As we had planned our summer, we decided to spend a few days in Beijing on our way back to London. We rented a flat in the city and made sure to secure a tour guide so our kids could get the most out of our experience.
Beijing Flat
Day 1
Our tour guide, Lisa, picked us up on our first day, ready to roll. We started the day at Tiananmen Square.
Mapping Out Our Route
Chris and I had been in Beijing about 10 years ago – in the dead of winter – so we were amazed at how many tourists were out and about. Being the summer months, the Chinese were all on their school holidays as well and visiting the city.
Tiananmen Square
With so many people around, it didn’t take long for the kids to start having culture shock from the very beginning. After just a few minutes, some of them were ready to sneak back to the bus and hide. We saw small children taking care of their toilet needs on the sidewalk (some over newspapers and some not), the environment felt dirty, and we quickly became a tourist attraction.
HUGE door into Tiananmen Square
As we tried to listen to our guide and avoid eye contact with those around us, Lisa took us just outside of the square where a marker lies called “Zero Point.” This point marks the beginning of China’s highways, as they radiate from Beijing to all parts of China.
Zero Point
Chris and I couldn’t get over the contrast from our last visit – last time, we practically froze to death . . . this time, we were so hot, we were melting. We had to stock up on cold water bottles every chance we had.
Local Food & Water Truck
As we began exiting Tiananmen Square to cross over to see the Forbidden City, we paused for a family picture.
At that point, we officially became a tourist attraction. After some locals took our family picture, they requested other groupings to include their children. It was a little awkward at first, but the girls were good sports to pose.
Tourist Attraction
One of the best rewards of getting to travel with our children, is to see them grab hold of the culture and want to know more. Once they get warmed up, they have no problems with pairing off with the tour guides to ask their own questions or to learn more about what they’ve been telling us.
Lisa and Caleb
Lisa with Caleb & Emma
If we felt a bit weird outside the Forbidden City, it was nothing like the onslaught we experienced inside. We tried to stay to the side as Lisa went to get the tickets. But, we became prime targets!
Caleb with Local Boy
It was almost humorous as the children (and adults) picked out who they wanted their picture with. Then when one person was finished, another was waiting in the queue. Sometimes they requested family shots.
Emma with Local Boy
We jokingly started praying for Lisa’s quick return. We tried to be polite and happy with the other tourists, but it really gave you an appreciation for what true celebrities experience every day. Somehow being the minority – pale and blond – in Beijing makes you an instant celebrity. One more bonus for having a tour guide – whenever Lisa was with us, everyone left us alone. It was only when we were left on our own that we felt on display.
Inside Forbidden City
Left on Our Own = Tourist Attraction
One of the other quick lessons we learned was to look for the ratings on the toilets. Whenever we crossed a 4-star toilet, it didn’t matter if you had to go or not – you tried. This meant it smelled okay, had toilet paper, and you could wash your hands. Some even had western toilets!
Four Star Toliets!
Across the street from the Forbidden City (behind it) is Jingshan Park. Inside are many gardens and green spaces for the public’s enjoyment.
Cami Between 2 Trunks
The highlight of the park is an artificial hill called “Prospect Hill,” where you can get a complete view of the Forbidden City.
Starting our Climb up the Hill
Of course, to get a great view of the City, it would have to be on a clear day. Our day was filled with smog and more smog.
Smoggy Forbidden City
After our climb in Jingshan Park, the kids were ready for a good meal. Lisa took us to an authentic Chinese restaurant. We gave her a feel of what we liked and she ordered for us.
Beginning to Eat
The food was AmAzInG!! Our favorite was the green bean dish – we could not get enough. When we left, we felt like we had completely demolished everything we had been brought. (We ended up ordering the green bean dish at each Chinese restaurant we went to.)
The Remnants
We had a little bit of time after our meal, so Lisa took us wandering through a ‘hutong,’ or pedestrian street, with a number of shops.
Blown Sugar Treats
More Blown Sugar
Taste of England
We finished off our day with a Chinese acrobatic show. It was amazing! It was fun to watch the kids’ faces during each act. They were either in awe, fearful for the performer, or completely delighted with what they were seeing. Our favorite acts were some hat jugglers, the contortionist on a tower of chairs, the motorcycles inside a sphere, and the two guys who ran inside a ‘dual hamster wheel.’
Acrobatic Show Curtain Call
Day 2
Our second day was set aside to see the Great Wall of China. We drove about 1 1/2 hours outside of the city to get to the Mutianyu section of the Wall, which is the longest, fully-restored section open to visitors.
Purchasing Tickets
There are 3 ways to get up to the Wall – climb the 4,000+ steps, a gondola ride, or a chairlift. We opted for the gondola ride up and back. Of course, they do give you another option to come down – the toboggan.
