2024 China trip- Beijing highlights

Beijing was the final city! We arrived in the morning and received a VIP welcome from Michael Wang’s staff who even bought flowers for Susie! Our first day was shopping oriented- most went to Silk Street while Luca and Agnish went to U Town.  That night, we had a wonderful peking duck dinner hosted by Uncle Tommy Wang. 

On Day 2 was our most challenging day- our tour guide Gloria took us to Forbidden City and we also walked by Tiananmen Square. It was super hot and we became grumpy. That evening was a wonderful highlight with a special birthday party hosted by Michael Wang. The food and views were amazing! And, it was a real treat to see his art collection.

Day 3 we went to The Great Wall! It was very crowded and we came home early to check on Susie who was a bit sick. We had a great foot massage! That evening we went to Charcoal, an interesting fusion restaurant. 

On Day 4 the chakrafongs went to Temple of Heaven and we ate a great duck lunch at Ms Na.  Meanwhile the Florida Fongs went shopping and relaxed.  That night we had a super delicious Japanese omakase dinner.

Day 5, we started with another lovely massage, and then we got to visit the Han Melin museum.  We were honored to be able to meet the artist himself, what a privilege! That night we ate at La Seine, a French restaurant.

Our final day we wrapped up with some shopping in U town and then a yummy lamb Shabu shabu lunch before heading to the airport.  We were so happy that we got to upgrade to premium seating! 

All in all, an amazing trip..

Highlights

Susan- my birthday party!

Chloe: Nini’s birthday party was heartwarming and I loved getting new shoes and wallet!

Michael: seeing Michael Wang and being hosted so graciously including seeing his new office, 2 private sessions with his masseuse and great food.

Agnish: Susie’s birthday party and the Han Melin experience 

Luca: the food

Nico: popos birthday party

Christina: meeting Han Melin, such an inspiring artist

Duncan’s highlights: seeing the new Daxing airport and getting to know the kids who are very willing to learn. 

2024 China trip- overall highlights from Duncan

 

Final note from Uncle Duncan:

 I’m very glad to join China travel with Michael and Susan’s family. Specially I can see all of the kids love Chinese culture very much and willing to learn . A lot of first time experience we all have been through. 

Reunion all the family together, High speed train, beautiful scenery like a picture. To see Great Wall,  Qin Dynasty, Terracotta Warriors and Horses，eat traditional Chinese food....etc.

Also, all the kids  were courtesy to senior citizen. Christina and Susan very easily and efficiency to handle 8 peoples group. Christina arranged a very special birthday party in the show. That was so touch to  everyone. 

This is unforgettable travel with Fong’s family, thanks again to everyone.

2024 China trip: Xi’an highlights

 Xi’an was a city of history, culture, and food. We met our tour guide David at the airport and went directly to the Bell and Drum tower and South Gate wall. Then we walked to the Muslim Street district and finished the night at a special restaurant that specializes in dumplings! After dinner the Chakravarti family walked down the pedestrian street and tried a bunch of street food. 

The next day was our trip to see the famous Terracotta warriors. A highlight was having Gong Gong and Popo get wheeled around in wheelchairs- not because they have limited mobility but because the wheelchair guides were experts in getting us to the front of the line. We had a neat lunch of special soup with beef and bread.  That evening, we went to a special dinner show to learn the history of the Tang dynasty.  This was the first of many birthday celebrations for Susie’s 80th!

Day 3 in Xi’an began with a visit to the calligraphy museum and some pedestrian street shopping, another meal with robots and elementary school tours, quick shopping trip to the mall and a visit to the smaller goose pagoda.  We also went to a museum that showed Xian history.  That evening was a favorite meal of BBQ skewers and lots of beer to toast Susie’s 80!

Xi’an highlights

Duncan: seeing the culture and history 

Luca: the food 

Agnish: street food and the gates and wall

Nico: bbq skewers dinner 

Chloe: BBQ skewers dinner 

Christina: trying all the Muslim street food and popos first bday celebration 

Michael: seeing the history of the beginning of the Chinese empire and dominance 

Susan: my surprise birthday dinner- I was surprised that you arranged a cake and performers

2024 China trip: Yangshuo highlights

 We took a river cruise from Guilin to Yangshuo and saw some amazing scenery. The river cruise had a lunch buffet with Guilin/Yangshuo local delicacies. In Yangshuo the first day was a bit rainy so we had a mellow day relaxing in the boutique hotel Aspara amidst rice paddies and lotus flowers. Many of us had massages and we did lots of laundry and had an easy dinner in the hotel in our pajamas. The next day we had great weather and went up to Ruyi mountain top by cable car and walked along suspension bridges, glass bridges and saw many gorgeous views. After that we had a friendly gun shooting and archery competition. Chloe was leading archer until Duncan showed up! 

