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Published: October 18th 2009
We awoke to find our ship in a lock. I thought for a moment we were in the Panama Canal. But then realized it was a lock allowing us to enter the port of Inchon. Inchon is a new port for us and this is our first time in Korea. We both have spent a lot of time flying over Korea but now we had a chance to see it at ground level. Korea is quite an anomaly, situated between the two powerhouse nations of China and Japan and having to contend with the menacing presence of Kim Jong Il to the north.
Inchon is the port city for Seoul which is about 2 hours away. We decided to visit this historic port town in lieu of spending most of the day on a bus. The Greater Seoul area has a population of about 25 million and its traffic jams are legendary. Inchon became famous during the Korean War when General MacArthur made an amphibious landing and thereby severed the supply line to North Korea. MacArthur is a hero in these parts and there is a huge statue in Freedom Park of the General overlooking the harbor area.
We went to
the morning fish market and saw some of the ugliest sea creatures—it’s enough to make you think twice when considering a dip in the ocean. The frog fish is exceptionally unattractive especially when its innards are on full display.
Korea has a booming economy due mostly to its hardworking residents. Our guide told us that she spent 15 hours a day at school and was never called by her name. Each child is assigned a number and that is how they are addressed throughout their school years. Our guide was #42. Now she is very happy to be called by her real name—which ironically we promptly forgot.
We went to the Shinpo-dong market where the specialty is a spicy fried chicken. That put us in the mood for lunch so we wandered around Chinatown and found a restaurant with a balcony. This was one of the first mild days, weather-wise, that we had in almost a month. Our Chinese meal had a distinct Korean taste to all of the dishes and kimchee was a prominent side dish.
On our next trip to Korea, I think we will brave the traffic and visit Seoul or the DMZ.
The very next day
Korean Chinese Restaurant
Would you like a side of kimchee with that?we cruised into Dalian which is one of the northern most ports of China and has a very Russian feel to it. It was actually under Russian control from the end of WWII until Stalin died in 1955. It was the ice-free alternative to Vladivostok and the southern terminus of the famous Trans-Siberian Railway. We took a walking tour of the city and marveled at the European style buildings and roundabouts. We ended up by the seashore and spent some time flying kites—a favorite pastime in China for over 2000 years.
We were looking forward to Beijing for several reasons. We were interested to see the changes brought about by the Olympics since our last visit three years ago. Also we were very excited to meet up with the Wiegand family. Our friend Jane whom we spent time with earlier this year in Dubai is the matriarch of this most international of families. Her son, Greg has just moved to Beijing accompanied by his wife Andriana and two small children.
Upon arrival in Tianjin, we boarded a bus for the three hour ride to Beijing. The first things we noticed were the trees. When I recall Beijing from our previous
Roger and Marilyn--Inchon Lock
Michiganders living in Houston, TX trip, I think of a drab, gray, urbanized behemoth. Now it is a city transformed. There are flowers and banners and green everywhere. Of course it helps that China is celebrating its 60th anniversary as ”New China.” And our weeklong stay in Mainland China coincided with the Golden Holiday, which is second only to the Chinese New Year vacation period as a time for national celebration and travel. Every street is lined with red lanterns and every light post is festooned with brightly colored banners. We saw the “Birdnest” which was the base for many of the 2008 Olympic events. We also got to see the “Cube” where Michael Phelps collected his record number of gold medals.
After a fifteen course Chinese lunch we checked into the Regent Hotel in downtown Beijing. This is probably one of the nicest hotels we have ever been in and had one of the biggest and best hotel swimming pools we have experienced in years. It is hard to imagine such luxury in the land of Mao.
Because of the October 1 anniversary celebration, Tiananmen Square was closed. The celebration was broadcast throughout the world showing off the military might of the Chinese government.
Gifts for our Guests
Purses and LED lights Fortunately we had visited the square as well as the Forbidden City several times on previous trips. Also this being a national holiday time, it seems that half of China was visiting the tourist sights of Beijing. Even though the country has had the “one child” rule for many years, over-population is still an obvious problem in this country of billions. Having already visited the Great Wall, the Summer Palace and the Ming Tombs, we were happy to spend our time getting to know the regular Beijing, not just the touristic sights.
Andriana met us at the hotel and took us to the 798 Art District. This is a former weapons factory that is being renovated in a haven for avant-garde artists of all types. Just the day before we read an article about this place as it has been the subject of close oversight by the Chinese government. The brothers Gao have had some of their work confiscated and they have to have secret art shows. While still officially revered, Chairman Mao’s policies are being reevaluated and questioned. His “Great Leap Forward” and Cultural Revolution were a disaster for a large portion of the population and the artistic community
suffered greatly at the hands of the Red Guard. Some of this is depicted by the Gao Brothers’ works and that is not acceptable in Communist circles. We wandered over the huge expanse of the factory and enjoyed seeing the budding modern art scene in China.
Greg was housebound with a bug he had picked up on a recent trip to Cambodia, so the three of us went to their home to meet him and the two children. Andriana is from Indonesia and she and Greg have lived in D.C and Cuba prior to their arrival in Beijing. They have a lovely single family home in a gated ex-pat community close to the Embassy District. It is an amazing oasis in the center of teeming Beijing. Greg gave us a woven cloth he had gotten in Cambodia which will look great on our bed at home. After tea Andriana took us to her favorite dumpling house. We met some of her friends who are Marine guards at the U.S. Embassy—not a bad duty station for these Marines! Andriana has been studying Chinese and is quite proficient in this difficult language. She ordered up a heaping plate of excellent dumplings—the best
Dalian Celebration.
The 60th Anniversary of the "New China." we have ever had.
It was great to have a resident show us around this vast and complex city. We admire Greg and Andriana who will be spending the next four years in Beijing. Raising children in a big city can be quite a challenge especially in one that is often traffic and smog choked like Beijing. We hope to have another chance to visit them soon.
We spent the afternoon and evening visiting the local “hutongs” which are narrow winding one-story neighborhoods that make up the heart of Beijing. Unfortunately the hutongs are being leveled in a rush towards “progress.” These small residences have traditionally lacked heating and plumbing and kitchen facilities. This is one reason that there are so many restaurants in China. Without cooking facilities people have to eat every meal out or at least get Chinese takeaway.
We strolled Wangfujing Dajie, a pedestrian-only street, coming upon one of the night food markets. Gui Jie (Ghost Street) is filled with home-style food served at small tables under lanterns. They serve hot pot food and noodles but the most interesting to us were the live scorpions on a stick. We didn’t partake of this delicacy which I presume,
when deep fried, lose their poisonous sting. We took chicken and tomatoes back to our hotel room and enjoyed watching the baseball tie-breaker between the Twins and Tigers broadcast in Chinese.
The next day we took the ride back to the ship, this time without incident. On our previous visit, we were caught in a terrific traffic jam and stranded on the freeway for four hours worrying about missing our ship. This time it was smooth sailing as was our cruise down the Yellow Sea to the exciting city of Shanghai.
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