I returned last night from almost three weeks in China with my parents. As anticipated, the trip was amazing. I am very jetlagged so I don't plan on returning to work until Monday. Hopefully I can get everything into this report by then plus get myself back onto a regular schedule (I woke up at 11:45 pm last night, thought is was morning for about 20 minutes -- not sure how since my apartment was pitch black -- stayed up til 3, took an Ambien and slept until 9).

Since none of us had ever traveled to China before, we decided to go on the Tauck tour. Overall, the tour was great but personally, I don't think group travel is my thing. But, if I ever do a group trip again I won't hesitate to pick Tauck. The tour started in Hong Kong but we opted to join the tour in Beijing and do Hong Kong on our own at the end for a variety of reasons that I will get to later on.

Here's our Tauck itinerary:
June 30 Beijing
July 1 Beijing
July 2 Beijing
July 3 Beijing to Xian
July 4 Xian
July 5 Xian to Guilin
July 6 Guilin to Chongxing to board the Yangtze River Cruise
July 7 Yangtze River Cruise
July 8 Yangtze River Cruis
July 9 Yangtze River Cruise to Shanghai
July 10 Shanghai
July 11 Shanghai
July 12 Shanghai tour ends

On our own:
June 29 Beijing
July 12 Hong Kong
July 13 Hong Kong
July 14 Hong Kong
July 15 Hong Kong
July 16 fly home

Day One -- June 28 leaving from Newark arriving in Beijing June 29

We were picked up at my UWS apartment for our 12:25 pm flight from Newark. En route, we learned that the flight had been delayed but that the new departure time had not yet been determined. When we checked in, we learned that the flight was leaving around 3 pm. At this point it was only 10 am. We could have gone back into Manhattan after we checked our bags but opted not to. I cannot remember why we made that choice and in hindsight I wish we had gone back to my place. The flight boarded at 3:15, so we were sitting in the airport for 5 hours. At least we were flying Business First, so we got to hang out in the lounge.

My mom had not flown in 12 years, so this extra time gave her more time to worry. She had gotten a Xanax prescription at my insistence but had announced the night before that she would not be taking it.

We finally boarded the plane around 3:15. Continental gave us $500 vouchers for having to wait. We settled into our extremely comfortable seats (this was my first time flying Business First), had a couple of Bloody Marys to calm my mom's nerves (and make it bearable for us to deal with her craziness) and relaxed.

Almost everything about the flight was impeccable. The food and service could not be beat. There was one major problem though -- the entertainment system was not working. The flight attendants rebooted the system several times but could not get it fixed. We were given comment cards to send to Continental so maybe we will get other vouchers.

With my handy Ambien and my noise cancelling headphones, I was able to get some sleep.

We finally landed in the late afternoon. We had been scheduled to meet our family friend, Matt, at our hotel at 4:30 but because of the delay it was already past 5:30. We called Matt and changed the meeting time to 7:30 so we could get there and freshen up before dinner. We were supposed to eat at Salt but Matt had not called the restaurant and it turned out that it was closed Sundays. So we ate at a Korean restaurant instead. We were all exhausted from the flight, so we said good night early and went to bed.

Day 2 -- June 30
Thanks to other posters on this board, I contacted Violet about a week before the trip to see if she would be available for a tour on the 30th. Luckily, she was even on such short notice. Thanks for all of the recommendations. She was fabulous. She met us at our hotel -- the Peninsula -- at 8:30 a.m. Her boyfriend was unavailable that day so she hired a car.

Our first stop was Mutianyu. After reading comments on this board, I knew that I wanted to avoid Badaling if at all possible. Of course the tour would be taking us to Badaling so I decided we should use part of our free day for Mutianyu. After making our way past the vendors, we took the cable car up. The weather was overcast, damp and humid but seeing the Wall for the first time was still incredible. We stayed up there for a couple of hours and then took the tobaggon down. My mom on the tobaggon was hilarious. My dad and I kind of forced her into it. Violet and I went first and we were going pretty slow. But then we got to the bottom and waited. And waited. After what seemed like 20 minutes later (my mom got on right after me), Violet spotted my mom as the first in line in front of a bunch of laughing Chinese people. I don't think it is possible to travel any slower than my mom did. She apologized profusely to the people behind her and since she was going so slowly, I got a good picture (I needed proof -- my brothers would never believe she did this).

