China!!

So Thomas and I went to China for ten (10) days! China was amazing and I figured it would be a good time to write all this down before I start forgeting the subtle details.

Day 1: Travel
We pretty much traveled this day. Thomas and I were the first people to the airport (of course) so we waited around in the terminal for my parents and the DeTemples. All of us packed light, which made the entire journey MUCH easier, but Thomas and I were the only ones doing it in a backpack. The flight from Phoenix to Seattle was pretty uneventful and we had just a few hours in the Sea-Tac airport before we started boarding for our 11 hour flight to Beijing.

We planned on Thomas getting nervous/sick for the long flight so I brought my last 4 Xanax pills from 2 years ago for him (two for the flight to China and two for the flight home - they were definitely needed and used). The best part about the flight to China was that we got to sit together and watch tons of TV. The airplane wasn't the largest aircraft, but I never got up to walk around (though I probably should have). Airplane food has definitely improved and I actually enjoyed my 'western style' dinner (chicken with veggies) and all the in flight snacks.

Dad and mom across the aisle 

Airplane delirium 

When we got into Beijing at midnight and got off the airplane we were tire and sore; but also greeted by hot, muggy air and the most horrible smell of backed up toilet sewage I've ever smelt - so gross that I almost got sick as we navigated our way through customs (which was completely empty at that time of day) and found the first bathroom.

Welcome to squatters! I knew after my first experience with squatters, that they were not built for someone with my body structure, but at least the airport bathroom had soap, water and paper towels.

Once we got through all the gates and exchanged a few bucks into Yuan, we made our way to the taxi cabs. Of course we could've waited in line with all the other Chinese people that were waiting in line for the standard taxis, but dad needed to get sucked into all the 'deal-makers' that spotted us. One taxi cab took us to a completely empty part of the airport before telling us that it would be 800 Yuan ($133) to go a mile and a half.

Pretty soon I was telling everyone no before they even opened their mouth, but mostly I was just directing those nos to my dad. We did end up getting a good size van to take all 6 of us to our hotel and it was still probably too much, but it's 12:30am, and who really cares about anything at that time of day?

Day 2: Beijing/Train

We got up in the morning and went on a stroll with my mom and dad. They stopped at a store front and bought a meat pocket thing, that smelled incredible, but both Thomas and I let my parents test it out first. When they didn't drop dead, we both took a bite, YUM!

Walking down the street

Morning Tai Chi - this was the biggest group but they had a few groups in the area

Beautiful flowers next to some shady looking apartment buildings and a huge road way

The walk was very nice, and the blatant stares from locals were fun too

It was so nice to get out and walk around. The weather was misty/hazy but not cold. It actually reminded me a lot of Washington state. I will confess, I have never used so much hand sanitizer in my life. Normally, I'm completely against any such thing because it kills all the natural defenses your body creates, but I had it handy wherever we went (trust me, you would too).

....Well, it's been a few months since I've tried to finish this post, and I have a lot of pictures, can I just write under them  for now?

Too much hand sanitizer

Hotel lobby, waiting for the shuttle to take us to the train station

Airport/subway port

Walking down to the subway terminal

It's all in Chinese! ;} 

On the subway

Beijing train station

We grabbed some food before we entered the station

Thomas and mom, just inside the station

Inside the station

I wouldn't put my backpack down

Bruce Lee, he's China's Col. Sanders

Eating just so we had a place to sit

Yes, we brought Monopoly the card game - we're so fun :}

The bunks were easily 6 feet high, and stiff as a board

It wasn't easy, but Thomas was able to get some sleep

 Day 3: Xian/Terracotta Warriors/Ancient city/

Mom was under Thomas

Are we there yet?

Xian

Pouting rain, but we're still smiling

Warren's van

Our hotel

Out to explore Xi'an

Museum

Museum with a stuffed rodent

Deer in the headlights...? :}

Blaaaaah - okay I'm going to just post this and come back to it later and finish my labeling....maybe.

The next two pictures are from this restaurant that we went to in the late morning...looking back, we're not even sure they were open, but none of us could communicate with each other, so yeah. They seated us, brought us hot water and gave us menus. About 10 minutes later the girl came up to take our order and we had to point at pictures and use hand signals to order our food. Dave, myself ordered things with french fries on the side, and they came first. So we shared them with every one while we waited. It was quite some time before anything else came. Thomas, dad and Elaine got their soups with a sunny side up egg in it. But Elaine didn't like the look of the egg so she gave her soup to Thomas. Dave, mom and me NEVER got anything else. It was actually pretty funny because English and Chinese are SO COMPLETELY different that there is no common ground for any word ever. So while the waitress and we tried to slow down our speech, or use bigger hand gestures, there just nothing any of us could do, but smile and laugh in a sheepish way when we just couldn't understand :}After spending probably 2 hours at the restaurant, we paid our bill and left hungry and worn out.

Oh so rich, ha!

More Yuans!

China. Most of these high rises are abandoned and unfinished. They can be kinda creepy when the ratted tarps are waving in the wind. We asked around and the building projects usually go bankrupt 90% into the job. When they do finish the buildings people don't like living in them because China doesn't regulate their elevator codes so the elevators hardly ever work and the tenants end up having to walk up the stairs...can you imagine being on the 25th floor?!

We found an elementary school! It was so cute and colorful :}

Mom and Thomas standing next to the outer wall of the elementary school.

Mom went into an eye store to see if she could get something repaired so Thomas and I waited outside because the store smelled like an ashtray. There are a lot of cars parked on the side walks, and they have these HUGE bridges that go over road ways (you can see the stairs for one just behind Thomas on the right). Mostly the stores are electronic stores or small markets, but they have clothing and camping stores too. The grocery shopping was {of course} the funnest part of the trip for me. 

Dad mentioned to Warren that we read about these dumplings Xi'an is famous for, so Warren took us to this ballet performance that depicted the more influential dynasties in their culture. They served the dumplings the performances or acts. We could tell immediately that it was for tourists because the whole room was full of tour groups, mostly from Europe they gave you a small drink of soda at the beginning of the show and then charged you over 15 Yuan for a bottled water (which would normally be 1 Yuan) and more if you wanted soda or tea or something else. We had an amazing tour guide who went and got us free water when we were concerned we would have to stay through the whole performance with nothing to drink. The dumplings were fun, they came in all shapes and flavors. The performance was beautiful and while this was probably the most 'touristy' thing we did during our trip, I'm glad we did it.

Thomas outside the Big Goose Pagoda walls

Outside the Pagoda walls

The Asian picture pose

Big Goose Pagoda - one of the largest active Buddhist temples in Asia it had some BEAUTIFUL gardens and courtyards within the outer walls. 

Burning incense in outside the Pagoda - it was cloudy and misty all day. So you can't really see the city in the background, but this was a tiny slice of serenity in a large bustling city

Outside the Pagoda people and monks would light their red candles and stick them in a candle holder, and the whole thing reminded me a lot of this Greek Orthodox church Thomas and I went to for the Greek Festival in Mesa.