I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to return to China in early November! I love visiting this country. For as long as I can remember, I have been fascinated by their culture, their history and their food. Every person I've met has been so lovely and welcoming. It's such a wonderful place to go! I could fill this entry with so many pictures, but instead, I have some collages that I've put together showing lots of the interesting places I visited.
We left very early Saturday morning and flew to Detroit. We had a few hours layover and then boarded the 14+ hour flight to Beijing. With the time change, it was late Sunday afternoon when we arrived. By the time we got to the hotel, it was dinner time, so we walked over to a noodle house. We ate a quick (delicious) bite and then headed back to the hotel. We were exhausted and ready for a good night's sleep! On Monday, we knew we needed to walk around to help us adjust to the time change. It's a 13 hour difference, thanks to Daylight Savings, so our bodies naturally want to be doing the exact opposite. We walked about 22,000 steps that day! It was such a gorgeous day to be out and about though. We visited Tienanmen Square, Mao's Mausoleum and the Forbidden City in the morning.
We took a break for lunch (Peking Duck...yum!) and then walked over to the Temple to Heaven for part of the afternoon. We arrived fairly close to closing, so it wasn't too crowded. This is always a lovely place to visit and learn about.
We then ventured over to the Pearl Street Market where I simply enjoyed watching friends haggle over deals. Soon, we were all worn out (22,000 steps!!!) so we headed on back to the hotel for the night. On Tuesday, we flew to the city of Qingdao. This city is unbelievably gorgeous. It sits right on the Yellow Sea. While it was chilly and windy a couple of days, it was so much fun to walk around and take in the city. There are beautiful beaches all around, and we learned that during the 2008 Olympics, this is where they hosted the sailing events.
Our touring took us all over the city where we got to soak it all in. We had such fantastic weather on this trip, so we wanted to just be outside all the time. I'm so thankful I got to visit this area, meet several locals and experience a different style of food. I've typically enjoyed Sichuan style food on my other trips, but Qingdao is in the Shandong Province, so it was a totally different taste. There was also a lot of seafood since we're in a port town. Not surprisingly, it was all delicious!
On Sunday evening, Ashlee, Walt and I flew on back to Beijing. It was quite an adventure as we missed our original flight and none of us speak Mandarin to figure out what was going on, but we made it back to the capital close to midnight. It was such a foggy night that we were shocked when we woke up to such beautiful weather on Monday morning, but we were so thankful. We had a tour of the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall to explore, and this weather could not have been any more perfect! I'm not exaggerating when I say that I've wanted to climb the Great Wall for as long as I can remember. I don't know why or when my fascination started, but I've always thought this would be such an amazing experience. I assure you that I wasn't disappointed. I can't even describe how wonderful this was. I took so many pictures, and I just kept stopping to mentally take it all in...oh yeah, and to catch my breath because these hills are no joke. This is probably the coolest thing I've ever done, and I loved it. I am so incredibly grateful for this opportunity!
I just couldn't stop smiling on this excursion! After spending a few hours on the Wall, our fantastic tour guide, Chris, took us to a great farmer's restaurant not far away, and then we started driving back into the city. We had a little time left, so he took us to the largest Tibetan Buddhist temple outside Tibet. The entryway was lined with gorgeous yellow ginkgo trees, and the inside was made of beautifully designed temples. Afterward, Chris helped us meet up with our friend Abby who we enjoyed a fun dinner and durian ice cream with. It was a wonderful way to wrap up the trip. I am so thankful that I was able to spend this time in China again, and I look forward to returning!
