Wow. I hardly know where to begin in describing a memorable day that started early, ended late, and was filled with incredible highs and one nasty little low. I guess I’ll do it in chronological order, both because that’s straightforward and because it will allow me to get the ugly part out of the way first so I can move on to our spectacular experience on the Chinese mainland.
Most of us have never heard of the Chinese city of Tianjin. I know I hadn’t, which goes to show how little I, and I suspect most Americans, know about China. Tianjin, it turns out, is the port city for Beijing, and has a population of almost fifteen million, making it China’s seventh largest city and dwarfing New York, America’s largest metropolis. I bring this up because Tianjin is where we docked early this morning, and where our adventure began.
And my adventure started early, because at 10:00 pm last night I received a phone call from our Guest Services desk informing me that the Chinese authorities wanted to see me at 6:00 am this morning in one of the ship’s conference rooms. No explanation as to why. I dutifully, if apprehensively, presented myself at the appointed time and discovered that there were around 25 of us who had received this summons. Long story short, in advance of our arrival the Chinese had insisted on reviewing the ship’s medical records and flagged anyone who had visited the medical facility in the past month. As I fit those criteria (nothing of consequence) I was hauled before uniformed medical officers and spent ten minutes explaining repeatedly the inconsequential nature of my visit to the ship’s medical office. They finally tired of grilling me, required me to take a Covid test, and told me I could go. This was the first of several episodes that demonstrated that a visit to China is very different from a visit to most countries, and not in a pleasant way.
I won’t go into detail about the process of going through immigration to get off the ship, other than to describe it as coldly thorough. These people don’t mess around. That being said, once we got past the uniforms our hosts were delightful and went out of their way to be sure we had a positive experience. And the ordinary Chinese we saw wherever we went were like people anywhere else. I felt very comfortable and relaxed wandering around the places we went, and that’s a compliment to the Chinese people.
We emerged from the cruise terminal into warm sunshine, marred only by the omnipresent haze that is a fact of life here. Our guide said it’s better than it used to be, but they clearly have a ways to go to achieve better air quality. While air pollution is a problem in many places, it’s just worse here.
Today’s excursion was one we’d been looking forward to for a long time, with two incredible destinations on the itinerary, but neither was close to the port, so the day began with a 3 1/2 hour bus ride westward through Tianjin and on to downtown Beijing. On the way we passed a lot of construction projects, both infrastructure and clusters of highrise apartments. The latter seemed puzzling considering China’s low birth rate, but clearly they think they’re needed.
After the long bus ride our first stop was at the Qianmen Jianguo Hotel in downtown Beijing, where we were treated to a delightful lunch, served in the traditional Chinese family style. I clearly need to work on my chopstick skills, but other than that everything was first rate. The restaurant was a red tablecloth, upscale establishment, and the food was delicious, fortifying us for the long day ahead.
After lunch it was back on the bus for a forty minute ride to the first of our two big stops, Beijing’s legendary Forbidden City. Home to Chinese emperors for nearly 500 years, the enormous complex (178 acres) was so named because it was off limits to ordinary citizens of the realm. In fact, access was so restricted that within its high walls only the emperor himself could roam freely through all of it. It’s hard to describe how incredibly large the Forbidden City is, but consider this. We probably walked four miles as we explored the City, and didn’t see all of the forty percent that’s open to the public. We walked through one huge courtyard after another, each ringed by smaller buildings supporting a larger, important structure at the courtyard’s far end.
The wooden buildings are beautiful, and the ornate trappings and bright colors were reminiscent of what we saw in South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong. The only downside is that after a while the repetitious nature of one similar courtyard after another becomes almost stultifying. The Forbidden City is magnificent, but a portion of that magnificence is simply due to its sheer size. It truly is a city within a city. Do I recommend a visit if you’re in Beijing? Absolutely, but lace up your walking shoes and get a good guide to explain what you’re seeing.
One last point before I leave our visit to the Forbidden City, and it goes back to the Chinese obsession with security. Our tickets were linked to our passport numbers, and when we entered our passports were scanned (along with staring into a facial recognition camera) to make sure our tickets matched our passport numbers. The word overkill comes to mind, along with creepy.