After the Wall, we asked Violet to take us shopping. I wanted to buy pearls so she brought us to the Pearl Market. We looked at a few places on the top floor and left without buying. I have trouble buying on the spot -- something the Chinese don't seem to like. Tom, the salesperson at Fanghua tried to get me to buy a strand by telling me it was his last day. It didn't work, even though I liked his pearls the best and anticipated that I would end up back there to buy at some point.

Next we went to the Silk Factory. Another item on my list was a silk comforter. I got one and my parents bought 2 -- one for themselves and one for my brother and sister-in-law. We got king size even though our beds are queens. The measurements looked small.

By then we were exhausted and needed to go back to the hotel to freshen up to meet the group. Violet brought us back to the hotel and told us to give her a call if we had any free time during the rest of the time in Beijing.

My dad and I decided to venture out for a quick foot massage before the group cocktail hour. We had passed a place about a block from the Peninsula. The massage was good, not great. It was a little deep for my taste but it still felt good.

We went down to the cocktail party at 6:30 and met the group. Most people seemed nice but I was glad when the time came for us to go to dinner. We had the option of eating in either restaurant in the hotel. We chose Huang Ting, the cantonese restaurant. I don't really like Chinese food (yes, odd given that I chose a trip to China but I was expecting to just eat a lot of white rice) but most of the things we had were pretty good and some were great. We had the Roasted Beijing Duck because the tour director said we would only be having a small "taste" at our group dinner the next night. That was delicious. The Jasmine tea was also phenomenal -- perhaps the best I had on the whole trip.

Ok, the jet lag is getting to me so I will have to continue later.

Nice beginning, glad you started liking the food. And thanks for writing as soon as you got back home!

I'm also enjoying the report and looking forward to more. I'm so glad you enjoyed your day with Violet. She is a wonderful young woman and I loved spending time with her in Beijing. We're still friends and correspond regularly.

Linda

Thanks! I need to finish this before I go back to work Monday or it will never be done.

Day 3 -- July 1

Today was our first full day with the tour group. We had to meet the group at 8:30 a.m. so we got up early for breakfast. Breakfast was included each morning of the tour. At the Peninsula, breakfast was a buffet at Jing, which was phenomenal.

We boarded the bus at 8:30 and met our local guide, Sarah. We were dropped off near Tiananmen Square and walked by the Olympic countdown clock to get there. One negative about traveling with a group was the walking pace -- I don't think I am physically capable of walking any slower. My mom was always worried that we would lose the group when my dad and I stopped to take pictures but I assured her that was impossible given the pace. Although we had seen pictures of Tiananmen Square, we were in awe of how large it felt in person. After a short time on our own, we walked across to the Forbidden City. Sarah guided us through giving us a good amount of information about each section we saw. After the Forbidden City, we stopped for lunch and then went for a tour of the Hutongs. We got off the bus and boarded tri-shaws for a ride through the Hutongs. We were supposed to stop for tea at a private home but there was some sort of miscommunication with the Hutong tour provider and we ended up dividing into two groups, only one of which visited a private home. My dad was in that group. The rest of us wound up in a "courtyard" and sat in a small room on folding chairs talking to the Hutong guide.

We were brought back to the hotel and given some free time before our group dinner at Huang Ting. We walked a few blocks to do some shopping and to see the market where they sell various "foods" on sticks. We saw silkworm larvae, scorpions, insects and a variety of other items I would never put near my mouth. Even though it was raining, the market was packed and the vendors seemed to be doing steady business. I was yelled at after taking one picture so I won't be able to show my brothers what people were eating. We felt pretty ill about halfway down the street so we returned to the hotel to get ready for dinner.

Dinner was at Huang Ting, the Chinese restaurant in the Peninsula we ate at the night before. As I said earlier, I don't like Chinese food. The meal tonight was a set meal of six or seven courses. I am a picky eater and don't do well without choices. Luckily, I had come prepared and ate a granola bar in my room before dinner. I ate two or three of the courses, picked at some of the others and enjoyed another round of the Peninsula's jasmine tea. By the time dinner was over it was only around 9 pm but we were exhausted from the busy day so we went up to bed.

Day 4 -- July 2

Today the group was scheduled to go to Badaling and the Summer Palace. Since we had already visited the Wall, we arranged to spend the morning with Violet and Konglin and meet the group at the Summer Palace in the afternoon.