We had a nice lunch on the river at a mountain retreat and then went to paint our own fans. After a rest in the hotel we went to get foot massages and had dinner on West Street. The next morning the bridge to the hotel was flooded! So we had to take small cars to get out to the airport. 

Yangshuo highlights

Michael- spectacular views from the cable car ride

Susan- I can’t believe I walked all the steps up and down the mountain! A couple watching me thought I was 60 years old!

Duncan: I enjoyed being where the people retire and I liked the beer fish. I bought cute outfits for Adeline and Weston.

Luca: I loved going to the Ruyi peak, holding cormorants, my first lychee and my first foot massage.  

Nico: The cormorants and Ruyi peak.

Agnish: Ruyi peak and watching Uncle Duncan get two bullseyes in archery.

Chloe: The massage! 

Christina: The pajamas in the hotel! 

Susan’s beautiful fan

The whole family after lunch

View from the river cruise

Duncan admiring the cruise view

More cruise pictures

Nico taking pictures for Chloe’s Instagram

Susan on the cruise

Luca, Christina, and Agnish in front of rice paddies

A cat outside of the hotel

Christina and Agnish posing in the very comfortable pajamas the hotel provided 

Chloe holding the cormorants

Agnish’s turn

The family (minus Chloe and Michael) at Ruyi Peak

Boats on the river

2024 China trip: Guilin highlights

 Our trip to Guilin started out rough- due to a miscommunication, we could not find our tour guide Michael and waited at the airport for a few hours feeding mosquitoes. 

The owner of the travel company invited us to dinner to apologize for the delay. It was our first time having beer fish. We stayed at the Sheraton for one night and left the next morning for Yangshuo. 

One highlight was walking around a pretty lake before dinner.  Gong gong also discovered that he loved Monkfruit tea!

View from the river

The Sun and Moon towers

2024 China trip- Nanjing highlights

 We took the high speed train to Susan and Duncan’s birthplace for a day trip. We were hosted by family friend Roger Wang at the beautiful Golden Eagle Future World hotel. We didn’t leave the hotel in the day we were there, but we were still treated to a great lunch, amazing shopping, and a beautiful and fancy dinner, all in the same tower.

Nanjing Highlights 

Susan- the weather was not nice but we had a wonderful time there. Roger hosted a magnificent banquet for us and the chef made delicious dishes we never tried before. He came out to explain each dish and we all tried things for the first time. 

Michael: A magnificent banquet by master chef.

Duncan: I enjoyed the high rise building.

Luca: Having lunch at the GE World food stall in the shopping center.

Agnish: The hotel was beautiful and comfortable.

Nico: The GE hotel toilet and getting my new basketball shoes and monkeykings jersey.

Chloe: Lunch in the GE World food stall.

Christina: The beautiful views from the hotel and the super modern rooms.

View from the hotel

Luca and Agnish at the hotel

Luca and Nico relaxing in the hotel

2024 China Trip- Shanghai Highlights

The second place we went was Shanghai for a full family reunion. We had a nice dinner with family friend Felix and met our amazing tour guide Jeff. Jeff took us to many amazing places including museums, the Yu Garden, and finally a beautiful river cruise in the night. We continued to have many fun dinners with many members of our extended family.

Highlights:

Susan: big dinner hosted by uncle DJ and the river cruise and buying Luca a shirt at xingtiandi and dinner with Felix with jewelry for dessert

Nico: the River cruise and Jeff our tour guide 

Chloe: Jeff for fun and lunch in downtown Shanghai 

Luca: The Shanghai Tower and the hotel robot 

Duncan: skyline views in the river cruise

Agnish: seeing all the uncles and cousins 

Michael : the Shanghai urban planning museum 

Christina: cousin love on the Bund and the pretty Yu Yuan garden 

Luca, Chloe, and Nico at the Shanghai History Museum 

The family (minus Agnish) at the museum

Luca looking at birds at the Shanghai Urban Planning Museum 

Nico, Luca, Chloe, and Michael at Yuyuan

Duncan in Yuyuan

Family (minus Agnish) posing at the Yu Garden

Luca, Christina, Nico, and Chloe on the river cruise

Duncan, Susan, and DJ on the cruise

Christina and Luca taking a selfie on the cruise

All the kids posing on the boat