Dragon’s Head & The First Pass Under Heaven

April 21, 2014: Tianjin port – Tanggu
This was the day I’d been waiting for, a day filled with anticipation, expectations and excitement when we would journey by private tour to Laolongtou, where the Great Wall’s eastern most section enters the sea, the Dragon’s Head.  Legend has it that the path the wall takes across China was determined by the foot steps of a Dragon. The truth is that the Wall was never planned in totality but rather was build in sections by several dynasties. It was not until the Qin dynasty that the segments were joined together.

Some twenty years ago my late mother travelled to China. She loved the Great Wall and was proud to have climbed a section of it near Beijing. Mom also loved the sea. On this morning as I left the ship, I once again tapped the vest pocket over my heart, feeling for the small red box that contained the Buddhist prayer charm Mom brought back with her. “Okay Mom, here we go…”



A delay in getting off the ship due to Chinese Immigration inefficiencies, all carefully monitored by a drone circling the ship, nearly scuttled our plans, but we managed to snatch triumph from the near jaws of defeat. By 11am, nearly 3 hours late, we were on the road headed for Laolongtou. Due to the late hour, we stopped for lunch at a roadside cafe before arriving at the Wall. We were treated to a colourful and very tasty feast of soup, rice & corn, grilled squid and snow peas, sweet & sour deep fried pork, egg & green peppers, chicken, peanut & veggies and of course jasmine tea.



Then it was onto the Wall and the sea. 

What can I say about my first encounter with The Great Wall of China? Words do not come easily, but some tears do. I was thrilled, enthralled, a bit like a kid on Christmas morning. A new wonder lay around every turn. And then there was the wall and the sea together, the one reaching out to greet the other.

I wanted to wander and wonder my way around here for more hours than we had but that piece of heaven was out of reach and another bit awaited us: The First Pass Under Heaven at Shanhaiguan. This very first passage way west of the sea, through the Great Wall  was originally built in 1381. A city grew up around the pass including markets, temples and of course fortifications.

As luck would have it, the main watch tower was undergoing restoration work today, its grandness obscured by scaffolding and screening. Still we were able to appreciate its importance and grand views.

With some reluctance we obeyed our guide’s command to get back into the car for the 3 hour journey back to the ship. It was a tiring but absolutely priceless day and I wouldn’t have missed it for the world!  We will visit the Wall again while in Beijing in about 2 week’s time. I can hardly wait!


©2014 April Hoeller

Three Days, Three Ports - Part 3: Jeju Island, South Korea

April 19, 2014- On this very cool, 12C, overcast and windy day with rain threatening, we bucked our tradition and opted for a half day Celebrity tour featuring a cultural village and ancient volcano crater. The Seongeup Village was interesting in its own way, but a little more information on its history would have helped put it into some kind of context. The site emerged off the highway looking something like a tourist park, but in fact it was a real community, real people scratching out a living with home gardens, poultry and pigs, water jugs, bicycles, shoes by the door and tangerines.

We motored on to the Sangumburi Crater, a 130,000 year old volcanic maar described as:

“The wind rises from the windpipe of ancient times and following its breath,
the sunny field is rolled up with wild flowers.
The waves of silver grass at Sangumburi.”

Had the weather been better, I’m sure we’d have been more impressed but the ‘atmospheric’ day rendered the crater less than astounding, details muted by mist.

The day was subdued too by the knowledge of the ferry sinking just off Jeju Island. The tragic loss of so many young lives clearly weighed heavily on the heart of our Korean guide and indeed all of us. As we sailed out of the port tonight the seas are indeed very rough with 2-3metre rollers and white caps galore. My thoughts and prayers are with the families and all who are working so hard in such adverse conditions to rescue who yet cling to life in small air pockets.
Lord hear us when we cry to thee for those in peril on the sea.

©2014 April Hoeller

Note: since first writing this post it has become apparent that none remain alive on the vessel – a tragic loss.

Three Days, Three Ports - Part 2: Busan, South Korea

Lessons in Transit & Following Fish
April 18th dawned cool and overcast, a good day for layers under rain gear. We took the 30 minute shuttle from the cruise port to the centre of town, then once again struck out on our own making our way to the metro station. Lesson #1 of the day: the automatic ticket machines only take 1000 won notes, but the ATM at the port issued 5 x 10,000 won notes (~$50. CAD). Noting our dilemma, a kindly gentleman directed us to nearby change machines. Problem solved, we purchased day passes to cover all our travels and rode the metro for two stops, then exited to the street for the bus. Lesson #2: In Busan the metro and bus systems operate independently – our day passes were useless on the bus and the bus only took exact fare which of course we did not have. But we were near a large university hospital and even in Korea, a donut shop is integral to a hospital. The staff at Dunkin Donuts, yes the big US chain, were eager to help us out. After many hand gestures, map pointing and a few words, we got things sorted out including the right fare for the bus.