There was barely any free time for shopping on the tour so we asked Violet and Konglin to take us shopping. We started back at the Pearl Market, where I got a strand of pearls and my parents bought a strand for my sister-in-law. We were not shocked to see Tom, who had told us it was his last day on Monday, standing in Fanghua ready to help us when we walked in. He told us that his start date at the new job had been postponed. After pearl shopping, we went to the jade factory. Later in the trip we found that we had overpaid at the jade factory. Oh well. Our next and last stop was one of the highlights of our trip. I had asked Violet where to buy tea so she took us to Tea City, to the vendor she and Konglin buy their tea from. We didn't have much time before having to meet the group but we did get to try three or four types of tea. We quickly purchased some of the teas we had tried and then were off to meet the group.

I'll continue with the Summer Palace later -- still suffering from jetlag.

i'm interested in your reference to Voilet and trip to the Great Wall. how did you contact her asI'd like to do something similiar but not in large group.

Reading your report takes me back to Beijing..how I miss those breakfasts at Jing!
Can't wait for the rest of your report

Interested to read about your tour. If the food on sticks place was the night market off Wangfujing Street, it isn't all scorpions and larvae. I've had delicious mushrooms, shrimp and chicken there.

Thursdaysd: It was the night market at Wangfujing Street. The one photo I was able to get was of really great looking fruit.

marksfour: Breakfasts at Jing were fabulous but much more elaborate than my normal breakfast routine. My body is glad to be back to my normal nutrigrain bar or bowl of cheerios breakfast.

Bris08: I contacted Violet by email. I found her address on this site -- [email protected]. She was really great and I have already recommended her to several people. I forgot to mention that she also took us to the Lama Temple after the Great Wall, which was very beautiful and peaceful and then drove us by the Olympic sites.

Ok, back to the report. So after Tea City, we parted ways with Violet and Konglin and met the group at the Summer Palace. We took a boat trip on the lake past some gorgeous bridges and the infamous marble boat. Being on the water was a nice break from the heat and humidity.

After the Summer Palace we returned back to the hotel and had dinner on our own at Jing. By this point, I had had enough Chinese food so I was glad for the change. Dinner was fabulous. I had the veal paillard w/lemon & capers... it didn't have a hint of Chinese flavor and was delicious. I was so exhausted from the past few days that I could not even enjoy a glass of wine with dinner -- something unheard of when I go out in NY. My parents and I split a couple of yummy desserts, I had my jasmine tea and we went up to pack and get some much needed rest.

Day 5 -- July 3rd

Today we finished in Beijing and had our first domestic flight -- to Xian.

One of the best things about the tour was the luggage pick-up. Each travel day we were given a time to have our bags ready. The bags were picked up and we didn't see them again until they showed up in our rooms in the next city. Since my suitcase became increasingly heavy throughout the trip, this was a nice benefit.

So we got up and had our last breakfast at Jing and then boarded the bus for the Temple of Heaven. It was the sunniest, hottest day of our trip so far. Les, our tour director, told us that the Temple of Heaven is one of his favorite stops on the trip and it turned out to be one of my favorites as well. We spent most of our time watching the locals playing Tai Chi ball, ballroom dancing, singing, stretching, playing mahjong, etc. My parents even played tai chi ball and then were sold a set, which they claim they will learn to use in their backyard. I will believe it when I see it.

After the Temple of Heaven, we were off to the airport, with a quick stop for lunch at the Sino-Swiss hotel. Lunch was mediocre and I was glad to have my granola bars again. As we got to the airport, my mom was getting nervous about the flight. As I said earlier, she had not flown in 12 years. My dad and I had decided not to tell her how many domestic flights we had to take. Our flight to Xian was on China Eastern airlines, something none of us had heard of before, making it worse from her. We boarded the plane with my mom being prepared to crash. The flight was fine except for the landing. The group rated the landing a D-. After that flight, my dad and I knew it would be difficult getting my mom to board another China Eastern flight.

When we arrived at our Xian hotel, the Shangri-La, we were given a price list for the spa and a choice of restaurants for dinner -- Chinese or Western. We made a reservation for the Western restaurant -- I had my fill of Chinese in Beijing -- and called the spa for foot massage appointments. Foot massages were only $19 and could not be passed up. We made a brief appearance at the group cocktail party so that we would seem less anti-social and then had the greatest foot massages of our trip. We opted for the hour treatment and it was well worth it. Dinner at the Western restaurant was pretty bad. We went to bed tired and excited to see the Terra Cotta warriors in the morning.

Day 6 -- July 4th

Today was my parents' anniversary and our visit to the Terra Cotta warriors. Seeing the warriors was the main purpose for the trip so it was fitting that it fell on their anniversary. Breakfast at the Shangri-La was nothing to write home about. It paled in comparison to Jing.

