Can we get to China from here?

Well, we left our Viking home for the airport,and without a hitch caught the flight to Frankfurt. This was the travel day we had been dreading since we planned the trip last July. 3 hours to Frankfurt, a 2 hour layover then board another flight to Hong Kong- basically just retracing our route from Moscow. Well, after waiting an hour it became obvious that the flight was very full- too full. So when they asked for volunteers to stay over and fly the next day, we jumped at the chance. 600 euros each, a night in the hotel and 3 free meals. Only catch- we couldn't claim our luggage as it was already booked through. We had our meds and our toothbrushes so we were OK with that. We settled into the hotel and waited for the next day.

When we arrived at the airport the next day we were again told that the flight was overbooked, so.......we came out of the deal 2400 euros richer and a bit rested after the hectic pace of the Russia cruise. We cancelled our hotel in HK, and rebooked our flight directly into Shanghai for the beginning of the China cruise. In addition, as further thanks for being so accommodating, they upgraded us (for free) to business. This, after we had begged to be able to use miles or dollars or both..... anyway- off to China.

On the flight we sat next to a German woman who has lived in the greater Shanghai area for 6 years, working for Bosch. She told us we would love Shanghai and that the saying is "Beijing is the present, Xi'an is the past, and Shanghai is the future". What an amazing city! The Huangpo River runs through it, and on one side of the river the buildings are almost a thousand years old- on the other side, everything was built since 1991. We walked the famous Bund; along side the river, between the old and the new.

China has, we have been told (many times) 1.4 billion people. And so the rapid construction is racing ahead, in order to be able to house everyone. Since 1991, people have been leaving the countrysides to go to the cities, and the infrastructure and housing has to keep up. And up is the operative word- apartment buildings have upwards of 70 floors. With all of the skyscrapers, it has a New-York-City kind of feel.Even the shops, restaurants and shopping malls feel familiar- just super packed with people, rather like a subway at rush hour.

We were booked into the Shanghai Grand Hyatt (thanks Viking!) so we dropped our suitcases and wandered out into the heat (and smog). After passing Louis Vuitton, Dior and the like we found a mall more to our liking, and sat down to watch the people while enjoying a Haagen Daz ice cream. The hordes of young people was almost scary it was so forceful and nonstop. How do you survive in a country that is so over run with people?

After 2 very pleasant nights at the luxurious Hyatt, we met our tour guide, Tom, for the flight to Wuhan, where we were supposed to start the river portion of the trip. But there had been so much flooding that we couldn't board there, so we were bussed 4 hours upriver. There, we found our cabin and unpacked for the next 5 nights on the Yangtze.

next- life back on the river........