Viking China (Part 2)

[sissabagrama]

We are considering a Viking Imperial Jewels of China cruise in 2014 - Shanghai to Beijing. Any advice as to best time of year to travel (weather)? And what direction would be best if we want to do the two night extension in Shanghai? This would be our first river cruise and first visit to China. Thanks!

Having just returned from the Beijing to Shanghai trip - we are glad we did it that direction - the big walks and longest days are in Beijing, so good to do it at first. Going down river worked well. It was amazing. Incredible. Extraordinary. So well done. Be sure to do it.

[sissabagrama]

It was incredible. Wonderful. Everything. We loved meeting Justmesk. We LOVED Black Sesame Kitchen, had lots of help getting there from Ritz Carlton people, kudus to Chef Nathan Brown who makes sure everyone is warmly welcomed and helped (great food here, amazing start to the trip). BSK was a highlight, as was walking the hutong area around it before dining.

Jin was our guide - outstanding, funny, a graduate level 4 credit course in Chinese history, ecomony, poltitics and family living given by him enlighted us, tickled our funny bones, and broadened our understandings. What a guy.

All elements of the trip were so well orchestrated (with the exception of the Peking Duck dinner, still not working well, it seems - we didn't go, but nobody was happy with it). The hotels, meals, the ship - all outstanding. And the 'sights' of China visited - awe inspiring. A once in a lifetime experience, with all the hand-holding and guidance needed to make it easy and safe. Viking does it VERY well.

Edited April 17, 2013 by sissabagrama
typo

[GoInOnaCruz]

It was incredible. Wonderful. Everything. We loved meeting Justmesk. We LOVED Black Sesame Kitchen, had lots of help getting there from Ritz Carlton people, kudus to Chef Nathan Brown who makes sure everyone is warmly welcomed and helped (great food here, amazing start to the trip). BSK was a highlight, as was walking the hutong area around it before dining.

Jin was our guide - outstanding, funny, a graduate level 4 credit course in Chinese history, ecomony, poltitics and family living given by him enlighted us, tickled our funny bones, and broadened our understandings. What a guy.

All elements of the trip were so well orchestrated (with the exception of the Peking Duck dinner, still not working well, it seems - we didn't go, but nobody was happy with it). The hotels, meals, the ship - all outstanding. And the 'sights' of China visited - awe inspiring. A once in a lifetime experience, with all the hand-holding and guidance needed to make it easy and safe. Viking does it VERY well.

So glad you had a great time! You got the best guide (and everyone else will say THEY got the best guide :)

[Peregrina651]

Thank you & Peregrina for all of your helpful info!!

 

I'll say, "You're welcome," but on behalf of EVERYONE who posts information and answers questions here. It's a group effort, a very successful group effort.

[Peregrina651]

Wow..I finally found someone else on the boards doing the Viking Imperial Jewels of China on June 3,2013. Brandy we're a group of 4 and are freaking out a little at the UNKNOWN of it all. This will be our first trip with Viking and the first trip to Asia. We are SO excited though. I can't even imagine how you are considering you'll be doing this with no official traveling companion. From what I understand we'll all be in relatively small groups so hopefully you'll click with someone in your group...if not I'll keep an eye out for someone who seems to be "on their own" and will snag you to join us if at all possible. LOL! I'm still making my way thru this amazing long thread, so maybe I'll comment on something later. Take care! ~Missy~

 

Next step is to start a roll call for the June 3 sailing. ;)

[justmesk]

Wow...what an excellant holiday, VIking takes very good care of taking care of everything, they are extremely well organized and do go out of their way to please you.

It was wonderful to meet sissabagrama from this board ...and as well we met alot of other great people in our group I think we had a great group of people. .

I have to agree totally with everything that sissabagrama posted. We did have the best tour guide (JIN) His smile and his stories were welcoming each morning. THe hotels were wonderful , especially the Ritz in Beijing, the staff there were always smiling and so attentive to our needs... and the chef Nathan made us feel very special and well taken care with our dietary needs.

I enjoyed the optional Peking opera , as this is truly a part of the chinese culture , they now have English words telling you what is going on through the performance which probably helped .

The Peking Duck dinner, was horrible, my experince was anyhow, I think it was more because of the way the dinner is served and some of the people who were sitting at our table have no manners or etiquette and were "double dipping" which grossed me out. They seemed to rush us out of there as well.

