Trauma in the Squat Stall- Wuxi to Hangzhou-Day 7

I woke up at 2:45am and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get back to sleep. At 7am we went for another huge buffet breakfast before checking out of the Gloria Grand Hotel Wuxi. The day was dull with pouring rain which suited the geese and pair of black swans that lived in the water area in front of our hotel. Vince made an announcement on the bus that the …

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Suzhou to Wuxi- Day 6

The sun was shining when we woke up.  We were delighted to discover that the hotel offered a huge and varied buffet breakfast; everything from stir fried dishes, to sushi to cocoa cereal. There was also honey dripping from the comb, many types of dim sum including one designed to look like a dog’s head, fresh fruit, dried fruit, yogurt, pancakes with whipped cream, waffles, pastries, salmon and more, …

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A Brave Rescue in Suzhou- Day 5- Beijing, Shanghai & Suzhou

Our day started at 4am because we had an early flight on Hainan Airlines to Shanghai.  We met our new tour guide Celia at the Shanghai airport and took our bus to the Bund area of Shanghai, passing many modern and artistically shaped sky scrapers.  Lunch was at a restaurant near the People’s Hero’s Monument. All our lunches and suppers are in restaurants with large lazy Susans in the middle of the …

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The Great Wall- Beijing Day 4

Wake up call at 5:45. After a buffet breakfast we were in the lobby, ready to go by 7:30. Our first stop was the jade factory. We had an interesting seminar on jade. Unlike Barry, Cole, Steve and Carol,  I managed to forego the temptation to buy. For me the highlight of this stop was getting a great picture with the Terracotta Warriors. Not the real ones; those are in Xian. …

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