Itinerary

Everything that can be shoved into my suitcase has been. I have snacks and books on CD and lots of underwear. I am ready.

For any interested parties, here is my basic itinerary for the next 17 days:

Aug 3: Fly from Boston to Chicago (4 hours) then to Beijing (13 hours) where it will be tomorrow when we land.

Aug 4: Stay in Beijing for 4 days and do touristy things like skip on the Great Wall, visit the great Hong Qiao Market (Red Bridge Market) to ogle at the pearls, and experience the history of Tiananmen Square.

Aug 8: Fly to Xi'an, home to the mausoleum of the first emporer Liu Qi, who buried himself with a vast terracotta army which was uncovered in the 1970s. We will also see the Great Mosque and visit the Muslim market and eat a banquet to celebrate the Lunar New Year.

Aug 10: Day trip to the Hu County Peasant Painting Village, where we will visit different artists' studios. Peasant painting has only been around since the time of Mao so this will be a great opportunity to see some of the masters of this craft.

Aug 11: Fly to Chengdu where we will see PANDAS on a preserve (we've been told that if there is a baby, we will be able to hold it), and a Sichuan Opera which, as a great fan of Western opera, really intrigues me.

Aug 13: Before flying south to Kunming, we will visit the Leshan Giant Buddha, the biggest in the world after the Buddhas in Afghanistan were blown to bits in 2001 by the Taliban. Once in Kunming, we will visit the Yunnan Stone Forest (literally trees made of sone), partake of a tea ceremony at a tea house, and relax in a Hot Spring, where it is reported that foot massages can be had that could make a stoic weep with joy.

Aug. 16: We fly northeast to Shanghai, but get on a bus immediately and head to Suzhou (pronounced Su jo). I plan on stocking up on comforters and tablecloths at the Suzhou #1 Silk Factory and then contemplating the twilight at the Lingering Garden.

Aug 17: We drive back to Shanghai, where we spend our last 2 days watching an Acrobat show, eating dim sum, and prowling about the Shanghai Museum. Our last dinner will be at teh Peace Hotel at the Dragon and Phoenix Restaurant, which overlooks the Bund, a famous part of the city resplendent with European architecture.

Aug 19: Home again, home again. We leave at 6:00 PM from Shanghai and arrive at Logan at 11:56 PM the same night - what a mind fuck.

Don't worry, I'll take lots of pictures, which I'll eventually post on my blog. I will also attempt to blog while in China, but no promises.

In the meantime, my songs have been selected for this year's QHS Songs List (only 5 from the 80s, 8 from the 2000s, 3 each from the 70s and 60s, and 1 from the 1950s); everyone will miss me terribly at the QHS Annual Summit to discuss this upcoming list; people will make sure that my husband is eating something besides Wendy's SuperMelts; and, oh yeah, my house will sell. For asking price.