Slow Boat to China

February 21, 2017 Paul Groves


Day 48 of 111. Yellow Sea nearing Xingang, China

We will dock at the port city of Xingang this evening. I think that this is the port closest to Beijing. It was very cold in Korea and the weather forecast is for equally cold or colder weather for the next few days. The temperature is 32 F and there is ice outside on the deck. We had some swells and high winds during our trip from Korea, but it has been smooth as glass today as we glide into port. After leaving Japan, we had a kimono night. I did not buy a kimono, but I did find a coat that was made out of a kimono. The sleeves were useful for storing our chopsticks from dinner. In watercolor class, we have been painting cherry blossoms (the characters are supposed to be Peace and Courage) and I made a colorful picture of bamboo.

Tomorrow, we meet at 6:30 a.m. to leave on an overnight trip where we will visit the Great Wall (snow flurries are predicted), the Forbidden City, and Tian’amnen Square. We will also visit the Temple of Heaven, the Ming Tombs and have an overnight stay in a hotel where we will be treated to a feast of Peking duck! Coming from Southern California, we really did not pack for very cold weather. Luckily, when we were docked in San Diego, we found down jackets on sale and bought two. They came in very handy in South Korea and should keep us from freezing in Beijing.

We had to skip one port (Jeju City) because the conditions were not safe, so we saved time on our traveling time. Because of this, we really have had a gentle and leisurely trip to Xingang… thus the slow boat to China reference.