Visiting China for the first time did not make me an expert. But I’m willing to publish my opinions for future discussions with friends. This is purely a text blog with no photos. I hope it spurs thought and further investigation. Comments are welcome!
I’ll begin with a bold statement:
China leads the US in every technical realm except advanced weaponry and some high-tech American cutting-edge research.
Thousands of terracotta warriors were made and buried over two thousand years ago, but they were only discovered in 1974 when some farmers were digging a well. They are buried 2-3 meters deep. They were arranged in a classic large army formation, with the lowest rank soldiers in front, backed by archers and chariots, with the generals in the rear. This is a unique human creation in the world.
The inclusion of Lhasa, Tibet, in Viking's Wonders of China cruise was a big incentive for us to book this trip. Three nights and two full days of tours were only a superficial introduction to this ancient culture. But this was better than nothing. I don't think we otherwise would have ever planned a trip to Tibet. It's simply too isolated, and obtaining the required Chinese visa was expensive.
Chinese opera is a long-established unique Chinese cultural expression. The stage and costumes are over-the-top. The music is stunning...for non-Chinese an acquired taste.
Pandas are China's cultural symbol of its diplomatic efforts to promote peace through cultural exchanges. The US has hosted pandas on loan for many years, as well as pandas loaned to other countries. They are so cute. But we must remember that they are a species of bear. They are not aggressive. But they can be dangerous under certain circumstances.
Our Viking China cruise continued to three port cities I had never heard of before. The Chinese government seeks to increase tourism, and our cruise is one of the first collaborations with the Chinese government and Viking Cruises. The ship's staff is 100% Chinese, and the entertainers are all Chinese. So this particular cruise is different from the usual Viking multi-national staff.
Our ship, the Yi Dun, is named after the first Chinese commercial ship launched in 1872, the Yi Dun.
Flying from Beijing to Shanghai, Susan and I boarded the Viking cruise ship Yi-Dun. We had the pleasure of a Shanghai city tour in which we viewed an ancient garden containing ornate buildings from the Ming and Qing dynasties.
The skyline of Shanghai is impressive, containing the world's third tallest building, the Shanghai Tower with 128 floors, at 2073 feet high. (The world's tallest building is Dubai's Burj Khalifa at 2722 feet high. The second highest is the Merdeka in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, at 2227 feet.)--source Wikipedia
We began our China tour in the capital city of Beijing. Though Beijing is a city of 21 million people, it is very clean and efficient...much above my expectations which were colored by my experience of the crowded cities in India. We toured the famous Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square on our first day, and on the second day we toured a section of the Great Wall of China.
Corfu, Greece, is Greece's northernmost island. It is a popular tourist destination, especially for northern Europeans. It lies opposite Albania in the Aegean Sea. Greek food is legendary. The secluded beaches and verdant mountains are beautiful. What's not to like? Only the over-crowded airport.
Corfu and Albania face each other across a narrow channel. Ferries carry tourists back and forth from Corfu several times a day. Albania is perhaps the least-developed country for tourism in all of Europe. For many years Albania was the poorest country in Europe. Prices are half the costs in Corfu. This makes Albania attractive for tourists. The Albanian landscape is very mountainous, so the tourist industry is promoting the country’s undisturbed natural attractions for adventure tourists.
Stockholm is one of my favorite cities in the world. It is very beautiful, the historic capital of Sweden. I've visited Stockholm over a dozen times, enough to learn a respectable fluency in the Swedish language (which is much easier than German). It's also home to dear old friends. Seeing them was the goal of this visit. I share insights comparing the Swedish and American healthcare and political systems.