My China/Thailand Trip (finally) with photos

[disneydreams]

haha, as you guys know, I was in China and Thailand for the past month. I got back about a week and two days ago, and I finally got off my lazy ass and actually took the time and effort to type this up. I was gonna write my report in my xanga blog but I have to present the photos later for a post-trip party, so I didn't really want my friends to see it..cuz it'd spoil the fun and everything. alrighty, I took close to a thousand photos, but deleted quite a few...so I'm actually down to about 900...maybe a little more. ;)


I was actually kinda dreading this trip. mousepod knows about that. haha The Thailand extension to the trip was optional and I was forced to go, months later, we realized that I was gonna be in Thailand on July 17. And that was quite frustrating because my mom promised me we'd be at DL on July 17. And she was being kinda bitchy about it. meh, so that was always in my mind mainly throughout the Thailand portion of the trip, which took a little bit of the fun away from the Thai experience. meh anyways


This thing's gonna be hella long, fyi :eek:


What up SFO (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/208_0851.jpg).


Shanghai-1 night
We visited the Shanghai Children's Palace (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/209_0934.jpg), where our Chinese homestay buddies went to school. We didn't see our buddies though because they were busy prepping for their exams. After Lunch, we took a 3.5-hour-long bus ride to Jiangyin. Along the way, I noticed the roofs of the old residences (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/209_0956.jpg) off the highway. The city's in the Jiangsu province in Eastern China.


Jiangyin-3 nights
Jiangyin's known to be the home of the wealthiest farmers in China. We walked from our hotel to the shopping plaza (8 minutes duration), and past that was a park which, in the old days, was where huge exam results were announced (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/209_0961.jpg). All the statues' countenances (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/209_0962.jpg) obviously tell how well each of them did. We visited the Goose's Mouth (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/209_1000.jpg) park and past the relatively long tunnel, you walk walk walk along the edge of the Yangtze River until you reach this pavilion. You then have a nice view (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/210_1015.jpg) of the Jiangyin Yangtze River Bridge and, of course, the Yangtze River. We also came by this, haha get this, OTHER park (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/210_1037.jpg) which was supposed to be an amusement park type thing. anyways, that was the location of the set for the Japanese movie "Romance of the Three Kingdoms."

Then we had to begin our two-day-long community service program, and we visited the Jiang Yin Elementary School to teach them about American Culture. We were warmly welcomed (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/210_1053.jpg), with the children chanting and waving their bouquets of paper flowers.


Back to Shanghai-3 nights
When we arrived back in Shanghai, we had to go back to the Children's Palace to begin our one-night homestay program with my buddy's family (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/211_1183.jpg). My buddy and I went to the Bund (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/211_1132.jpg) at night. Really crowded, yet really pretty...especially the Oriental Pearl Tower (TV/Radio Tower) which is on the far left. In the morning, we went to the local park where seniors, including my buddy's grandparents, had their morning activities. We thought they'd be dancing for that day, but to my delight, they were actually playing badminton. (SWEET) that was nice, because I had to train for my to-be-3-singles slot for next year. Played the best guy there (he was 80...something). yeah, he taught me some new techniques, and in the end, I gained respect of the people (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/211_1149.jpg ) at the park. yay. We did some other stuff, but then, in the evening, we returned to...the Children's Palace, yet again for our farewell ceremony.

