Wonders of China and the Disney Adventure, April–May 2026

By Michael

Lisa and I left Grand Rapids in the afternoon on the first flight of the trip to China. On the plane to Denver we took a selfie, Lisa signing I love you, and later I dozed off on her shoulder.

In Denver we sat down at a terminal restaurant, a drink for Lisa and a bowl of soup, before the second flight on to San Francisco. We landed there late in the evening with the city lights spread out under the wing.

By Michael

We boarded ANA's flight to Tokyo just after one in the morning, the big jet waiting outside the gate window, and found our business class seats. Before we settled in I signed I love you for a selfie, with Lisa peeking over the seat behind me. She photographed the seat controls, then curled up with Bob, her stuffed husky, to sleep.

Somewhere over the ocean we crossed the international date line, so April 16 disappeared into the flight. We woke to a meal eaten with chopsticks, then watched the sun come up over the wing as we came down into Tokyo.

We had hours to fill at Haneda before our flight to Beijing, so we wandered the terminal as the day came up over the tarmac. We had breakfast in the ANA lounge, rice balls and hot dishes, and poked through the gift shops at the Tokyo Banana boxes and the matcha sweets.

We flew on to Beijing on ANA 961. Before we pushed back we took a selfie together, both of us signing I love you, with Bob between us. Mount Fuji passed below the wing soon after takeoff, then the snowy peaks of the Japanese Alps. Lunch came with rice shaped like a bear's face.

By Michael

We drove out from Beijing to Gubeikou, past hours of green hills, terraced fields and small towns. At Gubeikou we walked through an old gate arch and up onto the wall, where a table of drinks and a snack was set out for the group. From there the wall climbs right onto a rock crag. We ducked into a painted hall and found an old iron cannon still mounted on the wall. We had lunch nearby before driving on.

By mid-afternoon we checked into the Jinshanling Great Wall Hotel, its courtyard lined with blossoming peach trees. Then we walked up to the Jinshanling entrance and started the hike with a local expert. The wall climbed and dropped along the ridge, tower after tower, with the hills falling away on both sides. Partway along, Lisa signed "I love you" with the wall stretching out behind her. We stayed out for the sunset, the whole ridge turning gold before the sun dropped behind the hills.

Back at the hotel, the group learned to fold dumplings before sitting down together for a big dinner around a round table.

By Michael

We left the Jinshanling Great Wall Hotel after breakfast, where Lisa drew a page of cartoon characters, and started the drive back toward Beijing. The road wound through the hills for a couple of hours before the city buildings started again.

At Beijing West Railway Station we worked through the crowds and had lunch at McDonald's before boarding the bullet train to Xi'an North Railway Station, Bob riding along. The train ran west for hours, past fields, cooling towers and city after city, the land turning to terraced hills before we reached Xi'an in the late afternoon, the old city wall visible as we drove into town.

We checked into the Manxin Hotel, near the Bell Tower, and went back out that evening with the group for an orientation walk. The Bell Tower stood lit gold against the sky, and Lisa and I stopped there for a photo before we walked into the Muslim Quarter. The street was strung with lanterns and packed with food stalls, dumplings shaped like octopuses, frogs and flowers in one shop window, skewers of grilled squid at the next stall. We had dinner with the group at a round table, then kept walking the market until it was nearly ten. Back at the hotel Lisa put on a qipao dress for a photo.

By Michael

We rode the bullet train from Xi'an to Shanghai. Lisa's thank-you card was shared with the group that morning: a cartoon face and a first name for everyone on the tour, Lisa and me among them, with Evan, our expedition leader, drawn large in the middle. We had boxed lunches at our seats and watched the country go by the window, farm fields and hills and at one point a pagoda on a hilltop, before the fields gave way to high-rises as we got close to the city.

By Michael

We started the day with the breakfast buffet at the hotel, then walked out past an old bell and along a shopping street before taking the subway toward the former French Concession.

Wukang Road brought us to the curved Wukang Mansion, and we stopped for ice cream under the plane trees. Then we wandered on into Xintiandi, where Lisa and I signed I love you to each other, past a shop window full of odd robotic mannequin heads and into a teddy bear cafe for hot cocoa.

We walked on toward the Bund, reaching the riverfront a little before noon, with the Pudong skyline across the Huangpu. The whole tour group gathered there for a photo, and Lisa and I made a heart with our hands against the skyline.

Lunch was the tour's xiao long bao lunch, with mapo tofu, braised pork and rice among the dishes shared at the table. The afternoon was free, and we spent most of it working through toy stores nearby, MINISO Land and Trendy Toy among them, with me clowning around outside one of the entrances.

