HONG KONG  Sunday April 21...




Monday, April 22:  HONG KONG, Museum of History, Lunch with Maggie Chau, Dinner Peking Garden

After breakfast at Cupping, we Uber'd to Kowloon and the Museum of History, spending the morning in the Hong Kong Story exhibit. The story spans 400 million years from prehistoric Hong Kong, through the Han to Qing dynasties, folk culture, the Opium Wars, the Japanese occupation (1941 - ...),  the modern metropolis and the return to China in 1997.

Taking a break from polar travel, April 19 - May 7 2019 I am traveling in Hong Kong and Sichuan, China.  The China portion is with Natural Habitat, The Wild Side of China...

https://www.nathab.com/asia-adventure-travel/wild-china-panda-tour/itinerary/

Traveling with long time friend and college classmate, Helene Zimmer-Loew.

Getting there is a journey in itself!  

    ... from the time I leave home on CME shuttle (Friday 4-19 12:10pm) until I arrive in Hong Kong International airport (Sunday 4-21, 5:45am) will be 28 hours elapsed time. Hong Kong is 14 hours ahead of Colorado and we cross the International Date Line.  Of course, when I return home I will recoup the 'lost' hours!

Friday April 19 & Saturday, April 20 Travel days.
Since I am flying first class on AA (lots of frequent flyer miles!) I have access to the Admirals Club - a civilized way to spend many hours between flights :-)

Hong Kong, April 21 - 23 and May 5

Sunday, April 21: Early arrival Butterfly on Wellington Hotel...  Helene will have arrived about 6 hours before me.

Monday, April 22:  Lunch with Maggie Chau

Following outline was prepared before i arrived in Chengdu and learned that itinerary had changed, in part because Chinese Government voided our access to planned snub-nosed monkey areas. 


Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China

Tuesday, April 23: Air China flight to Chengdu  11:10am - 1:35pm  Shangri-La Hotel

Wednesday, April 24: Extra day with Guide & Driver Chengdu -- Mt Emei, Leshan Giant Buddha.. largest stone Buddha in the world... 233 ft.tall!

https://www.trippest.com/chengdu/mahao-cliff-tomb/

Mahao Cliff Tombs, Han Dynasty 2nd C B.C. - 2nd C A.D.

What to See at the Mahao Cliff Tomb

• Rich in connotations and exquisite decorations. The Mahao Cliff Tomb contains many types of architecture as well as chariot music and figures of birds, mammals, insects, and fish from the Han Dynasty. There are also a number of historical and mythological stories, portraits, sarcophagi, and calligraphy inscriptions. The interior decoration is exquisite — the stone carving portrait technique is simple, bold, and unrestrained with a very high historic and artistic value.

• The earliest Buddhist stone carvings. At the same time, the tomb contains the earliest Buddhist stone carvings found in China and even the world. It is a concrete reflection of the fusion of Chinese culture and early Indian Buddhist culture.
• Dog sculptures are popular in the Mahao Cliff Tomb....

Climbing to top of Buddha's Head...

Wuyou Monastery, 742 A.D, Tang Dynasty

Welcome Dinner at local restaurant.

Overnight Shangri-La Hotel

Thursday, April 25: Dujiangyuan Panda Base, Bamboo Park, Chengdu

To volunteer... 
As you’ll be wearing a volunteer uniform, I’d suggest wearing leggings and a fitted shirt underneath so that it’s not too bulky. You will be bending over, lifting and working. Athletic shoes that can get dirty are also a must.

Overnight Shangri-La Hotel

Friday, April 26: Chengdu Panda Base, Bullet train to Xi'an, Shaanxi province, NE Sichuan

Xi'an ... where first Emperor, Qin Shihuang (259 - 210 B.C.) united the disparate warring tribes in the 3rd C. B.C. Eastern end of the Silk Road (western end in Turkey)

Overnight Meihao Lizhi Hotel

Saturday, April 27: Terracotta Army, Train to Foping and Golden Monkey Nature Reserve

Overnight Xiongmao Senlin Hotel

Sunday, April 28: Golden Monkey Nature Reserve; Qing Xi; Wild Panda Nature Reserve

Morning spent with snub-nosed golden monkeys...

Late morning, train to Guangyuan, lunch, then drive to wild panda nature reserve in Minshan Mountains. En route visit Gansu Muslim village of Qing Xi.

I am including this map to position  Sichuan, Shaanxi, Gansu provinces in central China.  In 1999, I raveled with Geographic Expeditions on an "exploratory" trip follwing the Southern Silk Road. We started in Lanzhou, traveled to Dunhuang (Art Museum in Desert) then into Xinjiang region on the southern edge of the Taklamakan Desert to Kashgar, on the 

Overnight Tangjiahe Guest House

Monday and Tuesday, April 29 & 30: Exploring the Wild Panda Nature Reserve

... 100,000 acre sanctuary encompassing a densely forested ecosystem that is among the most diverse and intact in Asia. 

Overnights Tangjiahe Guest House.

Wednesday, May 1: Wild Panda Nature Reserve to Dujiangyuan

Overnight Transcendence Hot Spring Resort

Thursday, May 2: Dujiangyuan - Gengda Wolong Panda Base; Rilong

Rilong, Tibetan village, at 10,000'

Overnight Rilong Lotus Flower Hotel

Friday, May 3: Sigunianshan National Park; Rilong

Overnight Rilong Lotus Flower Hotel

Saturday, May 4: Rilong drive to Chengdu

Farewell Dinner

Overnight Shangri-La Hotel

Sunday, May 5:  Flight to Hong Kong; Dinner John Engel

Cathay Dragon KA0887 1:55pm - 4:55pm

Monday, May 6:  Morning Hong Kong; Evening travel HKG/LAX/DEN

AA 192/6092 HKG/LAX/DEN