Forbidden City
We flew to Beijing, China on Wednesday, April 14th. Our flight didn't leave until 7:15 pm, so we had a little time to eat at the airport, prior to getting on our flight. It was at this point that we had our first, and really only, Kid breakdown....Maya, seeing all the Japanese food- noodles, fish, etc., started BAWLING, saying she just couldn't eat this stuff...we thought for sure, this trip would be a big struggle. Our kids are not one bit food adventurous (yes, like me- I struggle with weird looking food, so I can sympathize..though I have learned to try things first before saying I don't like it!), so instead of planning Peking Duck and Chinese Restaurant visits, we went to TGI Fridays, Hard Rock Cafe, McDonald's, Dairy Queen...we did get to go to one Chinese Restaurant, and ate at the hotel restaurant, which served a little bit of everything. Aside from the eating issues, we had a fantastic time. We arrived late Wednesday night, and were greeted by Oliver, from the travel agency that we used in Beijing. Oliver and our driver brought us to the Grand Hyatt Beijing, where we had booked a Club King room- which was supposed to be a room with a King sized bed, and we payed for an extra roll away. It also included a full Buffet breakfast, as well as free happy hour, and complimentary Non Alcoholic drinks all day. While checking in, they asked if we would like a room with two queen sized beds, which of course, we said yes to. To our delight, they ended up giving us a two bedroom suite- two king beds, kitchen, living room, 3 TVs, and 2 full baths...we weren't sure we actually wanted to leave the hotel room!! It was a very pleasant surprise, and got our trip off quite well.
We had hired Oliver's travel agency to set us up a trip itinerary, which included a private guide and a van just for us (we figured that the girls would need some flexibility, especially if any of us wanted to enjoy the trip!). Our guide, Grace, was a younger woman, who spoke fantastic English, and who the girls ended up loving. She came everywhere with us, helped us get tickets, order food, and really, was a weekend Nanny for us as well- walking with the girls, taking them to the bathroom, and keeping people away from them (more on that in a bit). She was fantastic, and if anyone ever goes to Beijing, I would recommend her without question!
Day 1- Thursday, April 15th
We visited the Forbidden City, Tienanmen Square and the Beijing Zoo. The Forbidden City was where the Emperor and his royal family lived, and where no commoners (except servants and soldiers) could go. It is literally an entire city within a city. It was unbelievable- and HUGE. The day was a little bit chilly, but overall, it wasn't too terrible. It was also at the Forbidden City that we realized that our kids were rock stars in China. They were getting touched, pet, patted, hugged, and everyone and their brother wanted to get their picture taken with them (and, for some reason, Scott and I too??). At first, it was kind of neat, and the girls complied, and allowed people to take their pictures every 15 steps. However, after awhile, it became really old and quite difficult - the girls couldn't walk more than 5 feet in front of us, or they would get mobbed. They were getting scared and freaked out, and Grace had to take over and start saying no to people and turning them away. Right before the Forbidden City, we went to Tienanmen Square. Lot of people and a lot of history. From Tienanmen Square, you could also see the Chinese "White House". After the Forbidden City, we went to the Beijing Zoo. The girls loved the Giant Pandas, and because Maya has been studying Australian Animals in school, she particularly loved that area of the zoo. We did have a chance to see a lot of animals that they normally wouldn't have in the zoo's in the U.S.- animals from this part of the world, which was really neat. They did have a regular Squirrel there as well, which we found quite funny!
That night, we went to the Legend of the Kung Fu show at the Red theater. We had no idea what this was, as Oliver and our travel agent from the states, both said it was the "Gung Fu Show" (to Susan's credit, she asked Oliver about it, and he just said the kids will really love it"!) So, we really had no idea what we were going to see...but, as we were sitting there waiting for the show to start, the TelePrompter started giving a little background about the show...and only then, did we realize we were going to see a show about Kung Fu!! As it turned out, it was fantastic- the girls did love it, and Scott and I liked it as well!
