Hong Kong and China

So today we arrived in Hong Kong.
When I got back from breakfast it was time to say goodbye to our cabin steward Julius! It was so sad; it’s strange how close you can get to a person who you only talk to in passing every day. He put up with our mess and was always happy to see us all. We’re all going to miss him so much and I feel sorry for his replacement because we all want Julius to stay. I took a picture with him and got his email in case I am ever in the Philippines.
After breakfast I finished packing up my things to head off on my five day adventure- my last SAS organized trip. Our trip was due to depart at nine thirty so we met at nine in the dining room to get organized. Our trip leader Deb ended up being late so we didn’t actually start until 9:30. The tour guides Esther and Allan came on board to help out. We each had to collect our passports (which are usually kept with the purser), collect a landing and departure card to fill out and get a nametag. When all 83 of the group finally arrived and got organized, we headed to the bus around 10am. We split up into 2 buses, A and B, which we stayed with for the whole trip. I was on bus A! We drove for about an hour to the airport. We didn’t get to see very much of Hong Kong but from what I did see, it was much like any industrial city. There were many tall buildings and lots of smog. When we arrived at the airport we unloaded the buses and headed into the gigantic airport. It was so big, about three times the size of the Toronto airport, which in itself is huge. We headed to the group check in counter and handed in our passports to get our boarding passes.
Well this is where the drama started. The tour guide informed me shortly after this that my Chinese Visa had expired the day before and that I would not be able to enter China. I was upset about this but more angry, because a company in the US had processed all of the visas for the voyage. There was nothing that I could do or could have done in advance to prevent this. I think it happened because I have a British passport. The visa only lasts for 6 months as opposed to the US visas which last a year. I would have had no problem if I had a US passport. Again, it made me so angry because it was out of my control! I had no choice but to stay in Hong Kong and try and obtain a new visa. Esther and Allan were kind enough to help me out. I first withdrew Hong Kong dollars and got a passport picture taken at the airport and then caught a taxi to the Chinese Embassy and visa office. When we arrived it was 12:10 and the office was closed between 12 and2 for lunch. Of course it was lunch time, just my luck.
So I was really losing hope at this point. Allan spoke to some of the workers and they said that to get a visa by the end of the day would be virtually impossible. In any other week, being Thursday I could pick it up the next day but of course, just my luck again, it was a public holiday the next day. If I didn’t get a visa by 5pm that afternoon I would have to sail with the ship to Shanghai the next day and not be able to get off in China. That would suck because I would miss my whole trip to the great wall and everything else I had waited so long to see. Being optimistic I waited in the hope that by some small miracle I would be able to be granted a visa that day. The tour guide left while I waited until 2pm until the office reopened. I called my mom after they informed me that I couldn’t get a visa the same day due to the upcoming Olympics and athletes applying for visas. I was bawling my eyes out having woke her up at 2am Bermuda time when a sketchy looking man wearing a black hoodie approached me holding a cell phone. I reluctantly took the phone only to find Allan, the tour guide on the other line. He instructed me to hand over my passport to this man, who spoke little English, and he would get me a visa by the end of the day. Apparently he had connections in the consulate. Now I was very hesitant about giving a stranger my passport, mainly because the ship had drilled it into our heads not to give our passports to anyone who wasn’t an authority. I’m not sure what went through my head but I took down his name and phone number and handed over my passport. I had nothing to lose! He told me to meet him back at the visa office at 4:30 to collect my passport from him. By this time it was almost 1pm so I headed back to the ship to tell them what happened and to try and get my name on the list of those sailing to shanghai in case the sketchy man didn’t come through.
I talked to the purser who was really helpful and told me that all expenses would be covered because none of this was my fault. We agreed that I would call him at 4:30 when I returned to the visa office to update him on my situation. I also had DKG (dean ken gaither, the executive dean on the ship) on the case. After speaking to the purser I went back to my room and watched my pirated version of grey’s anatomy for an hour. At 4pm I headed back to the visa office (by this time I had spent a fortune on cabs to and from the airport and visa office). I arrived just about at 4:30 and headed to the 7th floor of the building to the Visa office. It was a large room filled with Asian people trying to become legal. I looked around for Mr. Sketch but didn’t see him so plopped down in the floor and did some Sudoku. After a few minutes he walked in but didn’t seem to see me so I approached him. He said that he didn’t have my visa yet so I went and sat back down. I should also mention that I am extremely sun burnt so any movement, especially carrying all my luggage, is extremely uncomfortable.
