Day One, Part Two

Hello All. Sorry for my embarrassing delay between posts. Between the holidays and my new FaceBook addiction, and several skiing weekends, our blog has suffered. I've wanted to post Christmas photos and stories as well as skiing pics and Jacob's latest accolades, but I didn't want to not finish our China trip. So I am going to do my best over the next few days to finish our China trip and get the rest of our blog up to date by the end of February. Wish me luck! :)

Ok, So......I left off at lunch time on Day One, November 27:




After we had lunch at a famous dumpling restaurant, Jacob perked up and was ready for the second half of our day. We took a rickshaw bicycle tour of a local Hutong. A hutong is a traditional style of living quarters and neighborhoods. Many of these old hutongs are very poverty stricken and not pleasant to look at. As a result, walls were built around these hutongs so that visitors of the Olympics would not see these eye sores. Our rickshaw tour was through one of the few well maintained hutongs. We were also invited to tour a local family's home and partake in tea.
After our rickshaw tour, we went to 'Dr. Tea's' Teahouse to sample teas and observe a tea ceremony. We were able to sample several Japanese teas, learn proper sipping techniques and gauge differing water temperatures. Jacob found that teahouses make wonderful napping sites.
At this point we were just down the street from the 'Bird's Nest' and the 'Water Cube'. These were the main venues for the Olympic Games this past summer. Unfortunately these sites are not open to the public until next summer, so were not able to get more in-depth tours. This hotel in the shape of an Olympic flame was the hotel that housed all the media for the Games.
For dinner we ate a family style meal (I'll post a separate post about the food we ate) and then headed to an Acrobatic show. Because of our long day, we assumed that Jacob would fall asleep once the lights went down for the show. Boy, were we wrong! Jacob LOVED the show. He watched every minute and never missed an opportunity to dance along to the music.
Well, that was pretty much it for our first day in Beijing. After the show, we all returned to our hotel and slept like babies.
See you 'tomorrow'!

Poor Jacob, he still looks so cold and tired!

Leaving the Dumpling Restaurant with full bellies.

Rickshaw time!

Alley-way behind the wall leading into a section of the Hutong.

Now we are in a tradition family's Hutong home. The "Lady" of the household is holding Jacob in the courtyard in the about pic.

This was just a little restaurant outside the Hutong.

Now it's Tea Time! We were able to sample several Chinese teas as well as learn traditional tea serving rituals. Jacob felt this was a perfect time to catch a quick nap.

Jason is holding a brick of tea outside the Dr. Tea's gift shop.

And, of course, there were Chinese ladies snapping pics of Jacob. He is such a worldwide celebrity. :)

Chinese lanterns decorating the overpass outside the Tea House.

Olympic Venue Time!

This is the "Olympic Flame" Hotel built to house members of the media during the 2008 Summer Olympics.

The "Bird's Nest", home to the Opening and Closing Ceremony's and the Track and Field events.

Here's the "Water Cube" where Michael Phelps swam his way into history. We were not able to go inside these venues as they will not be open to the public until 2009.

Dinner Time!

After dinner we attended an Chinese Acrobatic Show.

It was as advertised...."Novel, Beautiful, Odd, and Thrilling"

It's Show Time!

Now it's back to the hotel and a good nights sleep.

Day One: One World, One Dream (Part One)

After spending most of the day traveling via bullet train to Tokyo, we flew into Terminal 3 of the Beijing Capital International Airport Wednesday night (Nov 26). Terminal 3 was constructed specifically for the Summer Olympic Games. It is the prettiest airport terminal I have ever seen. Being able to travel in Beijing the same year as the Olympics was intriguing. I also think we greatly benefited from all of the "improvements" and construction to prepare for the Olympics. Although we had heard many horror stories of the poor air conditions and the filth of the city, we didn't have any problems during our trip. It was also pretty neat to see all the posters, Olympic venues, and memorabilia.

Beijing is the capital of China, and has been since the 13th century. It is home to more than 15 million people. It is quite modern while remaining very traditional. As we toured different parts of the city, we would often marvel at the enormity of the city.

We checked into our room at the Capital Hotel Beijing where the rooms were 3 times the size of any Western Hotel we have stayed at in Tokyo. Our hotel was only a few short blocks away from Tiananmen Square so it made sense to begin our sight seeing there on Thursday (Nov 27).

Some very quick side notes: We went on this trip with our good friends (and neighbors) Steve and Shannon. They both made excellent traveling companions and we didn't even get sick of one another! (Well, at least I think so...you may have to ask them how sick they are of us!) It was also nice to always have a photographer for family photos! Also, our tour guide was 'Mark'. His Chinese name was much to complex for us lame westerners, so he goes by Mark. We all enjoyed his knowledge, humor, candor, and experience.

Strolling though Tiananmen Square was one of the many highlights of the trip. This is such a historic and iconic location in China. It is also said to be the largest public square in the world. Jacob was clearly a bit too sleepy to notice we were standing in front of the portrait of Chairman Mao at the Gate of Heavenly Peace. This square and the Forbidden City had the most obvious military presence.

Next was the Forbidden City. This site is enormous. The "city" was built for the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties. There are dozens of temples and halls where the emperors would have overseen celebrations, rituals, sacrifices, and civil matters. This was the coldest day while we were in China and certainly the windiest. Although we were all bundled up, Jacob soon grew bored of all the walking and blustery winds.

I'll post Part Two ASAP.