Spring in Beijing and other Chinese locales

‘Snake wine, anyone? It was served in a jug with a large snake coiled inside. We passed.’April in Beijing? That’s where my husband, Less, and our friends, Jane Kessler and Barry Michaelson, were in April.

Beijing is in full-throttle preparations for the 2008 Summer Olympics; beautiful plantings and modern sculptures were everywhere. There is a tremendous amount of construction. As the old hutong dwellings are being demolished, new high rises, most at least 50 to 65 stories or higher, are going up.

We were on a 17-day tour of China, with Beijing as our starting point. We visited all the major stops, including the Forbidden City -- now under renovation for the 2008 event -- the Summer Palace and, of course, the majestic Great Wall. A highlight was lunch one day in the residence of a family in the old hutong section of the city.

The high point of the trip for my husband was the four-night cruise on the Yangtze River. Our first stop was the Three Gorges Dam, the world’s largest hydroelectric power project. Unfortunately, it was totally engulfed in fog and we couldn’t see it, but we did travel through the ship-locks and into the famous three gorges. Along the way we saw rushing rapids, weathered peaks, hidden coffin caves and temples. When the dam is finished, the height of the river will displace the farmers living along the banks into high-rise relocation cities above the river.

We docked every day for different experiences -- once for a ride on a small boat towed by men with ropes through the Smaller Gorges rapids, and on another day, we climbed a 12-story, 400-year-old wooden pagoda. We disembarked at Chongqing, a municipality of more than 32 million, where we saw giant pandas.

The buried army of life-size terra cotta soldiers and horses in Xian was spectacular and the highlight of the tour for me. They guard the Emperor Qin’s mausoleum, built 2,200 years ago. There are three excavation pits open to the public with more than 1,000 restorations on display in just the first pit.

We were surprised by the spacious, uncrowded modern airports. One flight took us to Guilin where we took a cruise on the beautiful Li River and past the misty limestone karst mountains -- sharp pinnacles and cliffs that create an eerie landscape.

Snake wine, anyone? It was served in a jug with a large snake coiled inside. We passed.

We then flew on to Hong Kong, our final destination. We had been there in 1997 but the growth since then is truly amazing.

We enjoyed our tour of China. What we saw made us realize how fast this country is moving toward becoming an economic super power.

* RUTH and LESS SILVER are Newport Beach residents.