Beijing - Day 1

From Joe’s Journal.  Mikki will supplement with comments in parenthesis and bold font.  This ought to be good.

Hello, Jet Lag.  It’s nice to see you.  It’s been a long time…. (Joe’s referencing Conway Twitty here.  He’s cray.)(And Jet Lag is of the devil.)  We started out with a wonderful “homecoming” breakfast at the hotel and they had THE COFFEE.(Joe has talked about this coffee for FIVE YEARS.  So much so that I almost stuck him on a plane to China a few times just so he could get that blessed coffee!)  Plus, every other possible thing you could want – fresh breads, traditional Chinese buns, fruit – only things with a peel, cooked vegetables, bacon, fried rice, boiled brown eggs – Mary had about six, we think – and Joe matched that with six cups of coffee. (It is so interesting to think about being in the middle of Beijing, China, enjoying a beautiful breakfast.  There was quite a worldwide representation of people….. you walk around and everyone seems to be speaking a different language.  Totally amazing!)  

Mary's plate included four hard-boiled eggs, congee, cereal, fried egg, croissant, watermelon, and fried rice. She ate and loved it all.  Just like old times......

  The lobby of our hotel - Novotel in Beijing!

 We heart the China breakfast buffet. 

Expert egg cracker

I'm not sure what the Chinese words say, but I'm pretty sure it reads, "Welcome, Joe Powell."

We also had a nice Facetime session with the boys back home and showed them around the breakfast buffet. (It was about this time that Mary declared that she wanted to be called by her Chinese name, Rui Yang, for the duration of our stay in China.  Wouldn’t really respond to Mary – but when we called her RuiYang, she’d perk right up.)  

Our day with Helen began at 8:30 and we joined with another nice American couple, Nathan and Becky from Charlotte, NC.  Our first stop was Tiananmem Square.  We enjoyed a very nice walk along the street guided by Helen. (Helen moves fast.  And she tells us not to let people get between us when we are going through a checkpoint.  One fella did merge in one time and he met the wrath of Helen.  I don’t know what she said to him, but he quickly got out of our line.) Lots of security – but they never look mean – just wearing their freshly pressed uniforms.  Helen’s guide pass got us through lots of checkpoints easier.  We didn’t get to go across the street to the square or to Chairman Mao’s mausoleum, but we had nice view and pictures. (Mikki didn’t really pay attention to the lesson about all of this, but if you google it, you’ll learn stuff.  Mostly Mikki was trying to get good pictures.)

 Approaching the Forbidden City was surreal. (Mikki says it’s because of the ending of Mulan.  Joe says it’s because he’s seen The Last Emperor 30 times.) It was so majestic and beautiful, clean, and very well-maintained to be over six hundred years old.  There are so many common laborers doing menial tasks such as sweeping and repairing original stone pavers. (Pushing a kid in a stroller over these stone pavers is fun.) Everybody has a job and is very focused on it.  Helen gave us wonderful tips and facts about this ancient palace that was built between 1407 and 1420, housing 24 emperors, the last being PuYi.  (Again, Mikki has no idea about these statistics or facts, but she did get the cutest video of Mary doing cartwheels inside one of the courtyards.  And some selfies, too.)  So many tales here of the multiple gates and rooms and what they were used for, like the Dragon Lady, concubines, getting dressed, wow….. (Mikki and Mary found a cute little shop and bought some sweet bookmarks and a little flowery notebook. Joe paid attention to the history lessons.)

I'm going to be honest - I have no idea what most of this means.  Joe knows, but he's totally asleep as I write this (JET LAG) and he can't tell me.... so just GOOGLE. 

 Family Forbidden City selfie.  Just missing three of my four kids.....

 There were like A LOT of people here.  And EVERYONE looked like Mary.  Not sure she even noticed, but it was VERY interesting to me!

 No clue.  But pretty.  Google.

 Cute kid in front of the first gate!

In one of the rooms, they were showing Chinese cartoons on a big screen tv!

 

Another one of the cute kid!

OH!  I know this one!  There's a MOAT all around the thing.... a bunch of meters wide.  And the wall around it is 52 meters tall.  At all four corners, there are watch towers where guards would stand and watch for signals from The Great Wall of China!

Don't worry about googling that.  It's all true and accurate. 

 Mama/Mary selfie.

It really is STUNNING.  Beautiful architecture and colors.  And THE SKY was SO BLUE.  Perfect day.

One of these things is not like the other.....

 Helen told us about the "stories" behind many of the buildings and gates and such.  EVERYTHING is symbolic - the carvings, the colors, the number of beams, the materials, the water, the trees, the pavers, the gates, the windows, the design..... it ALL means something.

The emperor's closet - his dressing room.

Workers were working EVERYWHERE on upkeep and refurbishment.

We next headed to our dumplings cooking class.  This was a real treat for us in the middle of the day! (This was SUPER fun!  Mary and I have decided to get on the YouTube when we get home and get good at making homemade dumplings and noodles.  They made it look so easy!  Mary LOVED making the dumplings and got fairly good at it! I kept thinking about being in the kitchen with my TWO girls and making noodles and dumplings just like they do in China.  GOSH.  LOVE THAT.)  We met some very nice cook-teachers who put aprons on us all and showed us the art of making both vegetable and pork dumplings.  We got a little flour on our aprons, but it was a very clean process.  And the dumplings were delicious. (These ladies were super sweet to Mary, who, by the way, wore her purple glasses the entire time cause they help her make dumplings better apparently.) They brought out a plate full and we thought that was for the whole table.  Turns out, it was just one place setting!  Huge portions! (They also had vinegar, soy sauce, and chili sauce to mix together and make your own dipping sauce – DELISH.)