The next couple of days, we just went sightseeing. We went to this awesome fishing village. I'm pretty sure it was called Zhu Jia Jiao...but I could be wrong because there are something like two other villages around the area as well...But I think that's the name of the village because my Chinese surname is pronounced "Zhu" in Mandarin...and I saw all these characters of my surname all over the village. dude, that was awesome. We got on one of the boats (8 people per boat) and went down the narrow canal (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/212_1209.jpg). This guy (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/212_1206.jpg ) was our guide. When we disembarked, these random ladies were given some of us bags of fish. And we weren't sure what they were doing, because we didn't want to have to carry fish with us all day. Turns out, you make a wish and release the fish into the canal. ^_^ We also went to the Yu Garden (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/213_1353.jpg). Yeah, this is me (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/213_1357.jpg) by one of the nice ponds in the garden. the place was a bit of a labyrinth. it was kinda hard for us to find the exit signs. o_O Prior to the entrance of the Yu Garden, was the Bridge of Nine Turns (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/213_1352.jpg). If one crosses that bridge before entering the garden, his safety from evil spirits is ensured because evil spirits can't turn haha. So we also went up the Oriental Pearl Tower (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/213_1349.jpg) which has a great view of Shanghai...everything there was awesome except for the elevator ride up/down..which was hot...and ridiculously fast for an elevator. At the bottom floor of the tower's the Old Shanghai History Museum. woo. We went to the Bund (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/213_1372.jpg ) (for me, the second time), afterwards.


In the evening, we took an overnight train (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/213_1373.jpg) to Beijing.

[disneydreams]

Beijing-2 nights
Upon arrival at the hotel from the train station, we rested for the entire morning. (very nice hotel for a Chinese hotel, I must say) We at lunch at the Duyichu Dumpling Restaurant (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/213_1389.jpg ). That's just one of my friends and me. The Coke bottle had...an advertisement for HK Disneyland's Tomorrowland (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/213_1383.jpg )...and the Sprite bottle advertised HK Disneyland's Adventureland (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/213_1385.jpg ). In the afternoon, we walked through underground tunnels to get across the street to Tiananmen Square (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/214_1403.jpg). k well, I'm standing in Tiananmen Square with the Gate of Heavenly Peace behind me. And here's an upclose (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/214_1407.jpg) on the gate of heavenly peace with the guarding lion and Chairman Mao.

I thought we were gonna be going to the Temple of Heaven that day, but it turns out...we never went. So I was kinda frustrated by that because I wanted to see it...but sorta glad because we didn't have to give our presentation about it. ;)

Past the Gate of Heavenly Peace, we entered the Forbidden City, where they had a STARBUCKS (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/214_1441.jpg) But having already broken my oath of not taking a sip of coffee in Shanghai (my teacher gave me the rest of his black coffee from Starbucks at the Yu Garden), I got a Mango Citrus ^_^. We all thought we were gonna die in the Forbidden City because the place was absolutely massive, along with the 2:00pm sun above our heads. But that's alright. Here's me with the longest stone carving ever. (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/214_1441.jpg ) And we went clubbing after having dinner at the Famous Peking Duck Restaurant (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/214_1467.jpg). haha great fun, except there were 3 shady guys scheming something that had to do with us. :eek:

We spent a day at The world-renowned Great Wall of China (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/214_1475.jpg) at Mutinyu. We climbed up to highest fortress which has a spectacular view of the neverending wall. And this (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/214_1496.jpg) is just me chillin' at a window in the fortress. And I wrote my name (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/215_1503.jpg) on the wall of that window. :eek: well, the native Chinese did it too...:D More (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/214_1481.jpg) and more (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/214_1479.jpg) of the Great Wall. Afterwards, we went tobagganing down from the Great Wall. woo that was fun. It was fun hiking up. some steps were narrow, some were wide. Some were high, and...some were twisted! In the evening, we attended a popular Peking Opera (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/215_1535.jpg) in the lobby of our hotel.

We also visited Empress Dowager Cixi's Summer Palace (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/215_1551.jpg). We went paddleboating and just walked all over the place. We crossed the Seventeen-Arch Bridge (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/215_1597.jpg)...and it was a nice photo-op (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/215_1596.jpg). The Marble Boat (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/216_1605.jpg)...again, Lauren and me (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/216_1614.jpg)..in front of a Buddhist Temple in the palace. There was another temple (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/216_1616.jpg) that was quite interesting...mainly on the exterior. The entire building was carved with thousands of little Buddha statues, but during a revolution (cultural..? I'm guessing? I dunno, I'm not really into history right now), the...Russians(?) carved out many of the heads of the Buddha...probably to put a halt to the practice of Buddhism. I dunno. Lotus flower (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/215_1566.jpg)...took a visit to the Silk Alley where the sellers are insane and constantly try to guiltrip you...just like sellers you see on the streets.

