DAY 65 - XINGANG, CHINA - (BEIJING) - APRIL 2, 2010

THE ALARM SOUNDED AT 5:30 AND BY 6:45 WE WERE IN THE BUFFET HAVING BREAKFAST. WITH SO MANY PEOPLE OFF THE SHIP IT WAS ALMOST LIKE HAVING THE PLACE TO OURSELVES. EATING ON THE VERANDA WAS OUT OF THE QUESTION. THE TEMPERATURE WAS ONLY 7 DEGREES CELSIUS, ROUGHLY 45 F.

WE WERE IN THE LOUNGE BEFORE THE NEW MEETING TIME OF 7:45 BUT FOR WHATEVER REASON WE DIDN’T GET ON THE BUS UNTIL 8:15. THERE WERE THREE PEOPLE WHO HAD BOOKED BUT NEVER SHOWED UP. WE FINALLY PULLED AWAY AT 8:25.

TIANJIN CITY IS THE DESTINATION FOR TODAY. MANY OF THE BUILDINGS AROUND THE PIER AND THE CITY, WHICH WE ALL CALLED XINGANG, INDICATED OR LED YOU TO BELIEVE YOU WERE REALLY IN TIANJIN CITY. NOT SO, TIANJIN CITY IS AT LEAST 35 MILES FROM THE PORT. AS WE HAD DONE YESTERDAY, THE BUS HEADED TO THE HIGHWAY AND THE MILES OF BARREN LAND. ABOUT SIX MILES INTO THE TRIP TRAFFIC CAME TO A COMPLETE STANDSTILL. THE WINDS WERE STRONG, THE AIR WAS FILLED WITH A BROWN DUST, AND IT WAS POSSIBLE THERE WAS AN ACCIDENT.

THE BUS DRIVER MADE SEVERAL CELL PHONE CALLS TO HIS COMMAND CENTER WITH NO RESULTS AS TO THE CAUSE OF THE DELAY. OUR GUIDE ASSURED US WE WERE FINE AND WE WATCHED THROUGH THE WINDOWS AS SEVERAL OF THE PASSENGERS AND DRIVERS OF OTHER VEHICLES GOT OUT OF THEIR CARS TO RELIEVE THEMSELVES. WE HAVE PICTURES TO PROVE IT.

THIRTY MINUTES LATER THE TRAFFIC BEGAN TO MOVE AND THE CAUSE OF THE DELAY BECAME EVIDENT SEVERAL MILES UP THE ROAD. A RAMP LEADING TO ANOTHER INTERSECTING HIGHWAY WAS BACKED UP BUMPER TO BUMPER. AS WE INDICATED IN PREVIOUS WRITINGS CHINESE DRIVERS DO NOT OBEY THE RULES AND CONSEQUENTLY BOTH LANES OF OUR HIGHWAY WERE BEING USED TO MOVE INTO THE RAMP LEADING TO THE OTHER HIGHWAY. ONCE WE MOVED BEYOND THE INTERCHANGE WE NEVER ENCOUNTERED ANYMORE DELAYS.

OUR FIRST STOP WAS TO HAVE BEEN THE CONFUSCIOUS TEMPLE, HOWEVER THE TEMPLE WAS BEING RENOVATED AND THE STOP WAS CHANGED TO A BUDDHIST TEMPLE IN THE MIDDLE OF TIANJIN CITY. EACH OF OUR VISITS TO THE BUDDHIST TEMPLES HAS BEEN QUITE INTERESTING. THEY ALL SEEM TO FOCUS ON SOME SPECIALITY. IN CASE YOU WERE NOT AWARE, THERE ARE OVER 12,000 BUDDHAS. TAKE YOUR PICK, LAUGHING, CRYING, SMILING, YOU NAME IT AND YOU CAN PRAY TO IT FOR WHATEVER. I DON’T WISH TO MAKE LIGHT OF IT BUT I CANT’FIGURE OUT HOW THEY KEEP TRACK OF THEM ALL, AND WHICH ONE DOES WHAT.

ANYWAY THE PLACE WAS ACTIVE, MORE SO THEN ANY OF THE OTHERS WE VISITED, WITH LARGE TRIPODS WITH BELLS, INCENSE BURNERS, AND VENDORS SELLING THINGS FOR OFFERINGS TO BUDDHA. THE BUILDINGS ARE IN THE MING ARCHITECTURE AND ARE VERY COLORFUL. OUR STAY LASTED ABOUT 40 MINUTES.

ALTHOUGH OUR NEXT STOP WAS ONLY FIVE MINUTES AWAY, WE BOARDED THE BUS FOR THE SHORT JOURNEY. BILLED AS THE TRADITIONAL CHINESE FLEA MARKET IT ALSO WAS UNIQUE. THE MARKET WAS SEVERAL BLOCKS LONG IN EACH DIRECTION AND THERE WERE SEVERAL SIDE STREETS WITH JUST AS MANY STORE FRONTS. JEWELRY, CERAMICS, PAINTINGS, SILKWORKS, GAMES AND MUCH MORE WERE AVAILABLE FOR A PRICE.