We rode the bus up to the Gamcheon Cultural Village, or Taegukdo Village. Nestled on a hillside, this community originally housed only the poorest people in wooden shacks, but with the Korean War refugees from the city flooded into the community to escape the fighting. At the same time the founder of a new religion called Taegukdo, moved his followers to Gamcheon and promised to help all who converted to his faith based on yin and yang. The refugees accepted and together they rebuilt the shanty homes into concrete homes. The area however remained poor until 2009 when the federal government launched a village art project, a plan to model Gamcheon into a creative community. Today, the streets are decorated with murals, the houses decked out in bright colours and if one follows the brightly painted wooden fishes, one can’t get lost in the warren of narrow passages and steep stairs. Well that’s what the brochure claimed. I guess we didn’t follow the fish as we should have – we got lost. Still, Gamcheon was a fascinating community to explore and could easily take up a whole day, but we had to be sure to get back to town in plenty of time to catch the last shuttle back to the ship.
We made it back with time to take a stroll through the Jagalchi Fish Market, just across from the shuttle stop. This was a sprawling array of fresh fish, filleted right in front of you if you wish, (and while still wriggling!), slabs of whale meat (not too sure how I felt about that), huge clams, oysters, mussels, sea cucumbers, tunicates and seaweed galore. There were stalls selling cooked fish, dried fish, blocks of dried seaweed and even a spice shop to gather seasonings for your fish meal.

More than one could ask or imagine!

Three days. Three ports–Part 1: Nagasaki

April 20, 2014 – Easter Day at Sea
M/V Celebrity Millennium
10:00am Position: 37deg 34’ North    123deg 21’ East
Cruising the Yellow Sea between China and Korea at 18kts on a heading of 325
The temperature is a cool 11C and in the last 15 minutes fog has rolled in and the ship’s horn sounding every 2 minutes.

Where in the world have we been since the last blog post? Three ports of call: Nagasaki, Busan & Jeju Island. 

Nagasaki, Japan: Grace & Gardens – Smiles and Flowers
A joyous profusion of flowers greeted us as we left the ship. The whites, corals, blues, and yellows of Spring accompanied our travels throughout the city. The smallest staircase, window box or  even just an ordinary street corner smiled with colour. Though we had missed the cherry blossoms by two weeks, this unexpected vibrancy lent a note of celebration to our visit. I felt safe here, less worried about taking a wrong turn. This comfort level was aided not only by English street signs at the major intersections, but also by smiling, happy people eager to assist the moment we were seen puzzling over a map.







We stopped in at the Oura Cathedral, the oldest Christian Church in Japan then continued on to a number of temples.





In contrast to Taipei & Tamsui, the temples here were tucked up high and away from the hustle of the street. They were less ornate and less cluttered with fewer offerings piled up on the altars. No humongous mounds of “God Money”, in fact none at all but rather just offerings of fruit, water and origami prayer chains all arranged with care. These temples were Zen, a branch of Buddhism which does tend to be rather more austere than other Buddhist sects. (The number of Christian denominations and variations cannot come close to the many, many ways of Buddhism). Also notable about the temples we visited was that, with the exception of one where a ceremony of blessing for a newborn was taking place, they were devoid of worshippers, a stark contrast the noisy, crowded temples of Taiwan. Empty of people, though full to the brim with serenity, calm, and the heartbeat of the Holy.
The Kiyomizu-dera Temple, built in 1623 under the supervision of the monk Keijun.

The Sofukuji Temple, a Obaku sect Zen temple built in the mid 1600’s for Chinese residents. The Buddha Hall is the oldest building in Nagasaki.

Nagasaki is of course better known for being the second (and LAST) city to endure a nuclear bomb. On the morning of August 9, 1945 the 10,000 pound plutonium bomb was released some 5 miles above the city. It took 43 seconds for “Fat Boy” to fall and at precisely 11:02am the equivalent of 21 kilotons of TNT exploded 1500 feet above the city, unleashing a blast surge of 600mph and temperatures in excess of 7000F.
Neither Norbert nor I had any interest in visiting ground zero nor the Atomic Bomb Museum, but rather our observance and remembrance took the form of visiting the Fukusai-ji Kannon. This temple takes the form of a huge turtle carrying an 18m high figure of the goddess Kannon on its back. Inside, a Foucault Pendulum suspended from high inside the goddess statue, keeps vigil over the remains of 16,500 Japanese killed that day. (Unfortunately the very dark location of the pendulum did not lend itself to photos).

In addition, the temple bell is sounded every day at 11:02am.

Lest we forget.