After sleeping over at the Port-O-Call Inn in Calgary we boarded the plane for Vancouver where we puttered around the airport waiting for our flight to Shanghai. After a 40 minute delay we were off. We embarked on our 3 movie, 4 meal, 14 hour journey across northern Canada, the Bering Strait and Siberia. When we arrived in Shanghai it was the afternoon of October 18 but for our purposes we will call it Day 1.

We were met by our guide Matthew (Lesson #1 - We would soon discover that the Chinese seem to have taken English names as an added extra). It was dark and we were guided to a restaurant for supper for meal number 5. Being already full we were embarrassed we couldn't finish up all the dishes of what was great Chinese cuisine. (Lesson #2 - We later learned that the Chinese would be insulted if all the plates had been emptied. It would mean they hadn't provided enough to satisfy their guests)

Finally it was time to check into our hotel — the Yihe Longbai.

A free player is available here

China Index

China Timeline

Great Adventures