December 2017 (by YK)      Itinerary Link

It was supposed to go like this is in Shenzhen:

We arrive at Shenzhen North Station just after noon & take a taxi to our Airbnb studio, about a 10 minute walk south of the Convention Center. After a quick lunch nearby, we take  the metro to Dafen Oil Painting Village, at one time the birthplace of 60% of all the fake paintings in the world. It’s not as busy now, but I’ve heard it’s still a vibrant 24-hour operation. Being the daughter of a painter, the whole notion of mass production of oil paintings was mind boggling, and I wanted to witness it.

Coming back to the Convention Center area, we’d look for the Peking Duck place recommended by our host and have a feast. Satisfied, we would walk some pounds off our belly at the Window of the World park, a miniature replica of the world’s architecture. This is not the kind of thing we’d do for a big admission fee, but you get 50% off after 7:30 PM. And anyone over 70 gets in free. You can reach there by metro. After a tour of the world, we’d be ready for a nice full body massage.

Well, it didn’t work out that way.  Our host gave us wrong directions to her place, and we wasted a couple of hours just to get into the right place. By the time we dumped our bags in the studio, we were starving and dead tired. So I had 6 pieces of chicken nuggets at KFC(we had to be there to use Wifi). By this time, it was getting dark already.

After recovering a bit, we walked to the convention center area to find our Peking Duck. Nope. The Chinese name she gave us did not help much, and we could not find it. After a good search, we gave up & walked into a restaurant that seemed to serve ducks. Surprise! We ordered a half of a duck, and there was plenty to eat($16), and it was one of the best we’ve ever had, including the famous Peking Duck places in Beijing. Tong Shun Ju restaurant is a chain, it turned out. Pretty fancy but not too expensive. We spent about $30 for the duck and a seafood dish + beer. Great food.

We could not find a massage place, either. The next morning, it took less than 10 minutes to get to Futian border crossing, just an 11 Yuan cab ride, and that was good! The border processing building was huge & it was quite confusing to figure out where to go. We saw a sign for MTR & thought it meant the MTR in Hong Kong. Shenzhen, too, calls its own system MTR, and Hong Kong MTR runs the Line 4 metro of Shenzhen. Confusing! Finally, a lady worker for Shenzhen MTR, who could not speak English, took us by hand to the right area. It was very nice of her!

After exiting China border control, which had long lines but processed quickly, we walked over to Hong Kong immigration. Long lines & quick processing. Then we followed the signs to Hong Kong MTR. Yes, signs in English. What a relief! much to our surprise, the metro cars were not crowded. We could not help wondering where everyone had gone.

November 2017 (by YK)

Another popular stop on a trans-Atlantic cruise itinerary is Ponta Delgada, Azores, an autonomous region of Portugal comprised of 9 islands.  The first time we were there, we just walked off the ship and walked around town. There were lots of little shops and restaurants. Of course most of the cafes near the port offered free wifi.

This time we wanted to venture out and see more of the island of San Miguel on which the capital of the Azores, Ponta Delgada, is located. My research suggested hiring a cab & sharing the cost with another couple would be a good way to go. We noticed a lot more going on right at the port with places to shop, eat or drink compared to the last time.

As we were looking for a cab, a gentleman approached us offering an 8-passenger van tour for Euro 30pp to visit Sete Citades area. As more people gathered around, he threw in another point of interest, Fire Lake, for Euro5 each extra. Eight of us went & had a great tour. He turned out to be a very knowledgeable guide.

We drove 25-30 minutes west passing through green hills to reach our first stop. Sete Citades is known as Green & Blue Lakes, but, it actually is one lake artificially divided by a bridge added by humans. Colors reflect the surrounding scenery, not the color of the water. After looking down at the lakes, we drove down to the lakeside and the village by the lakes. After some free time for snacks and a peek into the local life of dairy farmers, we were driven to the western edge of the island for a photo op.

Cows were everywhere on the island. Our guide claimed them to be real laughing cows: how can they be sad living in a place like Azores with plenty of organic food and plush playgrounds! The van hugged the southern coast of the island & passed by the port and climbed another hilly area more to the east of Ponta Delgada. Lagoa do Fogo(Lagoon of Fire) is a crater lake formed about 5 million years ago, which is considered ‘young’ as far as a caldera goes.

As we descended the hill on the north side of the lake, there was a hot spring that we could stop for. Everybody said, “no swimsuit, no go.” So we drove slowly back to the port & arrived way before our ship’s departure time. The whole tour took 4-5 hours.

 

June 2014 (by Pat)   Itinerary Link

ZHANGJIAJIE CITY

After our lake trip, we took the bus back to Zhangjiajie City, a city of about 1.5 million. Since our flight wasn’t until 10:30, YK had arranged a day hotel room for us.

After settling in to our room, we checked at the front desk for activity and restaurant information. We had noticed that the terminal for the tram to Tianmen Mountain appeared to be right in center of the city. That was the trip that they were suggesting, but we decided we needed lunch first.

At first, when we returned, we were told it was too late to take the tram to the mountain, but, when we weren’t interested in any of their other offerings, we were told we did have enough time. We paid for the tram tickets at the hotel at a small (about 15Y) discount to the usual price and received one of those tissue paper receipts. I asked if we should just show that at the ticket counter and was told we should just go with one of the young desk clerks. She took us to the tram terminal in a cab. We then sat down and waited for someone else to show up. Another woman arrived and asked for our passports. Since I know China is passport happy, I had mine, but yk did not have hers. I thought that was the end of our mountain trip, but the hotel clerk called the hotel and arranged for another clerk to bring the copy of the passport they had taken when we checked in. After she arrived with the copy, a fourth woman showed up and walked off with my passport and the copy of yk’s. Sometime later, she returned with my passport and the tickets.

Clearly the hotel had somehow received a deep discount on the tickets to make it worth the time of at least 4 people plus the expense of three separate cab rides to get us our tickets.

We headed for the tram.

TIANMEN MOUNTAIN

Tianmen means gate of heaven. The mountain is reached by means of a 7.5-kilometer cable tramway from the center of Zhangjiajie City. The trip takes about 40 minutes. After leaving the city, we traveled over a small farm community, then up the mountain. Since we left late, we were the only passengers in the eight-passenger car up the mountain.

There is a temple at the top of the mountain as well as numerous trails, including one that features a section that hangs over the edge of the mountain with a clear glass floor allowing you to look straight down at the 1000 foot drop. Somewhat disconcerting.

• Zhangjiajie National Park
• Zhangjiajie: Baofeng Lake
• Zhangjiajie: Tianmen Mountain