CHINA: The trip of a lifetime with 4 young kids and a double stroller

If you continue to follow my blog for the next few weeks, I’ll chronicle our entire trip day by day. You’ll be amazed by how many places we visited in the short time we were in Asia. Our kids napped when and where they could and our double stroller went places you’d never think imaginable. I ran out of hand sanitizer on day #3 and couldn’t find more until we reached Hong Kong on day #7, but all the kids survived. And so did I.

I big thank you to my sister-n-law Xiaojun and my brother Tommy for being our tour guides and planning each event, finding all our accommodation, and sticking it out to the end with us. Their 3 kids Noel, Brickman, and Lincoln were the perfect companions for young ones.

Day #1

Travel: Phoenix flight to LAX: LAX flight to Guangzhou, China (15.5 hour flight!!): lift from Xiaojun’s uncle to Tommy and Xiaojun’s apartment: bus to suburbs for the night.

Our first day in China! My first shock occurred when I attempted to use the bathroom at the airport in Guangzhou. It was a porcelain hole in the floor with a pull chain above my head to “flush.” No bowl, no seat, no tank, no toilet paper. I decided to hold it until I got to Tommy’s place.

Arrival around 7 a.m. waiting for our ride.

Believe it! We fit our family of six, all our luggage, our double stroller, Xiaojun, and her uncle into his sedan for the 40 minute ride to the apartment. No seat belts or carseats required… for our whole trip. Like I said, we all survived.

First glance at China’s skyscrapers.

Tommy’s 27th floor apartment where the cousins quickly got reacquainted.

Their view of the city.

Long elevator down. We were fortunate to have another family member grab our bags from here and take it to the house we’d stay in our first night. We were free to roam the city without lugging our luggage around.

Masie out to find trouble first thing.

The first encounter of stairs with our double… thousands and thousands more to come!

I was sure these Chinese characters meant something inspirational, but after taking the photo Xiaojun told me it just says the name of the plaza we’re entering.

A little motoring around the lake.

We beached ourselves once. Tommy was so brave to stick his foot in the water and shove us back out to sail.

So many people wanted to stop and stare at our little crew of multicolored kids. We were mobbed everywhere we went like we were celebrities. The Chinese government only allows each family to have one child. If you have another, you must pay a very hefty fine and the 2nd child isn’t given the right to go to school or hold a job. When the locals see our family of 4 kids, they are shocked! When they see that we have babies, they are awed! When the locals notice our African American children, they are stunned! They point and stare, poke each other and giggle, reach out and touch, and shove their one and only baby next to our kids for photos. They want their baby and our baby Lars to touch fingers. The attention wasn’t just for our brown kids. Miles got a lot of attention because of his good looks and blond hair, and Masie was smothered because of her curly locks and her willingness to smile for anyone. Miles is old enough to tell people if he’s ok with having his picture taken. The first couple strangers he said “yes” and smiled nicely, but for the rest of our trip it was a big fat “NO” and sore face. I wish that I could be as bold as him. I was glad he stood his ground when he didn’t feel comfortable getting close to a stranger.

The stroll into the restaurant with fish

and a waterfall.

Our first official Chinese meal.

Brickman giving a lesson in chopsticks to Miles.

Masie in trouble for banging her chopsticks like drumsticks.

What the???

Brave Masie trying chicken feet. I tried them too.

I agree with her. They’re not for us.

Xiaojun and Luke went to convert some cash while Tommy and I entertained the kids for 1.5hrs! They enjoyed running around the dirty, dirty plaza with me repeatedly reminding them to get off the dirty ground.

Looking up towards Tommy’s apartment. All the tenants have clothes out to dry.

Uncle Tommy teaching them red light green light.

I think Lars is impressed.

First of many, many metro rides.

Brickman showing Miles how to hang on tight, but then Brick showed us his moves and let go with his legs spread wide.

Lars’s first snoozing-on-the-go.

Wow! So many people everywhere we go!!! We spent a few hours browsing all the shops.This is a supermarket with a department store and grocery combined. We learned that you can stay underground for days never needing to see the light. We hopped on one metro after another going from mall to mall. This was a very busy Saturday afternoon which is one of the busiest times to be out shopping.

Canton Tower we will climb tomorrow.

Tons of people either pulling their goods by hand or on bike.

Brickman is such a great friend. Miles had blisters from all the walking, and Brick stayed by his side holding hands even as he sat in the stroller. Love, love, love.

Our day ended with a bus ride to the suburbs of Guangzhou where Xiajun’s aunt gave us a lift from the bus stop to her house. Thank goodness for the lift or else it would have been another 10 minute mini bus ride and 10 minute walk further.

To bed with our sleepy heads after our first full day of travel!