To those who have been checking out our blogs: We have suspended our travel blogs on this website. Instead, we have been sending out individual emails, with more photos. If you would like to be on the email distribution list, please kindly send us an email by using "Send Private Message". But please attach a note and identify yourselves. Thanks.... P & G [View Full Entry]

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Wedding -- November 11 On November 11, we attended Phyllis' nephew's wedding. This is the event that prompted all three of Phyllis' sisters to come to Hong Kong. Two nieces also came, along with their husband/boyfriend. In the morning, 7 of us went to Phyllis' brother Stephen's home where we had the "Tea Ceremony". This is the time when we meet the bride for the first time, and as a token of good luck, give the bride and groom red packets of lucky money. This is the first time for a long time that all 6 of Phyllis' siblings get together. [View Full Entry]

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After arriving in Hong Kong on October 31, we spent time seeing friends and relatives. We were also a bit disturbed by our lengthy jet-lag, which took days to recover. From November 3 to 5, we spent time in Shenzhen and Guangzhou. In Shenzhen, we met up with Gary's nephews Frank and Ken. This is our first visit to Guangzhou on our own, our previous visits were with tours or relatives. We found a private apartment on the web (www.homtel.cn) and enjoyed our two nights stay. The apartment is close to the subway, clean and has laundry facilities. We found Guangzhou [View Full Entry]

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The month of October was mostly spent on driving and visiting. On Oct 4, we left our Mountain View home and went to Edmonton and stayed for 3 days with our son Ian. From Oct 7 to Oct 10, we drove for 3 days from Edmonton to Detroit. The weather was pretty wet in upper Michigan. From Oct 10 and 11, we visited Gary's nephew near Detroit and enjoyed two nights stay with the new parents and their lovely daughter Sophia. Gary's sister-in-law and niece Elmira were also there. From Oct 12 to Oct 18, we drove from Detroit to Toronto [View Full Entry]

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On June 23, we flew from Chengdu to Shenzhen. On June 24, we went from Shenzhen to Hong Kong, where we stayed with Phyllis' cousin Linda for two days. On June 26, we flew from Hong Kong to Vancouver, then to Edmonton. Then we stayed for a few days, then we return to our summer home of Mountain View. Post trip thoughts -- this year is crazy. We have done much more traveling than planned. Well, better to be able to do so while we are healthy. If we are not healthy, we will not be able to go to Tibet. [View Full Entry]

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Photos here: http://picasaweb.google.com/ourgmb/LuoDai?authkey=O9UBghtVQ9w On June 22, we took a side trip from Chengdu to Luodai ancient town. It is a nice and quite ancient town. I cannot compare this town with the famous Lijiang town in Yunnan, but I think I like Luodai more than Lijiang. Next time we visit, we would love to stay here for a few days. There are guesthouses available (weekdays are cheaper, according to the guesthouse owner). http://www.luodai.gov.cn/main.aspx (Chinese) http://www.luodai.gov.cn/zxsp-2.aspx?id=5 (Video) http://www.luodai.gov.cn/en/main.aspx [View Full Entry]

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http://picasaweb.google.com/ourgmb/QingChengShan?authkey=5ORFkLvMPMU On June 17 to June 19, we spent three days in Qincheng Mountain (the backside). It was a relaxing three days, and we spent two nights in a guesthouse in the middle of the mountain (not at the top). The trails are along streams of running water. Fortunately, the weather is just misty, not rainy and we enjoyed the relaxing days there. On the third day back to Chengdu, we stopped at Dujiangyin and enjoyed a few hours there too. [View Full Entry]

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Photos for Chengdu http://picasaweb.google.com/ourgmb/ChengDu20070617?authkey=7NfUvG6TpsE After we returned to Chengdu from Lhasa on June 15, we took some time to rest and keep checking the weather report. Other destinations that we wanted to go are: Emei Mountain 峨眉山 and Four-sisters Mountain 四姑娘山. However, the weather has not been cooperating. There is rain forecasted for the rest of our stay in Chengdu (till June 23) and on those two mountains, and so we gave up the idea of joining more tours. We will save those destinations, and [View Full Entry]

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Photos here: http://picasaweb.google.com/ourgmb/LhasaDrepungTemple20070615 On June 15, it is our last day in Lhasa. As our flight to Chengdu does not leave until 5:30 pm, we have a free morning to explore. It was raining and we wanted to go to the Drepung Monastery, up on some hill, a little bit outside of town. The hotel staff told us that we could get a taxi for about Y15 to get there. Unfortunately, the few taxis that we flagged down all wanted Y40 to Y70, because "it is up on the hill". So, we boarded a local bus to the bottom of the [View Full Entry]

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h2]Photo Album http://picasaweb.google.com/ourgmb/Xigaze?authkey=WUKCXhFXTLc Today (June 13), we found our third 2-day tour to visit Shigatse 日喀则. We are having a new guide, a new and bigger bus, with the same tour mates from Shanghai & Kunming. Added are 8 men from Wuhan, all on government paid vacations. While waiting for our tour bus to pick us up, we saw a few Tibetan female workers, in their tradtional clothes. So, I took out the shampoos/toothbrushes that we saved and bribed them so that they will pose for Gary. Again, the road trip is nice, passing [View Full Entry]

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