Then we took a flight to Chengdu, from where we took a four-hour bus ride to Wolong, China's largest nature reserve for PANDAS!

[disneydreams]

Wolong-2 nights
Eh...I wasn't feeling too well when I woke up one day and it was the day we did our second community service project. In the morning, we had to help clean (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/217_1701.jpg) out the homes of the pandas as well as feeding (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/217_1734.jpg) them and do all this other stuff for the panda reserve. Then during lunch I got a ridiculously bad stomachache and had to stay at the hotel while everybody else went on a hike. the only exciting thing that happened was that one of our guides almost fell through this bridge made up of four relatively skinny tree trunks, but he caught himself with his arm. It was sorta high above these rapids...or from what I saw on my camcorder when I gave it to one of my friends to tape for me.

I fell asleep whilst listening to my "musical history of disneyland" (hah, go figure) on my ipod. I woke up shortly after someone came into my room :eek:, but was only, I'm guessing, the maid because she was in the bathroom...then she left. When the group came back, they were banging on the door frantically for me to open up. the key was in the room because it was needed for access to electricity, but the door was still unlocked when my roommate left the room. (It's was a two-star hotel). I woke up to the banging for a second and fell back asleep for a minute more. When I woke up....about....10 people surrounded my twin bed staring at me...and that scared the **** outta me. haha, but was feelin' the love there. Another friend brought me back this flower (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/217_1765.jpg) from the hike. And while some went on a second hike, the majority of the group stayed, and people just hung out (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/217_1760.jpg) in my room to chill and be weird (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/217_1767.jpg). I continued sleeping through dinner and one of my teachers would only let me have a pathetic bowl of THIS (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/217_1762.jpg) for dinner. O_O. (haha, note how it's on top of my copy of Bob Thomas's Walt Disney: An American Original).

Prior to our departure from Wolong, if we wanted to, we could get our photos taken with a panda for 200 yuan...I initially didn't want to, but thought "eh what the hell, why not" and got my photo taken with this baby PANDA!!! (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/217_1780.jpg). And here's a photo (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/217_1788.jpg) of one of our chaperones getting felt up on by the panda. haha, and afterwards, we went back to Chendu to visit a bird market...a brocade factory (where I got my new ipod case), and the Thached Cottage of famous Chinese poet, Du Fu (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/218_1837.jpg). this (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/218_1840.jpg) and this (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/218_1841.jpg) were in the garden courtyard area of his cottage.

We said bye bye (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/218_1870.jpg) to Willie (biggest pimp ever, [you could tell that he was about to make the attempt to hit on every Chinese girl in the group], I hate him), and Becky and David. Don't ask me why I'm holding toilet paper. They forced me to. lol We then took a flight to Lijiang.


Lijiang-2 nights
It was kinda boring...at times...like when we visited the Dragon Pool Park (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/220_2029.jpg) (which was pretty actually...) and the Dongba Culture Center...but this (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/219_1915.jpg) was amusing to the group. And for dinner, we had pizza (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/219_1925.jpg). Our group was divided into two separate rooms (taking up the entire restaurant), and in the room where I ate, we had a pizza competition. girls v. boys...we won...5 yuan...each. haha

Old Town was great. I stayed there as long as I could because the people there are just incredibly nice and modest. singing at night, and whatnot. Also, it's got lots of Tibetan goods.

After going up the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain in gondolas (that reminded me of the Fantasyland Skyway gondolas..aww disneyland...) we went horseback-riding in the meadows. Some of us biked to this village, while the rest of the group went on a bus. Some locals (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/220_2006.jpg)...and this awesome old dude (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/219_2000.jpg) with the beard. We went to this farmer's house who used to hunt, and now his great grandson can hunt. one of my friends (I used to hate him) with the great grandson (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/219_1971.jpg).

Took a flight to Kunming in the evening.