After an afternoon of hiking around the Forbidden City in the hot sun (there’s very little shade and the temperature was in the 80s) we were happy to climb into our air conditioned bus for the drive to the second of our epic destinations, the Great Wall of China. They’re not near each other, so we settled in for another two hour drive, with a stop for dinner at another nice restaurant, which delivered us to the Wall well after dark. And this is where our day shifted from good to magical.
The Great Wall closes before dark, but Royal Caribbean had made special arrangements with China’s tourism office to open it exclusively for us. The section we visited (the entire wall is thousands of miles long) was beautifully illuminated, and there were several groups of performers and dancers welcoming us as we walked from the parking lot to the wall. The whole effect was goosebump-inducing, and we hadn’t even set foot on the Wall yet. Clearly the tourism officials had rolled out the red carpet for us.
The Wall itself is as advertised, a jaw dropping achievement and a magnificent structure on an unimaginable scale. Admittedly not all of the wall looks like this, as many sections have not been maintained and restored, while others were never more than elaborate mud walls with stick obstacles to force invaders to dismount before advancing. Still, enough of it is similar to what we saw to justify its inclusion on the list of seven wonders of the modern world.
Walking on the wall for any distance will challenge your fitness, because the walkways between watchtowers are often very steep. The Wall is in the mountains and follows the mountains’ rugged terrain, so if you plan on visiting get in some hill training before you go. It’s worth it though, because the views from the higher watchtowers are spectacular. The only downside was that the same lights that illuminated the Wall so beautifully made photography difficult, at least with a simple iPhone. Plan to bring a good camera with you if you ever have the good fortune to visit at night.
After enough abusing of our quads hiking uphill and our knees walking back down we took the stairs down to ground level and spent a few minutes poking around in the gift shop, again opened just for us (yes, I bought a baseball cap for the bargain price of $3.46), then headed back down the hill to the parking lot to find our bus. The musicians, dancers and dragon performers were still going full blast, making our departure just as wonderful as our arrival. I cannot emphasize enough how wonderful the whole experience was, and it was clear that the Chinese tourism office had put a lot of effort into making it that way.
The ride back to the ship was a long one, and we didn’t arrive at the cruise terminal until 12:30 am, but fortunately most of us were able to sleep, or at least nap, on the way. After undergoing the rigorous screening we’ve now come to expect, including full pat-downs, we boarded the ship and retired, tired but happy, to our cabins. A long day, but a wonderful one.
With a second day in port ahead of us tomorrow, and an early start to our scheduled tour, it’s quickly to bed. Tomorrow we’re staying in Tianjin, so no long bus rides, but hopefully an interesting day. Can’t wait to tell you all about it, so stay tuned.
Lunch at the hotel was excellent, though I need work on my chopsticks technique.
There was nothing wrong with the Chinese beer.
This is the entrance to the Forbidden City, assuming you make it through the security check and your passport number matches your ticket number.
I can describe how big the courtyards are, but you really have to see them for yourself to appreciate it.
It’s a really big place, with a lot of walking and little shade on a hot, sunny day, so prepare accordingly if you go.
Watercourse through the grounds.
It really is a magnificent site.
Look at the size of this stone carving.
There were many stone and metal figures. I liked this one.
We had earpieces so our guide could explain what we were seeing.
The Forbidden City has three separate gardens. We only found one of them, but it was lovely.
In the garden.
There’s a moat around parts of the Forbidden City.
Approaching the entrance to the Great Wall.
Dragon performers on the way from the parking lot to the Wall.
The Great Wall is spectacular at night. We climbed everything you see in this photo.
Walking the wall involves a lot of climbing.
Inside one of of the regularly spaced watchtowers.
Got your climbing shoes on?
We did everything you see. It just goes on and on.
Shot through an archway.
Made it to the top of this section.
I’m smiling now, but I haven’t climbed that section behind me yet.
Not every section was steep, thankfully.
On the way out the performers were still going strong. This was a private showing just for us, and clearly the Chinese tourist officials wanted to show us a great time. They definitely succeeded.
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