See China by Sea!

by Mary Hartman

Marco Polo would never believe it.

Seeing China in days instead of years and traveling without a string of camels and a retinue of courtiers, eunuchs and waitpersons.

Well, maybe the waitpersons. . .and busboys. . . and cabin stewards.

They all were part of the package when my husband and I cruised the China coast in September on Royal Caribbean's "Sun Viking." In 12 days of cruising, we visited seven Chinese cities and enjoyed three days of sightseeing in and around Beijing

Regrettably, Royal Caribbean has sold the Sun Viking to Star Cruises of Singapore and, at press time, Star's plans for the use of the ship were uncertain.

Other cruise companies, however, provide China trips, and travelers would be well-advised to consider a cruise as one way to see some of the Middle Kingdom.

My husband and I badly wanted a China experience, but we had a problem: I didn't want to fly in China and Barrie didn't want to eat there. Neither of us are the finicky sort, but I'd heard one too many Chinese airplane horror stories, and my husband associated eating in China with consuming strange meat-like dishes from dubious origins.

So, for us, what better way to see at least the bustling Chinese coast, but on a cruise ship? The eating was a cinch and the only flying we had to do was to get there.

If you decide on a cruise, but also want to visit inland, check for a trip that offers optional inland tours to Xian with its Terracotta Soldiers and Guilan for a cruise among the limestone hills along the Li River. Most cruises offer these pre-or-post trips. You may even be able to hook up with a tour that covers the interior of the country in detail.

Our trip began in Hong Kong and ended in Beijing. In between, we visited the frantically busy seaport of Xiaman; historic Ningbo, with its 11th century library; the walled city of Nanking; Wuxi, with its Grand Canal; Shanghai and Beijing. To reach Nanking, we sailed a day and a half up the Yangtze River passing freighters and hundreds of barges and fishing boats. At every turn we saw the "new" China and felt the tempo and beat of its bursting-at-the-seams economy. And, at some turns, we saw the old China -- women wearing straw hats and balancing loaded baskets suspended from shoulder poles; men engaged in the back-breaking work of digging trenches and building roads; families living in centuries-old stilt houses perched along the Tai O River on Lantau Island in Hong Kong. And, when we'd had enough of both Chinas, we escaped back to our cruise ship for quiet and privacy, as well as the fine cuisine in which Royal Caribbean takes justifiable pride. Then, if we had any energy to spare, we retired to the lounge for first-class entertainment before tucking ourselves in as our ship plied north through the night towards the next day's stop.

By day we visited temples and gardens; walked through traditional markets with fish so fresh they still were flopping; stepped into bookstores where we could find not so much as a directional sign in English, let alone a book; admired labor-intensive Chinese arts, such as the hand painting of scrolls and the highly intricate craft of making cloisonné pottery; marveled at the nimble Chinese acrobats and enjoyed the screeching, gaudy Peking Opera.

We also learned about every day life in China from bright-eyed young guides representing China's International Travel Service. Except for the guide in Shanghai Museum who professed, falsely, that "the Cultural Revolution didn't occur much here," (Shanghai was a hotbed of the Cultural Revolution) the guides seemed to make every effort to answer our questions with candor.

In Beijing, during the tour part of our cruise-tour, we were repulsed by the excesses of Empress Dowager Cixi for whom the lavish Summer Palace was built and from where she supervised China's last (boy) emperor -- subject of the recent movie, "The Last Emperor of China." We walked in T'iananmen Square, preoccupied with thoughts of the 1989 student democracy demonstrators mowed down by tanks there, just a scant eight years ago. In the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven, we trod the brick and bronze walkways of the emperors -- those `sons of heaven' who thought they were but one step removed from god in heaven.

And, best of all, we walked up, up, up along China's Great Wall at Badaling Pass.

Yes, it's been rebuilt; yes, it's enveloped in souvenir shops; yes, a freeway connects it with metropolitan Beijing, and yes, indeed, a nearby amusement park is part of what appears to be an entire Great Wall entertainment center. BUT, it's still well worth the visit. One can't help but visualize the thousands of conscripts who, over the centuries between 400 B.C. and 1600 A.D., slaved -- and died -- as, brick by brick and stone by stone, they built that wall. And, though Ghengis Khan conquered the wall in the 1200s and, in the process, conquered much of China, it nonetheless furnished protection from numerous other would-be invaders over the centuries. Peering north through peepholes of watchtowers located every 100 to 200 yards along the wall, it was easy to visualize Chinese sentries scanning the horizon for the thundering hordes who had designs on China, often conquering just for the sake of conquering.

Adventure travelers -- backpacker types who pride themselves on "mingling with the people," might stop me right here and ask, "Is that all?" Their question may make a legitimate point: A cruise (blessedly) isn't the same as trudging through China with a backpack and overdosing on noodle dishes laced with small grub-like creatures. But seeing the tourist sites doesn't have to be "all," either. A cruise vacation can provide real insight into this nation which, like a butterfly in spring, is working its way out of its own, largely self-imposed, cocoon. Whether traveling solo, on a tour or on a cruise, one gets out of a vacation just about as much as one is willing to put into it. The cruiser who is well-read before going to China, who uses all five senses while there, and who continues to read after coming home, will be greatly enriched, just as will be the backpackers for their adventures.

Perhaps it's because our cruise could take us only to coastal cities where the march of progress is steadier than in the countryside, but our predominate impression is that China is a nation racing against itself toward the 21st century. Maybe it's the pace in the cities -- everyone moves fast on foot or on bicycles. Maybe it's the plethora of billboards advertising high-tech companies: IBM, Compaq, Nikkon, Canon; perhaps its "Asia's tallest" television tower in Shanghai, the ringing of cell phones or the modern western-style homes north of Beijing built in the last five years for China's new rich. Surely it's all this activity and more that leaves us with the impression that the country is zooming headlong into the year 2,000.