Destination: China

In November I was able to take a vacation and meet up with the Superparents in China.  It was a vacation for the books. 

We went with a tour group with great guides around to four different cities: Beijing, Souzhou, Hangzhou, and Shanghai for a total of about 10 days.  It was quite a change from the third world Cambodia I was used to...mostly because China has winter! 

We were able to see the Summer Palace (above)

Some of the older folks practiced their calligraphy by painting with large brushes and water on the ground.  It dried right up and they started all over again. 

This was one of my favs.  I can imagine a conversation between two builders: 

"What shape should we make the windows?" 

"...All of them!"

Tienanmen Square: the Square you have heard so much about...maybe.

It really is as big as they say.  

The Forbidden City was by far the largest complex I had ever seen in my entire life, and supposedly it housed only the royal family! Beyond gorgeous, though. 

The animals on the rooftops signified status, so only emperors could have this many animals while peasants and others might have only one or two.  I thought that was pretty interesting.  

One of my favorite parts of the trip was CLIMBING THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA!!!!

The view was truly amazing and how many people can say they have meandered along the Great Wall? In America, I mean.  

Dad was pretty happy we made it.  

And I took some of the best timed selfies EVER. Because when everyone you're with makes it to the top, says "Yay, we made it" and then heads back down...you know the right thing to do is to continue on by yourself.  I mean, it's the Great Wall of China!

We got to see the Bird's Nest from the Olympics,

the Temple of Heaven (who doesn't want to visit a place with a name like that?!)

And a randomly cool thing we saw was the residence of the recently deceased King of Cambodia, Sihanouk.  We were on the bus on the street when the tour guide pointed it out and I kind of gave a little gasp and realized that I was probably the only one who knew the history of the man who had lived there.  I tried to explain to the people around me on the bus but maybe you will have better luck if you Google it.  He was welcomed in China when he was deposed and gave up the crown a few separate times in his history.  I will dive a little bit more into this in a separate blog about Khmer history.  

We took a rickshaw around some of the older parts,

Where they gave us great deals.

And saw some moon doors!

A really cool trip was down a river in Souzhou where we were able to head to a "traditional market".  Upon arriving, I noticed how much bigger and cleaner it was than the market in my village in Cambodia!

And we also headed to a silk factory in Souzhou where we were able to observe how the silk thread is taken from cocoons.  

Family pics in gardens happened,

And we got advice from Confucius.  

Saw where famous Chinese tea was grown on a tea plantation,

and had a great view of Shanghai at night.  

We got to ride the fastest train in the world! 

which apparently could get up to speeds of 500km/hr given enough track...but due to the length of the track that was built, 431 km/hr was close to as fast as we got.

And so to finish this blog, I leave you with promises of comparison descriptions later, as well as these gems- which will show you how to dress if you are a tourist during a rainy day (of any country of your choosing), 

a perpetual thought to keep in your head:

the last place I visited in China: a lit market.  

and a rare but adorable sighting of a Chinese child. 

And I got to see the Superparents! Best vacation ever. 

Cheers,

xo-Amanda