Tour bus full of us

While in the Palace Museum at the Forbidden City I bought a Chinese dress for our girls to play dress up. I also bought  cute emperor and empress bobble head dolls. I’ve just been reading the box the dolls were in.

“Harmonious Union Doll, the romantic union is the beginning of love, the sweet love is the beginning of happiness.”

I don’t know if the empress had a say in the union or not, but I love the quote.

Day #5 Tour Bus to the Great Wall

We decided to take a guided tour to the Great Wall of China. The bus took off early in the morning and stopped at one of the emperor’s tombs, the jade factory, the enamelware factory, and the Wall. I’ll save the photos taken on the Great Wall for my next post. Don’t want to overwhelm you with too many at a time - ha, ha, ha.

Early morning in the lobby waiting for our bus. We debated whether to bring the double and in the end decided to leave it behind and made do with Tommy’s single stroller. As you’ve read in earlier posts, we survived!

The Changling Tomb is the joint burial of Emperor Yongle and his empress Xushi. We thought we’d get to go into the tomb or get a close look of the burial chamber, but apparently it’s still sealed. Instead we walked in and around the mausoleum going underground a little as we entered tunnels and dark hallways. More lifting of the stroller.

I’m sorry I didn’t make note earlier, but I did not take all of these photos. Xiaojun and I combined our stashes, so many of the best shots are hers. Thanks sister!!

Love these lovelies!!!

One of my favorite shots of my little brother.

Jade! The real good stuff from the official government-run jade factory.

We just had to kiss the jade frog.

Even more fun than kissing the frog was playing with the mirrors outside the factory. See Lyla with her lips so close to that dirty column, and me taking a photo instead of freaking out and pulling her back? I’ve come a long way my friends.

Oh Lincoln, you make my heart sing.

My sweet sleeping baby. Can you see my new bracelet? It’s Chinese certified best quality stuff. An early birthday present to myself.

The girls got jade necklaces with the animal that relates to the Chinese zodiac of their birth year. Lyla got an ox and Masie a rat.

Pictures weren’t allowed in the enamelware factory, so this was all I took. Luke really, really wanted one of those soldiers. Thank goodness it wasn’t his birthday too. Our tour guide must have said the word “ENAMELWARE” several dozen times. And he would enunciate it very dramatically. E-nam-el-WARe. Enamelware, enaMELware, EnameLwaRE!

We found a bracelet for my mom and Christmas ornament for Luke’s mom. Very pretty stuff.

Miles getting his first look of the Great Wall. He’s excited to climb!

Cotton Candy, Rickshaws and Duck

Day #4 Afternoon

Travel: Walk to lunch, taxis to river, rickshaws around the town, lots of walking, taxis to hotel.

We took a 15 minute walk out of the Forbidden City to eat at a restaurant recommended by big Miles.

After our late lunch we taxied to this market area to window shop and try some fun desserts.

Noel loved the cotton candy, but Lars and Lyla had their first tastes and weren’t very impressed. Must be a texture thing because who doesn’t like sugar??

The candy covered cranberry type fruit were my favorite. I’d been eying them from the different vendors we’d seen throughout the day (or men selling them from the backs of the bikes), and Xiaojun told me I’d love them. I was hesitant because of the lack of hygiene… Then we saw a cleaner looking stall and I had to try.

If I remember correctly, this is a red bean pudding. Tasted a lot like a squishy fruit snack to me. Luke enjoyed it unlike the yellow pudding we tried. Xiaojun snapped a picture of my face when I tried to swallow a bite and it was not pretty. No way am I sharing that photo with the world. Yuck!

Lyla wouldn’t try it until Lars tried first.

Well, at least she tried.

This man made little figures from blowing and twisting a hard candy.

Masie asked for a turtle.

It must be a “sea” turtle? She wasn’t too happy to learn she could only hold it and it wasn’t for eating.

Rickshaws! I’ve always wanted to try them. Our tour guides peddled their bikes slowly while pulling the wagon behind. We took a tour of some of Beijing’s most famous Hutongs (or alleyways). Lyla was a little frightened at first.

I had Lars on my lap, and anytime I’d reach for my camera, he’d reach for it also. He’s learned what button makes the “click” sound too. So I couldn’t get many pictures. We also had cars breezing by on both sides. Our local peddler only spoke Chinese, and Xiaojun was left translating everything for me. Unfortunately Luke didn’t have a translator in his rickshaw.

Lars hanging on for dear life.

Our tour guides stopped the bikes in this alley to show the old houses.

The number of blue knobs above the door are an indication of the wealth and power of the current resident.

The kids didn’t care about blue knobs, but they were completely fascinated by the rooster.

Lyla finally feeling more comfortable in her mode of transportation.

I found a really sweet little tea set in this shopping alley.

I really, really wanted this fish! Too big though. I have the same one at home but it’s just a plain wood thing. Maybe I can get creative and make it look like this.

We walked back into the plaza to one of Beijing’s most famous Peking Roast Duck restaurants. It was a bit of a surprise to take the elevator down what looked like a small area and find this grand restaurant with live entertainment and delicious food.

I had to reassure Masie that this wasn’t the rooster we were eating. “But where is the roost, Mom?” Masie kept asking.

We asked for milk and got this jug of thin yogurt instead. Lyla loved it.

Mirrors above our table.

Miles had 2nds and then 3rds of the duck. We all loved it. They make it with a thin, crunchy and sweet skin on top. Scrumptious!

Wow! That was a busy day!! We had to say goodbye Tommy’s friend Miles. We were so grateful for his help and tips on what to see and do in the city. We taxied straight back to the hotel for a little sleep before heading out to the Great Wall on Day #5.