China in the House!!!

Hey everyone and greetings from China!  I am thrilled to have my friend, Kara, from DC meeting me in Beijing. 

Say hello to Kara!  Of course you know we had to start our vacation with a self portrait so here you go.  Let the games begin. 

The next morning we hit the streets to get a feel for the city.  We met some college students along the way who were thrilled to chat with us and practice their English.  They were astounded that we were from the United States because “Americans are FAT, so FAT.”  They repeated this line to us at least 5 times during our 3 minute walk to the park.  Thanks for the, um, compliment? 

On our way to Tiananmen Square we passed through this lovely park.      

Attention!  Tiananmen Square is to the left and the Forbidden City is to the right.       

Here we are in Tienanmen Square.  I’ve got more on Tiananmen Square to share with you, but we’ll save that for later in the blog when we meet up with our group. 

This is the entrace to the Forbidden City.  We’ll be visiting this later in the trip so more on that to come. 

Here’s a pic from the backside.  It was a spectacular day so we were thrilled to spend as much time as possible outside. 

Next we headed to Jingshan Park, which is absolutely gorgeous and offers stunning views of Beijing and an aerial view of the Forbidden City. 

This is the tree where the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty hanged himself.  If you scroll down you can get the full scoop below. 

Here are some more sights around the park. 

Here is an aerial view of the Forbidden City.  It’s massive.  I have a fabulous fun fact about the Forbidden City that I will share with you, but not just yet.  Patience, people! 

So that pretty much sums up day 1 in Beijing.  Not too shabby! 

The next morning we decided to visit the Summer Palace.  It is absolutely gorgeous and a must do if you are visiting Beijing.  The palace is easily accessible by subway and definitely the way to go!  The subway system is fabulous and very easy to navigate. 

After the palace we headed back to the hotel to meet up with our tour group.  Needless to say, we didn’t get inside this death trap.  I’m not even claustrophobic, but this metal box on wheels freaks me out.  No gracias.     

One of the first things we did with our group was take a little walking tour aournd our new neighborhood and pop by the grocery store to gather supplies for a picnic lunch on the Great Wall, which we’d be visiting the next day.

Obviously, Kara and I selected frog legs for our picnic lunch. 

 

As if we’d slum it with something as pedestrian as a sandwich.  Please (roll my eyes) give us a little credit here, folks.  Kidding, we made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and classed it up a bit with some Pringles and Oreos.  PB&J sandwiches seem to have become my favorite jam when I’m visiting famous, historic sites.  Kate and I love to tell our story of having dinner on the Eiffel Tower at sunset, which is true, but not in the super swank restaurant located at the top.  No, instead of classy and elegant, we rocked it WT style by whipping out our PB&J sandwiches and candy.  Whatever, it was still a sunset dinner on the Eiffel Tower.  I’ll take it.   

We also treated ourselves to this delicious chocolate thing that looks like a weapon. 

So it’s time for the Great Wall!  OMG, bring it!  Look who showed up to greet us. 

Yeah, puppies, check us out on the Great Wall of China.  It was a steep climb to get there, but we did it and it feels great. 

Get ready for a lot of pics!  It’s the Great Wall…it has to be done.  You’ll see that it was kind of overcast and misty, which is actually how I’ve always pictured it in my head. 

Yippie!!!  We are on the Great Wall.   

Even more proof that we’re on the Great Wall. 

We were even lucky enough to catch a few cherry blossoms in bloom.  How perfect! 

Being on the Great Wall was a fabulous experience and it got even better when we learned that we could shoot down the Great Wall via a toboggan.  Bring it!  Wally, this is just like the alpine slide in Utah, but it’s down the Great Wall!!! 

If you’ve never tobogganed before, don’t worry.  It’s so simple.  Don’t embarrass yourself and mess this up! 

Here are our Aussie buddies, Naomi and Alana, getting fired up to shoot down the Great Wally.  Woo Hoo!!! 

And for those of you who are not familiar with tobogganing, here’s a little description for you. 

After our great adventure on the Wall we had worked up quite an appetite.  Peking duck anyone?  Yes, I don’t mind if I do.  Sandy, this time I had my own ringside seat so I didn’t have to make other diners uncomfortable with my staring.  This duck was just for me…and the other peeps in my group too.  Yes, I can share. 

And this is Howard, our fabulous tour leader.  He was amazing and taught us so many wonderful things about Chinese culture, language, and society.  He also ordered all of our meals family style so we could sample as many delicacies as possible.  Everything we ate was exceptional.  When the meal was over he would personally collect our money and confirm that we were square after disseminating our change.  Three cheers for Howard! 

