Saturday, November 17, 2012
Another busy but incredible day in Beijing. Our morning
started again with a delicious breakfast downstairs, with a few
different items. On the menu today was fried spaghetti, fried
manto (fried potato bread) and some bowl of things that were
labeled vegetables, but I'm sure they were bugs. Needless to
say, we passed on the bug things. When we sat down we were
offered forks, but we're really getting the hang of chopsticks!
We have been starting our mornings with the Pritz tradition of
“coffee time” in our room (with the Starbucks Via's that we
brought) but the coffee that they serve at the hotel is actually
really good, and I think is loaded with twice the caffeine.
Our first stop today was the jade factory/shop. The jade
sculpture in the picture is made from one piece of jade and took
over 200 years to carve. We learned all about the different
kinds of jade and of course stopped in the shop to purchase a
few things. At the jade shop we experienced something we were
prepared for but not quite sure what to expect....the squatty
potty. It's a toilet built right into the floor that flushes and
everything. Just make sure you don't step into it when your
done! The even crazier part is that there is one toilet paper
roll on the outside of the stalls, so you can't forget to grab
some on your way in or you're really in trouble.
Next was the best stop yet.....The Great Wall! There are five
areas of the Great Wall that are safe enough to be tourist
stops. When we got there our guide told us to go to the right
because that's the way that was not as steep and easier to
climb. But, of course our kids wanted to go to the left. The
weather was clear and sunny and about 50 degrees, a beautiful
day for a climb. The part that we climbed took us about 30
minutes up. The stairs are pretty steep and the size of the
steps vary randomly from about 4-18 inches. To make things just
a bit more treacherous, most of the steps had a thin layer of
ice on them. We climbed all the way to the building that's
behind the kids in the picture. The craziest part were all the
people who stopped us on the way up and down to take pictures
with us. They just couldn't stop staring at the girls' hair.
Once at the bottom the kids got shirts that said “I climbed the
Great Wall”. Boy they've come a long way since they laid those
first stones!
After the Great Wall we went to the Cloisonne factory. These
pieces look like pottery, but they are actually made of copper
and then are hand decorated, hand painted, fired and then hand
polished. We bought a few Christmas ornaments and a pot for Mei
Mei that we are supposed to fill with dirt and leaves from her
province to symbolize her roots.
After our tour and a trip through the shop, we went to the
restaurant in the factory. We were offered a “traditional”
Chinese buffet. In addition to the duck, shrimp with eyes and ox
tail soup, there were also chicken strips and french fries,
hmmm...not sure the last two were very traditional. The most
unusual thing at lunch was that there a big cart of liter
bottles of all types of drinks and you just went up a served
yourself. There were the biggest bottles of beer I've ever seen,
so of course we had to taste it. Bottoms up!
But, we weren't done yet. The next stop was of the olympic
village. We couldn't go in, but we took pictures of the
buildings. The architecture is amazing.
We finished our day with a traditional Chinese tea tasting. We
went to a shop called Dr. Tea. The girls who guide the tea
parties go to a special school for years to learn all about tea.
We tasted four different flavors, got a lesson in how to hold
our tea cups (boys and girls have to hold them differently) and
learned that some teas need to be slurped while others need to
be chewed. What a blast! We ended up getting some delicious tea
and a traditional Chinese tea set to give to Mei Mei when she
gets a bit older.
After going back to the hotel for a bit and relaxing we decided
to walk the town. Ally was hungry for pizza and luckily there
seems to be a Pizza Hut and a KFC on every corner. It was a
beautiful night, so we decided to walk a few blocks down to the
mall where the Pizza Hut was. The streets were really crowded
with people and vendors. The four blocks to the mall were lined
with shops. There were old run down bikes with carts on the back
of them with old women selling pastries, many people just laid
down blankets and sold a little bit of everything. We saw people
selling hats and gloves, boots, hair bobbles and insoles (yep,
that was kinda different). The mall was beautiful, just like
Water Tower Place. Floors and floors of stores, the majority
with American names. Well, after we had a good laugh trying to
point and explain to our waiter what we wanted, we discovered
that the Pizza Hut in China is actually better than in the
states. For dessert we walked a few blocks in the other
direction and had Baskin Robbins. Ahhhh, nothing like going to
China and having American pizza and ice cream.
The past couple of days have had such a nice vacation feel, but
have been shadowed by the real purpose of our visit. While the
waiting at home for our new little girl was hard, being here, so
close and yet so far, seems worse. Our guide now talks about Mei
Mei just as much as we do. But, I guess we need to take in as
many sights as we can now so we can tell her all about them
later. Marsha is so amazing and explains so many Chinese
traditions and cultural ways that one day we'll be able to share
with her.
Tomorrow we will tour a few more places in the morning and then
catch an afternoon flight to the province of Shanxi. One step
closer!! |
At the Jade Factory
The squatty potty!
The Great Wall
At the Cloisonne Factory
The Birds Nest
Sipping tea |
