Spring Break-Part 1-Beijing

Our family took a vacation over spring break to Beijing and Hong Kong.  It is very expensive for Americans to get visas to enter Beijing, but they have a 72 hour pass that you can use to enter the country visa free.  Since Russ and I have both been to the major attractions in Beijing we decided to just stop there for whirlwind 48 hours before we went on to Hong Kong.

We left our house at 5 am and were at the airport very early...so early we were the first in line to check in. (before the check-in counters even opened)  Unfortunately for my family, arriving before something opens is not an unusual occurrence on vacation for us. 

Every time we board a plane the girls refresh themselves on the evacuation guidelines.

Even though we live in a massive Asian city, we were taken back by how many people there were everywhere in Beijing.

The lines to get a subway ticket... (In this picture it looks like very organized and calm lines, but this was a chaotic, crazy scene.  We had no idea where we were supposed to be or how to get a ticket.  We just got in line and hoped for the best.)

We had some free time before we went to a Chinese Acrobat show in the evening and we visited the Bell and Drum Towers.  These towers were originally built in 1273 and were used until 1924.  They functioned as time keepers with the bell tower being used during the day and the drum tower at night.

The bell tower

The drum tower

While we were at the Bell Tower they offered to do a tea ceremony with us.  We had a great time learning all about different types of teas.

The next day we took a tour of Tienanmen Square, the Forbidden City and the Great Wall.
We started out at Tienanmen Square~

It was a beautiful, clear day in Beijing.

Chinese soldiers patrolling the Tienanmen Square

Getting inspected before going out on patrol

Next up Forbidden City~

I always thought the design on Oriental buildings looked the same until living in Korea and comparing the difference between Korean and Chinese design.  As beautiful as Korean design is the Chinese design is much more ornate and detailed. 

The girls were like small celebrities in China.  People would ask to take their picture and want to have pictures taken with them.  At times it got a bit out of hand and Russ would have to intervene and pull the girls away from the crowds.  It was a crazy experience for both of them.  Taylor loved the attention, Lucy didn't like it as much. 

One last picture of the beautiful flowering trees that were around the Forbidden City before we got in the car to head to the Great Wall.

 It was a busy weekend day and it was also a major Chinese holiday and so there was tons of traffic.

This was our view for the next 3 hours.

 We visited a section of the Great Wall that had a chair lift taking you up the mountain to the wall.

Russ and I stopped to do some exercising on the Great Wall.

After we had walked on the wall we rode down the mountain on an alpine slide.  This was a highlight of our time in China for all of us.  We had a great time, flying down the mountain on these small sleds.  We went way too fast and they yelled at us the entire way down, but we had so much fun.

Russ went first, next Taylor, Lucy and I went last.  Russ would slow down a little bit and we would all catch up to him then we would all fly. 

Look at my girls leaning into that corner...they were like old pros.

That evening after a long day of touring in China we decided to eat an all American meal.

What a great and exhausting day of seeing the awesome sights in Beijing!