Xi'an

On my birthday we got up early said our goodbyes to Megan and headed to the airport to catch our flight to Xi'an, China. Xi'an is the closest city to the Terra Cotta Soldiers and is less than 2 hours by plane from Beijing.

When we got to the airport and boarded on the plane, we were told our flight had been postphoned due to weather in Xi'an. Yuck! The only good thing about this was that we were able to get off of the plane and we were at a gate right by the kids section so Elyse could play and watch tv until our flight took off.

A few hours later we were off and on to our next adventure. We were met at the airport by a car from our hotel (Shangri la Xi'an Golden Flower.) The staff at this hotel was wonderful! They knew our flight was delayed and so they were there right when we walked out of the airport and they took us straight to the hotel where we were met by a woman who greeted us by name and ushered us to our room. She said they would take care of our bags and she would check us in in our room. AND they found out it was my birthday and sent up a cake and called me to wish me a happy birthday.

(this is a picture from their website)
When we got to our room, I was surprised to to see this massive hotel room. I had signed up for the Deluxe, but I thought it met a few extra feet, not a living area, dining area and a kitchen! It was wonderful! This meant Elyse could sleep in the living room and not have to be in the same room as the us and Anastasia.

Elyse found this place to hangout for awhile (she still wasn't feeling very good).

We stayed in the hotel for that first day and then went out to the Terra Cotta Soldiers the next day. Our guide met us at the hotel and began to tell us the history behind the soldiers as we drove. Can you believe 3 farmers found this:

Pretty darn amazing and they were built for one man so when he died, he could have a huge army in the after life. The soldiers were about 6 feet tall and each one was unique.

Although Elyse still wasn't feeling well, she seemed to really enjoy looking at the soldiers and learning about them. We talked about how they were all in pieces and had to be put back together likes puzzles. She noticed that they were wearing shirts and that some didn't have heads. She also learned about how people tried to destroy them by setting them on fire. Just a few days ago she was sining a song about them.

This is the only soldier who was intact when the army was discovered.

Amazingly he still had some paint on him.

In the next picture you will see Elyse and our guide Michael. He is showing Elyse pictures of his daughter on his phone. Throughout our tour Michael shooed away all people wanting to take pictures and hold our girls. He said it was a good day to be a guide because he was able to talk to and hold our girls when everyone else wanted to :)

The hill in the back of this next picture is the Emperor's tomb. It has not been opened for a couple of reasons. The first one being that the Chinese don't want to disturb the dead and the second is that his tomb is believed to be booby trapped. Michael said that people think that the Emperor's coffin is floating in a moat of mercury within the tomb. No one really knows for sure.

After seeing the tomb, we went to our car and discovered it wouldn't start. A whole bunch of guys were staring under the hood for awhile. At one point they were pouring water on the battery. Toby got out and said all we needed was to be jumped. They searched for jumper cables and came up with... something that looked a bit sketchy, but it did the job and we were on our way back to the hotel.

The day was amazing, but to a preschooler, it had been a long day. When we got back to the hotel Elyse was still not feeling well and decided to hang out in her stroller and there she feel asleep until dinner time.

This was our last day in China. We had a great time, but I was ready to go back home. I am so thankful we were able to explore another country in this part of the world. This will be a trip I will never forget. Perhaps our girls can go on a "Sister Trip" when they are older to relive this experience.

Day 5: The Great Wall of China

On the fifth day we were scheduled to go to the Great Wall of China with our guide Lily. Unfortunately Elyse woke of sick. She threw up for the first time in her life (Megan got to witness this). Poor girl. She didn't really eat breakfast and then in the van she threw up again. Nothing makes you feel more like a mom than catching your daughters throw-up in your hands...

Luckily we had extra clothes so we were able to change her. She felt a little better once she got new clothes, but she continued to feel sick for the next couple days.

On the way to the wall we passed farms that grew all sorts of fruit and corn. Lily grew up on a farm like the ones we passed.

When we arrived at the wall we took the cheater way up the mountain and rode the gondola. (Most people do this).