The warriors were much more magnificent in person than could ever be captured in photographs. That didn't stop me from taking about 100 pictures though.

After spending about 3 hours there, we went back to the hotel for lunch. After lunch we were supposed to go see the Wild Goose Pagoda but the Olympic torch was coming through Xian so the plan was changed to the Xian museum. I was hoping we would see the torch but for some reason that was not possible. The museum was a waste of time. Then we went to the city gate, which I guess was kind of cool but by this point we were all exhausted and wanted to go back to the hotel. When we got back, my dad and I had acupuncture treatments at the spa. I go for weekly acupuncture in New York. This was different. First of all, the doctor spoke no English. One of the women from the spa was his "translator" but I use that term very loosely. I don't know that he understood all of my ailments but he was able to treat my back and neck. My NY acupuncturist has a much lighter touch and I like that she speaks English but it was interesting to try it there. When we finished, we made massage appointments for after dinner.

Dinner was at the Tang Dynasty Dinner Show. It was excrutiatingly horrible. The food was terrible, perhaps the worst meal of the trip. Then the show started. I slept through most of it, waking every 10 minutes or so and taking a picture. I got some surprisingly good photos considering that I was barely conscious when I took them. At one point, I put my sweater on the table and put my head down, deciding it was pointless to pretend that I was awake. My dad was sitting next to me and slept through most of it too.

When we got back from the show, we went up for our massages. They were great although I think I preferred the foot massages.

Day 7 -- July 5th

Our flight to Guilin for the morning was cancelled and we were re-booked on a late afternoon flight, leaving us more time in Xian to fill. In the morning we went to see the Han warriors. The concept is the same as the terra cotta warriors but they're small (about 30&quot and naked. Originally, they were clothed but the material disintegrated. If you have extra time to kill in Xian, the museum is worth it but I don't think it is worth a special stop. After seeing the terra cotta warriors, the Han warriors just aren't as impressive.

We flew to Guilin, checked in at the newly renovated Sheraton (surprisingly nice) and went next door for foot massages -- for the whole group. The place we went has 100 masseuses, most of whom did not speak a word of English. The massage was intense, and painful at times but after it felt great.

Dinner that night was Chinese at the restaurant in the hotel. It was my last Chinese meal of the trip actually, and was pretty good. In fact, I think the food was better than at the Peninsula Beijing. It was a nice night and the hotel was across the street from the water, so we decided to go for a walk. Crossing the street was stressful (crosswalks seemed to be meaningless and motorcycles were going the wrong way on a one way street) but once we made it, the walk was quite nice. I was looking forward to looking into the buckets restaurants leave outside their doors (our guide told us that in Guilin the people eat anything that moves and keep these creatures in plastic buckets outside their doors) but by the time we walked by most places were closed.

Day 8 -- July 9th

We packed up (only one night in Guilin) and visited a limestone cave and then went for a cruise on the Li River. The scenery was beautiful -- definitely the reason Guilin is a stop on the tour. On board the crew tried selling "snake wine." Imagine a bottle containing dead snakes and a greenish-yellowish liquid. As delicious as that sounds, I decided to skip it. Next, they brought out the "penis wine," made from several animals. I also skipped that. Then the crew brought out trinkets to sell us. No matter how cheap junk is, to me it is still junk and I don't see a point of buying it. Not everyone on the tour shared that belief (stay tuned for the 20 minute bargaining session for fake rolexes). A few women on the tour proceeded to engage in the type of actions that give Americans a bad name. I know that bargaining is what you do in China, but this was over the top. They were squealing, shouting and being overly obnoxious. Some of you will think I am snooty, no doubt, but it was pathetic. From where we sat, we could not figure out what they bought but then one of the women came over to show us and brag about what a great deal they got. They "bought the whole box of 10 for 300 RMB!," she declared. What wonderful items did they buy? Cloisonne toothpick holders in the shape of owls. I got a kick out of it when the guide told them they had overpaid.

After the cruise, we stopped for a quick walk through a small village and then headed to the airport to fly to Chongxing, where we would board the ship for our cruise on the Yangtze River. More on that later...

Hi Elysag,

I did a very similar trip to yours (though we did it independently) in February. We also loved China.

Thanks for the report. I am waiting for more...

This is very enjoyable reading.
Especially since you are going to places I won't be seeing on my trip.

Please keeo it coming.

