A trip of a life time

My first ever journey with my dad, coincide with his 85th birthday. Given the fact that we had only lived under the same roof in less than four months in my entire life so far, calling this the trip of the century is pretty appropriate. To reconnect with him and his relatives.

Cathay Pacific took us to Hong Kong first where he could renew his Re-Entry Permit 回港证; we also did a quick trip to Shenzhen. Our second leg was Taipei to tree bury his mom, my paternal grandmother. His birthday was celebrated in Shanghai. I went to Anhui to visited two maternal ancestors. We met up in Shanghai and went to JiNan, visiting his grandpa’s tomb. The last leg was Beijing, included a day excursion to Tianjin. This is the most enriching trip for my genealogy!

I take JetBlue to San Francisco to pick him up.

  • Cloth 衣: Hong Kong street
  • Food 食: Western table wine is, still expensive. Hosts are still over ordering.
  • Shelter 住:  Eaton, Taipei City Hotel, Yaocheng Hotel, Anhui Hotel and Yuquan hotel, the worst.
  • Transportation 行: Drivers don’t seem to have common courtesy to others and their favored rendezvous spot. In Beijing, there are xianxing 限行 restrictions on cars: on certain day of the week, certain last digit of the license plate can’t drive.  According to 911, for example, for the month of March 2016, on Tuesdays, the license plates ending with 4 and 9 can’t drive from 7am-8pm within 5 rings. Even with this restriction, there is always traffic jams.

Some odds and ends; Chinglish in China and color of money. The trip is complete with a Taobao experience – the cups.

Day

  1. 2.28 Sun, SF: JetBlue, Trader Joe’s, Lake Merritt
  2. 2.29 Mon, Wellington St, Dimond park & Sausal Creek , CX879
  3. 3.01 Tue, HK: the bridge, Eaton
  4. 3.02 Wed, 延期 回港证; stores on Nathan, dine at Chateh; Taichi @ hotel
  5. 3.03 Thur, Shenzhen, lunch & shop, Jennie
  6. 3.04 Fri, TPE, a bank ad; Taipei City Hotel, gov 户政事務所, passport, evening mkt, fruits
  7. 3.05 Sat, temple 湧泉寺, NPM 故宫, Tamsui 淡水, MRT Shuanglian, a light tunnel
  8. 3.06 Sun, 101, DTF, Zhongshan; temple parade
  9. 3.07 Mon, tree burial; flight canceled
  10. 3.08 Tue Shanghai, 85th bday, lunch & dinner/wine
  11. 3.09, visit a factory
  12. 3.10, Thur, badminton; lunch & 浦之舟, Peace Hotel
  13. 3.11, Fri, dinner @ Lujiazui
  14. 3.12 Sat, my 1st trip to Dongzhi county 东至/池州
  15. 3.13 Sunday, visit my ancestors
  16. 3.14 Mon, Hefei, Lujiang, memorial park; Anhui Hotel/dinner
  17. 3.15 Tue, Jinan, Hefei station; Yuquan hotel 玉泉 & dinner
  18. 3.16, g grandpa; 南水北调 village, lunch; Uncle’s; David Beckham; JFL 聚福林
  19. 3.17, Thur, garden 万竹园 and to BJ
  20. 3.18, Fri, Great Wall; 2 media co; dinner
  21. 3.19, Sat, East, Xihe 羲和雅苑, Maan coffee
  22. 3.20, Sun, Bird’s Nest 鸟巢/Water Cube, Dadong w/ Zhangs
  23. 3.21, Mon, Tianjin & 河北工业大学
  24. 3.22, Tue, Fayuan Si 法源寺; Niuji 牛街; Kaorou Wan 烤肉宛
  25. 3.23, Wed, Juqi 局气, demo derby, suitcase & the last supper in 中关村
  26. 3.24, Thur, wine; elevator buttons; going home

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