We were back at the hotel by late afternoon and stayed in for the rest of the night. From our window I photographed Shanghai's skyline lit up.

By Michael

We packed up in Shanghai, and before checkout I photographed the used Disneyland ticket as a keepsake. Breakfast was toast, corn and banana bread, then a drive to Shanghai Pudong, where Lisa tried a chocolate White Rabbit candy bar. Hong Kong Airlines flight HX 237 got us into Hong Kong by mid-afternoon, and a private transfer carried us past green hills to Disney Explorers Lodge.

It's Lisa's birthday. The trip packet for today just said to relax at the resort or explore the other Disney properties. We started with breakfast at Disney Explorers Lodge, and Donald Duck came through the lobby, so we got several photos with him before heading out.

By Michael

We took one more walk through the Explorers Lodge courtyard before checkout, past the elephant topiaries and the stone lions by the gate, a last look at the place that had been home for three nights. Goofy came by in his explorer outfit at breakfast for photos before we packed up.

A car took us to Hong Kong International for the flight to Singapore. We killed time in the terminal shops and by early afternoon we were on Singapore Airlines flight SQ 875, watching islands and shipping lanes slide by under the wing on the way down.

We landed in Singapore by mid-afternoon and drove past the Flyer and the Marina Bay Sands towers on the way to Gardens by the Bay for a first look at the Supertrees in daylight. From there we went down to Boat Quay along the river, a row of shophouses and bumboats, before dropping our bags at the Holiday Inn Express at Clarke Quay.

By Michael

Already in our red Disney Cruise Line shirts, we reached the Marina Bay Cruise Centre by mid-morning and worked through the check-in line. Lisa and I boarded the Disney Adventure in Singapore just before noon, greeted by a welcome aboard photo backdrop. We found our stateroom, had a first lunch on board, then spent the afternoon working through the ship: the Imagination Garden courtyard with its big Mickey statue, the arcade, a rec room with foosball and ping pong, and a bowl of noodles at the San Fransokyo-style cafe. In the ship's atrium Lisa signed I love you for a photo.

By Michael

Our first full day at sea aboard the Disney Adventure. We started the morning with coffee stamped with a Disney Adventure design in the foam, then worked through the ship's photo backdrops, including Mjolnir, where we each took a turn lifting the prop hammer.

Lisa watched Moana on the pool deck, and we found Nemo and Dory at the Discovery Reef photo spot. In the afternoon we browsed the character shops, past shelves of Duffy and friends plush, and Lisa changed into a floral dress for the rest of the day.

At dinner in Pixar Market, the waiters gathered at our table with a birthday cake and folded paper napkin hats. Afterward we watched costumed characters move through a deck party, then found a spot on the pool deck for The Lion King: Celebration in the Sky before heading back to the room.

By Michael

We were up early on the Disney Adventure, out on deck for sunrise before most of the ship was awake. Lisa found the Ironcycle coaster loop, then signed I love you for a photo at the rail before we sat down to breakfast by the window.

The rest of the morning went to walking the ship: the long art gallery down the main hall, the Marvel and Toy Story decks, and San Fransokyo Street with its trolley car and comic-book storefronts. Lisa met Snow White, Rapunzel and Jasmine for photos, and in the early afternoon we rode the Ironcycle together.

Back in the stateroom, our Stateroom Host had left a tiered cake of folded washcloths with stuffed animals propped beside it. Baymax found us again later for one more photo. Dinner was at Navigators Club, with Mickey, Minnie, Daisy and Donald stopping at the tables.

Our last full day at sea before Singapore. Lisa was up early walking the ship past the restaurants and murals before breakfast. By mid-morning the day turned into character meets: Goofy in his sailor stripes, then Mickey and Minnie in their captain uniforms, plus Dory, Nemo and Hank on the Discovery Reef backdrop. There was a Duffy and Friends show going on nearby, and a pin trading board to dig through.

That night we watched the Marvel stage show at the Stark Expo, Spider-Man, Iron Man, Black Widow and Loki squaring off under blue and red lights, and Lisa got her own superhero portrait against the Spider-Man wall, arm out like she was shooting a web.

Dinner was our second seating at Animator's Palate, the last one of the cruise. Our servers wrote Lisa notes to say goodbye before we packed our bags for the morning.

By Michael

The last flight left San Francisco a little after midnight, headed for Chicago Midway. The sun came up somewhere over the Midwest, turning the sky over the wing pink and orange. Lisa rested her head on my shoulder for part of the flight.

We came in low over the suburbs before landing, then drove the rest of the way home, back in Coloma by mid-morning.