Thanks for reading! I read trip reports on this site all the time but have never realized how long it takes to write them.

Day 8 continued

My mom was not pleased when we arrived at the airport and saw we would be flying on Chongqing Airlines. In her mind, she equated it to flying in a propeller plane. Even though we were two flights into the trip, she still believed every plane we got on was going to crash. The cabin was cramped but the flight was fine and we arrived safely in Chongqing. We went straight from the airport to our ship -- the Victoria Katarina. We settled into our cabins (small with tiny beds but clean and with a nice balcony), had our first meal on the ship (mediocre, but that was expected -- luckily I still had plenty of granola bars!), and then went up to the top deck to get a view of the city during the departure.

Day 9 -- July 10th

We had an early breakfast and then departed for our morning excursion -- Fengdu, the "Ghost City." Our group went to the market and then to a relocation village. We arrived at the market a little after 9 am and it was already packed with people. We wandered through for about half an hour, marveling at the live chickens walking around, raw meat sitting out in the sweltering sun and road construction proceeding right in the middle of the market. As usual, we were approached by countless people trying to sell us things. I got a hat and some fans that would come in handy later in the trip.

We boarded the bus again and headed to the relocation village. The village had been moved further up the mountain when the original village was covered by water due to the dam project. I am not sure what I expected but what we saw was quite nice. We were greeted by a crowd of young children, all of whom were very excited to see and interact with us. Then we met the family Tauck had arranged for us to see. They lived in a surprisingly nice home with a convenience store on the ground level and bedrooms upstairs. The master bedroom had a gorgeous balcony. We were told they had a basement in which they kept their pigs but I skipped that part of the tour. Our tour director bought some fireworks from the store and then we headed back to the boat. Before we boarded the boat, the tour director set off the fireworks to keep the ghosts from following us.

We got back on the boat shortly before lunch. We spent some time looking at the art for sale (the ship employs several artists). After lunch, we went up to the lounge to hang out with some of the other people on the tour. We would be on the boat for the rest of the day so we decided drinking heavily was the best way to pass the time (and socializing). The drink special of the day was the margarita. After three rounds of margaritas my mom was finished (she usually cannot make it through one) and my dad and I switched to bloody marys. At the end of seven rounds, the group disbanded and we decided to go buy some art. First, we hit the snuff bottle display. My mom had been looking for snuff bottles since the beginning of our trip. She had gotten some for friends at a street market in Guilin but was looking for some nice ones. The bottles on the ship were gorgeous. We chatted up the artist for a bit (aided by our afternoon cocktails) and then bought bottles for almost everyone we know. Then we moved onto the paintings. We were with one of the women from the tour (one with good taste) who had already scoped out the display and wanted a small scroll but was wavering. We urged her to buy it and then found paintings of our own to buy. I ended up buying a gorgeous painting of a woman sitting by a lake. It is one of my favorite things that I bought on the trip and I cannot wait to hang it in my apartment.

After spending much more money than planned, we left the shopping area and went back to the lounge. I tried to learn how to play mahjong but soon lost interest and went to my cabin for a rest. Our group had dinner scheduled in a private room. The food was decent -- a little better than the prior meals -- but not great. We enjoyed eating with our new friends though. After dinner there was a show in the lounge. The tour director told us that the beginning was not to be missed. We stayed for 15 minutes or so and then slipped out to go to bed. We were going through the first gorge very early and wanted to be able to get up in time to see that.

Thanks so much for taking the time to write your report. I'm saving it for help in my trip planning for May 2009!

Good report! I am delighted that you spent enjoyable time with Violet. You showed tremendous willpower in passing up that snake wine on the ship!!

I'm enjoying your report. We stayed a couple of doors down from the Peninsula in Beijing, at the Lee Garden Service Apartments. So we found our way over to the Peninsula for dinner at Huang Ting (loved it) and also at Jing (better than average buffet food, but overall just okay). Sounds like we should have tried breakfast at Jing.

The wall and terracotta warriors were really something to see, weren't they?

It's so nice of you to bring your parents to see China.

I fully enjoy reading your reports and find the details very helpful planning my trip.

John

Actually, it was really nice for my parents to take me on their trip to China!