It was pretty amazing once we got to the top. Here are just a few of the pictures we took:

I know Elyse would probably not appreciate this picture on the blog, but I thought it was kind of funny. Elyse said she needed to pee so we got out the travel potty. So Elyse sat on the potty on the Great Wall of China. Not many people can say that :)

After awhile of wandering on the wall we headed back while Megan continued on. Elyse was not feeling well and it was hard for me to climb down the stairs with Anastasia strapped to the front of me (I couldn't see my feet very well).

After we rode the gondola down we had to walk passed all the people selling souvenirs. It was the same stuff over and over again. Toward the end we gave in and got a t-shirt fr Elyse and Toby got a Mao watch (which he had been wanting since Tiananmen square). Toby talked the guy down from 180 RMB (a laughable amount since the watch would only last a couple of days anyway) to 40 RMB (about $5) which I think was generous. It turns out the watch lasted a week :)

We then met up with our driver and head out to lunch. It was very good!

Poor girl fell asleep during lunch.

It is still hard to believe that we were on the Great Wall! It was the day before my 33rd birthday and a day I will never forget.

Day 4 con't

After I finished the last post I realized I didn't share one of my favorite things about the Summer Palace. Each building was brilliantly painted and had these beams across the top. Each beam had a different scene on it. It was amazing how detailed each picture was and how many different scenes were painted.

Since I was adding more to the post, I decided to add some more pictures. This is the view from the top of the temple overlooking the lake.

Elyse with her new hat.

On the way home (since we were stuck in traffic) I had to feed Anastasia (the only good thing about not having a car seat in China) and Elyse feel asleep.

China Day 4: Summer Palace

On the 4th day we decided to go to the Summer Palace. We didn't have a guide today, but it would have helped a lot. We just wandered around and looked at the temples and other buildings. It was a great day to be outside. This picture is of a few temples that were built. We climbed all the way to the top building. Do you see that diamond shape on the middle building? Those are steps and Elyse climbed everyone one of them!
To get to the temples we walked over the 17 Arch Bridge and took a boat ride across the lake. This was Elyse's first boat ride, hard to believe since we are so close to so many boats.

This is a boat made out of marble. There is a replica of it in the Chinese Gardens by our house in Singapore- not made marble though.

Climbing the steps!

Around the different buildings there were steps everywhere divided by a little slope. Elyse had a good time sliding down these slopes. She was pretty dirty by the time we left.

I love this picture of Toby and his girls.

We wandered into the theatre area just as they began to perform different shows on the stage. Elyse got a hat like the ones these women are wearing.

We saw less than half of the Summer Palace grounds it was such a large area, but I think we hit the high-lights. On the way home we were caught in TERRIBLE traffic (which I think is just normal rush hour) but we did pass the Bird's Nest and Ice Cube from the Olympics.

China Day 3

On the third day we hired a guide to walk us through the Forbidden Palace (aka Palace Museum- since it's not forbidden anymore). Our guide's name was Lilly and she was great. If you go to Beijing I would recommend her.

This picture was taken by Elyse. It's the best one we got of our tour guide.

The Forbidden Palace was HUGE! and had stairs, stairs and more stairs. One reason there were so many stairs is because the buildings were built 3 levels up. The first level represents hell, the second represents earth, and the third level (where the buildings were placed) represents heaven. So the Emperor was on the level of heaven.

In addition to the stairs it had a small barrier (6 inches or so) that you had to step over when going through the doors. It was believed that it kept the ghosts out. Since ghosts don't have knees and therefore couldn't step over it.

There were so many building that I forget what each one was, but it I do remember that the emperor would enter through the center most door/bridge, the emperor and the official wife lived in separate building that represented the ying/yang philosophy, and the concubines had a separate area where they lived out the rest of their lives.

I also learned that you could tell the importance of a building by the number of animals on the roof. The eunuchs had no animals on the roof of their living quarters so you know they were the lowest of the low in the system.

I can't remember the real name for this building (something like heavenly harmony), but it's where conflicts were resolved.

After the Forbidden City, Lilly walked us through "the real Beijing" (where the normal people lived) to a restaurant for lunch.

People living in this area paid a lot for their small houses since it was in the heart of Beijing. Many didn't have an indoor kitchen or a toilet. There was a public toilet that people would que up for in the mornings.

After lunch we walked to a lake. The area surrounding it reminded me of Clarke Quay with restaurants and little souvenir shops. Here is a Starbucks :)

Megan and Anastasia admiring the view:

After the lake we walked home, had dinner and went to sleep. Another fun-filled, tiring day.

