Getting ready

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We leave Seattle for Beijing on August 7 and return September 9. The map shows where we are planning to go in China.

The trip will be a total of 5 weeks. We fly non-stop Seattle-Beijing on Hainan Airlines (11 hours), then 2 hours more to Chongqing (that's the green point on the map, the start of the trip). In Chongqing we will meet Lynn's parents and Lynn (Lynn is the name that Jacob's girlfriend, who is Chinese and from Chongqing, used when she was in the US and how she is known to us). Then we will take the train to Chengdu, bus to Kangding and begin our adventure in Kham, a part of the original country of Tibet that is now mainly in Sichuan province. This part of the trip involves bus travel over high mountain passes (up to 16500 feet above sea level) to small towns and temples and will be a real adventure. After this we will retrn to Chengdu and take a 48+ hour train ride to Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the Taklamakan desert. We also plan to go to the town of Turpan, a desert oasis approximately 500 feet below sea level. We'll end the trip in Xian, the home of the terracotta warriors, the ancient capital of China, and the eastern end of the Silk Road. That was the one major tourist spot we missed on our last trip to China. From Xian we'll return to Beijing, probably by train, and fly nonstop to Seattle.

The first post from China will be on Aug 9 (China time) or as soon thereafter as possible.

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Comments

[Maude]

This is great!
I am so excited for you and excited to read about your trip! Bon voyage and I know you will thoroughly enjoy yourselves.

[Sandy Z]

Hi Kit, Have a wonderful and safe trip. Please keep us all posted so we can see the adventure through you. Wow what a cool trip. Have fun, Sandy

[Tony Meyer]

Woo Hoo!
Right on! Have a great time. Will be watching for updates. Tony

[KitKats]

Thanks for the tip.
Thanks, Rex. We are getting pretty excited since we fly out on Saturday morning. We will definitely look into biking on the old city wall of Xi'an.

[Gary]

Send to group
Kit, Have a great trip. If you haven't read it, "News from Tartary" by Peter Fleming, is a great book about the area you will be travelling in. He was Ian Flemings older brother, a travel writer, and very funny. He took a trip into this part of China back in the 1930's by camel and donkey. If you think of it, you can post your entries to the chat group by sending an email to [e-mail] Gary

[KitKats]

Thanks
Thanks for the good wishes, everyone. Next post from China!