 3600 years of recorded history, you might imagine that the Chinese people have a rich and varied spiritual background. Everywhere we went, there were statues, wood carvings, and drawings depicting the hundreds of deities from Chinese mythology.

Below is a shot of Brett and I in Fengdu the "Ghost City" on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. The ghost city is reputed to be inhabited by angry gods and deities. This fellow we are posing in front of, doesn't seem too happy :(

Just like here at home, late March is Springtime in China. While it was COLD in Beijing, as we worked our way south toward, Chongqing and Shanghai, the days warmed right up. China has an incredible variety of flowering shrubs and trees.

Here I am in front of what I was told is a variety of Peach tree. These were blossoming all over the hillsides as we worked our way toward Shanghai.





China is a land with an artistic heart. The people are very interested in music, dance, drawing and painting. I met the young lady pictured below on the Great Wall. She is practicing an art called nei-wa, or "inside painting". She is actually using tiny paint brushes to paint Chinese landscape scenes INSIDE a tiny glass bottle. You can only imagine the amount of patience this takes, not to mention an extremely steady hand. This girl was a real sweetheart and was so happy to be practicing her art in such a majestic setting.

















Below you see a photo I took in the city of Chongqing, which as I mentioned earlier, has a population of 28 million people. Chongqing (pronounced chong-ching) had more of a rural Chinese feel to it. In Beijing, the buildings and streets looked more like Detroit - a much more "down to business" feel. But as we explored the hilly curving avenues and side streets of Chongqing, I sensed that I was entering the true heart of China. If I had to compare it to an American city, I would say that Chongqing was reminiscent of San Francisco - more earthy, and laid back.

The Chinese people seem genuinely happy, and are very curious to learn about Westerners. Brett and I felt very welcome throughout our journey in China, and were amazed that many of the local people spoke excellent English.

The man sitting down you see in the photo below is a "Chicken Vendor". His woven baskets are filled with LIVE chickens. He meanders about the streets calling out "chickens, chickens, chickens for sale" (in Mandarin Chinese of course).

Brett and I traveled to China last March, between the last week of March 2006 and the first week of April 2006. Our general itinerary was to fly into Beijing, spend two days there, then fly to Chongqing to board a 200 passenger cruise ship, and cruise for 4 days down the Yangtze River, all the way to the Three Gorges Dam project. We disembarked from our cruise ship near Shanghai, and spent two days in that marvelous and spectacular city.

You really cannot imagine what a city of 24 million (Beijing) people is like. There is nothing in America that can compare to this. It boggles the mind! 24 million people all in one huge city! And Beijing is not even China's most populous city. Chongqing has 28 million.

As this blog evolves, I will be uploading more photos with brief descriptions. I can't wait to start blogging about my upcoming trip to Kenya, Africa.

Keep listening to all of the gang at WYCD!

Thanks!

I love to make new friends on every trip. Incredibly, there was only one other couple in our tour group; Vicki & Rick from Oklahoma. Vicki and I really hit it off. Here we are in the front of a sampan boat, exploring one of the gorges along the Yangtze river.

















Here I am helping our sampan pilot watch out for DRAGONS in the waters of the 3 Gorges.
Actually, Dragons are considered very good luck in China...a symbol of power and wisdom, and an emblem of the emperors of old China.



















Me and my gang...we live to ride...the Yangtze River!
Here I am with hubby (to be at that time) Brett, and Rick & Vicki from Oklahoma
They were great traveling buds, and we shared lots of laughs.

Jyl Out & About in BEIJING CHINA - Jyl poses with a Chinese Turtle (very good luck)
in a park outside of Beijing.


Scene from a local restaurant - Beijing.















Jyl and Brett in the Forbidden City - Beijing



















Some REAL Chinese tea - good for what ails ya!

















NO Jyl...you CAN'T have ANOTHER dog!


Some folks say Jyl is "Off the Wall" but here, she is very much ON the Wall - Great Wall, that is.
(this photo was taken on the way back from the 2nd Guard House structure you see on the distant horizon). Outside Beijing.