After a few minutes the sketchmaster returns and hands me my passport. He had a blank on his face so I assumed that he didn’t get the visa and thanked him anyway and started to walk away. He then started pointing at my passport and motioning me to open it. There it was… a new visa valid until July. I wanted to hug the man but restrained myself as he again handed me the cell phone. It was Esther, the tour guide from earlier. She told me that I didn’t need to pay the man and that it would be charged to my shipboard account. She also told me that they had booked me on a flight to Beijing at 7:45. I was so thankful that the tour guides were so helpful!
I grabbed a cab and headed for the airport, even though I was way too early. I checked in smoothly this time and headed towards the gate. I stopped for some burger king on the way to the gate and exchanged my Hong Kong dollar into Chinese Yuan. In the end I didn’t need all the money I withdrew because my visa and flight were charged to my ship board account. I also treated myself to a MAC blush and lipgloss as a reward for the struggle from the day (I reasoned that this was a good reason for the purchase). I then proceeded to the gift shop to pick up some postcards, a magnet and magazines.
I waited for the flight and boarded as soon as we could. In Japan they do not board by seat number, everyone boards at the same time. This makes it quite disorganized but it also means that I had to make sure to board early so that there would be room in the overhead bins to put my luggage. I settled in to a 3 hour flight. When we arrived in Beijing, we were transported the terminal by bus. Once inside we had to walk a virtual marathon to reach customs. Upon arrival there we were greeted by a group of about 200 Australian athletes. The line for visitors was 4 times the length of the line for locals and moving very slowly. After about three quarters of an hour I finally reached the front of the line and had my passport and visa checked. Thankfully this was completed without incident and I headed downstairs to what I thought was the exit. Unfortunately it was only the line to board the monorail. Because of the Olympics, the terminal had just open days before and everything was still in the testing stage. The sign said that the tram arrived every 3 minutes but it took more like 20 until it arrived. When it finally did arrive we all crammed on for the short ride. When we arrived at our destination we all piled out. I headed for the exit because I hadn’t checked any bags. I had been told that I would be met by a tour guide so I looked for someone holding up my name on a sign. He was there and led me to the car. After a half hour ride into the city center we arrived at the Jianguo Garden Hotel. It was almost 1am by this time and I was ready to get some sleep. I checked in and was given a key. When I arrived at the room there were already 2 students there because everyone had moved around rooms. I was very frustrated and after trying 2 more rooms I angrily told the front desk to give me an empty room and we would sort it out in the morning. They did this and I retired to my room to get a few hours sleep.
I was woken up by a 7am wake up call. We were scheduled to leave for the tour at 8:30am so I got up and had a quick shower before heading down to the lobby for breakfast. I was feeling surprisingly refreshed and excited to climb the great wall. At 8:45 we finally left (people are always late or forget something) and headed for the great wall. On the way we drove through the heart of the Olympic village and saw the athlete’s apartments, aquatic facility and stadium.
We finally arrived at the great wall, the Ju Rong Guan section, about an hour later. From a distance we could see a narrow white line snaking through the mountains and as we drove closer it became grander and grander. I didn’t realize how steep it would be, I had seen parts of it on America’s Next Top Model and it was flat. I wasn’t expecting to have to literally climb the great wall. We disembarked the bus and headed for the bathroom. I am becoming quite a pro at using the squatter toilets, unlike many of the other students who still wait in line to use the one western toilet. After this quick stop I headed for the wall with my friend Crystal (coincidentally her last name is Johnson). We began the steep hike with the other 5000 people who also started at the same time as us. I didn’t realize quite how touristy the wall would be. It was like walking in a parade, you couldn’t go any faster than the person in front of you. It was quite difficult to stop for a breather (yes I needed to) or to stop for a photo opportunity (of which we wanted many). About half way up the wall Anna joined us, having been disconnected from her friends by the large crowds. It was a really exhausting experience. Now from what you have read so far it probably sounds as if I didn’t enjoy it but I really did. It was a beautiful warm day and amazing to experience climbing on the great wall. The higher we climbed the fewer and fewer people there were. The wall also became narrower the higher we climbed.
