Day One - Travel Day
I picked up the kids after a half day of school. All the teachers were so encouraging and excited for our adventure, which made it easier for me that they were missing a couple days of school. We got to the airport in really good time...about three hours before our 5:30 flight...and we were through check-in and security in record timing. The flight was about three hours, and I'll never forget the many , many RED iridescent lights I saw as we were descending into Beijing. It reminded me that we were in CHINA...and just how crazy that was. The kids did great on the flight...I actually sat with Andy (with Sarah) next to the window and the other four were across the aisle next to us. Apparently, Wednesday night is a good time to fly into Beijing because we got through all the checkpoints pretty quickly and found our driver, who brought a 13 passenger van. We arrived to our hotel around 11, met up with our friend who had arrived with his family earlier that day, and then started the process of getting settled. Not as much sleep happened that first night, but we were all excited to get going the next day.
Day Two - Tian'anmen Square, Forbidden City, Silk House, Acrobat Show and Peking Duck
We started breakfast early at the hotel...all 13 of us in a relatively small dining area. In fact, the staff looked a little overwhelmed, but by our last day, they didn't run out of bacon! And actually, the food was pretty good, and our kids (and adults) loaded up on a great western breakfast. After meeting up with our driver in the same van, and our tour guide, we headed to Tian'anmen Square and Forbidden City. The traffic maybe the worst I have seen in quite awhile, and it took us about an hour to get there. The day was sunny and the weather was a perfect fall day, with temperatures in the 60's...but yes, there was smog. That didn't bother me...I was LOVING the weather!!! We walked across the Square, trying to take it all in while keeping an eye on the kiddos among the masses. The Square was enormous, and while we didn't take a lot of time focused on it, I couldn't help remember what had happened there and why it was famous in my mind...a very sobering thought.
Walking towards the Forbidden City, we took pictures here and there...trying to get the "perfect" shot, while keeping a good pace. Our tour guide was very patient with us, but as he learned early, our group had two speeds...slow and slower. As we neared the first gate, the crowds started to increase, and we started to get more and more attention. I don't remember when the first person asked to take our picture, but apparently our groups' photo had already been taken in the hotel lobby as we waited (as we found out from a friend...his guide showed him a picture of us) By the time we were through the first gate and well into the Forbidden City, our children were celebrities. The older girls loved it...even posing, while the little girls were not so excited about all the attention. At one point I looked at Andy, who had Sarah in the front carrier, and he had a group of older "fans" just oogling over a sleeping Sarah. It reminded me of throwing bread crumbs to birds. Finally, our friend's son explained to them in Mandarin that the baby was sleeping, and they were very respectful, backing off and even telling the newcomers to back off as well so the baby could sleep. For the most part, the paparazzi were kind, and even though we had heard about this and tried to prepare the kids, it was very overwhelming for all of us. We found that if we set up for our own picture, or even stopped for just a couple minutes to get our bearings, we were "fair game".
We stopped for a break....
which turned into a photo op:)
The City itself was unbelievable. We had gotten through three gates and were still in the outer court. I think we were there for about two and a half hours, and I felt like we hadn't even scratched the surface. But our kids were troopers and how many palaces, halls and gates does one need to see?
The number of animals on the roof indicates the importance of the building
After the Forbidden City, and a great Chinese noodle restaurant for lunch, we headed to a Silk House that gave us a great tour of how silk is made...starting with the worm. It really was fascinating and the kids enjoyed it, too. We perused the many items of silk they had for sale, and then we were off to the acrobat show.
Stretching the silk is very difficult
The acrobat show was CRAZY!!! There were so many times I looked at Andy and said "you have got to be kidding!!!" This was a definite favorite with the kids and the adults. Some of the things that were done should not even be attempted, and we all walked away with..."did you see that?" So fun!!!
This woman was doing a toe point on the man's head!
Well, with all that we had accomplished, we decided to pack in a bit more and go eat Peking Duck. It was on our list of things to do, and since we knew what we had the next couple days, it was a good time to do it. Our guide took us to his favorite Peking Duck restaurant and we got a room with huge round tables...so we all sat at one table. Peking Duck is not only popular and delicious, but it is an experience that I highly recommend. It brings together Chinese culture with a little Mexican (taco). Everyone enjoyed it and walked away quite full...even the little ones. We got back around 9 or 10...tired!!! Oh, and we slept much better!!!
