Our final video from the Yangtze river cruise aboard the Victoria Jenna. We had a chance to see some amazing sites along the Yangtze river including the Three Gorges Dam, the City of Ghosts, the White Emperor City and the lessor Gorges.
Our first video about the Yangtze river cruise we took is about the ship we were on, the Victoria Jenna. More China videos to come, including one highlighting the excursions we went on along the river.
Here is our second video from Beijing detailing the sites we visited with Pacific Delight Tours. The next video will be from our cruise on the Yangtze.
Google has released a Street View map of the ruins of ancient Pompeii, the Roman city that was buried by ash from the Vesuvius volcano. I have personally been lucky enough to visit this amazing site and it was among the most surreal travel experiences I’ve ever had. As it is a complete city, walking around the streets and through the buildings gives you a real perspective on what life was like in Ancient Rome, and how it wasn’t all that different from city life today.
So take a tour of the Street View today, just make sure to click on full-screen to get the best experience. [via Gizmodo]
We’ve just completed editing on our first video about our trip to China. This is an overview to the city of Beijing and our experiences there. Check out our other TripFilms travel videos at Tripfilms.com.
On our last day in the Beijing we drove an hour out of the city to the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall. Although it’s takes longer to get there, the Mutianyu section is a lot less busy and offers spectacular views as it is located in the mountains. There are 3 ways to get to the wall from the parking lot: a covered cable car (great for cold days), a chair lift (chilly on cold days, but offers a slide on the way down) or walk 1000 steps. We opted for the covered cable car… it was cold, and there’s plenty of walking to do on the wall itself. read more…
Mariessa, Tom and JJ in Tiananmen Square
After a delicious buffet breakfast (with really good coffee) we were picked up at the hotel by our Pacific Delights tour guide Tom. He started off our tour of Beijing with Tiananmen Square and the enormous Forbidden City, which is the largest Palace complex in the world. Although it is November, and pretty chilly, these world famous attractions were packed with visitors from China and around the world. Apparently it is like this every day as thousands of people flock to experience the incredible history and scale of the Forbidden City… read more…
After we arrived at Beijing Capital International Airport and were picked up by our tour guide, we drove into downtown Beijing where our hotel was located. It just so happened that it was, as the airline Captain put it: “foggy/hazy” on the afternoon that we arrived. We quickly found out that it was a combination of smog and dark clouds. Visibility was so limited that we could only see buildings that were next to the highway and didn’t really get to see much of the city beyond 1000 feet or so. The highway was very new, smooth and wide, but there was still some traffic getting into the city. As the subway was heavily expanded for the Olympics there is a great express train that goes straight from the airport into the city and connects with the rest of the subway system. If you don’t have a lot of baggage, it might be a good way to go as it is very fast and comfortable. It costs 25 RMB for an airport express ticket and 2 RMB for a regular subway ticket. read more…
After a 12 hour flight from San Francisco to Beijing, we were exhausted and desperately needed showers. For flights of that length on an American carrier, I would highly recommend upgrading. Unfortunately the first and business class seats were all booked on our flight and the only remaining option was “Economy Plus”, which only offered a few extra inches of leg room… not really worth it if you are short.
Beijing Airport was very impressive, it is one of the largest terminals in the world and since it was built for the 2008 Olympics, it is very modern and functional. The customs lines were fairly long, even though they didn’t ask any questions like in the States or Canada. Each officer’s booth was equipped with a digital survey button panel where you could select your level of satisfaction with the process… although I’m not sure if I would ever select “dissatisfied” 
We then proceeded to take a shuttle train to the baggage claim where we were met with a high tech carousel that detected if there was a space between bags on the carousel before dumping a new bag. Much better than the pile-o-bags functionality of typical baggage carousels. With luggage in hand, we headed to the exit and were met by our Pacific Delights tour guide: Tom, a local Beijing’er with several years of experience giving tours of his home city. His driver picked us up and we drove out of the airport towards Beijing’s downtown.
Mariessa and Tom
Just landed in San Francisco and made our way over to the international terminal to wait for our flight to Beijing. Although we have 3 hours to kill, it’s a bit risky to head into the city when it takes around 35 minutes by BART. 4 hours or more would be perfect, 2-3 hours is just too little time.
JJ