After reaching as high up as we could in the time we had, we began the downward journey. It was quite scary because the steps were very uneven and a single missed step could have sent you tumbling hundreds of feet downwards. There were also no barriers on the sides of the wall! On the way down we also stopped at a souvenir shop half way from the bottom. Here I purchased a ‘I climbed the great wall’ t-shirt and an engraved bronze certificate. When we reached the bottom we browsed the many stalls. They all sold the same things; jade jewelry, jade seals (stamps), t-shirts, magnets and souvenirs. I managed to restrain myself from buying too much and only bought some bracelets and a magnet. Maybe a few gifts too ;) After leaving the great wall we reboarded the bus to head to lunch. I should note that everywhere we went in Beijing was about an hour from each other so inevitably we all ended up falling asleep between destinations (even though the tour guides talked non-stop over the mic). This made us all very groggy upon arrival at each place. Our next stop was lunch at the Dayi Friendship Restaurant. It was part of a government run complex that included a ceramic making factory and gift shop. It is important to mention that most tour companies in China are government run and therefore we ate and visited government run facilities and what the tour guides told us was censored by the government.
The restaurant was a large round table meal complete with lazy susan. They brought the food to us and dishes included rice, noodles, sweet and sour pork, chicken, beef and vegetable dishes. Before I go on I want to talk a bit about the food. I’m not sure whether we ate really authentic food or not, because although it was delicious, it was a lot like the food they serve at Chopsticks or Sung Sing. I was not sure whether this was authentic or whether they had ‘toned down’ down the traditional food when they knew a bunch of foreigners were coming. That is besides the point I guess, because the food was very good, I would just be interested to know if this is the same thing that the locals eat. After lunch we headed to the ceramics demonstration. Here the workers use stencils to glue copper wires to metal urns to form a pattern. After the outline is in place, the space between the wires is filled with ceramic paint. They are then blasted in a furnace. The process is completed 7 times until the paint depth is flush with the copper wire. The end products are beautiful detailed vases which are very expensive because the process is so labour intensive. I ended up not buying anything here but instead wanted to wait to be able to find the vases at a market.
After lunch we headed to the summer palace. It is the largest palace in China and is beautiful. We entered, not really knowing what to expect, and were greeted by gorgeous buildings, the 17 arches bridge and a large lake in the middle. Because the property covers many hundred acres, it would have been impossible to see everything. We took a dragon boat across the lake to the other side. When we arrived there we separated into our two buses and bus A followed the yellow panda embreller (as our tour guide Christine called it). First we stopped at the marble boat. The facilities in the palace were mainly enjoyed by the dragon lady, who was said to come to the boat and watch her own reflection in the giant mirror. We then moved on to a Guinness record holding walkway. It is a walkway which connects many aspects of the palace, while serving also as a gallery. It is the world’s longest art gallery. While we were walking through the walk way we notice a baby with a slit in her pants. We kept watching and asked Christine and she said that most babies don’t use diapers, they simply squat and do their thing through the slit in their pants. It is very odd to see all these toddlers walking around with their little bums hanging out!
We continued through the walkway passing the living area of the dragon lady, dining room and several gardens. There were so many people and groups at the summer palace that it was easy to get lost. Surprisingly, only 2 girls got disconnected from the group. After a fairly short visit to the summer palace we returned to the hotel to get ready for the evening’s entertainment. When I got back to the hotel we had half an hour to get ready. I had to change my room so that I was sharing was someone. They had figured out during the day where I would be going so I packed up all my stuff and moved to another room. The process took a lot longer than it should have but I finally ended up rooming with Kat. As soon as I had dumped my stuff in the new room I had to head down to the lobby to meet the group to go to an acrobatics show. I wasn’t sure what to expect but had heard that it was something I should do which in china. It turned out to be one of the best parts of the trip. The stunts that they did seemed to be impossible and are really hard to describe. I have many videos of the acts but everyone was just blown away by how flexible the performers were. After the show was over Robin, Kaitlin, Crystal, Sharon and I decided to go for something to eat. They chose hard rock café and I reluctantly followed! We got into a taxi and showed him the directions in Chinese, which Christine had written out. Well the two taxis had no idea where to go and drove us around in circle for a while. After stopping and asking for directions many times we finally arrived, only to find it was closed for renovations.