And here we are again at Tienanmen Square and the Forbidden City.  We asked Howard how many people died in Tienanmen Square and he said that it’s something that is absolutely not discussed and that the only information they have about it was obtained from Western media.  The official word from China is that approximately 100 people were injured.  Um….not so much. 

Now it’s time for a little Forbidden City action.  Are you ready for my Forbidden City fun fact? 

How old would you be if you slept in a different room every single night?

If you said 10 you are wrong.

15 - nice try, but no

25 - nope

Is the suspense killing you? 

What is your final guess?

And the answer is….27.   Wow!  There are 9,999 rooms in total.  Wow!   

Here’s the garden within the Forbidden City.  Stunning! 

And here I am in front of the lovers’ trees.  These trees are wedded together for as long as they live.  I think we were supposed to make a wish and touch the tree, but I didn’t get the full scoop on this since a huge storm was coming and we were freezing our butts off.  Basically I heard wish, good luck, rub tree so you know I had to get in on that action.  Hey, you never know, right? 

Howard kept referencing star-rated toilets as we were walking through Beijing.  He’d say things like ”there is a one star toilet here, but if you can wait for 20 minutes we’ll have access to a 4 star toilet.”  I thought he was just being cute, but I soon learned that an actual rating system existed.  Sweet.  I’ll take a four star toilet, please. 

I actually encountered my most disgusting toilet experience over the past 7 months while in China.  That is saying a lot too because I’ve seen some absolutely hideous toilets during my travels.  There have been countless times when I have been truly mystified by the horror scenes in some of these bathrooms, but this experience was a little different since I had the misfortune to witness this in real time.  I didn’t see what this toilet was rated, but it should have been negative 5 stars.  To be fair, we were in a rest stop, but there were about 20 toilets with doors and a few with the door ripped off from the hinges.  That didn’t stop throngs of women from popping a squat (yes, it’s a squat toilet) and letting it rip.  In fact, women who had just finished their business weren’t even given the chance to pull up their pants before another woman was elbowing her way in to take her turn.  It was definitely an experience, folks.  One I’d be happy to not repeat. 

I did happen upon a lovely toilet while in China, which may have maintained its immaculate appearance due to the helpful sign located above the toilet.  Sadly, I didn’t have my camera with me to capture this gem, but don’t worry because I can tell you all about it.  It had a picture of a poo (think Hershey Kiss) with a circle and a line through it with a sign that said “no no” above it.  Genius!  Who needs the rating system when you can have helpful signs like this?

So now that we’ve got that out of the way let’s hop on a night train to Xi’an and see the Terracotta Warriors.  Alright! 

We had Naomi, Alana, Marko and Matt in our car, which was so much fun!  Matt kept us all entertained as he made his way to the top bunk. 

Come on, Matt!  We know you can do it. 

Woo Hoo!  Nicely done.  That wasn’t so hard now was it? 

We were having so much fun in our cabin that Howard and the rest of our group gathered outside our car for our Chinese language lesson.  We learned the hand gestures for 6 -10, how to say hello, thank you, goodbye, this is delicious, and our all time fave…wo bu dong, which means I don’t understand.  We added a little sass to our wo bu dong and used it entirely out of context for the rest of the trip.  To us, wo bu dong was an exceptional way to show enthusiasm, scold someone, or make an important point.  Stupid?  Maybe, but so much fun!   

And now it’s time for the Terracotta Warriors.  It was quite a sight to behold. 

There is still so much to excavate.  It’s a bit daunting, but I would imagine pretty exciting as well. 

And here’s a warrior with a creepy little girl. 

Of course Kara and I needed a pic with the creepy girl.  Look at her eyes…freaky!  Exorcist, exorcist, exorcist! 

After our fab day with the warriors it was time to enjoy a delicious hot pot.  Having traveled with Kara before I was aware that she likes to make a huge mess when she eats so I took the preemptive step to put on a bib. 

I passed the word to the rest of the peeps at our table as well. 

Ha!  Just kidding.  Kara actually has exceptional table manners and the bibs were mandatory.  Poor Kara is allergic to white fish though and sadly the hot pot was filled with several different kinds of white fish and beef and pork and lamb.  It rocked the house.  Unfortunately Kara’s only option this night was fried rice, but evidently it was some pretty rockin’ fried rice.  Sorry, Kara.  We’ll get some hot pot in DC with no fish!  Wo bu dong, girl….wo bu dong! 

After our feast we took a little walking tour around Xi’an. 

Man, I wish we had this for our picnic on the Great Wall.  It’s a tasty treat, a toothpick, and a weapon.  How convenient.     

After our urban adventures it was time to take it a little more scenic so we headed to the stunning town of Hangzhou, pronounced Hong Joe.  It’s fabulous! 

Hmm, what do I want for dinner tonight?  I just can’t decide.  I really want pasta and steak and an egg.  OMG, this dish is perfect.  Really? 