China: Day 1 and 2

On the 25th of September we got up around 6 am and headed to the airport. We met Megan (who had arrived early in the morning from Indonesia) at the gate and took our 6 hour flight to Beijing. The flight was uneventful and both girls did well.

After arriving in Beijing we took a taxi to our hotel: Days Inn Forbidden City and settled in. Elyse shared a room with Megan and slept in a big girl bed for the first time (she only fell out 1x). Anastasia, Toby and I shared the other room. This is the first time we all slept in the same room together (A didn't like sleeping in our room in Singapore, even when she was just born).

The following day we walked to Tiananmen Square and then went on to the Temple of Heaven.

Tiananmen Square was not how I pictured it. For whatever reason I pictured in more enclosed and much bigger. It was still huge, but it was just different. Anyway, when we got to the square we made our way through the crowds (and Uncles selling Mao watches) and I found a place to nurse Anastasia. Elyse, Toby and Megan wandered around and made some friends.


I Knew I was in China when I saw the big portrait of Mao.

After I fed Anastasia we walked around the square looking for an exit (it was fenced in). As we were walking we saw the line to go in and see Mao's body. Although ti was a fast moving line, we decided to skip it and head to our next destination: The Temple of Heaven.

We had a map and it looked like we could walk straight there, but we encountered some closed streets. As a result we got a scenic tour of the area.

When we did get to our destination we went into the Temple Park and got to watch people dancing. They had music playing different types of songs and they paired up and danced. Some people were more serious than others.

After a snack of Ice Cream and a Frozen Soybean popsicle (I thought it was lime when I picked it out - Elyse still ate it) we got to the Temple of Heaven. From Wikapedia: The Temple of Heaven was visited by the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for good harvest. It is regarded as a Taoist temple, although Chinese Heaven worship, especially by the reigning monarch of the day, pre-dates Taoism.

It was beautiful and very ornately decorated.

Megan and Elyse walking around the base.

By this time it was time to fed Anastasia again and then head back to the hotel. Meagan chose to walk back while we got a taxi (I think we got ripped off).

For dinner we went to a restaurant just down the road from our hotel. The menu was in Chinese with no pictures, so we handed it over to Megan (who know a bit of Chinese) and she ordered. She did a very good job :) It turned out that this place was known for its pancake/tortilla type wraps- no rice at this place. It was very good.

After dinner we headed back to the hotel. Unfortunately on the way home Elyse fell and cut her lip. Luckily no teeth were chipped and the bleeding stopped quickly. Although it ended with crying, overall it was a good and busy day. Tomorrow we would be heading to the Forbidden City.

Our Girls are Rock Stars!

I was going to give a day by day account of our trip to China, but got overwhelmed by all the pictures that we took. Instead I wanted to share something we learned while in China: the Chinese love taking pictures of our girls and little kids love playing with Elyse. Here are a few pictures (in no particular order) to prove my point.

This little girl and Elyse met at the Forbidden City. You can kind of see that the girl has her butt cheek hanging out of her pants. Kids wear pants with a slit in the crotch so they can just squat and pee where ever. No need for diapers. This girl happened to pee sometime during this picture taking session.


People wanted their picture taken with Anastasia too. This meant that Toby or I got our picture taken depending on who was carrying her.


If you look at the bottom left of this picture, you can see all the people looking in one direction. They are all looking at Elyse. This is in the Forbidden City in front of one of the opening gates.

If we stood still for a moment this is usually what happened:

Cute girl with Elyse at the Temple of Heaven:

These girls were playing a game of copycat with Elyse. E would do something and they would copy it, then they would do something and she would copy them.

Again at the Forbidden City. E is trying to do the peace sign for the camera. This seems to be the way the Chinese take pictures. PEACE!

Elyse was a good sport about it all. We would ask her if she was ok and if she wanted her picture taken. Most of the time she would say yes. Some people tried to pick her up and we put a stop to that pretty quickly. Elyse and Anastasia were rock stars in China. I'm glad that we don't have people following us around daily. I know my girls are cute ;), but it gets pretty old pretty fast.

Anyway, I will give a blow by blow of our trip soon. Here is one preview picture of us at the Summer Palace: