Open Writing

Dear Reader,

My husband and I have just returned home from a 16 day cruise from Shanghai to Singapore, and I felt compelled to tell you a little of our impressions of this area.

After a 12 hour overnight flight from New Zealand we arrived in Shanghai where we were met and taken to our hotel. Coming from a small country with an entire population of only 4 million people, a metropolis like Shanghai, with a population of 21 million, was a culture shock. The air pollution, the traffic and the hundreds of multi-storied tower blocks built to house the people has left a lasting impression. In each apartment an average family is allotted 400 square feet. Our guide, Jenny, told us most apartments were privately owned rather than rented. “We say, we have a mother-in-law economy here”, she said, “as all mothers want their daughters to marry a man who can afford to buy an apartment.”

We asked her about China’s one child policy and were told that now, where a woman from a one child family marries a man from such a family, two children are allowed. Another way of getting around the one child policy is to leave the country to have another child. We asked Jenny if she would like two children. “Goodness, no,” she said. “I might have two boys and with the cost of educating them I would be working forever.”

Two days in Shanghai is not enough time to even scratch the surface of what it has to offer. We were taken to various Buddhist temples such as the Jade Buddha temple and the Confucius temple, and to the 400 year old classical Yuyuan Gardens in the centre of the Old Town, but what really impressed us was our ride on the Maglev train and being taken to the top of the 88 story Jin Mao Tower.

With a top speed of 268 mph (431 km/h) the German built Maglev (magnetic levitation) train is the fastest commercially operating train in the world. It takes only 8 minutes to cover the 19 miles (30km) between Pudong airport and Longyang Road station.

The Jin Mao Tower is the 4th highest building in the world and the second highest in China. Its state of the art elevators travel 30ft (9.1 meters) per second, taking only 45 seconds to travel the 88 floors to the top. On the day we were there the lack of view because of the air pollution, was more remarkable than any panorama of Shanghai. Vision from the observation floor was reduced to a few feet.

At the end of our second day we boarded our cruise ship. Despite the cold evening air we remained on deck to watch the lights of the Shanghai skyscrapers disappear into the distance as we sailed down the Huangpu River out to the open sea.

As I am not as agile as I would wish, we chose shore tours without a lot of walking, but which gave a good over view of each place we visited.
Our first port of call was the Japanese island of Okinawa renowned for the fierce 2nd World War battle fought there in 1945. Referred to by the locals of the time as ‘the typhoon of steel’, 100,000 Japanese troops lost their lives along with 50,000 allied servicemen. In addition 100,000 civilians were killed wounded or committed suicide. To this day there is an American base on the island. Rather than visiting cemeteries and battle sites we elected to visit the Shurijo Castle which was the seat of power during the 500-year reign of the Ryukyuan Kingdom. Destroyed during World War II, the castle was rebuilt in 1992.

We found this visit interesting, but not very impressive as we could not help but compare it with castles in Europe we have seen which are renowned for their opulence, whereas the Shurijo Castle has a very simple interior.

From the castle we were taken to window shop in Kokusai Street and then to the Makishi Public Market in Naha City. We didn’t stay here long as the mix of aromas from the meat, fish, spices and tropical fruit on display was a bit over powering and nauseating. After a few minutes we left and went to Starbucks for a coffee before taking our 30 minute motor coach drive back to the port.

Our next port of call was Keelung in Taiwan. Here we boarded a bus for the 25 kilometre trip to Taipei. With its mixture of traditional Chinese architecture and modern skyscrapers, I found this city fun. It has a very energetic, vibrant feel about it.

Taipei has a population of 2.5 million and it is said a million of those own a motor scooter. I think the day we were there every one of those scooters were on the road!

Our first stop in Taipei was at the 300-year-old Lungshan Temple dedicated to the Goddess of Mercy. Inside this temple, people praying and burning incense was completely juxtaposed to the hustle and busy of the modern city outside. The intricate carvings of the various aspects of the temple are beautiful and have to be seen to be believed.

From the temple we were taken to the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial where we were lucky enough to be in time to see the impressive changing of the guard ceremony. The memorial also houses a museum, but time only allowed us a precursory look before we were whisked off to the Traditional Handicraft Centre where we were told we could buy souvenirs.

The Handicraft Centre houses several floors of quality Chinese crafts, some of which were so breathtakingly beautiful they would be better housed in a gallery, than sold as souvenirs. I would defy anybody the ability to visit the Handicraft Centre and come out empty handed. We didn’t!

Our tour of Taipei ended with a photo opportunity of Taipei 101, which when it was completed in 2004 was the world’s tallest skyscraper.

Once back on board our ship we set sail for Hong Kong. One cannot help but be impressed with the Hong Kong skyline with its many stunning skyscrapers all designed by world famous architects. There are 106 buildings taller than 180 metres (591 feet) the tallest being the 88 story International Finance Centre II.

As our cruise liner was a small one it was able to dock at Ocean Terminal on the edge of Tsim Sha Tsui, the shopping and entertainment area of Kowloon. Being within easy walking distance of the Star Ferry terminal, from where it was possible to take a ferry to Hong Kong Island makes Ocean Terminal doubly convenient.

Ocean Terminal has 3 floors of shopping which provided me with the ability to go shopping, whip back to my cabin with my purchases, and be back shopping again all within ten minutes. Due to the exchange rate between the New Zealand dollar and other currencies in the world there are few places I would do this, however it was definitely worthwhile in Hong Kong.

