VIKING RIVER FAM TRIP / CHINA by Veronica

On April 4th we flew to San Francisco to connect to a United Airlines flight to Shanghai, China for a fam trip sponsored by Viking River Cruises. The flight on the 747 between San Francisco and Shanghai was a total of 12 hours and the economy class we were booked in was very cramped. I discovered later that there was a slightly more spacious premium class, located between the economy and business class sections, which a few fortunate people had been upgraded to and we were upgraded to on the return flight.

At 6pm we arrived in the very modern Pudong International airport which was completed in 1999. Everything was extremely well organized and our luggage arrived promptly in the terminal where our tour guides were waiting for us.

Our tour guide Yang spoke excellent English and was extremely personable. He directed us to a bus which transported us into the city and our hotel, a 45 minute drive.
We spent the night at the Westin Hotel which is luxurious, comfortable and conveniently located close to Nanjing Road with its fashionable shops as well as the famed Bund. While some people could not wait to do their first shopping in China, we strolled on the Bund along the river which was alive with crowds of people and vendors selling everything from $10 ’Rolex’ watches to kites etc.

On our second day in China, after a very nice breakfast at the Westin, we were joined by a local guide who accompanied our bus as we toured Shanghai and stopped at the Bund.

Shanghai is a very modern city with a lot of impressive new buildings and has changed a lot since our first visit 20 years ago.

We were taken to a restaurant for Dim Sum prior to being transported to the smaller airport in Shanghai, Hongqiao airport, for our 1 1/2 hour flight on Shanghai Airlines to Yichan, en route to where our ship was docked.

During our flight to Yichan, the landscape below was interesting and it appeared as if every visible piece of land was cultivated and very lush. Meanwhile, on the plane our gracious Chinese stewardesses served us refreshments, both familiar and unfamiliar; The least popular among our group being a little package of dried fish.(sweet and salty taste)
In Yichan once again a local guide joined us and narrated during the hour plus ride to the ’Viking Sky’ which was docked close to the Three Gorges Dam project.

We had to descend steps to get to the ship and plow through a crowd of vendors who were pretty aggressive sales people. In the meantime all of the luggage was carried to the ship hanging from poles slung across the shoulders of the Chinese ground personnel, sometimes with other suitcases in hand.

The Viking Sky is an elegant ship and has nicely appointed cabins with small verandahs. The crew is almost entirely Chinese, the only exception being the Maitre D’ and one of the Chefs. The Chinese personnel were given unusual English names such as ’Apple’, ‘Chocolate’ etc. and were very charming and overly polite.

The ship remained docked overnight and passengers amused themselves the first afternoon by either going out to mingle and buy items from the vendors or visit a small temple opposite the dock. Other passengers enjoyed watching local women launder clothes and wash greens in the murky river.

The next day we spent several hours on a tour to the dam and viewed the locks we were to navigate through later in the day. After lunch on board, we departed for our upstream cruise commencing with the 3 hour navigation of the locks followed by 3 days scenic cruising through the gorges and ending in Chongqing.

On our third day of the cruise we boarded a smaller vessel in Wushan where we cruised through the scenic lesser 3 gorges. Apart from the lush scenery of the mist enshrouded mountains, we also saw monkeys and ancient coffins which were suspended on ledges high up on the mountain sides. A picnic luncheon was organized on the river bank (more aptly described as mountainside) where tables were set up under a marquis. It was more elaborate than a picnic and was well organized by the Viking Sky kitchen staff. There was also a shop beside the picnic location selling interesting handcrafts.

The final day of the cruise we stopped to visit the Shibaozhai temple which is a 12 story structure built into a sheer cliff during the Qing dynasty in 1650. A busy market place flourished at the base of the temple and our group enjoyed shopping for a variety of souvenirs there.

The final night on the ship we were served a farewell dinner that was strictly Chinese. It was good as most of the meals had been, although meals were not generally exceptional.

At the end of our cruise we awoke in the port city of Chongqing and from there we flew to Beijing, a 2 hour flight.
Immediately upon arrival in Beijing we were taken to a location where rickshaws waited to take us on a tour of the winding streets of an old Beijing neighborhood (Hutong). Most of these neighborhoods have been demolished in favor of modern apartments. In the Hutongs people live in a quadrangle close to their neighbors and share a common bathroom. We were invited into the house of one resident who told us about her life, past and present.

Our final day in Beijing was spent visiting the Forbidden City and Great Wall. Unfortunately since our visit to the Forbidden city two decades ago, things had changed, so that many buildings we had walked into, now could only be viewed from the outside through windows and doors. Also, many buildings were under renovation for the 2008 Olympic Games.

Impressions of our cruise experience: The ship was very nice and elegant.. The cruise director who had a wonderful command of English had provided interesting lectures onboard and ongoing information about the areas we were cruising through.

Entertainment on the ship consisted of a trio who played traditional Chinese instruments and a couple of entertainers performing other musical entertainment.. One of most popular evening’s entertainment was a Chinese dance performance provided by the ship’s crew..
Food was somewhat hit and miss at dinner time but breakfast was good and lunch was fairly good. The crew was friendly and extraordinarily polite and welcoming.
Passengers with limited mobility were challenged on the excursions due to steps and inclines.
Our luggage was always taken care of along with all other details of the trip (domestic flight and entrance tickets for sightseeing) and it gave me an understanding of why older clients, in particular, prefer escorted tours.