We have absolutely LOVED our time in Beijing and we all said we could live here (minus the pollution and sand/dust blowing in off the Gobi Desert). When we were here for Kathleen's adoption, we opted to skip the craziness of Beijing as people were arriving for the Olympics at the same time. We spent our entire time in Kathleen's province and loved that, too (another place we saw ourselves living!). So, Beijing was definitely on our wish list for this trip, but we knew we needed to do it cheap as we just didn't have any extra cash to spare.
So, the budget trip has been a blast! We stayed (as I said in my last post) at a little inn/hostel, which is actually really popular and quite a buzzing place. The Red Lantern House is the place to be if you don't don the likes of Coach and Gucci on a daily basis and don't mind a no frills bathroom into which you should wear your flip flops. We've met some great people while sitting sipping our tea in the courtyard or having breakfast or dinner in the main courtyard. Kathleen has made friends with some Dutch children (also adopted from China and here with their family for their first return trip since their adoption). It's been great talking with the family and befriending them. Their son was adopted from the same province as Jonathan. We ran into one of the other guests (from Germany) at a little wonton soup restaurant we found out about from a shop owner (the man who designed the "OBA-MAO t-shirts" And YES...I bought one!). He was shocked to see us in there and we had a nice time chatting with him over our soup. This is one of the reasons I love to stay at small inns or hostels - you definitely get to know more people from all around the world.
After I posted last time, we were headed out to look for a bite to eat. We didn't get very far. While Kimmer was finding out some information from the inn-keeper, Kathleen - fully prepared for the rainy evening in her raincoat, rain hat and rubber boots - was talking to the koi in the pond in our inn. She mentioned to me that we could catch some and eat them for breakfast. (Good to see she has not forgotten her Chinese roots...fish is VERY tasty for breakfast!) She was standing on a small bridge that crosses the pond when Kimmer asked me a question. It was no sooner that I turned around and I heard a SPLASH and saw Kathleen with a shocked look on her face no longer on the bridge, but now sitting among the koi. The delayed reaction cry came just as I was pulling her out of the water. I asked her if she was trying to catch one and then we both laughed. Unhurt, just embarrassed and shocked that she actually fell in, she was shivering when I realized her boots were completely full of water! We did not go exploring our first night in Beijing - except in our hostel! We now know that the koi are NOT man-eating fish, but the pond is not a suitable swimming hole for toddlers!
Wednesday we decided to go explore and explore we did! We are staying in the Old Beijing hutong (small homes surrounded by courtyards entered by a gate from the street; streets are more like alleys and usually only wide enough for ONE car, if that). We walked from one hutong to the next and let Kathleen doze off in the stroller as we explored and made our way gradually across to the famous scenic lakes of central Beijing. No matter what map we had, it seemed all of the had their flaws and all of them were consistently inaccurate, which is why we just relied on general direction thanks to the sun and a few landmarks until we got to the lakes. We started at the north end and worked our way south. It was nice that it was still early in the morning as many people were out exercising - swimming in the lake (I don't think you could pay me enough to do that!), jogging, doing ballroom dance lessons in the park, tai chi, playing table tennis, or using the outdoor exercise machines provided by the government. And we were not really haggled much by rickshaw drivers or peddlers. Meals can always be interesting when you don't speak the language and the menus are mostly translated or translated literally, which sometimes sounds odd to us. I'm severely allergic to shrimp and had learned how to sort of communicate that the last time we were here. I am trying to remember the nine words it takes to communicate it, but the pronunciation is wickedly hard. So I opted to pointed at the phrase, "I'm allergic to shellfish." in my Mandarin phrasebook. The waitress nodded and I assumed we understood each other. Lunch arrived and my soup tasted a little fishy. I ate the wontons in it, then started eating the noodles we ordered. I took a few more sips of my soup and looked a little more closely seeing hundreds of tiny shrimp (like the size of inch long needles) in my soup. I simply slid my soup over to Kimmer and told him he could finish mine. The joys of not speaking the language! We then decided to visit the major historical sights of Beijing, so we went to the Drum Tower, the Bell Tower, one of the major parks, the Forbidden City and Tienamen Square. At the end of the day I told Kimmer, "We did the Chinese stair stepper today!" We should have counted how many stairs we did because the Bell Tower alone had over 75, as did the Drum Tower and then we did at least twice that at the park and then several hundred at the Forbidden City. It was a great day, but we were tired. Even Kathleen, who had fun running free in the open area in the Forbidden City. That evening we ventured out for Beijing duck and had a delicious recommendation by our inn.