Kunming-1 night
we just visited the Major and Minor Stone Forest (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/220_2069.jpg). Nothing fascinating, unless you like be surrounded by the color of slate grey...but locals (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/221_2116.jpg) often hang out there

then we flew...to Chiang Mai...

[disneydreams]

Sawadee Ka THAILAND

Chiang Mai-5 nights
On our first day there, we had a campus tour of the Chiangmai College of Dramatic Arts. There was a school assembly, and they performed (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/221_2146.jpg) for us. We learned traditional thai dancing...and play some of their musical instruments (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/221_2127.jpg)...how to drum (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/221_2169.jpg) the Thai way. and kept playing..."quack diddly oh so..." (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/221_2169.jpg). That drove me insane. And we took photos with our Thai homestay buddies (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/221_2178.jpg) and their friends. One morning, the group went to the Chiang Mai Thai Farm Cooking School out in the countryside (thaifarmcooking) and learned to make a Thai Lunch. yay, I got to use the techniques (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/221_2196.jpg[/url) my dad taught me, haha, with the knife. food tastes so much better (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/222_2207.jpg) when you actually did the cooking. haha. the best dessert ever: Sticky Rice with coconut milk and mangoes (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/222_2203.jpg). yum. Then we had our third and final community service project. Performing for Thai senior citizens. And we had this (really lame) arts&crafts project. But this lady (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/222_2231.jpg) made it cool. We went to the Suan Dok temple and chatted with the Buddhist monks. Oh, we stayed in the Suriwongse Hotel in Chiang Mai and it was right in the middle of the night bazaar. Plus it was right next to starbucks and haagen daz... ^_^

That afternoon, we began our Thai homestay program. My buddy and my (really good) friend's buddy were doubling for this homestay. it was cool. We went to the San Kamphaeng Hot Springs and this cave with tons of Buddha statues. that was cool. they were ultra nice. reaaallly nice. lol. Our homestay buddies (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/222_2255.jpg) (each are on the end) with Kim and me when they dropped us off back at the hotel.

We had to wake up early one morning because we had to drive to this one area where we did morning alms for the Buddhist monks, and had breakfast by this waterfall (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/222_2265.jpg). Then we went to a famous temple...got a Thai massage...watched an elephant show...and planted rice. :) Oh, here's me (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/222_2273.jpg) holding a banana with an elephant behind me. I look weird. We had a farewell dinner with our homestay buddies. My homestay buddy and me (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/222_2281.jpg). We rode elephants (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/222_2290.jpg)...and then went trekking up in the mountains...some people kept slipping into the river...lol and we passed by this gorgeous waterfall (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/222_2293.jpg), but that was the moment my camcorder (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/223_2311.jpg) died. lame. Anyways! we just chilled at the village...saw this lovely double rainbow (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/223_2305.jpg) and had a campfire and stayed overnight (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/222_2300.jpg)...and I got at least 10 new mosquito bites! (with no help to that damn mosquito net). So on our way back down the mountain, we went bamboo rafting...and saw snakes on rocks...:eek: Then we took a flight to Bangkok at night.


Bangkok-2 nights
We had dinner at the Suan Lum Night Bazaar (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/224_2487.jpg). Great shopping there as well. lol

Well we really had one day at Bangkok. And it was a holiday in Thailand that day. It was the day the Buddha gave his first sermon. We visited the the Grand Palace and the Wat Po Temple...where we saw the incredibly large Buddha (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/223_2358.jpg[/url) icon...had another photo-op (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/223_2380.jpg)...and one of us gets interrogated by local Thai kids to get their photo (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/224_2412.jpg) taken with him. ooh, there was a red carpet (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/223_2400.jpg) at the Wat Po because the Prince of Thailand was supposedly coming for some sort of ceremony because of the holiday. Then we went to this huge shopping mall...and along the streets...was a HK Disneyland advertisement (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/224_2474.jpg). We had our farewell dinner...and did our last shopping at the bazaar and had a movie night.

On the flight back home, we got high off of the crackers and green tea that the flight attendants served (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/208_0880.jpg) us.

