Introduction file= China2015
We had not done a trip to China
and were reluctant to try a self
drive trip there. A travel company,
Wendy Wu, based in Australia,
came very highly recommended.
They provided an ALL INCLUSIVE
trip with an experienced Chinese
tour guide, which seemed very
suitable for ALL our needs.
Every thing apart from personal
expenses were provided, including
all Airlines, International/domestic,
all accommodations, 4 star + (good)
all meals, taxes, visas, some extra
optional excursions were additional.
Our group size was 25 people,
mostly from Oz, & mostly couples
generally aged 60 to 70.(retirees)
The tour included all the must see
items in China, including :-
Shanghai city, 25 million.
Yangtze cruise and 3 the Gorges,
lasting 3 days, cities : Chongqing,
and Chengdu, including the Panda
reserves. Then fly to city of Xian,
with the Terracotta warriors...great.
 Then fly to Beijing to see the city
and visit the Great Wall of China.
This served no useful purpose !
As soon as we got to China, we were glad we had selected the Wendy Wu guided tour. Most towns
had directional sign also in English, but the traffic was VERY heavy, so our usual mode of self drive
cars, as we do in Europe and Nth America, was impracticable. All the pain of finding and booking
hotels and meals was eliminated, making the tour a pleasant experience.
Shanghai, 25 million, very modern Commercial Centre Parj was very impressed with the modern
buildings in Shanghai, having been a Project manager on many High Rise buildings in Australia. The
quality, especially rooftop designs which hid the ugly plant and machinery was excellent, and I am
advised the speed of construction was comparable to the best in Australia. It is difficult to digest  that
most of what we saw, has been achieved in the last 30 years, since the Communist regime was
relaxed to allow enterprise and reward for effort. They were very proud of what they had done.
We visited the CBD and the top of a tall lookout high rise, and travelled on the Mag Lev railway, between
the city and the airport. The standard of the hotels was at least 3.5 to 4 star, with good Chinese buffet
meals. Many Chinese in Shanghai spoke/understood English, and where required, our tour guide,
called Link, made arrangements. Link was a veritable "treasure" as he looked after all of us "OLDIES"
and called us Link's family.
The High rise buildings and numerous modern bridges over the Yangtze, were very impressive. We had
seen some of the recent bridges being built on Pay TV, but were still impressed by their planning and
quality. When we did the Mag Lev train trip, from the City centre to the Airport and return, the train
reached speeds of 431 kph. Bit faster than any of my old motorbikes, or old Porsche, BMW and 350Z ! 
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Some of the modern high rise towers in the
Hazy view of Shanghai, from river bridge. CBD, impressive. Rooftops were well done.
Hazy view from the top of one of the High rise towers ↑
<--- Modern slender tower. The wind effects on this
building could be quite interesting. (slender aerofoil)
Garden walk in Shanghai, Parj got lost !
<--- Good view of Shanghai CBD.
During the Garden walk in Shanghai, we had 2 Wendy Wu groups, ours with LINK and the other with
GEORGE. At one stage, Parj got into Georges group in front, discovered his error, and waited for the 
LINK group which was behind. WE finally established contact by mobile phone and Parj re-joined the
LINK family. LINK was not amused, claiming he had not lost a family member in 5 years of guiding tours.
On this trip, the 1st day, he lost 2 people, other group members giving me "sullen" looks.
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Actual  speed indicator in carriage, above.↑
 <-- Mag Lev train on left, fast and quiet.
LINK, our tour guide with flag, above. ↑
Night view of Shanghai from ferry-------------->
After 2 nites in the amazing Shanghai, we took the plane to Yichang, to get on the ferry for a 3 day
Yangtze river cruise. The Chinese domestic airline checks were more severe than the International
checks out of Australia, and many items including fly sprays, shaving creams and suchlike were taken.
The Chinese have a terrorist problem with their Uighur Muslim minority, from in the North west of China.
The Yangtze ferry was quite comfortable, with air-conditioned cabins, good meals and a well used bar
area, which became well known to many of our group. Nothing wrong with Chinese beer, even though
they had USA and European beers on hand. A day or two into this cruise, both Yollie and Parj got a
repeat bought of Brisbane flu, which they got, despite recent flu  injections. Apparently QLD health
did NOT believe this strain to be dangerous, but it caused us much inconvenience and misery, mainly
when walking and waiting around in ques. We always sought out chairs during stops when off the boat
during excursions and walks. LINK, our tour guide was very helpful and considerate. The river and the
3 gorges Dam area was very spectacular, and of great pride to the Chinese people. I believe the dams
generated a large percentage of Chinese electric power, and had numerous locks to lift large vessels
about 91 metres, making these Inland cities river ports ? We were surprised to learn that Chongqing,
thousands of km inland was a port and the largest population in China, about 35 million people.
Many car and other manufacturing Industries were based here, and we passed many barges carrying
hundreds of new cars, BMW, Mercs, Toyota, Hyundai and more, to Shanghai for export.
Yangtze Ferry, very comfortable, good views. 2 beds/cabin, with AC, fridge, safe, Bit small.
Yol on ferry deck. Ferry dining room, efficient + good food.
Yollie on of many excursions, this one 2-3 km. Parj must have escaped the ferry ??
