Journey to Xanadu

By Tim Cronley

The book you are about to read is an account of my own personal wayfaring in two dimensions. It’s the story of a physical trip that my wife and I took to the Far East in 2006. It is also an account of what I was thinking as I went exploring beyond the boundaries of my National and Cultural existence. It has a strange provenance. I wrote a first draft of it several months after the trip ended using the notes from my journal. I then filed it away as simply a record of a personal trip. I did not consider it for publication because I could not place it in any recognizable publishing niche.

It is therefore reasonable to ask why I am now publishing a manuscript that was created as far back as 2006. Oddly enough, I am doing so because of the Covid-19 pandemic. I decided to take advantage of the enforced isolation brought about because of the virus by cleaning out old files and folders that were taking up space. When I came across the folder of this manuscript I took another look at it, and decided that it might have merit for publication after all - in the same way that wine can achieve merit if we wait long enough. In this case, the wait has ended in a worldwide pandemic that has forced the entire world to go exploring beyond the boundaries of its troubled existence. I think that some of my observations recorded in 2006 may now have relevance. It will be up to the reader to prove me wrong.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jul 22, 2020
• ISBN: 9781728367439

Book preview

Copyright © 2020 Tim Cronley. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or

transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

AuthorHouse™

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.authorhouse.com

Phone: [phone]

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed

since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do

not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright ©

1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-7283-6744-6 (sc)

          978-1-7283-6743-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020913000

Published by AuthorHouse 07/22/2020

8661.png

CONTENTS

Preface

Journey To Xanadu

Day 1:

Day 2: Shanghai:

Day 3: Shanghai:

Day 4: Shanghai:

Day 5:

Day 6: Beijing:

Day 7:

Day 8: Beijing:

Day 9: Last Day In Beijing:

Day 10:

Day 11:

Day 12:

Day 13:

Day 14:

Day 15:

Day 16:

Day 17:

Day 18:

Day 19: Claire’s Birthday:

Day 20:

Day 21:

Day 22:

Day 23:

Day 24:

Day 25:

Day 26:

Day 27:

Day 28:

Post Script

For

the

children of the world who are victims of war,

sexual abuse, and abandonment.

PREFACE

Travel is the one activity that has accompanied human beings from the moment life first emerged from the mysterious primordial seas of planet Earth. Our species traveled from the swarming conglomerate of our nutrient rich birthplace to the hard, indifferent conglomerate of the soil. And from the soil of Africa’s vast savannas we then went wayfaring in tribal groups throughout the entire world. Throughout our long and contentious history we have never ceased to go exploring beyond the boundaries of our own existence. And now at this problematic moment in our long evolutionary history, we have even dared to find our way into the vast, unknown conglomerate of the Universe.

The book you are about to read is an account of my own personal wayfaring in two dimensions. It’s the story of a physical trip that my wife and I took to the Far East in 2006. It is also an account of what I was thinking as I went exploring beyond the boundaries of my National and Cultural existence. It has a strange provenance. I wrote a first draft of it several months after the trip ended using the notes from my journal. I then filed it away as simply a record of a personal trip. I did not consider it for publication because I could not place it in any recognizable publishing niche.

It is therefore reasonable to ask why I am now publishing a manuscript that was created as far back as 2006. Oddly enough, I am doing so because of the Covid-19 pandemic. I decided to take advantage of the enforced isolation brought about because of the virus by cleaning out old files and folders that were taking up space. When I came across the folder of this manuscript I took another look at it, and decided that it might have merit for publication after all - in the same way that wine can achieve merit if we wait long enough. In this case, the wait has ended in a worldwide pandemic that has forced the entire world to go exploring beyond the boundaries of its troubled existence. I think that some of my observations recorded in 2006 may now have relevance. It will be up to the reader to prove me wrong.

+ + +

JOURNEY TO XANADU

"A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region

of supernatural wonder; fabulous forces are there encountered and

a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious

adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man."

Joseph Campbell - A Hero With A Thousand Faces

I always thought of China as being some far away mysterious land that existed beyond my American ability to reach or comprehend. Now that I am on my way there I’m looking forward to this journey with a growing sense of curiosity and excitement. It begins as all journeys should begin with a sense of liberation, of having left behind the bland and dull accouterments of my daily life, as well as those automatic responses and tiresome duties that at times weigh us down. Now that I am free of all those entanglements, I plan to journey beyond the boundaries of all my personal enclosures and play in the fields of the gods once more as I did when I was a child - unencumbered, expectant, and free. I hope that as I journey through China and the Far East I can do so with an open mind imbued with child-like wonder. And with this thought in mind I now bid myself – Bon Voyage!

DAY 1:

This afternoon at 12:20 p.m. we departed Chicago on a Boeing -777 Dreamliner bound for Shanghai, China. Huge plane. Seats 314 to 396 passengers. It has a range of 8,555 nautical miles. While waiting for our departure, I was struck by the diversity of people waiting in the airport. America truly is a melting pot of different peoples and languages. The genetic pool here in America is bubbling over with diversity. I think that a new model for the human race may be in the making.

We just past Hudson’s Bay and are now heading northwest past the Northwest Territories of Canada. We are at 31,000 feet with a clear blue sky above and what looks like an endless wilderness below. There are so many gleaming lakes below us now that it looks like a war is in progress between the land and the water - awesome in its solitude, revealing in its emptiness. It’s hard to tell which one will win.

I now suspect that the true way into the heart of the matter (any matter) has little to do with a wilderness experience like the one I am now looking at. The illusive ‘no-way way’ is not dependent upon such a distraction. Neither is the ‘no-place place’ reached by closing or opening doors. Both ‘the way’ and ‘the place’ simply are - and they reveal themselves in that mysterious place that exists between heartbeats. I will try to keep this in mind as I make my way into the heart of China.

Below me now as I look the wilderness is spread out from horizon to horizon. The lakes are intensely blue, perfectly calm, and beautiful in their stillness. After lunch (dinner?) I fell asleep when we were somewhere in the vicinity of the Beaufort Sea. I opened my eyes only briefly when we were approaching the Siberian coast. On the monitor in front of me I saw that we were at 35,000 feet on a trajectory that will take us into northern China by way of Irkutsk, Russia and Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia - and ultimately Shanghai our destination. I continued to sleep until I was startled awake by the sounds of the tires being deployed in preparation for our landing in Shanghai. From the window I was amazed to see skyscrapers now below me gleaming in the late afternoon sunlight. Some of them looked to be as big if not bigger than those in New York. As my feet touched down on Chinese soil for the first time, I felt like Dorothy when she landed in Oz and said to her dog Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore.

Due to the International Date Line we arrived Shanghai at 3:40 p.m. Huge up-to-date temple of an airport built 5 years ago. All travellers entering China including Chinese citizens must clear immigration and customs. We spent almost two hours in slow moving lines in order to present our papers to an obviously bored and indifferent customs clerk. We were not alone; hundreds of other travellers also waited in line to be welcomed to the Republic of China.

A Chinese representative from OAT (Overseas Adventure Travel) met us after we cleared customs and claimed our luggage. His English name is Eric and he will be our local guide during our pre-trip visit here in Shanghai. When we booked for this trip with OAT we decided to take both their pre trip and post trip options; Shanghai being the pre-trip; Hong Kong, Bangkok, and Angkor Wat being the post trip. Our regular full trip guide will meet us once we get to Beijing. There will be 14 of us on this tour of