XINGANG (BEIJING), CHINA

Our day began with a bus tour to a hotel in Beijing, where we partook of a typical chinese meal.

From there we proceeded out of town to The Great Wall of China.

Mum took a picture of me, standing in this ancient wall.

This is a picture of Mum, standing near the model of the Great Wall.

On the way back we passed the dam, which was completely frozen over with the snow. So much so, that people were actually ice-fishing on the dam, while further away they were skating.

Apart from the Great Wall, what stood out most was the tremendous building and engineering feat that the chinese people have made to build motorways and myriad fly-overs to expedite the transport of goods.

ZHUJIAJIAO, SHANGHAI, CHINA

The first stop on our tour was the town of Shanghai, where we visited a factory where they produced silk doonas, before having lunch, then proceeding to the charming town of Zhujiajiao.

In the town we saw this gingko tree, something we do not have in Australia.

We visited an ancient apothecary, with its walls of drawers to hold the powders and roots. This is a view of the lovely woodwork throughout the building.

We also visited this temple, with its wish tree,

and the beautiful lamp in the shape of a lotus.

After proceeding through the narrow streets, we took a ride on the local gondola, the reason the town is known as the Venice of the East.

The river is criss-crossed with bridges at short intervals.

HONG KONG

Our ship returned to Hong Kong for another short visit, arriving near dinner time. After dinner Mum and I went back to the shoe shop to purchase more shoes.

We were both having trouble with our legs, so decided to take one of the tours the next day. Our tour took us to Stanley Markets, then to a show room where they made beautiful pearl, gold, and silver jewellery. From there we proceeded to the little side street markets. We were both taken with the buildings in this area. Because there is so little land available, the majority of the buildings are high rise, though they take much care to make them unique, unlike our buildings at home.

Our tour returned us to the ship in time for the evening meal. However, before boarding the ship again, we spotted this beautiful light display, which seemed to a representation of children, boats, and dragons!