Tour - 2015 China
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April 28: Beijing!
We began Monday on BYU campus at 7:30 am; it is now around 11 pm Tuesday in our hotel in Beijing. Though it was a long day, all went mostly well. With a 4+ hour layover in Seattle, Dr. Staheli grabbed the opportunity to have one more rehearsal with the choir in the gate area; it was a real hit with those waiting for the plane.
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April 29: Beijing
After our long travel day yesterday, we were delighted to check into a very nice hotel that will be our home for five (!) nights. Any of you who have traveled much or especially have toured with BYU choirs knows what a true luxury it is to stay in one place more than one night, let alone five.
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April 30: Beijing
This morning began with a real treat as we were able to spend some time at the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square.
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May 1: Beijing
Today was one of those days where the itinerary was derailed by the realities of circumstance and weather. First our morning concert didn't happen, then weather played a large role in deciding what to do. The day started much cooler, which was welcome after the sauna of heat and humidity we had yesterday.
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May 2: Beijing
There is nothing like a morning at the Great Wall to really feel that you are in China. It took quite a while to reach the area, as we are still contending with holiday traffic. But it was well worth the wait—beautiful and truly awe-inspiring.
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May 3: Tianjin
We were up and at it very early this morning in order to be checked out of the hotel, breakfasted, and on the bus by 7:45 am. It was a little sad to leave the Sunworld Hotel; we had really settled in after five nights!
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May 4: Tianjin
We awoke to the clearest, bluest skies we’ve seen since Utah. The weather pattern that brought cooler weather and breezes also blessedly cleared out the pollution—though I think we left much of that behind in Beijing.
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May 5: Jinan
We covered a lot of ground today, but most of it was by high-speed train. This was a real adventure, as the doors were only open 120 seconds, and we had all of our own luggage plus all the instruments and stools and other suitcases to get loaded.
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May 6: Jinan
You know how it feels when you get down to breakfast and all the watermelon has been eaten? And then two different people talk about the patience we all need by this point in tour; you know you’re in trouble now... It’s never good to ask for more patience—things happen.
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May 7: Kaifeng
It's halfway through tour, though that's hard to believe. We have arrived at our newest city, which we reached via a 70 minute (very turbulent!) flight followed by a 90 minute bus ride.
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May 8: Kaifeng
This has been quite the day! We began with a welcome ceremony at the “old” campus of the Henan Art College (we are staying in a hotel on the newer campus).
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May 9: Xi’an
Train ride #2 today. We’re getting to be quite good at this, though we were momentarily disconcerted at finding no luggage area when we boarded our car. That required some quick readjusting, and redistributing the luggage throughout the car, but it did work.
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May 10: Xi'an
It was a beautiful Sabbath morning, and we all thought of our mothers from our 1/2 day head-start. We had a very good Church meeting on our own since we were unable to meet with the local branch.
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May 11: Xi'an
Today has been a great day! I have wanted to see the Xi'an terracotta warriors for years, and this was finally the day!
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May 12: Hangzhou
There are a few established truths on tours: the best hotels are the shortest stays; if you must get up incredibly early, that night goes extra long; and invariably the next morning also begins very early. That is the brief version of the day
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May 13: Jinhua
You might be surprised at how quickly 55 people and their suitcases, garment bags, carry-ons, instruments and other stage equipment can get on and off trains!
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May 14: Shanghai
The last train to Shanghai—someone really ought to use that as a title of a book. We boarded the train with alacrity, and also with all of our luggage, which is no small accomplishment.
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May 15: Shanghai
If you would like to really experience our day as we did, turn your shower on full blast, block the drain, and stand under the water fully dressed. Today’s weather: monsoon.
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May 16: Wuxi
We checked out of our hotel early today for our 3-hour drive to Wuxi. It’s a bit of a jog in the itinerary, as we return tomorrow to the same hotel we just left. But once we got there we soon knew this was a very important and wonderful detour.
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May 17: Shanghai
We rose early-ish this morning, checked out of our hotel, and loaded the buses once again for the return trip to Shanghai. Our destination this time was the Sacrament Meeting of the Shanghai LDS Branch, in a very nice office building.
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May 18: Shanghai
As the tour draws to its conclusion we need to thank Rex Barrington for bringing this tour to fruition at long last, and for his and Dixie’s cheerful shepherding and managing while we’ve been in China.
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