Model of 3 Gorges Dam project. Produces large View down on the Locks, 5 rises to 91 metres.
proportion of China's electricity needs. Makes Chongqing a seaport 1500 km inland.
Good view of one of the 5  Locks, 19 m rise.. Parj in Chongqing, with mates.
We disembarked the ferry at Chongqing, largest city in China, 35 million. Did s bit of a tour around the
city, then departed by bus to Chengdu to see the Panda research station. This was a real trip highlight.
On the way, we passed many empty high rise residential buildings. The Chinese govt. had built them but
they lay empty as the people could not afford to buy or rent them. This will cause considerable problems
for the Chinese economy, in the future ? We saw an documentary on this on Pay TV before we left.
Large Panda at Chengdu Panda research centre What a lovely group of Pandas.
Two large Pandas in tree. A red Panda, looking beautiful.
Having a rest with one of the locals. Yollie had to see the silk museum. Amazing
how they made this, over 1000 years ago ?
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From Chengdu, we flew to another large inland city, Xian, population about 11 million ( small in China)
The highlight there was the Terracotta warriors, a huge extensive display, excavated over large areas.
Parj was suffering badly from the flu, so reluctantly stayed in the hotel, to be told later by Yollie that he
had missed a magnificent display.
Terracotta statues of warriors. Awesome display, covering huge areas.
These were buried for centuries. Magnificent terracotta horse.
From Xian, we flew to Beijing, our last tourist stop. Link, our tour guide, advised us that because of 
military celebrations of the end of China/Japan war, 1945, we could not visit Tiananmen square and other
features in Beijing. However, the visit to the Great Wall of China was definitely on. Parj was quite curious
how an intelligent people like the Chinese would waste such enormous time and resources on  a 
defensive wall, which any junior lieutenant in any army, ancient or modern, would say to be completely
ineffective. An attacking army of nomadic horsemen could concentrate on a short length of the wall,
overwhelm the defences, and carry on into the interior. A more effective measure would have been to
have a reserve cavalry force, similar to the Mongols bur vastly outnumbering them, to counter attack
any invading force, then drive them out and destroy them. Cannot understand why this was not done ?
Our tour guide, Link, who was part Mongolian, agreed vehemently with this. Remember the Maginot Line,
Hindenburg line, all were defeated by invading armies, as were all other static defences ever built.
Nevertheless, the Great Wall was a magnificent if silly, demonstration of the great effort that the
Chinese civilization could command, at great cost to their future wealth ?
Beijing and Great Wall of China We visited several museums, shops and cultural centres, before
departing to the Great Wall of China. The city itself was quite impressive, with a mixture of new and old
and in-between. Probably one of the oldest, continuous civilizations on earth. The hotel we stayed in
had a KFC and McDonalds next door. I hate to admit that even the KFC tasted quite good, after about
2 weeks of Chinese food. It was remarkable how popular KFC was to the locals ? Even the dreadful
McDonalds, had a full complement of customers ? Thought the Chinese might have been smarter ??
Beijing CBD, very impressive. Did several cultural events. (happy Parj.)
Not of the Bauhaus ? Perhaps the architect
was drunk ?
<--- Parj absorbing culture in one of the museums.
They also dragged us thru many shopping malls, towards
the end of the trip. The Chinese are NOT silly.
Our Beijing hotel, very good, 4 * plus. Rickshaw ride, Beijing, 2 lazy tourists.
Yollie climbed/walked to the top of this section.
Parj stayed in restaurant, holding a beer.
<---- Good view of section of wall that Yollie climbed.
       She was rightly very proud of herself, and gave Parj
       some rubbish for wimping out, ouch !
Yollie near top of this section, bloody WELL DONE ! Parj & mate wimped out of climb.
Jade museum/shop. Did well with Ozzies.
<---- Parj looked and wilted. The flu had weakened him
       but Yollie climbed this anyway. 
Conclusions We had previously religiously avoided guided group tours, having experienced
brief episodes on our previous overseas trips. You always get someone trying to dominate the tour,
asking stupid questions and wasting others time, usually a loudmouth Yank or shamefully an Ozzie.
This time, we had no choice, and it turned out quite well. Many thanks to Wendy Wu, and her excellent
China tour guide, LINK. LINK was efficient, helpful and an amusing guide, a real bonus to our trip.
The Chinese have come a long way in the past 30- years, and no doubt, will keep improving.
Nevertheless, they have many minor deficiencies, such as airport management and controlling a growing'
economy, largely by central control, rather than market forces. Their oversupply of residential housing
is sure to cause major problems in the future. It is also sad to see that tipping has become an accepted
custom in China. Australians are not comfortable with this idea.
The trip home from Beijing was uncomfortable, as we both had medium to bad cases of flu. We had
flu injection in Oz, in April, but this did not protect against the so called Brisbane flu ??
We missed our connection in Hong Kong to Brisbane, the plane from Beijing was delayed. Wendy Wu
had realized this, and had made arrangements for her staff to meet us at Hong Kong, with placards,
and re-book our flight to Brisbane, 6-7 hours later. Well done Wendy Wu again. Could have been
difficult for us to arrange this.
We can highly recommend a trip to China, organized by Wendy Wu based in Australia. They did
everything required with skill and experience, and resulted in a smooth trip with no problems.
Will look forward to using Wendy Wu again, in perhaps Japan, Tibet and who knows where else.
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