On to plan B. We didn’t even get out of the taxi before telling the driver to take us back to the hotel. We had heard there was a night market nearby so decided to check it out and hopefully find something to eat while we were there. I’m not sure if I have already mentioned how cold it was in China. Especially at night, and with no jackets, we were all freezing. We headed for the market and were relieved to find it quite easily. It was quite small but sold everything from crafts, jewelry, jade stamps, purses and paintings to food. The food looked a little suspect (think scorpions on a skewer) so after browsing the market we started to walk back to the hotel and hopefully find somewhere to eat along the way. Well surprise, McDonald’s was the chosen one. It was quite a cultural experience though, because the menus were not in English and the décor was more like that of a gourmet restaurant. We enjoyed our food, although it was much spicier than the American version, and headed back to the hotel for a good night sleep.
On day 2 and our last day in Beijing, we woke up for breakfast and then headed to Tiananmen Square. He we were taught about its history and the buildings surrounding it, but the shootings were not even mentioned (courtesy of government control). There were many people here trying to sell fake Olympic merchandise, watches and t-shirts. We had a group photograph taken and the crowd of locals that gathered to watch and take pictures of us pose was larger than our group of 83 people. After walking across Tiananmen Square we entered the Forbidden City. A large painting of chairman Mau hung above the entrance and was quite scary. When we entered we were given maps and headsets. I went with my friend Crystal to explore. As we neared certain sites the headset was activated and began to tell us about each one. Although I’m still not sure exactly what the purpose of the Forbidden City is although I do know that it was the home of the Emperor and his inner circle, who all had their balls cut off to force them to remain faithful to the emperor. The idea was that they were no longer men, only slaves to the country and would be focused on serving rather than reproducing. Within the forbidden city there were many different halls and exhibitions, as well as displays of art, clothing and antiques. Before leaving the forbidden city we walked through a garden. It was very beautiful but I didn’t feel like it was a real garden because it was simply trees and flowers in a paved courtyard area. After leaving the forbidden city we headed to Wahaha restaurant for lunch.
Once again it was a round table meal with lazy susan. We had the usual for lunch; sweet and sour pork, rice, soup, noodles and various other meat dishes. One of the good things about China compared to my trip in India was that drinks were included. We could choose from coke, sprite, water or beer and could even have a refill. What a luxury!
After lunch I headed downstairs for some shopping. The whole street was filled with fake purses. The fakes here looked more real than the ones in Vietnam but were also far more expensive. After a brief shopping visit we reboarded the bus to head to the temple of heaven.
The temple of heaven is the largest heaven worshipping temple in China. By this point in the tour we were all quite tired of looking at temples which quite frankly, looked all the same. Crystal and I once again headed off on our own to explore. After having a quick look around the temple area we headed back down to the surrounding gardens. These were a gathering place for many locals to sing, dance and play cards and other games. It was fascinating to watch these people enjoying their daily life, far more interesting than the actual temple. We didn’t have too long here but we people watched for a while before headed back to the bus with ice cream. It was now time to head back to the airport to board our flight to Xi’an.
We drove back to the massive Beijing airport and headed to our gate. Our guide, Christine travelled with us to Xi’an. When we arrived in Xi’an it was early evening so before we checked in at our hotel we went for dinner at a hot pot restaurant. One again it was a large round table with a lazy susan. Each person had a small stove with a pot of broth on it. In the middle of the table were beef, lamp, shrimp, mushroom, cabbage, bean sprouts and other veggies. Once the broth boiled, you could put whatever you wanted into it to make a soupy thing. The noodles cooked very quickly, so the trick was to cook everything else first before you put the noodles in. When it was done we put the mixture into a small bowl and added peanut and chilli sauce. It was delicious. One of the surprising things about China, and later Japan (yes I am writing about China after we left Japan) is that soy sauce is not provided. They do have it, but only bring it if you ask for it. I think this is one of the things that has been normalized by westernizing asian cultures. Most locals don’t eat it with their food.
After leaving the restaurant we headed to our hotel. Once again the hotel was very nice. I think that SAS could cut down on the cost of their overnight trips by staying in slightly less fancy hotels. There was no need to be staying in a five star resort when all we were doing was sleeping there! Needless to say the room was very nice. There was a small sitting area and two double beds. After all the day’s activities we were exhausted so Kat and I went straight to sleep.
