In the beginning of July we finally arrived in Chongqing and the Three Gorges tour was over. Pity.
Chongqing is another large city in China with an estimated 8 million citizens. Our hats started to look wrinkled, grubby and a bit worn out being made of nothing but printing paper, but Mcbear thought the grubby look only made them look more authentic.

Chongqing, July 2007

In Chongqing we had a fabulous room at the Hong Ya Dong hotel. Roger was convinced that it was a 5 star, however, when Tom & Bamse searched for the bar to enjoy a pint, there was no bar, and other amenities were missing too. So Roger had to give in and admit that it was only a 4 star hotel. But still, the room was fabulous nonetheless.

In search of more factories, McBear led us to Dazu, where we discovered some ancient and truly amazing stone carvings.

Dazu, July 2007

Holding a Master of Arts, Roger was fascinated by the symbolism of the carvings, while McBear, holding a Master of Science, was interested in the techniques on how to actually carve the carvings considering how old they were.

After a long day of searching factories - and studying carvings, we found ourselves exhausted in the hotel room. Here, Tom and Bamse enjoyed some hot chicken soup while we were playing cards. Roger had taken off his black jacket to cool down after a day in the heat outside.

Chongqing, July 2007

Later, Roger found McBear sitting studying a local newspaper.
"What are you doing?" Roger asked of curiousity.
"Well, I am trying to catch up with the latest news from TARF".
"But you can't read Chinese..." Roger pointed out.
"I know, but I just thought there might be photos or something..."

The next morning we went to Chongqing Zoo. Here, we saw live Pandas. There are only about 1500 Pandas left in the bamboo forest in China, so the Chinese have set up a conservation programme. At a souvenir stand we saw several Panda TA's hanging, and we paid the release fee for a cute fellow (the fee was only 10 Yuan, not much more than 1 Euro!).

Chongqing, July 2007

Here we are with our new friend, the first panda member of the Travelling Bears. He was named Chong as he was from Chongqing.
"What's your favorite meal?" Roger asked of curiousity.
"Bamboo" was the answer. Actually, Chong was constantly chewing on bamboo leaves.

The same day we flew to Xi'an and arrived at our hotel in the evening. Here, McBear started teaching Chong English and Chong took lots of notes. But every time McBear explained something about Chongqing, Chong started giggling because of the way we were pronouncing Chongqing.
"Now, say after me", Chong was teasing. "Chong" is Tchooong and "qing" is Tchiiiing. Tchong-tching! It's easy, isn't it? He-he".
Neither McBear, Roger, Tom nor Bamse found it funny, and Chong was giggling even more!
"Just repeat 'I am, you are, he is'..." McBear interrupted a bit annoyed.

Xi'an, July 2007

Next morning we went to the old city wall surrounding Xi'an.
McBear asked if Chong knew about the production of TA's in China as McBear was trying to find the source of the constant stream of TA's into Europe.
"Ah, yeah", Chong answered. "My uncle runs a TA factory, my cousins Ching and Chang own 3 factories together, and my old aunt creates hand-sewn TA's... Do you want to close these factories? My poor family would become unemployed. Would you really want that?
McBear got silent. It was a choice between employment and headache...

McBear stopped searching for more factories and instead we went sight seeing at a place outside Xi'an, where the world famous terracotta warriors were discovered in 1974. Here were are at the building at site 3.

Xi'an, July 2007

Site 1 is the original excavation site, and here there were hundreds and hundreds of terracotta warriors in clay.

Next morning we were going to fly back to Beijing. Chong was very excited as this would be his first ever visit to Beijing, the capital. Here we are in Xi'an's airport. McBear said we were going to fly a Boeing 737 from Air China ... The rest of us rushed to the gate before McBear could dig into further technical details...

Beijing, July 2007

In Beijing we went by bus to our hotel. On the way Chong was looking out the window very excited, and constantly we could hear a "Oh-wauuuvvv..." or a "Cool, we've got those in Chongqing too..."!

We arrived Day's Hotel for a two nights stay. Chong was impressed. He had never stayed at a 5 star hotel before.
"Ah! You'll get used to that", Roger said and continued. "But mind you: Never go for less than 5 stars".
"Ay-ay, I'll remember that".

Beijing, July 2007

In Beijing, we went to see the famous Temple of Heaven and of course we were going to have our photo taken. Mcbear handed a rice hat to Chong to wear it.
"What? Wearing those hats? But... eh... oh, well, okay".

We also went to see the "Pearl Market" shopping centre, where you can get a really great bargain - or get really cheated. Outside we were to have our photo taken as usual. McBear handed Chong a rice hat.
"Why are we wearing those silly hats?" Chong wanted to know.
"But I thought they were typical Chinese..."
"No! They are outdated; a reminiscense from a time long gone! You only see them in a few old souvenir shops, and today people are wearing more fancy hats."

Beijing, July 2007

As the sun set that evening over Beijing, Chong looked out at the city he was going to leave tomorrow.

Later in the evening Roger went over to see, what McBear and Chong were doing. McBear was reading a Chinese newspaper.
"Are you trying to catch up with news from TARF? But you still can't read Chinese..." Roger pointed out.
"No, but Chong can, and he's helping me catching up!"

Beijing, July 2007

Next day we packed our luggage for the last time and went to Beijing International Airport. Here, Chong said farewell to his homeland that he was about to leave, maybe for ever...
Before we could stop him, McBear had noticed that our aircraft was an Airbus A340-300 from Air China with 4 CFM jet engines...

On the flight home we had window seats, so Chong could sit looking out the window. He was excited to fly across the Gobi desert, Mongolia and Sibiria and all the way to Europe. In Heathrow we changed to Aer Lingus and finally landed back in Dublin Airport. Phew, what a journey!

Dublin, July 2007

To celebrate our return, we had an evening party and showed everbody all the treasures we brought home from China. There were Ming vases and jade from Beijing, silk carpets from Shanghai, silk clothes and tea sets from Yichang and fine porcelain bowls from Xi'an - and chop sticks from just about every place we had visited...
"Oh, and the greatest treasure of them all," Roger pointed out and continued: "is of course CHONG!!! Let's give him a BIG hand...!"
And they were all cheering and welcoming Chong to his new home!