Gondola Ride Up to Wall
We were disappointed our Great Wall day was a smoggy one as it would have been nice to get the full view with the vibrant colors. But, we have learned in our travels – ‘you get what you get and you don’t throw a fit!’
Hannah with Wall in the Distance
The history of the Wall is very interesting, but I loved the statement at the entrance “Once intended to ward off enemy attacks, today it brings together the peoples of the world. The Great Wall – may it continue to act as a symbol of friendship for future generations.”
Entrance to Great Wall Hike
Due to its proximity to the Jiankou section of the Great Wall, there is a great hiking trail from it to Jiankou. If we ever go back, with older kids (or on our own) that would be a really fun hike.
The Great Wall, considered by many a ‘wonder of the world,’ is truly amazing! On a clear day, I’m sure you can see it snaking on and on over the mountains.
Foggy Wall
Touring Wall with Lisa
Nestled in the Mountains
Cami Peeking Over the Watchtower
On top of the Watchtower
We couldn’t pass up the opportunity for Caleb to do a couple ‘Handstands Around the World’ shots on the Wall.
Seeking Shade in the Doorway
Adding on to Cami’s picture of her reading in Mongolia, she wanted to be sure to capture reading on the Great Wall. She sent these pictures to her school librarian who added them to her “Reading Around the World” board.
Reading on the Great Wall
Even though we didn’t do the actual hike, we did feel like we ‘hiked’ the wall. The paths were quite steep in some places, rocky in others, and definitely a climb. With the heat, we were all plenty tired as we went as far as we could and then hiked back.
Ending our Hike
As we rested on the bus for about an hour, we drove back towards Beijing, stopping at the Ming Tombs. The Ming Tombs are the mausoleums of thirteen emperors of the Ming Dynasty (1368 – 1644). The first emperor to build his mausoleum (Changling Tomb) here was Zhu Di. After that, twelve more emperors had their tombs built around his. Since they are still excavating the area, only 3 tombs are currently open. We only visited Zhu Di’s Changling Tomb.
Blessing and Grace Palace
The Blessing and Grace Palace (also known as Ling’en Palace) is the place used for making sacrifices to Emperor Zhu Di and his wife, Empress Xu.
Inside some of the buildings were exhibitions of Emperor Zhu Di’s greatest achievements. It was interesting to see the portraits of Emperor Zhu Di and his wife, Empress Xu, and the Yongle Encyclopedia (which is the world’s largest known general encyclopedia and was commissioned by Zhu Di). Some of Zhu Di’s other achievements were moving the capital to Beijing and constructing the Forbidden City.
Copper Statue of Emperor Zhu Di
Chris found it very interesting that some of the Ancient Chinese traditions we read about here were very similar to Ancient Egypt and Ancient Jerusalem. Surely that is not by coincidence.
Day 3
Our last day with our tour guide, Lisa . . . and the kids started to struggle in coping with the heat, information, and being a tourist attraction. But, as they say, ‘the show must go on.’
Planning our Route
We started at the Temple of Heaven. Before you even get to the buildings, you walk through the extensive park surrounding it. Some of it consists of playgrounds, exercise areas, and game areas. There were many different groups, adults and children, participating in activities.
Saxophone Practice
Morning Exercises
Aerobics Class
Card Games
Temple of Heaven
The Temple of Heaven was built for the emperors to visit 2-3 times a year to offer sacrifices to the gods. The Emperor would personally pray to heaven for good harvests, going through a 3-step process. If the ceremony was not perfectly completed, it was thought a bad omen with a bad harvest.
Symbolism within Temple of Heaven
Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests
Temple of Heaven
Kids Posing
Caleb Posing
To the south of the other religious buildings, is the Circular Mound Altar. This altar was especially used for ceremonies to pray for rain in times of drought. We enjoyed learning about the symbolism – all stairs, decorations, etc. were done in 9’s or multiples of it (as it was the number used to represent the emperor).
Circular Mound Altar
Cami Posing
When we left the Temple of Heaven, we drove to Olympic Park, where Beijing hosted the Olympics in 2008.
Olympic Park Entrance
Ling Long Pagoda
Olympic Stadium – “Bird’s Nest”
Another quick stop for an authentic Chinese lunch, which we were falling in love with (ruining Chinese Take-Out for us) . . . and we were good to go for a few more hours.
Lunch Stop
Our final stop of the day was the Summer Palace. It was actually more packed than anywhere else we had been that week! It did make it a little bit harder to enjoy when we were trying to keep track of everyone and encouraging them to stay together.
The Long Corridor
The Summer Palace was first built in 1750, but was largely destroyed in the War of 1860 and then restored in 1886 when it was given it’s current name. It was intended to be a summer resort, away from the Forbidden City.
Part of the Long Corridor
The Summer Palace doesn’t necessarily refer to a building, but rather a number of palaces, gardens, and lakes. It actually covers over 1 square mile, with 3/4 of that being water.
