Beijing-A Dream Fulfilled

Hello, Great Wall of China

 I've been meaning to post about this trip for a while now, but this month at work has been crazy and I've put my energies elsewhere lately. I don't ever want to forget the memories we made in Beijing this year, so I'm determined to record them here. :)

We were given two days off in May due to a Chinese holiday, and I was very thankful for them this year. With no spring break, the second semester has stretched on forever. So on the eve of the holiday, we joined all the other departing Chinese families and took the ferry over to the HK airport to head to Beijing.

We arrived very late, not settling in at our hotel until the early hours of Thursday morning. Paul slept very little, rising just after the sun rose to declare "It's daytime now!" So we rallied to breakfast to eat, and meet up with our wonderful friends, the Bates. We hadn't seen them since October when we visited them in Seoul, so Paul bounded up to his buddies, Alex and Ariana, and gave them huge hugs. We did the same with Kel and Marcela, and even Kel's mom, who was traveling with them. We caught up over breakfast, and then geared up for a day of sight-seeing with our own guide and in a private van!

Our first stop was Tienanmen Square, a famous site in Beijing, not so much for it's infamous clash, but because it was unlike any other square in all the world. (Our guide wouldn't even talk about the bloody event, but gushed about it's glorious position as a monument in the Forbidden City. From there we wandered with the masses of Chinese tourists (who asked repeatedly to take pictures with us) down towards Forbidden City.

The Forbidden City was huge! I had never imagined wandering through the temples, corridors, bedrooms, and all other fashion of rooms in this gigantic palace. To be honest, I had no idea what to expect. It was the size of a city for sure, it took us at least 4 hours to make our way through the whole thing. Especially considering how crowded it was, and the ages of our travelers. It was spectacular though, the kids had fun playing around, we had fun soaking in and learning the culture, but everybody was ready to eat when we finally made it through.

First group pic at Tianenmen Square

Forbidden City

After checking a few restaurants, we found a Chinese place with all of our favorites and had a delicious meal and awesome conversation. Paul was starting to show weariness, and Kel's mom was tired also, so Donnie and I volunteered to take the kids and Mrs. Bates back to the hotel for some swimming/rest time while Kel and Marcela continued on to another temple with our guide. I ended up taking a nap, but the kids had some fun play time in the pool and Kel and Marcela were back for dinner.

Cool kids in the back of the bus.

We ate up in the exec lounge because of Kel's special privileges, and we had a private room to play and nobody disturbed us. It was a relaxing way to end the day, and we all went to bed exhausted from the day's activities.

Up the cable car to the Great Wall!

Friday morning, we rose early to venture out of the city to The Great Wall of China! We were delayed by quite a bit because the traffic was horrific in Beijing (again due to the Chinese holiday) and a drive that would normally take 1.5 hours took about 4 hours. It was crazy! But we finally made it, we went to the section called Mutianyu, which is a farther distance, but is supposed to be the one of the most beautiful portions of the wall. After such a long drive, we were ready to stretch our legs and we wandered through the corridors of souvenir-selling stands to the base of the mountain.

Looking up you could see the wall in front of you, it was astounding. Such a feat of architecture and show of human strength and determination. As we climbed the steps to take the cable car up to walk on the wall, I marveled at seeing something I'd only ever imagined seeing. I feel truly lucky and humbled to have the opportunity to see and do things like this. I will never forget what it was like to be on such an iconic piece of history. The Wall itself wanders up and down the mountains, it's not a flat walk, and it was very steep at times. Paul stayed close, and we walked down to meet Kel and fam (they had taken a different way up). We finally met up with them took some pics, toasted to our good fortune and friendship, then made our way back down. Our 2.5 hours experiencing that was well worth the journey.

It was such a cool, clear day.

The Wall stretches out behind us.

Taking a break from hiking.

So happy to be there.

We hiked up and down this part.

Searching for the Bates'

Great kids.

Group pic on the Great Wall

So majestic.

I wonder if Paul will remember being there.

The ride home was just as long, and after a meal in the hotel, we all turned in in preparation for another day of touristing.

The next day was cool and windy, and packed full of sights to see. We started at the Summer Palace, a magnificent park in the city where royalty used to spend their summers. It was massive (720 acres) and packed full of more tourists. We walked through it, through the longest corridor in the world, took a dragon boat across the massive man-made lake, then packed back into the bus off to the Temple of Heaven.

Summer Palace Dragon Boats were P's fav

Running down the corridor at the Summer Palace

On the way, we jumped out of the car to take a pic in front of the Bird's Nest. The sight of the 2008 Olympics. When we arrived at the Temple, it threatened to rain. We worked our way quickly through the park, stopping to marvel at the Temple of Heaven. It's a huge structure that is built using only wooden pegs, no nails. It had been recently painted and restored, so it was quite a spectacular sight to see. The rain forced us under another corridor, so we decided to duck into a tea house instead of continuing on in the park. Such a good choice!

Windy highway shot of the Bird's Nest

The Temple of Heaven (with Donnie and the kids in the foreground)

Love these two!

A great day of touristing! 

Tea tasting!

In the tea house, we learned about five types of Chinese tea. I am not much of a tea drinker, but I was blown away by the flavors and methods in brewing tea. After an extensive tasting session, I settled on buying a fruit tea and a tea called Oolong tea. The fruit tea is naturally sweet, and after you brew it, you can eat the re-hydrated pieces of fruit! So awesome, in fact I only have a little bit left. The Oolong tea is a combination of green and black tea, and has a sweet after taste. It's fantastic! I'll bring some back with me this summer if anybody wants to try.

From there, we did some bargaining at the pearl market (which sells everything much like Luohu), then off to Donnie's second favorite spot in Beijing, the Great Leap. In researching our trip, he found a brewpub in a corner of town, so our guide dropped us off and bid us goodbye and we proceeded to eat incredible pub food and really tasty craft brew beer. From the look of the place and the clientele, we could have been in Portland or Seattle, or even Four Peaks. It was a great way to close out a fabulous trip. After a few snacks at the hotel, we bid the Bates' goodbye and packed up for our flight back to HK.

A very happy Donnie.

It was a great trip, not only because we saw some of the most incredible monuments, but because we got to share time traveling with such good people. Paul was in heaven the whole time, playing the days away with Ariana and Alex. He never wanted to leave their sides. And it's nice to touch base with people who know us so well and can relate to how it feels to be so far away. They are some of the most interesting and lovable, fun and fantastic people I know, and I'm so glad we got to share this time together. :) Love ya, Bates'.

Lots has been going on here in Shenzhen since that trip, but my time grows short and I've got to get home. More posts soon, I promise!

Love to all. :)

P.S. I posted most of my pics on FB, so I tried to limit my pics here. But I had to have a few. ;)