We returned on Sunday night from our 10 day holiday in China. It was an amazing, exhausting, weight-losing trip. We are so happy that we were able to make the trip. I will share some of the highlights so as not to bore you to tears. Plus, the pictures will say a thousand words (or more depending on Nash’s facial expressions).
We started out our trip in Beijing. When we landed we were all so shocked at how nice the airport was. It was so nice there that Mallory was certain we were on our way to Grandma’s house. When I told her we weren’t in the US she argued with me and asked when we would see Louie (my parent’s dog). Overall, in all the places in China we visited, we were thrilled at the cleanliness, organization and beauty of it all. It was nice to see people out walking and enjoying the day and the parks and nice sidewalks. We don’t have anything like that here. Quite a different life there in China.
We checked into the Grand Hyatt hotel, which is within walking distance of the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square. We had a large, 2 bedroom hotel room with a living room for our whole family and it was beautiful. We really liked that hotel.
We went to an acrobat show that night and really enjoyed it. We were amazed at the things those kids could do. I think I sat with my mouth gaping open the entire show. We did get a good laugh out of the theatrics of the presenters and also the English translation on the screen. Nash and Creed were chuckling quite a bit. “The room is smell of full of floweriness.” I don’t even know what they were trying to say.
On Saturday we went to the Great Wall – the Simatai section. It is about a 3 hour drive from Beijing, but in a really beautiful location. As we boarded the cable car for the ride up the side of the mountain, we wondered if we were crazy for going on such a cold and rainy day. After another short train ride and a short walk we made it to the top. Luckily, within the next hour or so it started to clear up and the sun came out a bit and warmed things up.
Sunday we went to the English ward and met up with our friends from Michigan, the Haslams. We haven’t seen them for a long time and were so happy to catch up with them.
We went to the Forbidden City later that day. We walked there and walked all the way through it. When we got out on the north side of the Forbidden City we had a very hard time getting a taxi. I decided that maybe we should just walk back to the front. After all, how far could it be? FAR! After a couple hours of walking we were finally back at the front. I think by then we were all giddy with exhaustion. We figured we walked nearly 6 miles that day. We tried to get to Tiananmen Square but because of the huge government meeting everything was blocked off. We ended up just heading back to the hotel. However, we got stuck in a HUGE crowd of people and at times we literally couldn’t move. We were completely stopped. After a few minutes, the crowd started moving. Trying to hold on to three kids and push a stroller through a throng of people is not an easy task. However, it was made easier by the people that were trying to take our photo. I was laughing so hard seeing all the flashes and Nash said, ‘Okay, now I know what a celebrity feels like.’
Monday morning we went to the Temple of Heaven, then we made it to Tiananmen Square, although, we got separated in the taxis and Nash, Mallory and I ended up back at our hotel and then took another taxi to the square. That taxi driver tried to rip me off by asking me for more than the amount shown on the meter so I asked for the receipt. When I did that he suddenly lowered the price and I shook my finger at him and gave him a dirty look. I have been ripped off one too many times here in Asia.
Later that day, we went to the airport and caught a flight to Xian. We arrived late and went straight to the hotel. We got up early the next day and went to see the Terra Cotta Warriors. It was amazing! We all loved it and were in awe at the detail and the enormity of the entire thing. It was one of our favorite places.
Tuesday we explored the old city wall of Xian. We liked walking around and seeing the sights and hearing the songs being played by a group of musicians.
We then flew to Guilin, and then drove 90 minutes south to Yangshou to stay at the Yangshou Mountain Resort, a place suggested by our friends, the Wadleys. We loved it there. The hotel is right on the river, amongst the tall karst peaks. The scenery was absolutely beautiful. We had fun riding bikes all around the villages, going on walks and relaxing. We also went to a huge show on the water. We loved it but had to stick tissues in our ears because our seats were right by the speakers and like the Indonesians, obviously, the Chinese like things really loud! The show was spectacular though.
We returned to Guilin a couple of days later and spent one night in the city at the Lijiang Waterfall hotel. At night, the back of the hotel turns into a waterfall. The boys liked it.
We returned to Beijing on Saturday afternoon. We met up with the Haslams again who took us to a FANTASTIC pizza place -- we are still talking about how good it was. It was great talking with them again and comparing stories about living in Asia.
We left to return back to Jakarta Sunday morning. We are all a little lighter seeing that we survived on rolls, bananas and apples from the nearest grocery stores. Despite a bout of stomach flu that went through each of the kids our last couple of days, our trip was great. We are so happy we had the chance to do it.
Millers in Shanghai
