China Flip Book

OK, it's not a flip book, but it's the next best thing. Here's a quick spin through our favorite memories of China in pictures (on Flickr). For best viewing, click "slideshow" mode (link in upper right hand corner).

Japan Moments

If a picture's worth a thousand words, than this should save us all some time. We've created a slide show recap of our week in Japan. China is next...

Edu-vacation

A friend who looked at our blog told us, "gee that sounds like a really educational trip." In retrospect, it really was. The reason we learned so much is that we had fantastic guides in every city, and each one's personality reflected their city. We want to make sure to remember them all so here goes:

In Shanghai, Zhang Fan (Rebecca), was all business just like Shanghai (but a lot of fun too). She is pictured here in Guilin in the background (she sent us this great photo from a recent trip). Rebecca was the perfect first guide, because she made sure all the details were in place and that we started our Chinese visit with the proper historical context.

In Suzhou, Ya (Vanessa), was very youthful and energetic and seemed a perfect fit with this old city that is literally being reborn in the new Suzhou Industrial Park (really a city). Ya loves her city and was proud of the great gardens that make Suzhou one of China's real gems. (Unfortunately, we don't have a picture of Ya)

In Hangzhou, Joe (we need to track down his Chinese name) was as sweet and mellow as this city by the lake. There was nothing he wouldn't do for us (including help us handle our laundry and shipping). Joe gave us a fabulous sense of this great former capital city, but also shared some of his favorite places like the botanical garden, a small art museum and the evening light show by Zhang Yimou. Joe told us all about what it takes for a man to marry in China and it's quite a high bar. What a great guy!

In Xian, Ren Wen Tin (Ting Ting or Jessica), was the master instructor, who reflected the class and tradition of the original Chinese capital of Xian (formerly Changan). We feel we can now pass the China Dynasties test thanks to Ting Ting's detailed description of every Chinese dynasty over the past 2500 years. She also cracked jokes, told us about local customs (especially wedding day shenanigans), and flattered David by telling him he looked like McSteamy on Grey's Anatomy! Ting Ting is pictured here with T. Ting Ting is a real gem.

Finally, in Beijing, Wang Meng (Joanna) was the perfect blend of responsible, thorough host and cool, accessible person of the world. Kind of like Beijing, which is one of the great capital cities of the world, because it's a seat of government and a home to many of China's young artists and leaders. Joanna is featured here with most of the crew. She gave us great insights into the Ming and Qing dynasties and also told us much about the Beijing of today. Joanna was great!

Summer in the City

Imagine a massive man made lake carved out of the flat Beijing earth 900 years ago. Imagine an equally incomprehensible man-made hill (made from the dredgings from the lake) with a palace sitting atop it. Imagine an adjoining covered promenade so long that over 10,000 individual paintings adorn its beams and roof. Imagine a solid marble boat sitting on the lake, massive lake worn stones on pedestals and dragon boats dotting this lake (Kunming Lake).

Actually rather than imagine Beijing's Summer Palace -- summer home to Emperors since the 12th century largely restored by the Empress Dowager 100 years ago -- click here to see a few highlights.

Beijing Morning

Watching Beijing come to life in the early morning is like watching an orchestra warm up. Each little vignette is like a part of the city tuning itself for the day. David rented a bike and got in a couple of hours of eavesdropping on the avenues and hutongs (a lane) of this noble capital city before breakfast. What a grand symphony.

Workers casually pedal their bikes to work (bikers are a bit more civil in Beijing than Shanghai). A man and a woman prepare and fry dough in their sidewalk stand. An elderly man in a bright red cap takes his mina birds out in their cages for their morning “ni haos” beside Ho Hai Lake. A half-dozen swimmers ease into the breast-stroke across Ho Hai. Three woman practice a form of Tai Chi with brilliant Red and yellow fans in their right hands snapping them crisply at every turn. Bike-drawn wagons haul their loads of leeks and melons to a nearby market. Gymnasts swing on the outdoor gymnasium by the Lake. Ping pong games are played a few feet away on concrete tables. Construction workers on nearly every block repair curbstones, walls, pavement, rooftops and storefronts. Restaurant workers grab a smoke on a sidewalk plaza before heading into their kitchens. A woman carriers a spectacular display of pink lilies to her office. Octogenarians sit on benches in the shiny, renovated parks watching this orchestra play itself out. You can almost hear the soundtrack in the background… have a look.

Mutianyu in the Mist

If you've been reading the blog and gotten this far, you may have been wondering, "when are they getting to Mutianyu..." or "what's Mutianyu?" or "couldn't they have come up with a better name for the blog?" Well today, the mystery that is Mutianyu was answered (at least for us)... sort of.

Mutianyu is one of the five restored sections of the incomprehensible 10,000 kilometer Great Wall of China. At one point, nearly 20% of China's population was working on it. This section is less accessible from downtown Beijing, therefore it's less frequented by tourists and more fun to explore. The reason that the mystery was only partially answered is that it was a rainy, foggy day and the wall only partially emerged from the mist.

To get a feel for how grand this wall is, we had to set out on a hike along it (after a fun chairlift up to the wall from down below). In this section the wall rises and falls over steep terrain so it's a jumble of steps and steep climbs made even more challenging by the slick surface. But we had a ball hiking from observation tower to observation tower (we made it to eight) over about 1 and 1/2 hours. You can only begin to get a sense of the ridiculous scale of this barrier to defend against the old enemies to the north. But we did our best. Finally, Mutianyu. Wahoo!

Grand Monuments and Great Moments

Our day started with a visit to one of the wonders of the world and ended with a wonderful bit of traveler's good fortune. We started the day at Tiananman Square before heading into the Forbidden City - the home of China's Emperors for over half a millenium. This jewel is located in the center of Beijing, because the "center" is always the best place to be if you are the Emperor. It has survived over 600 years of emperors, dynasties, wars, political movements and the elements. Recently renovated for the upcoming Olympics, this treasure literally sparkled. We have another fabulous guide named Joanna (Wang Meng) who really gets how we like to travel and is teaching us many fascinating things about the Ming and Qing dynasties and the more recent days of the Republic and the current leadership. Wang Men's husband is also into anime, so this makes her a big hit with Jesse! Our favorite story of the City is how the paranoid emperors built the brick city floor 15 layers deep (!) so enemies couldn't tunnel up to attack them from below! See some highlights from the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven here (includes a few photos from my last trip, which actually was a sunny day!).


After an amazing "imperial court" lunch (see favorite restaurants), we visited the equally beautifully restored Temple of Heaven that was completely overhauled by restoration experts all with graduate degrees (photo above). On the way out of the vast Temple park, we came across a caligrapher who was demonstrating the differences between traditional characters and new simplified ones by drawing on the sidewalk pavement with an oversized caligrapher's brush dipped in water. He seemed pretty excited to see our family and offered us an exchange. If we take a picture of him with our family and send it to him by e-mail, he will give us a stunning caligraphy of the character hu (tiger). We seal the deal and have a wonderful end to a historic day (or maybe a historic end to a wonderful day).