ALTHOUGH WE WERE NOT LOOKING FOR ANYTHING SPECIAL, GEORGIA FOUND A BEAUTIFUL SET OF CERAMIC DOLLS. WHEN YOU SEEM INTERESTED THEY HOLD UP A CALCULATOR WITH A NUMBER, REPRESENTING THE DOLLARS THEY ARE REQUESTING. IN OUR CASE THE AMOUNT WAS $35. GEORGIA INDICATED NO, BEGAN TO WALK AND THE PRICE DROPPED TO $25 AT WHICH POINT GEORGIA CLEARED THE CALCULATOR AND ENTERED $20. THE DEAL WAS DONE.

WE OF COURSE SNAPPED DOZENS OF PICTURES AS WE PARADED THROUGH THE CROWDED MARKET. IN ADDITION TO THE LOCAL WHO FREQUENT THE MARKET, HUNDREDS OF ASIAN TOURIST FLOODED THE STREETS. IT IS FUNNY TO WATCH THE ASIAN GROUPS. IN AN EFFORT TO DISTINGUISH THEM APART THEY ARE, IN A SENSE, COLOR CODED. ONE OF THE LARGER GROUPS HAD ORANGE HATS, ANOTHER HAD BEIGE AND A THIRD GROUP HAD WHITE HATS. (LAST YEAR AT THE WALL WE SAW A LARGE GROUP ALL DRESSED UP WITH RED HATS AND RED JACKETS...THEY WERE A SIGHT.

THE MORNING ACTIVITIES ENDED WITH ANOTHER SHORT TRIP TO A LOCAL HOTEL AND ANOTHER FABULOUS LUNCH. BASICALLY THE SAME TYPE ITEMS WITH A LITTLE TWIST. WE NEVER WALK AWAY HUNGERY.

THE TIANJIN CITY MUSEUM WAS THE NEXT STOP. JESSIE, OUR CHINESE GUIDE, HAS US ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREE ITEMS OF PARTICULAR INTEREST. THE FIRST WAS THE JADE CABBAGE, FOLLOWED BY THE ACCIENT TRIPOD AND FINALLY THE SLIK CLOTH PAINTING. BESIDES THOSE ITEMS WE ALSO VIEWED A LARGE SOLIDER LIKE FIGURE MADE OF JADE.

THE MUSEUM STRUCTURE IS EXTREMELY MODERN, COMPLETED JUST SEVEN YEARS AGO, WITH A SHINY POLOSHED STEEL PANELED ROOF AND LARGE GLASS PANEL PERMITTING VAST SUMS OF LIGHT INTO THE MARBLED FLOOR LOBBY. ADDITIONALLY THERE IS MORE SECURITY HERE THAN IN MOST AIRPORTS. THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY IN AND ONE WAY OUT, AND METAL DETECTORS FOR EVERYONE ENTERED THE BUILDING.

OUR LAST STOP WAS THE SHI FAMILY MANSION. IT IS A LARGE COMPLEX OF MANY BUILDINGS IN THE MING ARCHITECTURAL STYLE. THE HISTORY DATES BACK OVER ONE HUNDRED YEARS. IN THE 1940’S AND 50’S THE STRUCTURE WAS OWNED BY A FAMOUS CHINESE MOVIE STAR. UNFORTUNATELY HE ENDED HIS OWN LIFE IN THE 50’S. IT IS REPORTED HE HAD MENTAL PROBLEMS.

BESIDES MANY OF THE OLDER ARTIFACTS OF THE SHI FAMILY, MANY OF THE ROOMS AND BUILDINGS ARE STILL USED AS MEANS OF PROPAGANDA AND INTIMIDATION FOR ASIAN VISITORS. MOVIES OF TRIALS AND ARREST FROM TIMES NOT TO LONG AGO PLAY CONTINUOUSLY. PICTURES OF MAO AND OTHERS IN HIS REGIME HANG FROM THE WALLS AND STILL CARRY COMMUNIST SLOGANS.

THE GARDEN COURTYARD GIVES ALL INDICATIONS THAT SUMMERTIME WOULD DISPLAY VIVID FLORAL COLORS. UNFORTUNATELY WE MISSED THE SPRING BLOOMING TIME BY ABOUT THREE WEEKS.

AS WE HEADED BACK TO THE SHIP I TRIED TO TAKE NOTE OF ALL THE PUBLIC PHONES IN THE CITY, BOTH TIANJIN AND XINGANG. I CAN SAFELY REPORT NONE WERE SPOTTED. NOT EVEN IN THE HOTEL WHERE WE HAD LUNCH. THEY ARE AS RARE AS HENS TEETH.

ALTHOUGH WE SAILED AT 7:00 WE HAD TO BE BACK ON BOARD AT 5:30. THE TERMINAL WAS STILL OPENED AND WE ALL HAD TO PASS THROUGH THE METAL DECTORS BEFORE CLIMBING THE GANGWAY. CHINESE IMMIGRATION INSPECTORS EVEN EXAMINED THE PASSPORT COPIES WE WERE REQUIRED TO CARRY WITH US THROUGHOUT THE CHINA STAY.

OUR RETURN WAS EARLY ENOUGH THAT WE DECIDED TO TRY THE MAIN DINING ROOM. TO BILL HYDES SURPRISE IT WAS ONLY THE THREE OF US. THE OTHERS CHOSE THE BUFFET.