Our cruise schedule included a late sailing from Hong Kong which we took advantage of by booking an evening tour of the city by double-decker vintage tram, followed by time to shop in the Temple Street Night Market and then a traditional 8-course Beijing- style duck dinner.

There were only eight passengers booked on this tour so along with our guide were able to all sit on the upper deck of the tram. From here we could look down on the throng of people making their way home from work and into the shops, as we passed. This part of our evening took an hour and 30 minutes. With our guide available to answer any questions the time sped by.

The night market, while also a tourist attraction, is a genuine market used by the locals. I could not resist a little more shopping, even though my husband was starting to get worried about the weight of our luggage when it came time to fly home.

The Beijing duck dinner was delicious, but there was really too much food provided for us to do it justice. I couldn’t help think this a wicked waste, especially in a city where many are very poor people.

From Hong Kong we sailed on to Vietnam. We docked at the port of Chan May from where we were taken by bus to Da Nang. Our first impression of this country was the amount of rubbish strewn about the place. Even the obligatory temple we were taken to was awash with garbage. The Vietnamese are tragically poor, but that does not excuse making no attempt whatsoever to be tidy.

We were taken to the local market which most housewives visit twice a day because they do not have refrigerators. A lot of the vegetables and fruit were completely foreign to us, but it was the meat that turned my stomach. Great slabs of it sitting on a table surrounded by vegetables, fruit and fish and covered in Blow Flies. I made an immediately vow to become a vegetarian. I like to think of meat as a product that comes from the supermarket in a cellophane wrapper.

After the market we were taken to an embroidery factory. The work done here was exquisite. Some of the framed pieces could not be distinguished from paintings. A piece that particularly caught my attention depicted an old man holding the hand of his dying wife. The emotion that shone from it brought a tear to my eye.

From the embroidery factory we were taken to Marble Mountain to watch artisans at work carving blocks of marble into works of art. Then it was on to China Beach where the Americans came ashore during the Vietnamese war of the 1960s. We were supposed to have had a swim, but as it was raining we sat and drank the local Ba Ba Ba beer instead.

The Vietnamese are such gentle, serene people who must wonder what the war was all about, as all the killing and misery has done nothing to improve their situation. Call me naive, but I always thought communism was about sharing the wealth of a country fairly amongst its citizens. Not so in Vietnam. Like everywhere else, here the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. The Vietnamese have to pay to go to hospital (unless they had a child killed in the war) and facilities in these institutions are so lacking it is often two patients to a bed!

There is hope on the horizon. All along China Beach there are the beginnings of large resort and hotel building projects. Once completed, they will provide more work for the locals and hopefully their standard of living will rise.

Two days later our ship docked at the port of Phu My, from where we were taken by bus to Ho Chi Mihn City. It is only 45 miles away, but the journey took two hours because the traffic is slow and heavy.

Our local guide was a delightful chap with a wicked sense of humour. “The national costume of the Vietnamese women is called an ao dai”, he said, “it covers everything, but hides nothing, especially when it is raining. Unfortunately it is not raining today!”

Once again there was rubbish littered the sides of the motorways and city streets. The only exception was the centre of the city. Our Ho Chi Minh City bus tour consisted of a drive around the city, a water puppet show, a visit to a museum and to the Reunification Palace. We were also taken to a hotel for a delicious lunch where we were treated to a concert of ethnic music and dance while we ate. Absolutely delightful.

Our guide, who worked for the Ministry of the Interior, told us before the war, his father worked for the South Vietnamese Government as a customs agent and his mother as a pharmacist. After the war, his father was arrested and taken 800 km away for‘ re-education’. His wife found it hard to get work and any money she earned went to supporting her two sons, so she had to borrow money to travel to see her husband once a month. Sadly, the authorities restricted each visit to only 5 to 8 minutes. He was treated so badly during his ‘re -education’ that when he was released 10 years later, he only lived for another 3 years.

We spent the next day at sea on our way to Thailand. We berthed at a commercial wharf from where we could have been taken into Bangkok, but as we had been there before and we were not inclined to brave a temperature of 38 degrees Celsius to see more Buddhist temples we gave it a miss and stayed on board.

The next day we sailed to the Thai island of Ko Samui. Here our ship anchored in the bay and we were taken ashore by one of ship’s tenders. Of the shore tours on offer, we selected a simple island drive. This included dropping in on a coconut plantation where monkeys have been trained to pick the coconuts and a visit to yet more Buddhist Temples. These temples were very colourful and intrically carved, but it was far too hot for our interest to be roused in anything. All we could think about was getting back to the air-conditioned comfort of the ship.

Our cruise ended in Singapore where we spent two days before flying home.

Singapore is a lovely place where trees and other plants abound. I always describe it as a city built in a tropical jungle. We had holidayed there previously, so this time rather than taking a hotel in the city, we stayed on Sentosa Island which had free shuttles to both the Vivo City and Paragon Shopping malls.

On our first night in Singapore we treated ourselves to dinner on the Singapore Flyer. At the height of 165 metres (542 feet) this giant observation wheel is 30 metres taller than the London Eye. The 360 degree view from the top is spectacular in the day time, but looking out over the lights of Singapore at night it was breathtaking. The meal which was served over two rotations of the wheel was beautifully presented and delicious.

As Singapore, like Hong Kong, is one of the few places in the world with a currency comparable to New Zealand’s, I spent the last day of our holiday doing more shopping while trying to convince my husband the weight of our cases, including the additional one purchased, would not exceed the airlines limits!

Our brief look at Asia was truly one of the best holidays we have had and we are determined to see more of this exciting and very exotic part of the world.

Regards
Eve-Marie Wilson