The next morning we woke up early for breakfast. Like the hotel in Beijing, the breakfast was a mixture of western specialties and asian dishes. I had a combination of fruit, eggs, noodles and pastries. It was delicious but probably not too healthy. First stop on today’s tour was the terracotta warriors. I was very excited for this and had chosen this particular trip because it was the only one that got to see them. When we arrived I was quite shocked to see how developed they were. I half expected to be able to walk around in the pit and get a close look at them but this was not the case. After a short movie about the history of the statues (they were to guard the tomb of the emporer) and their discovery (a farmer digging discovered them) we headed off to see them. The warriors are divided into 3 pits. Pit one is the largest pit. It was filled with warriors that had mostly been repaired and were now intact. There were many types of warriors; infantrymen, cavalrymen, horsemen and kneeling officers. I was fascinated by the detail on each of the statues, which were all life size. There were also life size horses! I was a little disappointed that we couldn’t get very close to them but could still see fairly well from the viewing area.
After leaving pit 1, we headed to pit 3, the smallest pit. There were not many warriors in this pit, only a few that were missing arms and legs. We didn’t stay here long and quickly headed to the second pit. The second pit was filled with body parts and soldiers which were in the process of being pieced back together. Because we were there on a Sunday we didn’t get to see them be built. In this pit were also some completed warriors in glass cases. We had to take our token pose pictures here, before heading to the museum.
The museum told of how the warriors were discovered and how they were being restored. Everything was written in Chinese so we couldn’t understand much. We looked at the pictures and displays. Of special interest were the only two bronze chariots which had been found with the warriors. They were very intricate, but hardly as interesting as our new guide, Alex, had described them. After visiting the gift shop for an ice cream, we headed to the tea room for a traditional tea ceremony. I don’t drink tea so sat outside with some other people and basked in the Chinese sun! After the short tea break we walked back to the bus.
As soon as we walked through the gates of the museum there were people trying to sell us miniature warriors. I was really happy because the gift shop had tried to charge far too much money for the tiny replicas. These men were selling the set of 5 warriors for $2. They kept pulling the boxes out of their shirts! I didn’t know how much they could fit in there until they kept pulling them all out. Almost everybody on our bus bought a box of warriors, some who paid about $20 were disappointed that the better bargainers were able to get them for much less.
After a short drive we arrived for lunch at Qinjitang restaurant. Once again it was a government run facility and we received our shopping cards. Before eating we watched a short demonstration of how silk is made from a cocoon. It was really interesting to see how it is pulled and stretched to become so soft. For lunch, guess what we had? Yep, another round table with lazy susan. And yes we again ate noodles, rice, soup and various meat dishes. We didn’t have long for lunch so I ate pretty quickly so I would have time to look at some silk goods. Bad idea. I ended up falling in love with a silk duvet cover. It took me a long time to pick out which pattern I wanted but in the end chose a beautiful set which is supposed to last me for at least 20 years. Crystal reminded me that I might be married during this time so not to buy a pattern or colour that was too feminine. I had not even thought of that!
After spending way too much money on the set (although I do really like it) we returned to the bus bound for the lesser wild goose pagoda. Once again, yet another Buddhist pagoda. We walked through the gardens and had quick look at the Xi’an history museum. It showcase jade jewelry, artwork and pottery. Jade is everywhere in this area. It is made into stamps, jewelry and anything else you can possible think of. After a short look around the museum we walked back towards the bus. Along the way we came across a small gift shop. In the back corner was a woman who was writing calligraphy. She wrote all our names on rice paper for free!
After waiting in line to get my name done, we hurried back to the bus for fear of being late and getting dock time. It was back to the hotel for a brief change of clothes before heading off to a tang dynasty show and dinner. Alex told us that this was not to be missed.
When we arrived we were seated at tables in front of the stage. I though it may have been a dinner show, where you eat while the show is going on. This was not the case, although they did serve popcorn and ice cream during the show. The show consisted of many different scenes with people playing different instrument and singing in different styles. Some of it was just plain painful. We were all glad when it was over. But unfortunately, the food was not much better. We were told it was going to be a dumpling dinner but there were no dumplings to be seen. We had many courses, from salad and appetizers, soup, spare ribs, and desert. It was ok, but we were all a little disappointing we didn’t get dumplings.
