Beijing

This summer we met up with friends from Austin in Beijing and shared our second venture out of Shanghai with them.  How awesome it was to see familiar friends!  It was a terrific time and neat to see some great sites like The Great Wall, the terracotta soldiers, Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Summer Palace, etc.  The Great Wall and Terracotta Soldiers were as amazing as they sound.  The other three sites (Forbidden City, Summer Palace, etc) were less amazing to me but there's a reason history was not my best subject.  I also discovered that Beijing was not a city for me.  The pollution there is incredible.  Everyday was a hazy looking day.  Traffic was horrendous on the roads and in the subway.  Shanghai has it's moments but nothing compared to Beijing.

In Beijing we got a small taste of what it might be like to be a celebrity hounded by paparazzi.  Our  friend's 7 year old with blonde hair was constantly being stopped and asked for pictures.  I had heard of this "phenomenon" if you want to call it from other friends here with blonde haired kids but have never seen it in person.  Many times she was asked if she could take a picture with them or some even touched her hair without asking and awe of it's color.  We kept telling her to tell them it's 1 yuan per picture and she could fund enough money for herself to have ice cream at each meal.  

Kids enjoying the biz lounge.

Climbing the 120 some-odd steep steps up the Bell Tower; I love how the bad exposure kind of gives a glimpse of what it started to feel like after climbing about 30 of the steps.

Climbing the Great Wall with a 20 lb sleepy kid

Toboganning down The Great Wall!  

Fresh orange juice...just throw the oranges on the floor - that's China for ya!

Eggs on a skewer - convenient!

I put her in Texas orange to make her visible in the airport...didn't really need to as this is her throwing a fit...yes that's her face down on an airport floor - only with 4th kid do I take a picture first before getting grossed out.