Thursday was absolutely awesome! We booked a trip to the Great Wall through our hostel, which included breakfast, lunch and transportation to and from the wall. In researching for our trip, I had come across (and heard about it through friends) a section of the wall that has slide (or toboggan) that you can ride back down to where the buses drop you off and pick you up. SWEET!!! I was SO game for that. Kathleen absolutely loved the Great Wall. Each time we got to another tower (which she affectionately called her castle), she would run inside and say, "Where's my room?" and then run off to find a hiding place. We went early in the morning and the crowds were very few! The weather was clear and cool in the morning and the sun got warmer as the day progressed, but we were off the Wall by noon. We hiked for three hours and Kathleen did almost all of it by herself. AMAZING! She did so well! With her leg strength discrepancy, we thought this was great physical therapy for her! On the Wall, once again, we met people from all over the world - Vermont, France, Uruguay, Vancouver (Canada), and Coeur d'Alene....YES! Coeur'd Alene! We were on the Great Wall and we met a husband and wife from Coeur d'Alene! What are the chances of THAT!? The husband is 82 and the Great Wall was on his "bucket list" and he was hiking up and down those steps so well! We gave them Kimmer's card and told them we need to get together when we are all back in the country! It's a small world after all! We weren't sure how Kathleen would handle the toboggan (a 1800 meter long metal chute and you ride a plastic sled equipped with rubber brakes). She kept talking about it, though, and was eagerly awaiting the "slide". She rode with me and kept her arms above her head (like you do on a roller coaster) almost all the way down and kept saying, "Faster, mommy! Faster!" And I would have gone faster had the woman from Vancouver in front of us gone a bit faster. Lunch was amazing and the food just kept coming as we were sitting down to eat. After we got back, we cleaned up and went exploring again. Kathleen was so tuckered out she fell asleep without any dinner right in her stroller at 5PM and didn't wake up until 7AM! I wish we had a Great Wall in our backyard! That's the first time she's EVER slept 12 hours!
Today we opted to have a relaxing morning at the hostel and then do a little souvenir/Christmas shopping. We didn't get very far, though. We got to one store and ended up spending our entire time at this little tiny Chinese toy shop. It's a historical little gem tucked away in a hutong. The family who owns the shop has been making toys since the 1800s. The toys they make are not plastic, nor are they for little toddlers. Many are intricate pieces of artwork. It was amazing just taking it all in. From tiny porcelain dolls (1 1/2" tall encased in glass), to wind-up tin toys that flip, to wind mills and kites and lanterns...the work was amazing - as were the prices. Kathleen picked out presents for her classmates here. On the way back to our hostel we were in the subway and Kathleen made an interesting observation. She pointed to a woman and said, "She's Chinese like me!" I asked her if anyone else was Chinese around her and she said, "No, just her." Oh to be colorblind like a child! I wish the world could view each other through the eyes and mind of a child. It would be a much nicer place!
We decided to introduce Kathleen to high tea and we all went to the Peninsula Hotel to have afternoon tea. I called to make reservations, as I was accustomed to the crowds visiting the Peninsula in Manila and Hong Kong. We walked in and were shocked to see only 3 people sitting down and none of them having afternoon tea. The tea, pastries, tea sandwiches and desserts were very nice, but I saw why the Manila and Hong Kong locations are much more popular for afternoon tea. It was a nice introduction for Kathleen. She had very proper table manners and loved that she got tiny sandwiches (she referred to them as 'Kathleen size'). It was so cute to see her applaud after each song the pianist played. I jokingly asked Kimmer if he wanted to go buy me a little something at Tiffany's (20 feet from our table) for our anniversary and he said, "Honey, I brought you to China for our anniversary!" So I told him thank you for the Mother's Day tea celebration! We then went to see the Chinese acrobats and THAT was amazing. The more amazing part was what happened when we booked our tickets through the hostel. I requested our inn-keeper to call and reserve 2 seats for the 5:30 show. She did and as she was talking on the phone with the acrobatics ticket office I wrote on a piece of paper, "GOOD VIEW." She then told the ticket office, "Good view...G - O - O - D - V - I - E - W," saying each letter as if she was spelling it. The phone conversation ended just after that and I smiled, thanked her, and then we left. I told Kimmer, "She told them our name was Good View!" So when we got to the ticket office to claim our tickets, I gave the name, "Good View" and the sales woman laughed and said, "Yes, they are here." We got into the auditorium and followed the attendant to amazing seats with an EXCELLENT view! Another laughable moment in translation issues! The acrobats were superb and Kathleen couldn't take her eyes off them. She was thrilled with it! A fun detour was going for dessert at a Russian restaurant! I just had to try their potato pancakes and pumpernickel bread...YUM! This Polish girl was in heaven! Kathleen was in heaven eating cream with walnuts and prunes.
Tomorrow we are off to Nanchang, Jianxi. It's finally here!!! We are going to be holding our son in our arms soon!