Afterwards Kailtin, Crystal, Sharon and I decided to head to the muslim market downtown. We needed to get our dose of markets in Xi’an. After a quick bathroom stop at McDonald’s and to grab a McFlurry to refuel we were off. There were many alleyways and different shops selling everything including pearls, fake bags, silk robes, watches, jewelry, souvenirs, food and flasks of all things. We were able to bargain with the shop keepers here so we could get things pretty cheap. We headed down one alley and ended up spending a lot of time there. I bought a few bracelets for next to nothing and a beautiful robe as well as some gifts. We then strolled down the main street but didn’t buy much here. It was a great cultural experience to see all the food being cooked and the locals bargaining with each other. The market began to close at about eleven pm so we grabbed a taxi back to the hotel to crash.
The next day was our last day of the trip. I had signed up for a calligraphy lesson with a calligraphy master so woke up early for breakfast. About half of the group boarded the bus for the calligraphy lesson while the other half opted to sleep in and join us later in the day. We arrived at what seemed to be a run-down area of the city. We then entered a small building and climbed many floors of uneven stairs before reaching the calligraphy school. We entered a small classroom with wooden desks and stools. The desks were set with a piece of rice paper, a calligraphy brush and a small bowl of ink. After we all sat down, the calligraphy master entered. She didn’t speak any English so spoke Chinese and Alex translated for us. She first explained the history and different styles of Chinese calligraphy. Next we were told to fold our rice paper into twelve squares. This was quite challenging for some people (why was I not surprised?). After everyone finally mastered the art of folding a piece of paper to form squares we were able to begin our lesson. We learned to write 12 symbols include river, above, below and thank you. The calligraphy master told me that I was the best in the class! After completing the lesson, some people learned to write their name. We then reboarded the bus and headed for none other than the bell tower and people’s square, the same area as the market we had been at the night before.
We opted not to visit another pagoda and go to Starbucks and instead headed to McDonald’s again and then back to the muslim market. I picked up a Rolex and a Gucci watch while some friends bought pearls. We didn’t have long here so headed back to the bus. China has a thing with kites. There were people everywhere selling stings of small plastic kites. Some people bought them hoping to fly them off the ship!
After we left the market we headed to lunch at the dong fang rotating restaurant. When we arrived the platform wasn’t rotating but we complained for long enough and they finally turned on the rotator. Surprisingly, this was not lazy susan style, instead it was a buffet. It had some traditional noodles, meats and vegetables but was made up of mostly western pasta salads, macaroni and deserts. It was good nonetheless and was a nice change from sweet and sour pork! After lunch we headed downstairs to the lobby of the hotel and I really wanted to buy a jade pendant. Because the store was within the hotel, we could not bargain. I decided not to buy it, in the hope that I could find it the next day in Shanghai.
Our last stop before heading to the airport was the museum of the forest of stele. This was an underground museum, much like miniatures of the terracotta warriors. They were constructed to guard the yang tombs of the han dynasty. By this point we were all exhausted so spent most of our time here sitting at the picnic tables eating ice cream. I discovered the most off ice cream that I have ever seen. It was shaped like an ear of corn and had a wafer like shell. Inside was yellow ice cream. The entire thing tasted exactly like cold corn on the cob. It was the weirdest thing!
We boarded the bus for the last time and headed for the airport. It turned out that our flight was quite delayed so we waited a long time in the airport. When we finally took off I was relieved to have an exit seat with extra legroom. The flight was only about two hours. We arrived and boarded another bus for an hour long drive back to the ship. When we arrived at the ship, all the other busses had just arrived too. The line was really long and everyone had overnight bags so it took a long time for the security staff to check all of them. I finally got back into my room at about 12:30am and I dropped my bag and went straight to sleep.
The next day was our last day in China. I was supposed to go on a day trip that left at 7:30am but I didn’t quite wake up in time. I went for a nice breakfast and then went to check my email. My ‘sister’ Ashley came and we decided to go into Shanghai to find an internet café and have a little poke around. The weather reminded me of England. It was bitterly cold and drizzling. We got a taxi and headed for starbucks. Well we didn’t have any luck there but they recommended the coffee bean and they did have internet. We stayed there until our batteries died. After this we headed until the shopping area. It was an area with many winding, narrow pedestrian streets. We bought some last minute pearls. I also bought a fake Ipod shuffle. It was thirty bucks but I figured it would be good for working out so I didn’t have to ruin my good ipod. After a few hours we were cold and wet so decided to have a nice lunch at pizza hut before heading back to the ship. I really enjoyed China, I think it was my favorite port so far! We have been to japan but I have not yet written about it, so stay tuned! xo