Friday, April 16th
Great Wall Photos
Friday was the day we were going to the Great Wall, the main reason we decided to go to China. The Mutianyu section of the Great Wall is about 1.5 hours drive from Beijing. Hanna, who was super tired from the day before (and I am sure, from being sick with an ear infection and high fever for the entire week before!), fell asleep on the ride, and woke up a big crab when we arrived. Crying, saying she was hungry, we went to the Subway, which was right at the bottom of the Great Wall, and got subs to take to the top and eat. Thank God for Subway, is all I can say! We were all really excited(except Hanna, who was still crying and whining) to see one of the 7 Wonders of the World! We took the cable car up to the Wall, as we didn't think the girls would make it to the top, and if they did, didn't think they'd have anything left in them to walk on the wall, and sat at the top and ate our Subway. It was a good way to start a great day- filling us all up, with the view of the wall all around us. Luckily, the Great Wall was more foreigners, and less Chinese...so the girls could walk around, mostly left alone and explore. The Great Wall is phenomenal really- it took them almost 2500 years to complete it (to keep out the Mongolians, who they considered Barbaric), and spans over 4000 miles. It is rocky and uneven in many spots, but quite unbelievable! The weather, which the day before had been cold, had turned unexpectedly warm- mid 60's and sunny- so by the end, we were walking the wall in t-shirts and sweating! According to the girls, their favorite part was the ending of the Great wall visit. There is a toboggan ride, down a steel tube, on sleds where you control the speed, that goes from the Wall, all the way down to the bottom. This was a lot of fun, and was a great way to end our visit!!
After the Great Wall, we stopped to take some photos of the Birdsnest and Watercube from the Olympics in 2008.
Scott and Maya in the Richshaw
After that, we went on a Richshaw tour of the Hotungs. The Hotungs are the original Chinese housing, which to me, looked like the slums of any city you would go to in the U.S. However, there is a lot of cultural significance to the way in which they were built. The Rickshaw was a really neat experience for the girls, and Scott and I got to enjoy what I would consider the largest bottle of beer I have ever seen...so everyone was happy!
http://www.chinahighlights.com/beijing/hutong/
After enjoying dinner at a Chinese restaurant (of course, after feeding the girls hotdogs from Dairy Queen), we went to an Acrobat show, which was phenomenal. We sat in awe, as these people performed stunts of ridiculous flexibility and balance...Hanna fell asleep, but Maya could not take her eyes off these performers (she kept saying- balance AND flexibility...wow!). Day 2 was a success!
Saturday, April 17th
Saturday we were scheduled to go to the Summer Palace and the Temple of Heaven. The Summer Palace was the place the Royal Family went in the summers as it was a cooler location than the Forbidden City. This part of our trip we could have skipped. Not that the Summer Palace wasn't interesting, but we couldn't go into anything, and by this point, the girls were so tired of people taking their picture, mobbing them and touching them, that they were starting to get testy. At one point, we made the mistake of letting Hanna walk on a curb about 10 feet away from us...and had to literally pull her out of a mob of people. It was completely overwhelming, so we made the visit as short as we could (people were even video taping them, which was very odd- cameras in their faces, etc. Not cool.) We also had a strange and crazy bathroom experience. Maya had to go to the bathroom, and Scott was going to take her over there and let her go in by herself. After a minute, we decided that probably wasn't the best idea, so I took her into the bathroom. This is the first time I have ever been anywhere that people didn't understand what a line for the bathroom was(granted, I am not a world traveler, so it could be common..I don't know). Maya and I stood in what we thought was a line, only to get pushed and shoved and pulled in multiple directions by all aged Chinese women fighting for the stalls- I am not even a little bit exaggerating here. I was standing there in complete bewilderment, when another English speaking woman came up to me and said- "have you ever seen this? I have never seen such rude people! You are never going to get into a stall if you just stand there- you need to start some pushing!". Flabbergasted- could you imagine if we would have sent Maya in there by herself? She would have came out traumatized. So, I found a spot outside of a stall and held my ground...it was really the most bizarre thing I have ever encountered....it made me realize what a developing nation this really is. Crazy.
We took a dragon boat (boat, shaped like a dragon) back across the lake and left that fun Summer Palace! :)
Temple of Heaven
Afterward, we went to the Temple of Heaven. This Temple was a temple that only the Royal family (back in the Chinese Dynasty's) could use, and a place where they prayed for good harvest, rain, or whatever else the Royal Family deemed needing a prayer. It was GORGEOUS, and though we could not go inside, we were really glad we visited. It was also located in a fun park that had a lot of singing, performers, exercises, dancers, and weird people dressed up in funny costumes, which of course, is always entertaining! We had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe, and then continued back to the hotel, where we spend the remainder of the day/night swimming in the fantastic pool.
It was a wonderful trip, and we enjoyed it tremendously. Having said that, China is not a place that we feel we would ever live. The driving is CRAZY (and I mean crazy- they drive little shacks on wheels, and there is virtually no organization to the way they drive- lanes merge whenever, people turn whenever- it is really just a chicken match in many respects), the country is very much developing in most ways people from the West consider "developed", the medical situation is terrible (we are told that doctors just don't need to have the same education as they do in say, the U.S., and that the good doctors are very hard to see), the air quality is poor... it is just not a place I could imagine being for a very long time. After being in China, I am very thankful that Scott's company offered him this opportunity in Tokyo, and not China- it definitely made me appreciate our current location a lot more than I did prior to our visit!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Heaven
