Flight to Wuhan & Boarding the Viking Emerald

This morning we woke at 6:00am to get showered and dressed and to have our checked baggage outside our hotel room for the porters. We are flying to Wuhan where we will board the Viking Emerald. Once we had our bags outside the room we got a few other things organized and then we went down to the restaurant for breakfast. I really loved the breakfast buffet – lots of choices and all delicious. After eating breakfast we returned to our room to get any last minute things done. Once our carry on bags were packed, Thomas read and I worked on editing photos and writing blogs.

At 8:00am we went down to the lobby to meet our group. At 8:30am we left the hotel and headed to Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport (SHA). Viking handled all of our flight details and Arnold handed out our boarding passes. Once we had our boarding passes we had to go through security and then make our way to Gate 63. Going through security was quick and easy. First, they checked your boarding pass and passport, then, you went through the metal detector. You didn’t have to take off shoes or belts but you did have to empty pockets and put any electronic devices in a basket. It was so easy! Then we made our way to the gate. We only had a 20 minute wait before we started boarding flight MU2506 on China Eastern Airlines [We were in seats 51AB]. The flight was to be one hour and fifteen minutes. It was a short flight but they still served us a light meal consisting of fried rice, some vegetables and a cookie. I read during most of the flight and Thomas ended up visiting with the woman sitting next to him. We landed in Wuhan at their new airport [Wuhan Tianhe International Airport (WUH)] – it was enormous, clean and beautiful. We made our way to baggage claim but we didn’t have to handle our bags, Viking did that for us. Once all the bags had been collected we made our way to the bus. We couldn’t board the ship until 4:00pm so we had a little outing before heading to the ship.

When we left the airport it was drizzling a bit but it wasn’t bad. We were taken to Qingchuan Pavilion Scenic Area. We learned a little history about Wuhan and the park and then we had free time to explore the area. We spent about an hour at the park and then headed back to the bus so we could make our way to the port.

The line to board the Viking Emerald was short and it didn’t take long to get through security. On our way to board the ship we were greeted by drummers and a dancing dragon - a wonderful way to start the cruise. After security we checked in at the front desk (where they took our passports) and got our room keys. We were escorted to our cabin [212] and give a quick orientation. We then unpacked and organized the room and relaxed for a bit before heading out to explore the ship. At 6:15pm we left the cabin and made our way to Deck 6. We walked around checking out the areas and we went out on deck to marvel at the light display on the buildings of Wuhan. While we were doing this the ship left port and we began our cruise on the Yangtze River (the longest river in China and the third longest river in the world). We slowly made our way down to each deck, checking our the area on each one before continuing down to the next. When we reached Deck 2 we found a place to sit and relax while we waited for the dining room to open for dinner. When they open the doors we waited for the small line to clear and then we entered and found a table. It is open seating at round tables that seat eight people. We found an empty table and eventually it filled with six other people. We had a Western menu to choose from and Thomas had a beef tenderloin with vegetables and I had roasted pork. The meal was delicious and the company was enjoyable – we all raved about how Viking has everything organized and ready and all you have to do is sit back and enjoy. Around 9:00pm Thomas and I left the dining room and returned to our cabin – it had been a long day and we needed some rest. Tomorrow it is a full day of cruising as we make our way to Jingzhou.

A Day in Shanghai

After yesterday’s grueling airport and airplane adventure we arrived in Shanghai and were exhausted. Finally, around 9:30pm (Shanghai time) we went to sleep. I don’t know if I am excited, nervous, energized or whatever but I was awake at 3:30am. I couldn’t seem to get back to sleep so I started a new book (I finished my other book on the flight to Shanghai) and have already read about 35%. So at 5:15am I got up and got some things organized for the day and straightened up my suitcase and backpack. I am trying to keep things organized because we are going to be moving around a lot and we have six internal flights in China so I need to make sure everything fits and that my luggage doesn’t weight too much.

At around 7:00am we went down to breakfast. They had the most amazing breakfast buffet with traditional Chinese foods and Western foods. The choices were overwhelming. So we had a nice relaxing breakfast and prepared for the busy day ahead. We tried some fruit we had never heard of – dragon fruit and longan – they were both delicious. After eating we returned to our room to brush our teeth and wash our hands. We then gathered our things and went down to the lobby to meet with Arnold (our tour guide for the trip). Before we boarded the bus Arnold handed out the QuietVox. These are receivers with earbuds so that you can hear what he says without having to be right next to him. Then it was time to head out for a day in Shanghai.

The bus took us to Old Shanghai – what our tour guide called their “Chinatown”. We got off the bus and walked a few blocks while Arnold told us some of the history and explained the culture. He pointed out things with daily life (like hanging clothes out to dry on pipes hanging in courtyards) and architecture and adornments. It was interesting and overwhelming (so much history for thousands of years). He also stopped at a food shop and pointed out some “street food” that they pick up as they go about their day. Some of it looked delicious and some of the things I was skeptical of whether I would actually eat it. We spent about 45 minutes walking around while at the same time heading in the direction of our next destination. Eventually, we arrived at Yuyuan Garden. To get there you cross a bridge that has nine angles (they believe that ghost can only travel in a straight line and so this prevents them from crossing the bridge and the number nine is good luck). So after crossing the bridge we entered Yuyuan Garden (or Yu Garden as the locals call it). The garden was actually the home of Pan Yunduan who created the garden over his lifetime. We saw some amazing ponds filled with extremely large carp, beautiful architecture and some interesting rocks placed around the five acres. The time we spent here was relaxing and so enjoyable. After the garden we had about 40 minutes of free time to walk around and explore the area. At 11:10am we met up with the group and went back to the bus which took us to a silk embroidery gallery. At the gallery they showed us a demonstration of how the separate the silk threads and how they use different thicknesses to do the embroidery. Then we got to look around the gallery and enjoy the amazing work on display.

After the gallery we headed to a local restaurant for lunch. They served the dishes on a large lazy susan in the middle of the table and you just took what you wanted. We tried everything and we loved most of it. There were two dishes we tried but we didn’t like them at all. It was a great lunch and we enjoyed the family style sharing. Then after lunch we headed out to the Shanghai Museum. The museum had four floors of collections. We started on the fourth floor and worked our way down. We visited the collections of jade, currency, minority clothing exhibit, sculpture and furniture. They had some items in the collections that dated as far back as 4000BC. We were given an hour and 40 minutes but after an hour Thomas and I had enough. So we left the museum and went hang out on a bench outside and just people watched until it was time to return to the bus.

From the museum we headed back to the hotel. But before heading into the hotel we walked across the street to the river for a talk about The Bund which was across the river from us. Then we had some time to walk around and take some pictures. Thirty minutes later we were done and we could do whatever we wanted until 5:00pm which was dinner time. We decided to return to our room and freshen up and relax before dinner.

At 5:00pm we made our way to the eigth floor for dinner. It was a set menu of garden salad, roasted chicken with steamed vegetables and cheesecake. It was a good meal, delicious. Then at 6:30pm we met in the lobby to out to see the Shanghai Acrobatic Troupe. The show lasted about an hour and fifteen minutes. Some parts of the show were excellent and other parts kind of hokey. But overall it was a fun outing. It was about 9:30 when we arrived at the hotel. We finished packing and got our checked baggage ready to be put out in the morning for the porters. Time for bed so we can be ready for our flight to Wuhan in the morning.