Day 10 -- July 11th

We woke up very early to see the first gorge. I had a little trouble getting up (thank you margaritas!) but as soon as I could move, I threw on my clothes and ran up to the top deck. It was spectacular! Before the trip, I read a lot of complaints about the Yangtze River cruise, but I must say that once I saw the first gorge, I knew that the cruise was a must for this trip. While the view may become a little less amazing when the river is fully flooded, I can't imagine that it won't still be beautiful. I took more pictures than anyone will ever look at and then rushed downstairs to shower before breakfast. After breakfast, the boat docked and we got off to board a smaller boat to see the small gorges. By this time, the sun was out, some of the humidity that had been with us since the beginning of the trip had lifted (this was not a vacation for good hair days) and we saw the first blue sky yet in China. The small gorges were incredibly picturesque and I took many more pictures. The morning was extremely relaxing, which was exactly what I needed. We got back to the ship around noon, had lunch and then had the rest of the day to hang out. My mom and I took much needed naps while my dad went up to the lounge for drinks with his new friends. After resting, I spent some time on my balcony (each cabin had its own balcony) and read. I went up stairs to watch as we went through the second and third gorges and then quickly changed for the "farewell dinner" so that I could watch as we went into the first lock. Having never been through locks before, I thought it was one of the coolest things I had ever seen. More pictures were taken and then we rushed off to our group's before-dinner drinks. The farewell dinner was mostly Chinese, but there was also some sushi, so I filled up on that (I eat sushi 3-4 times a week in NY and was definitely missing it during this trip). The dinner was so-so but the company at our table was great. By this point, we had connected with several of our fellow tour members and we all seemed to gravitate towards each other for meals. The after-dinner show was the farewell talent show -- the decision to pass it up was easy to make! I was exhausted from spending much of the day in the sun and decided to go back to my cabin, pack up and go to bed. The next morning we were going to see the dam and then we would be off to our final tour city -- Shanghai.

Day 11 -- July 12th

This morning after breakfast, we got off the boat and boarded a bus to see the Dam. After walking around a bit and taking the obligatory pictures, we went back to the boat to pack up the rest of our things, eat a quick, mediocre lunch (pizza in China... not good) and then disembark and make our way to the airport. On the way to the airport, we stopped briefly at a Bonsai garden. We all mistakenly thought Bonsai trees were Japanese but our local guide quickly corrected us. The garden was nice and peaceful but it was very hot and humid out and we just wanted to get to the airport. Our tour director bought us some ice cream and we boarded the bus again. We got to the airport with plenty of time to kill so we tried to do some shopping. I say "tried" because there wasn't much to buy. Finally, we boarded the plane and took off. A couple of hours later, we arrived in Shanghai. The view from my window was amazing. I have never seen such a large, sprawling city. When we walked out of the airport, it was extremely hot and muggy. This was the hottest and most humid stop of our trip. We arrived at the Four Seasons Hotel around 7:30 and had about half an hour to get ready for dinner. The room was pure luxury. This trip, and Four Seasons Hotels in particular, have ruined me for future travel. I wish I could stay at the Four Seasons everywhere I go. The bed was huge and very comfortable (it beat out the Peninsula, hands down, which had a particularly hard mattress). There were tons of fluffy feather pillows and lusciously soft sheets. I could go on and on... and on. We had been given the choice of any of the three restaurants in the hotel -- Japanese, Steak House or Chinese. We decided to eat with our new friends at the Japanese restaurant. The rest of the tour chose the Steak House. Dinner was amazing, as anticipated (how could a restaurant in the Four Seasons be anything but amazing?). As we began perusing the menu, I saw many of my favorites and some other delicious sounding options. At the beginning of the trip, we had been given certain dining restrictions -- no abalone, shark's fin or bird's nest. I would never eat any of those things, so I was fine. We checked with the tour director and he told us that the same restrictions applied but everything else was fair game! Yay toro sashimi!!! The restaurant had three tasting menu choices ranging from 680 RMB to 880 RMB. Since I am picky, I decided to pass on those and go a la carte. Peter, one of our new friends decided that since he was allowed to get the most expensive meal, he should get it so he went with the 880 and we called him 880 for the rest of the trip. Anyway, I got the toro sashimi, tuna tartare, spicy tuna roll and split Kobe beef and lobster teppanyaki with my mom. Everyone else ordered similarly. My dad, Peter, and one other couple shared a couple of bottles of sake and the rest of us stuck with cocktails (very delicious). Peter's dinner came with dessert but the rest of us were full so we just watched him eat it. I did not see the bill but I can only imagine that Tauck is changing its food restriction policy as I type this! We closed down the restaurant and then went up to bed.

Are you going to post on Shanghai or HongKong? I have been printing it out for a friend, who also goes with Tauck, and wants to go to China.