The Tallahassee Community Chorus

"The Tallahassee Community Chorus"

"Beijing International Choral Festival"

Currently on Location: FL, USA

July 8 - 18, 2007

"What's Up From China"

A Daily Blog of our activities and photos!

Sunday, July 15th

Wake up call at 5:00 A.M. - have breakfast - flight to Shanghai at 9 A.M. - have breakfast

this is not a typo

Arrive in Shanghai 1.5 hours later - have lunch

They are determined to not serve us McDonald's again...little do they know, we would rather

have McDonald's than spinning lazy Susan every hour on the hour. MSG works.

Cantonese food is still a variation of the theme (see previous entries regarding dining)

Did you know:

"The three best things in life are...

Chinese food

British houses

and

American salaries

The three worst things in life are...

British food

Chinese salaries

and

American wives" - new tour guide

...he may not last long

The weather in Shanghai is hotter. The air conditioning works much better.

There is a noticeable western influence in the architecture and attitude of the people.

Toured Yu Garden and shopped the open bazaar, honing our bargaining skills that we learned in Beijing.

Did you know:

The following do NOT bargain for purchases:

Starbucks, Dairy Queen, McDonald's, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut,

Cold Stone Creamery, Papa John's Pizza

Really, we're still in China...

First person to go AWOL reappeared in a cab this evening.

She is a master of bargaining and got carried away shopping.

(Bruce, she made it back just fine, toting bags of goodies)

Did you know:

Shanghai was largely farmland 10 years ago, but today there are 6,000 skyscrapers.

Shanghai currently boasts the fourth tallest building in the world, and will finish the world's tallest

building prior to the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Love to all, but we're outta here tonight. We need sleep, but this city has too much nightlife to offer.

Keep looking at the pictures - we have a few more days to experience the food, fun, and shopping of China.

Well, the food is debatable.

Monday, July 16th

I think we have a general consensus that Shanghai is a city to come back to.

Shanghai is hosting a number of the 2008 Olympic events and the countdown to the World Expo in 2010 has begun.

Start saving your pennies now.

The people are friendly. The shopping is unbelievable. The food themes are impeccable (see previous themes).

"Do we have to have Chinese again tonight?" - overheard on the bus

The humidity is disgusting, the temperature is really hot, and we haven't seen a blue sky in days.

Just like home without the blue skies.

Busy, busy, busy day...here we go...

New strange things on the breakfast buffet. They go crunch and taste of soy sauce. We have no clue what they are.

Temple of the Jade Buddha was fascinating. The white Jade Buddha weighs over 1 ton and is one of six that

survived the Cultural Revolution of 1966-1976. Only by pasting Chairman Mao's picture on the Buddha was it spared from destruction.

An active monastery, the incense and gift shops were in full swing.

Next stop - rug making 101, 102, and $$$

We learned silk on silk, silk on cotton, and silk on wool techniques today.

Did you know:

The more knots per square inch, the more money you pay.

The more money you pay, the longer they worked on it.

Sculpting is only silk on cotton and is also done by hand.

Lunch today was a new experience for many of The Tallahassee Community Chorus members.

Mongolian Barbeque. Still within the theme, yet no one to blame but yourself.

After lunch we took a lovely, short, and extremely hot and humid stroll along the Huang Pu River.

Shanghai Museum of Art provided a few hours of culture and tea.

Time to kill before dinner, we did what any tourist would do...shop. Nanking Road had it all.

The Official Olympic Store, The Chop Stick Store, Bookstores, McDonald's on every corner, KFC, and

small dark alley ways with more watches and massages.

Vendors in the street (how do we say this politely) are more than determined to sell you anything and everything.

Along with selling items or showing you pictures of the items, there a number of store representatives that will earnestly escort you blocks

to sell you something from their store. The clerk to customer ratio is 4:1 and Rolex's are 5 for $10.

U.S. customer service could certainly learn a lesson here.

Let's take a moment and discuss recycling China style. When you can find a trash can, there are two.

One for trash and one for recycling. Now, here's the game:

IF you can finish your drink before the little man or woman attempts to take the bottle from your hand, you have won.

If not, you must race them to the recycle bin. Needless to say, the recycle bins are not full and the streets are clean.

Dinner: Yeah, we got it...lazy Susan was there.