Peking Duck with our tour guide, David
Day Three - Beijing Zoo, Hutongs
Our day started early again...just not quite as early :) We left for the zoo and it was noticeably more "foggy." The kids were SO excited about this day because we were off to the zoo. The first thing we headed for were the pandas...and while they were shy, we got some great pics of elephants, tigers and monkeys. We spent a lot more time than allotted, but we could have been there all day. There were also parts of the zoo that were very scenic...with beautiful willow trees and lakes. From there we left for lunch, eating at a dumpling place that wasn't as good as the noodle restaurant from the day before. Then, we went to the Hutongs...an area of narrow streets that show traditional Beijing culture. We all started with a rickshaw ride through the streets, then walked to the Drum Tower and Bell Tower, where we had a drum exhibition and tea demonstration. I found these towers fascinating...first built in the 1200's, then rebuilt in 1420...like so much we had already seen, these structures held so much history. The Drum Tower had over 6o steps almost straight up...and these towers were integral in keeping time. Finally we raced back, stopped at some fun stores that we ran pass on our way the towers, to our waiting rickshaws. We got an even faster ride back to meet the van. And we finally got back to our hotel in time to go get some Papa John's pizza...yummm!!!
Rickshaw Rides
Drum Tower
Bell Tower and Tea House
Day Four - The Great Wall, the Birds Nest
Ahhh...the day we all were waiting for. Well, maybe not all of us. The kids were definitely tired. But one of the funniest comments came from Josh, who said sleepily from his bed, "I'd rather stay in bed than go to the Great Wall." I told him that I would write that down...and now I did:) We were shooting to leave around 7:30, but I think it was closer to 8am. We met up with an associate and friend of Andy's in the lobby. James and Andy have worked together for years, and they had talked about our family coming to Beijing for a long time...it was neat that it came to fruition. The other huge blessing was that we got a small bus for our travels. The van was great for the first couple days, but we were a little crunched, and with four plus hours of road time for the day, we were grateful for more room!!! The other HUGE blessing was the weather. We could already tell when we left the hotel that we weren't going to have the same degree of smog we had before. But by the time we got to the wall, the skies were BLUE!!! We could not have asked for better weather. We did our time in the bus, got out and walked a bit because of heavy traffic, and got our tickets for the lift. We went to a part of the wall that wasn't as crowded - Mitianyu. We had our share of "fans", but definitely sensed there were more world-wide tourists. We all went up the chair lift, and just going up takes your breath away. I couldn't believe how beautiful this place was...the weather was gorgeous, and the leaves were changing...something I have mentioned before that I miss. When we got to the top, we took our time to take some pics, and then we walked on the wall...so exciting!!! It was definitely crowded, but we were still able to take pics without other people in the shot. And we did have space...something that is relative speaking in Asia. We definitely took our time, finding pictures to take wherever we turned. And since we were taking so many pics, our pace was slower than normal. We finally realized that we needed to turn around because we were planning to go down the toboggan, which was located where we came up at the chair lift. So after some more pictures, we got in line at the toboggan and figured out who would ride with who. When we finally got to the head of the line, I was told that Sarah was too small to go down at all, and that I would have to ride the lift. While I was pretty disappointed, I wasn't surprised, and I enjoyed my peaceful and quiet (Sarah was asleep) ride down. When we all got to the bottom, we got subs (from Subway) to go, and left that amazing place. One thing we all kept saying was that pics wouldn't do it justice...but at least you will get the idea:) Finally, on our way home we stopped pretty quick by the Birds Nest, the Olympic Center. Even though it was a quick "run out of the bus and take a picture" stop, it was nonetheless, really fun to see...and it was HUGE!
Toboggan and lift
Grace on the toboggan...the kids favorite part!
Sarah gives our friend, James, a high five for a great day
Birds Nest ..Olympic Park
We got back to the hotel in time for the kids to have a quick swim and then went out for some Yoshinoya (Japanese fast food) and Dairy Queen. The next morning we would be on our way back "home". I also realized it was still funny to go on these trips and then go home to Hong Kong. But we are happy to be home. We are SO thankful for an amazing trip with some wonderful friends. I know there is so much more to see in Beijing, but with 9 children, you can only do so much. There is also so much more about our trip...but enough is enough:) We made some awesome memories that will not be forgotton!!!