After Hangzhou we headed to the peaceful and serene canal town of Wu Zhen, which is known as the Venice of China.  I can tell already that I’m going to love it here. 

Happy New Year! 

I have nothing but positive things to say about Wu Zhen except when it comes to this creepy wax figure located in one of the museums.   

It’s time for another scrumptious dinner.  Howard, keep on hooking up the delicious meals.  We are loving every bite! 

Especially when the restaurant receives an excellent score for it’s food safety.  Well done!

Now it’s time to head back to the big city.  Are you ready for Shanghai or what?  Shanghai is massive with approximately 18M people, but the number of people in town during our stay was much more since it coincided with the start of the World Expo.  It was such a fun time to be in Shanghai.  Let’s take a little walking tour around the city. 

Maggots anyone?  Again, this would have been perfect for our picnic at the Great Wall.  Next time…

Evidently these insects are pitted against each other in World Wresting style fighting.  As a former Hulk-a-Maniac, I’m all about this. 

This is one of the largest markets in Shanghai.  It has everything one could possibly want including this insanely delicious steamed dumpling and bun house that we became obsessed with and had to revisit for an encore performance the next day.  Wo bu dong, people! 

The architecture in Shanghai is so impressive.  Here’s the Oriental Pearl Tower.  Wait until you see this baby at night. 

And here is the World Financial Tower.  It has an observatory on the 100th floor so you know where we’re headed next. 

Yes, here we are on the 100th floor.  It’s such an amazing view of Shanghai and a must do if you are in town.  Visitors are corralled into 2 different elevators, one that shoots up to the 95th floor in a matter of seconds and is accompanied by trippy visuals from this circular light and another to the 100th floor, for those of us willing to shell out a few additional yuan of course.  It’s worth the extra yuan to take it to 100.  How many times can you say that you’ve hung out on the 100th floor?  Do it!   

When the doors open and we are allowed to enter the observatory we all had to do a quick double take before taking our first step because several of the panels on the ground are transparent.  Visitors get an immediate sense of how high up they really are and how much it would suck to fall from this height. 

Wo bu dong, peeps! 

After our visit to the 100th floor we were all pumped up and decided to have some drinks on the 85th floor of the neighboring Hyatt hotel.  Can you say baller? 

Yeah, baller!  Cheers!   

Now it’s time to see Shanghai at night.  It’s absolutely stunning and one of the things that made Shanghai so fantastic for me. 

OK so not the best pic taken by this random person, but whatever, it’s the Bund and Kara and I are here!  

Holla!   

Here is the World Expo mascot.  This little thing is everywhere.  It’s impossible to be in Shanghai now and miss it. 

Sadly it’s time to say goodbye to our fabulous, new friends.  We had such an incredible group and I have every confidence I’ll see many of these smiling faces again.  Please keep in touch! 

Here we are at our farewell dinner.  Howard hooked it up big time with this meal, introducing us to my all time favorite dish in China, which upon first blush looks disgusting as it is this slab of beef that is sort of fried and covered in a white goo resembling mayonnaise, but it’s insanely delicious.  It was so delicious that someone who will remain nameless stole the last bite from the other table.  Man, what a great move.  I wish it had been me! 

It’s our final self portrait shot in China.  Kara, I’m so thrilled that you joined me in China.  What a fabulous vacation.  I adored every minute of it.  Safe travels back to the US and I can’t wait to see you in a few months. 

 

Wait, it’s not over yet.  We still have a performance by the Shanghai acrobats.  Woo Hoo!  Several of these photos were taken by Kara.  Nice shots, girl! 

And now it’s time for the grand finale….the Death Ball!  Oh no they didn’t….

Yep, they totally did!  It is on!!!

And now a final toast for the fabulous Howard.  Thank you for a wonderful trip, Howard.  We had such a fantastic time and so much of that was because of you.  Cheers! 

I had 2 extra nights in Shanghai so I took the opportunity to visit the magnificent Bund again.  It is spectacular and best viewed at night.  I went a little ape with the pictures here, but I couldn’t help myself.  It’s so impressive! 

Fabulous, right? 

The next day I visited Yu Garden, which is just minutes from that massive market with the delicious steamed bun place. 

The market is complete and utter pandemonium, but as soon as one passes through the gates of the garden it’s peaceful and serene.  Ahh, perfect.  I needed a little break from the crowds. 

I joined Naomi and Alana for dinner later that night, which of course included that mouth watering beef with white sauce dish.  It was a perfect end to a fabulous trip.  Safe travels back to Australia, Naomi, and Alana, enjoy your extended travel adventure.  It’s going to be amazing.

Next stop is Japan.  Huge hugs from China and I’ll see you all soon.