Temporarily out of contact.

[John Sabato]

The short version: I am back in the good ole USA.

For those of you who guessed I was in PRC... good on you!

9 days... Beijing, and Shanghai mostly... a couple of smaller towns as well. I won't bore you with the 500 photographs I took... I encourage all of you to travel while you can. I know many that have told me that they would travel when they retired, and now that they are retired they find that their health, or their wallets are inadequate to achieve that goal.

With no shame whatsoever, I will endorse the outfit responsible for my tour.

Their website is Chinaspree.com. Check out the SPECIALS tab for pricing and dates.

The low price will astound you.

Airfare from and to the USA,

9 day tour of Beijing and Shanghai,

great side excursions ( at slight extra cost, I recommend them all ) ...

FOUR star hotels,

and at least half the meals are included,

the full time services of an English speaking guide,

and domestic airfare and bus transportation while in-country.

The only thing not included, is your Chinese Visa. It costs a salty $140 each... The tour service will obtain it for you for an additional $40 admin fee. (Recommended if you are not based in Washington DC like I am... I visited the Chinese Embassy personally to get our Visas.

If you have any questions about the trip, I will be glad to answer them.

[sheepherder]

Originally Posted by John Sabato

If you have any questions about the trip, I will be glad to answer them.

Did you take any pictures of PRC soldiers??? I've heard some stories about this...

And since I'm a bachelor...how do the girls look???

[John Sabato]

Originally Posted by sheepherder

Did you take any pictures of PRC soldiers??? I've heard some stories about this...

And since I'm a bachelor...how do the girls look???

Rich
I did take a couple photos that included police and soldiers but I haven't dumped the photos from our camera yet. If they are in the frame when photographing other things there didn't seem to be a problem. But I was very careful not to even have my camera out if there were obvious signs that indicated no photos allowed.

In response to your other question, I may be happily married (20 years now) but I am certainly not dead.

Since China is the most populated nation on earth, I can assure you that the number of smiling attractive faces you would encounter during a visit in China are too numerous to count.

[John Sabato]

Back on topic:

Originally Posted by sheepherder

Did you take any pictures of PRC soldiers???

Here you go Rich... (Photos 1 through 6 were taken in Tiananmen Square. The last two photos were taken on top of the Great Wall, near the town of Badaling. Notice the empty holsters on the right side of their belts. The young man dressed in black coat/hat and boots next to them was described as an "assistant", but I think he is probably a protégé in training to be uniform.)

[318is_Parabellum]

Man oh man, just looking at those photos of you in Beijing made me want to cough! I thought the air quality in Osaka in 1992 was bad, but that was nothing compared to that nasty soup y'all were breathing over there.

I bet NOVA/DC, awful as it is (been there too many times, and used to live in Richmond) seems pristine compared to Manchuria during the Winter!!

ETA: Fascinating photos, nevertheless! Visiting Beijing and the Forbidden City/Tiananmen Square is on my 'bucket list', for sure!

I must recommend Taiwan, the night markets in Taipei offer a nearly unparalleled shopping experience, and the food is out of this world!! That and it's hard to beat sub-tropical weather in February!