Then we were back at SFO (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/224_2499.jpg)

:cheers:

I kinda forgot some parts of the trip in this...report...but they weren't that big. :D

people kept singing songs from Mulan and random disney movies...and I didn't even start it. :) lots of disney moments, in general, on this trip. heh

yay, so it was a pretty awesome trip. better than my eighth grade dc trip. haha, despite all the...drama...but that's alright. Getting to know my friends and making new friends was a plus.I was disappointed that we didn't go to the Guangzhou province (where I'm actually from), but that's ok. I'll deal. It was great finally going to China because the last time I was there, I was two months old. And despite the whole issue with Disneyland's 50th (that still kinda irks me a bit), Thailand was actually pretty extraordinary as well.

Both China and Thailand had amazing cultures, amazing food, and amazing people.

let me know if some photos don't work and I'll fix it.

damn that was friggin' long. Sorry if that sucked.

so yeah, I was jetlagged for the past week...and still am...a little...but that's alright.

Now I have to go read more of "Oliver Twist" o_O and pack...cuz I'm comin' down for my Disneyland trip from August 2 to August 5.


:cheers:

[wendybeth]

You LUCKY, LUCKY, LUCKY girl!!!!!!! I am so incredibly jealous!!!!!! I've wanted to visit these places as long as I can remember. Thanks for the wonderful pics and report!:snap:

[Not Afraid]

I haven't read it all and looked through the photos yet, but I just wanted to thank you for sharing your trip with us! It looks like such an amazing experience! I can't wait to "virtually" experience it myself.

[€uroMeinke]

Wow - what an increadible trip. Thanks for sharing it with us along with the great photos.

While you may have missed the 50th (and if you read a few posts here you may gather thqat you didn't miss all that much), it sounds like you had a much more memorable experience abroad. Heck, who else on these boards can claim to have hugged a panda?

Welcome back, you'll get to the park soon enough.

[disneydreams]

my pleasure for sharing my experience with you guys :)

oops hehe, found

two

three

four mistakes.


The Starbucks (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/214_1443.jpg) photo at the Forbidden City

and

Thai drumming (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/221_2171.jpg)

and

the technique (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/221_2196.jpg) I proudly executed.

and

the Buddha (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/223_2358.jpg) icon


oh, and Willie, Becky, and David were just guides/chaperones who were with us in China. Jay (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/224_2493.jpg):blush: [haha] was our guide/chaperone in Thailand.

^_^



€uromeinke: "hunged a panda"? :eek: :rolleyes: :D




yea after typing up this trip report, I realized that I really did enjoy the trip more than I initially thought I did.

:)

[€uroMeinke]

The Starbucks (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/214_1443.jpg) photo at the Forbidden City

That is by far the most plain-wrap Starbucks I have ever seen.

€uromeinke: "hunged a panda"? :eek: :rolleyes: :D

Uh, yeah I really should have gone straight to bed last night instead of checking out LoT - but I fixed it, appologies to you and the greater panda community.

€

[Not Afraid]

WOW! I just finished looking at all of the pics and reading your report. How amazing!!!!!!

First of all, I'm so jealous of your Panda experience. That alone would've made the trip worthwhile. I can just imagine that little fat furry panda baby cuddling up next to me. Awwwwwww!.

The Great Wall looks so amazing! I can't even imagine the vastness of it.

I love the Disney ads. I realize, between a few of us, we have pics of Disney ads from the Paris Metro, the Tokyo trains and in China. We are world-traveling Disney geeks. ;)

Thank you so much for sharing, DD. I loved looking at the pics and reading your report. If I can't be the one traveling, armchair traveling is the next best thing.

[DisneyDaniel]

OMG! I will forever be jealous of you for being able to hug a panda! THIS (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v486/kgdisneydreams/china%20and%20thailand%2005/217_1780.jpg) is such a great picture! It looks like the panda is hugging you back. :) My panda experiences are limited to the San Diego Zoo. While still cool, we only get to see the pandas from several feet away, but we have to always keep the long line moving.

What an incredibly detailed trip report with plenty of photos (extra bonus points for the photo links!!) Thank you for sharing!