January 13, 2007

We woke up today to our last day in Beijing, as well as our last day in China. Part of my heart is sad, but part of me is also relieved to be heading home. Familiar foods and my own bed are starting to sound pretty good after two weeks here.

One of the reasons we decided to stay in this area of Beijing was because we would be within walking distance of the Forbidden City. At least that is what we thought.

Simon, our guide, wanted to pick us up by noon... more

The salespeople had a good time helping the boys skate and were curious, wondering about our family dynamics and how we ended up with two Chinese boys.

When we agreed to buy the shoes was when the bartering began. The prices they quoted were beyond ridiculously high, and I wondered how many people actually give in and pay a much higher amount than they should. I told them repeatedly that my friend had purchased Heelys just last month for 10 U.S. dollars and they told me no way.... more

January 12, 2007

Before we left Beijing, we wanted to do some bargain shopping, so Jeff, Caleb, Ben and I headed out this evening to a market that used to be an open air market but has converted to stalls inside a multilevel department store type building. Simon, our guide, wrote out the directions in Chinese for our taxi driver, and we left Micheline in the care of Taylor and Alyssa back at the hotel. Alyssa is still quite sick, and Taylor said he has had enough of being a tourist, so he consented to stay at... more

part 7

We headed out to lunch and I was famished, hoping for some good Chinese food. Simon, our guide, decided that since Ben and Caleb are both Hubei boys, that he would take us to a restaurant that specialized in food that you would find in Wuhan. I was less than thrilled as the choices were extremely limited in what some of us would be willing to eat. Lots of fungus, kidneys, a huge variety of fish and turtles, eels, snakes and seaweed.

... more

part 6

We had friends who did the hutong tour just last week and who were told that the home they visited was worth about $500,000.00. Either inflation is way out of control, or the home they visited was considered on the wrong side of the tracks! ;)

The woman who lived there was willing to answer any questions that we had about her life there, and even though the home was very small, I liked the fact that it... more

part 5

After leaving the elementary school, we hopped back into the pedicabs. Caleb and Ben began to holler again, encouraging their drivers to go faster. When one would pass the other, the one in the lead would shriek with delight.

Our route took us past a frozen lake where people were renting what looked like gliders that they could take out across the ice. Ben was not amused that we could not just stop... more

part 4

After we left the classroom, the kids played outside on the playground for a bit and Caleb chose to be rather obnoxious. Everything was "my school was better", "our playground was bigger", "we had flowers and they don't", "we had more exercise equipment", etc. Taylor decided to put him in his place and said via our guide, "Well, their English was sure a lot better than yours." Caleb thought that... more

part 3

Our first stop was an elementary school that was in the neighborhood of the hutong that we were pedaling through. This was the best part of the tour, because we were able to visit a fourth grade classroom. Since Caleb was in fourth grade in China as well, it was nice to see what his education might have been like.

About five children stood and spoke for us in English and it was very cute... more

Before I was distracted by the politics involved with the destruction of hutongs in Bejing I was starting to tell you about our own hutong tour. I had this blog half done only to have Internet Explorer crash on me before I had hit save, which did not make me a happy camper. Let's try take two...

part 1

part 2

January 12, 2007 With Jeff staying back at the... more

Part 1

Sadly, other than the hutongs that have been preserved for tours, many of them are being torn down in the name of modernization. There are pros and cons to Beijing having the Olympics in 2008. I like to think that having the Olympics there will open the country to more scrutiny from outsiders and that perhaps some of their human rights issues will improve. One of the huge cons in my mind, however, is that the hutongs and siheyuans or courtyards that comprise the hutongs are being torn down and hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced.

I'd... more