I must say one of the highlights of this trip for me was visiting the hutongs and a family's home, the lady had a wonderful story to tell us, and her daughter did some beautiful paintings inside of the bottles

As well I enjoyed visting the school children

the days on the river is truly awe inspiring....you never know what beauty lies around the next bend, beautiful scenery

the only downfall of the trip would be the pollution in China . I found it difficult to breath many days as I have bad allergies, so if you have allergies be sure to take something with you

[CTGirl]

We just boarded the Emerald this afternoon. We are having a wonderful time in China. Jaime is our guide and we think she is the best guide ever. She is taking really good care of her bus.

 

I have to say that nothing on this board prepared me for boarding the Emerald. I knew about the steps (we went down them) but I did not know about the pontoons on the river that held the walkway. The walkway shook with every step. What an experience. One of my bus mates joked "how does it feel to have walked on water". I would post some pictures but I think I just got blocked.

[SteadyAT]

I have to say that nothing on this board prepared me for boarding the Emerald. I knew about the steps (we went down them) but I did not know about the pontoons on the river that held the walkway. The walkway shook with every step. What an experience. One of my bus mates joked "how does it feel to have walked on water". I would post some pictures but I think I just got blocked.

 

CTGirl, wait until you walk across the bridge to the Pagoda at Shibaozhai! I LOVED it when tons of people were walking across. One of my aunts however preferred lagging behind until most people have passed by!

[Peregrina651]

 

I have to say that nothing on this board prepared me for boarding the Emerald. I knew about the steps (we went down them) but I did not know about the pontoons on the river that held the walkway. The walkway shook with every step. What an experience. One of my bus mates joked "how does it feel to have walked on water". I would post some pictures but I think I just got blocked.

 

Your description of the walkway truly captures the experience.

 

I've tried but I was never able to describe that portion of the boarding process adequately.

[Peregrina651]

CTGirl, wait until you walk across the bridge to the Pagoda at Shibaozhai! I LOVED it when tons of people were walking across. One of my aunts however preferred lagging behind until most people have passed by!

 

Walk down the center of the bridge--and also keep in mind that ALL bridges of any length have to move like this else they will just snap. Is that too much information?

 

 

.

[Turtles06]

It was incredible. Wonderful. Everything. We loved meeting Justmesk. We LOVED Black Sesame Kitchen, had lots of help getting there from Ritz Carlton people, kudus to Chef Nathan Brown who makes sure everyone is warmly welcomed and helped (great food here, amazing start to the trip). BSK was a highlight, as was walking the hutong area around it before dining.

Jin was our guide - outstanding, funny, a graduate level 4 credit course in Chinese history, ecomony, poltitics and family living given by him enlighted us, tickled our funny bones, and broadened our understandings. What a guy.

All elements of the trip were so well orchestrated (with the exception of the Peking Duck dinner, still not working well, it seems - we didn't go, but nobody was happy with it). The hotels, meals, the ship - all outstanding. And the 'sights' of China visited - awe inspiring. A once in a lifetime experience, with all the hand-holding and guidance needed to make it easy and safe. Viking does it VERY well.

 

Welcome back; so happy you had a great time!! Jin was our escort two years ago (yikes, has it been that long?), and he was phenomenal. But it's clear everyone thinks that of their escort, which speaks so highly of Viking in China.

 

And as the person who kicked off Black Sesame Kitchen here on the Viking China threads, I'm doubly happy to hear you loved it. (BSK needs to start giving me a commission on all the Viking people eating there... :))

[rahrah50]

I have to say that nothing on this board prepared me for boarding the Emerald. I knew about the steps (we went down them) but I did not know about the pontoons on the river that held the walkway. The walkway shook with every step. What an experience. One of my bus mates joked "how does it feel to have walked on water". I would post some pictures but I think I just got blocked.

__________________

 

All I can say is "oh no"......I hate bridges etc..... Oh well if I want to go I will have to walk on it or stay home.....

[GoInOnaCruz]

All I can say is "oh no"......I hate bridges etc..... Oh well if I want to go I will have to walk on it or stay home.....

In our family lore one of the most amusing moments is "the time Mom's legs turned to rubber and she couldn't walk across the swinging bridge over the gorge outside of Quebec City"--luckily I could crawl back on my hands and knees from the middle of the bridge (literally!) and double back around to see the rest of the gorge. Well there is only one way out to and one way back from the pagoda (unless the Emerald would just make a special stop for the quivering passenger--not!) and I wanted to see it--I'm glad I did!--and just kept saying to myself "You will never get to walk out to a Pagoda on the Yangtze again if you don't do this now." I actually met SteadyAT for the first time (wasn't that right Steady?) on my way back to the ship at the bottom of the pagoda so by the time I crossed back my group was gone and the bridge was a much more tranquil crossing on the way back --you do have a little extra time to walk back as they encourage shopping in the little town. As Peregrina says walk down the middle--much sturdier! You will be glad you did it and you KNOW you can! :)

