On Friday I picked them up at the Beijing airport. We stayed at a little hotel in an old "hutong" alley with traditional Chinese housing. Then we proceeded to visit the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, Tiananmen, and the Hongqiao Pearl Market--all in two days!
I have been to Beijing several times now. It always amazes me how much cleaner and more Western it becomes every time! It is so orderly and nice that I really don't feel like I'm in China. But we had a great time, especially seeing each other after nearly 9 months apart! I also got to speak an incredible amount of Chinese as I had the honor of being their fearless guide.
On Sunday night my brave family and I got on an overnight train to Nanchang, which is on the opposite end of China. We arrived on Monday morning in Nanchang--nearly the complete opposite of touristy Beijing. It is gritty, dirty, extremely chaotic, and quite off the beaten path. And my family got to experience the worst taxi ride ever, which is a difficult accomplishment, since most Nanchang taxi rides are hair raising, to say the least. They managed to see a girl lying on the street with her moped on her after getting hit; they saw the incredible amount of people/animals/children meandering on foot/bicycle/tractor through the crowded streets as we swerved around them at about 100 km/hr.
Anyways, we survived, and now we have been spending the past several days teaching and hanging out with students. Thanks for your thoughts! It's so wonderful to be able to share my China life with my family and see the culture and people in a new light.
(With Mom and Andrea on the Great Wall--Mom's dream!)
(At Tiananmen Square)
(Welcome to Nanchang)
(One of my excited classes. Can you spot Andrea?)
(My students love my Mom and Andrea).
2 comments:
Oh! I love them, too! I am so excited for your time with your family! Have a blast! Love,
Alicia
yayyyy!! haha i finally see your beijing pics :) so glad to meet your family too!!
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