Where in the World are Dave and Elizabeth?

From around 1420 to 1924, the Forbidden City was the winter palace complex for the Emperor of China.  What remains today covers 7.75 million square feet.  The museum part consists of 980 buildings.  I had no idea that it was that large!  The mystical animals on the roofs have significance both for the number and in which order they are lined up. One function was to serve as guardian totems which Feng Shui masters believed would drive evil spirits away. Also, some of them had iron tongues that stuck out and were attached to wire.  This was an early version of a lightening rod. Our guide said the mystical animals also communicated information about the building and could be read like a language. The Forbidden City was constructed according to geomancy (Feng Shui), and the buildings are red and yellow or gold, which are believed to be auspicious colors.  The layout emphasizes the importance of the Emperor, who was believed to be divine. The Chinese thought of ...

 We pulled into Tianjing this morning. Yesterday, we were in Dalian.  Today, I will be catching up on the blog with tidbits from Suzhou, Dalian, and  Tianjin Of course, this is the Year of the Dragon according to the Chinese zodiac.  All the cities in China we have seen feature dragons and the color red in decorations this year, and Dalian was no exception.  Our guide in Suzhou the other day explained that it is considered very fortunate to be born in the Dragon year, so many Chinese families time their pregnancies to coincide with this time. I read later that this has sometimes strained the limits of maternity care in certain years. All of the red and gold is very cheerful on these chilly, in between winter and spring days. The current city of Dalian was founded by Russians in the nineteenth century, so the old heart of the city has a Russian influence. We visited a city park that was laid out during the Russian time.  There has also been a huge Japanese i...

Dajia Hao! Yesterday was our second and last day in Shanghai. Dave and I took a long shuttle ride to near the Bund River Walkway.  Shanghai is magnificent, but overwhelmingly large and there is no way we could do more than scratch the surface of this great city in just two days.  Being in the Bund Area let us see and interact with one piece of Shanghai's heart. One place we visited was the beautiful Fairmount Peace Hotel, which was built in 1929.  I noticed that near the Hotel, there were some women who dressed in styles from the 1960's to the 1940's.  How fun it has been to see the care that so many Japanese, Korean, and Chinese young people put into their dress. For us as tourists, it's kind of like visiting not only a place, but a time, as well. Our plan had been to go to the Yu Gardens for some of Shanghai's famous Xiaolongbao, but our trip to the Bund took longer than we anticipated, and our time was limited. I am sure we were surrounded by authentic restaurant...

  We followed our sea day schedule today.  We entered the Kanmon Straits about 4:00 PM, and the cruise director narrated via loud speaker all of the famous points.  Dave and I went outside to take pictures, but missed most of her talk. Commercial ships use the Straits as a cut through from Korea and China to Osaka or Tokyo. We passed through it on our way to Fukuoko and, ultimately (March 7), to Shanghai, China.  We have been warned not to use our phones or other devices in China. Not only is there a danger of interference, many common apps, like Google or Instagram, won’t work there. Once we arrive in Hong Kong on the 16th, we should be able to communicate again.  Sayonara

Look who got his haircut at a Japanese barber shop! While I waited, I was the only woman in this very male space, and Dave and I were the only foreigners.  Dave and the barbers tried hard to communicate though the barbers knew no English and Dave knew no Japanese.  Luckily, another patron spoke both languages and bridged the gap.  Before cooking We wandered around and wound up at a cozy Kobe beef restaurant. The chef and staff were great, and the food was beyond delicious.   After running a couple of errands in the shopping district, we decided to walk back to the ship rather than riding the monorail. We wanted to see more of the city on foot. Along the way, we ran into some kind of protest? Parade?  If you read Japanese, we would love to know what the signs say. Two women on a car drove ahead of the crowd and spoke slogans through a megaphone. Police came along beside the unhappy looking line of people and made sure that the protestors and traffic were orderly....