[H2Otstr]

 

[Peregrina651]

In our family lore one of the most amusing moments is "the time Mom's legs turned to rubber and she couldn't walk across the swinging bridge over the gorge outside of Quebec City"--luckily I could crawl back on my hands and knees from the middle of the bridge (literally!) and double back around to see the rest of the gorge. Well there is only one way out to and one way back from the pagoda (unless the Emerald would just make a special stop for the quivering passenger--not!) and I wanted to see it--I'm glad I did!--and just kept saying to myself "You will never get to walk out to a Pagoda on the Yangtze again if you don't do this now." I actually met SteadyAT for the first time (wasn't that right Steady?) on my way back to the ship at the bottom of the pagoda so by the time I crossed back my group was gone and the bridge was a much more tranquil crossing on the way back --you do have a little extra time to walk back as they encourage shopping in the little town. As Peregrina says walk down the middle--much sturdier! You will be glad you did it and you KNOW you can! :)

 

LOL Hubby says he has never seen me walk so fast..:eek:

 

Actually, the bridge was not as bad as I had imagined and although I zoomed across on the way over, I actually strolled back--and I'm one who would have had the same reaction to the Quebec gorge bridge.

[caribill]

LOL Hubby says he has never seen me walk so fast..:eek:

 

Actually, the bridge was not as bad as I had imagined and although I zoomed across on the way over, I actually strolled back--and I'm one who would have had the same reaction to the Quebec gorge bridge.

 

 

If only a few people are walking across the bridge, it is no problem at all.

 

When many people are walking on the bridge, it can sway a lot. Still, it is easy to keep one's balance.

[rahrah50]

I have done some bridges with solid sides and this bridge has open sides. There are pictures on this thread somewhere of the floating pontoon walkway to the Emerald and those really stress me out.

 

I swear I will not miss something do to my fear.....I hope i can, I hope I can, I hope I can............

[rahrah50]

that would be due to my fear - not do to my fear

[travelfirst]

I worried about that bridge before I went to China with Viking also. It really isn't that bad.

I did find a photo of it before I went but I forget where I found it....

[Kohola]

The tour used to include traversing open pits across planks...

The arch, lanterns, and gold piping were still on the drawing board at that time...

Candy, our tour guide for the day, and I did load test the bridge last year...

This is one of the few stops where you can go at your leisure and have the pagoda to yourself should you so choose.

[SatLhr]

I kept reading these boards looking for someone else on this cruise too. We are 4 from Burke, Virginia. It is also our first Viking cruise and our first trip to Asia. There are two others from Burke going as well. We just picked up our visas this week, so should be good to go. Which hotel have you been asssigned to in Beijing? That seems to determine your tour group.

 

We'll start out at the Westin Financial Street in Beijing. We're flying out of San Francisco on 6/1. What about your group? Aren't you excited? This is ALL we can talk about. LOL!! I'm trying to convince my sister that we'll be ok venturing out on our own that first day in Bejing, that we have to entertain ourselves, but this is her first trip overseas and she's a little nervous. She said if we meet up with a few others in our group she & her husband might consider it. Fingers crossed. I told her if you've used one subway...you've used them all. We'll be fine. :)

[Kohola]

China sustained a magnitude 6.6 earthquake about 4 hours ago in Sichuan Province near where the last major quake occurred a few years ago. This quake was felt in ChengDu and ChongQing. My friend who lives near the airport in ChongQing said their whole house shook. There is loss of life and many injuries.

The area south of Beijing received snow on Friday after temperatures in the mid 70's the day before.

[SatLhr]

Next step is to start a roll call for the June 3 sailing. ;)

 

 

Ok...I finally DID start a Roll Call. Now how do I get it posted on this thread so people actually find it? :cool: Sorry...new to posting on CC. Maybe THIS will work http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1830900. Sorry if it doesn't. Woo hoo...looks like it does work.

Edited April 20, 2013 by SatLhr

[caribill]

Ok...I finally DID start a Roll Call. Now how do I get it posted on this thread so people actually find it? :cool: Sorry...new to posting on CC. Maybe THIS will work http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1830900. Sorry if it doesn't. Woo hoo...looks like it does work.

 

 

It worked.

[SatLhr]

I kept reading these boards looking for someone else on this cruise too. We are 4 from Burke, Virginia. It is also our first Viking cruise and our first trip to Asia. There are two others from Burke going as well. We just picked up our visas this week, so should be good to go. Which hotel have you been asssigned to in Beijing? That seems to determine your tour group.

 

I started a Roll Call. Let's see what happens. :) Here's a link: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1830900