Dumplings!  THAT WE MADE WITH OUR OWN HANDS!

We were talking about how gathering around the table and all working together to make the dumplings really is so relaxing!  I think we are too busy.  We gotta slow down and make some dumplings. 

 This little cutie-patootie chef LOVED this dumpling class!

All the teachers were so patient with Mary.  Each one took time to show her something new or how to complete a certain step.  People are nice.

This lady was patient with Mary's Mama!  She did such a good job that I had Helen teach me how to say "good teacher" in Chinese.  I can't remember how to say it now. Google that, too.





Homemade noodles for the win!

Busy little dumpling maker.

My first perfect dumpling.  There were not many.

GOSH I look tired.  And I don't even have my other kid yet.  What did that lady say about putting tea leaves on tired eyes???  I'm gonna have to google that.

We figured it out together!  Finally!



 After this, we went to a tea-tasting class.  There are over 3000 varieties of tea, but we only focused on five of them.  The black tea mixed with flowers turned out to be our favorite and we bought some after class.  A really nice explanation of all the health benefits of tea, but slightly aggressive on post-course sales. (Every time  you even looked at a tin of tea, the lady grabbed it off the shelf and put it in your basket.  Then she’d say, NO, YOU NEED TO GET THE BIGGER SIZE OF THIS.  I’d just keep smiling and shaking my head. But we did get some of our favorite kind plus a nifty tea colander thingie. We are so fancy.  CLEARLY we now are tea experts.)    Expensive tea, but great quality and we will enjoy it when we get home.  Plus, we learned that tea is a great organic healer. 

The next adventure was a rickshaw tour in Hutong, which translates to “very narrow streets.” (Yes.  Very narrow streets full of PEOPLE doing I don’t even know what – construction, cooking over pots, cutting hair, playing dominoes, riding bikes, taking walks…. There were people EVERYWHERE in this little mazed part of town right in the heart of Beijing.  Made you kinda forget where you were for a bit.  And it’s WEIRD having some guy pedal a bike that’s pulling you in this thing behind him.  I felt bad for the ole fool….. we are not tiny people. But he was so kind.  And I’m sure very tired.) Lots of parked cars that looked like they haven’t been driven lately, but plenty of bikes, mopeds, and mini cars that are more like lawnmowers. (All parked cars had boards covering the tires of their cars.  I thought this was so no one could steal the car.  NOPE.  It’s so a dog can’t “go” on the tires.  Hilarious.)  Hutong took us to some courtyards/homes where we learned about that style of living and the social standing that goes with it.  (Two beam families, four beam families, eight beam families, twelve beam families – the more beams you have, the higher up you are socially.  You can only marry within your social beam-ness.) We visited a drum demonstration in the huge bell tower where we walked up sixty-nine steps at a steep incline, this while Mary was completely konked.  But we had to wake her cause neither of us could carry her so far.  (Mikki was taking pictures when it was explained that we’d be climbing up sixty-nine steps that went straight up to the heavens.  STRAIGHT UP – I am not even exaggerating.  She thought that the few steps outside the front of the bell tower were the only steps and wondered why the guide even bothered to mention them.  When we walked in and the guide started up, Mikki started laughing hysterically.  Like, you want us to do WHAT?  But we chugged ourselves up – STRAIGHT UP – those stairs and were rewarded by a beautiful view and fun drum playing that was used to signal the time of day until 1924.  Super neat.) Mary did so great at this and every other stop all day long and she was rewarded with a popsicle when we got down from that place. 

Rickshaw fun!  Mary was asleep about two seconds after this picture was taken.

Typical hutong courtyard.  Several families would share the same courtyard.  Houses were passed down generation to generation, so these families had been neighbors for LOTS of years.  All of this is in the center of busy Beijing! By American standards, this is not fancy living.... but these families consider it an honor to live here.  Joe asked what would they do if they wanted to sell their home (title insurance lawyer question) and the guide looked shocked and said WHY WOULD THEY WANT TO DO THAT?

Alley leading to a set of houses surrounding a courtyard.

Typical bedroom inside a Hutong home.

Dining room.....

This table has two wooden chairs on each side.  Each morning, the grandparents sit in these chairs and the children are brought in to tell them good morning and visit with them.  Love that.

Another courtyard.  The two doors lead to two separate houses.

Hutong - very narrow street - no kidding.

Mary during and after Hutong tour.  She done.

 We then got back in the van and headed back to our great hotel.  The workers here are really so nice.  Mikki and Mary were asleep by 6 PM and Joe soon followed.  Everyone was wide awake with lights fully on at 3AM. Tomorrow, we climb the Great Wall of China! (We are learning SO MUCH and it’s super neat that Mary is taking so much of it in….. I’m not sure she’ll fully appreciate what she’s experiencing – do ANY of us ever appreciate the blessings we’ve been given? – but I’m making sure to document every step of it for both girls.  And some day – after I’ve recovered from this trip – you know, like 10-15 years from now – we’ll bring them both back here and let them learn more about their birth country together.  Being back here and watching the people come and go and live their daily lives definitely makes me think of “what if”….. how their lives would be if they’d had the opportunity to grow up in a family in China.  That loss is not taken for granted.  I’m thankful for the life we’ve built as a family, but I always want to be so open and respectful of what could have been.  China will always be important to me and to my girls.)