Ah, the theater. The Ritz-Carlton Theater presented the Shanghai Acrobatic Troupe. A number of the acts were
attempted on the bus with varying degrees of success. Those degrees range from "Oh, no she didn't" to "Oh, no she did."

No animals were harmed in the performance of the aforementioned attempts. We can't verify meals.

Tomorrow we are off to the 2,500 year-old town of Suzhou for silk embroidery, gardens, and gates (city and water).

See you tomorrow - it's our last full day and then it's home sweet home.

Tuesday, July 17th

Sorry, for the delay of this entry, but many of you figured it out:

The Tallahassee Community Chorus had a night on the town!

Shanghai has nightlife to rival its daytime activities and we took advantage of this final night in China.

The day began with an early morning bus ride to Suzhou.

Suzhou is an industrial village two hours northwest of Shanghai.

Tucked away in the midst of factories and apartments, was the old village gates and gardens.

The consensus is... the gates and gardens are all beginning to look alike.

Lunch was provided by the embroidery factory - yes, a tour and shopping ensued.

Have you figured out the lunch systems yet?

These factories have restaurants and provide meals for the tour groups.

The tour groups then see a demonstration of the art form and then it is off to...

You guessed it...

The Gift Shop!

Confucius, Mao, or Ming must save said,

"Never shop on an empty stomach."

Once back at the hotel for a disco nap and then it's off to dinner for our final experience with the Chinese lazy Susan.

We have enjoyed the overheard comments at the tables and here's another one for you:

"Most people turn them clockwise." You just have to laugh!

(trust us, no one went hungry)

There were many nights options ahead of us.

Our tour guides organized an evening tour of Shanghai to see the lights or you struck out in groups on your own.

(Shanghai is a cross between New York and Las Vegas)

Most of the travelers journeyed to the top of the Grand Hyatt (currently, the fourth tallest building in the world.) Next door,

the new tallest building in the world is being erected... The Plaza Hyatt. As with most of the construction in China,

"it will be completed by August 1, 2008" and the congregation said, "For the Olympics."

Tomorrow we leave and there are mixed emotions among the group.

Just when you begin to have free time and learn a city, we have to leave.

But as was stated earlier, Shanghai is a place to return to.

Good times were had by all.

Wednesday, July 18th

Morning free for relaxation or shopping in China Town

We learned that is what the Chinese call the Yu Garden market... China Town.

Rolex are still 5 for $10 (or whatever you bargain for).

It has been amazing to see who emerged as THE SHOPPERS.

We wish we had bargaining in the states. Just when you get good,

We have to leave.

Noon departure for the airport

Along the way, we see the Magnet train. Our journey to the airport took 1 hour.

The magnet train can make it in 7 MINUTES!

They are building more trains to accommodate the Olympic patrons that will be forced to stay in outlying villages.

(Can you imagine living on the coast in Jacksonville, Florida and being to work in Tallahassee in 15 minutes?)

The Tallahassee Community Chorus ends its journey just as it began.

You can't plan everything and Mother Nature has a mind of her own.

Shanghai to Chicago - no problem (the guy wasn't in our nose gear - that was

the day after and plane landed in San Francisco from Shanghai... but close!)

We board the plane in Chicago to Orlando, back away from the gate,

only to have the airport shutdown due to lightning.

We are tired and going nowhere fast, but what a lightning show.

Three hours later we taxi for take off - Next stop Orlando!

Only missing 2 pieces of luggage (hey, the odds are in our favor)

We arrive in Tallahassee by bus at 6:45 AM on Thursday.

Wednesday was the longest day of our lives... and we would do it again.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Thanks for reading our entries along the way.

Talk to anyone that went on the trip and they will share the many stories not told on these entries.

Rehearsals begin August 27, 2007 at St. Johns - see you there!

Our first concert is the full Messiah at 4PM on November 18, 2007.

SEE YOU THERE!

Thank you to most of the travelers for being good Americans.

Thank you to most of the travelers for being patient.

Thank you to all the travelers for being a part of the journey.

The Blog Committee worked until 2 and 3 every morning dealing with technology, or the lack

there of. We were "giddy" for a reason... and loved every minute of it!

To the non-singers traveling with the chorus - THANK YOU!

Thank you very much for sharing this experience and the trip of a lifetime.

You will always be a part of our lives.

More pictures of the trip will be uploaded, and we believe there are movie clips as well.