Longevity Hill
Tower of Buddhist Incense
We made our way to the bottom of Longevity Hill and waited in a long queue to catch a boat to get across Kunming Lake (the man-made lake, dug out to create Longevity Hill). Most of our time in the queue was spent with people openly gawking at us.
On Kunming Lake
On the boat, many talked about us to their neighbors, assuming we didn’t understand Mandarin, which we don’t – but we had a tour guide who did! She told us they were saying, “Wow! Such a young mom with 4 kids. Here, 4 kids would never be taken care of.”
On Our Way Over
I think our time with Lisa was an eye-opening one for her as well. She was shocked with how many times we were asked for pictures. She actually asked us how much she should start charging the Chinese per picture.
Ferry Boats
We really did like Lisa and felt very comfortable around her. She was great answering personal questions and tour questions. We learned a lot and were grateful she was so good with the kids.
Looking Back on Longevity Hill
She remarked a few times how impressed she was with our family. When the kids were doing handstands on the Great Wall, she turned to us and asked, “What kind of family are you?!” As English and American kids are big into sports, not many Chinese are – only a small percentage.
17-Arch Bridge
At one point, out of the blue, Lisa asked Chris if we ever have family meetings together. He told her how we have weekly meetings, called Family Home Evenings, to sing, play games, have a lesson, etc. She was very impressed and seemed to contemplate on that for quite awhile.
On Our Own
Day 4
Our first official day on our own, and we needed to get to church. As the Church isn’t publicized in China, Joseph looked up the address for us while we were in Mongolia and guessed that they started around 10 a.m. Chris and I scoped out the subway system and we set out.
“One of These is Not Like the Others” – Sticking Out
We were really impressed with the cleanliness, air-conditioning, and English signs on the subway. When we came out of the station, we almost walked right to the building. We did have to ask if we were in the right place and which floor to go to, but we found it!
Business Building for Church Meetings
Our only hiccup was that church had already started at 9 a.m. With so many people away for the summer, they combined two branches and altered the meeting times. We still had an enjoyable time and then went back to the flat to enjoy a relaxing Sabbath.
Day 5
Our last day in Beijing was meant to be laid back, doing whatever we wanted and having a relaxing lie-in, but it turned out quite differently.
We had decided to take the kids to the zoo, which was right around the corner from our flat. Then we were going to try to get together with Ji Liu, a Chinese friend from London. When we found out Ji had set aside his whole afternoon and evening for us, we decided we had better go to the zoo first thing in the morning.
Giant Panda Exhibit
The kids were thrilled to see the Giant Panda, but were not happy about the crowds. Joseph had warned us that Chinese tourists could be the worst – they don’t queue properly and there is a lot of pushing and shoving involved.
Resting
After the zoo, the kids themselves became experts in pushing and shoving to get to the front in order to see the animals too.
Stuffed Pandas = Happy Kids
We enjoyed seeing the other animals in the zoo . .
Chimp Exhibit
Giraffes
Elephants
. . . then we entered the aquarium, included in our ticket.
We had a great time in there and felt the crowds were a little bit more controlled with less people.
After lunch, we met up with Ji and headed off to the Ruins of Yuanmingyuan, or the Old Summer Palace.
In Search of Subway
Again – Planning Our Route
These used to be the old Imperial Gardens and are beautiful.
Family with Ji
The water is covered in lotus plants and it was interesting to watch a ‘farmer’ care for these plants.
Lotus Farmer
Covered in Lotus Plants
Ji told us that the lotus pod seeds are actually a Chinese treat because they are sweet like fruit. He bought some for us to try and showed us how to pop them out of the pods, peel the seeds, and then eat the ‘fruit.’
Lotus Pods
Our seeds weren’t very sweet, but they reminded me of eating raw peas from the garden. Caleb actually compared it to avocados.
Cami’s Pod
The garden was very large! We couldn’t walk the entire thing with the time we had and the energy we had left.
Kids in Garden
Ji wanted to be sure we saw the area that had been bombed by the allied troops . . . where the ruins still lay. Backed by the blue sky (that decided to make our last day in Beijing memorable), the ruins were beautiful!
Ruins
Afterward, Ji took us to a specialty duck restaurant where he had made reservations.
Presentation of Duck
All Cut and Ready
Ji showed us how the Chinese eat the entire duck, even the brains. Most of us weren’t too keen to go that far . . . although Chris tried a bit.
Chopstick Pros
Ji had more things planned for us, but we were already dragging and still had to get back to pack up to leave the next morning. We said our goodbyes and headed back to pack.
It was weird to think this was the end of our travels for the summer. Looking forward to them at the beginning seemed daunting, but now looking at them from the other end, we were so grateful for the opportunities we had. We literally flew from one side of the world to the other, experiencing amazing times with family, friends, and cultures. It will definitely be a summer we won’t forget!
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