Beijing Part One: Payback

Temple of Heaven.
(Well, not to Tucker.)

When I was three years old, my grandparents and mom took me to Washington D.C. I remember basically nothing about the things I saw at the time. There are two distinct memories: red velvet and the national incident. The red velvet, I learned on my return trip in January 1993 for Clinton's inauguration was the velvet ropes used to keep The People from The Important Stuff. If you think of it, those are at perfect eye level of a three year old. I recall seeing basically them and nothing else. The second thing I remember is more significant and something I teased my beloved Geeky about until the day he left us: he gave me a spanking (the only one I ever got from him and one I surely deserved) in Arlington National Cemetery. I was an irrational three year old and had caused quite a scene. 

So, if you are into karma, the past four and half days in Beijing were the Great Payback. The reality of my memory of that trip makes me certain that in years from now when asked, Hudson and Tucker will only remember their visit to the capital of China as an incredibly hot place where people randomly touched them, meanwhile mom and dad constantly were threatening them within an inch of their lives. If we were not being always watched, I guarantee they would have been beaten in Beijing. They were both acting like irrational three year olds the entire time.

(Deep breath)

Understatement of the century: Traveling with a child is difficult. 

Heck, I have friends who freak out going to Florida with their kids. I brought mine to China. This is not a point of comparison, just acknowledging the reality that I still think we are crazy. I am really over telling my boys to be "more quiet" or to "not run too far ahead" My dreams of wide open (safe) spaces where there are no manholes or poop or stray animals or water hazards will probably continue until we leave. But that is the same blog you have already read. So here is a quick overview of our Beijing trip.

Running (and capturing attention) at Temple of Heaven.

Beijing, to me, is an easier China. Yes, it is bigger and more crowded, but I really enjoyed our time there. First of all, this is a total cultural copout, regardless, I loved being able to speak in English almost our entire trip. It just made life easier! Not to mention that signage for stores, whether they be insurance or liquor, were at least 50% of the time written in Chinese AND English. Glory! Amen! 

We stayed in the really nice Beijing Hilton near the US Embassy. The breakfast was fantastic and Western. REAL bacon, omelets, potatoes, you know the stuff you are used to. Walking around the town, in the general, everyday life areas, we were definitely foreign, but not stared at like we are in Wuhan. Even our mattress was not the rock-hard, Chinese mattress with no padding. It might have been the softest bed I have ever slept on. Finally, food from home, like real AMERICAN imported stuff was everywhere. We hit up two shopping markets and SERIOUSLY Hudson and I danced in the aisles of the Friendship International Grocery when we found Pop-Tarts and A&W Rootbeer. (Gwen, this totally made me think of you.) 

While in Beijing our lunches were nasty Chinese buffets (part of the tours) but our dinners were amazing feasts of Italian, German, and American fare that would rival any great restaurant at home. So, in fact, it really was a vacation from our current situation.

On Wednesday we took the nearly 5 hour high speed train to the city. On Thursday, the kids and I explored all over the area around our hotel. After looking on Mapquest, I think we must have walked nothing short of 4 miles that day. On Friday, all of us were together. We went to the US Embassy for Visa stuff, then toured Summer Palace and Temple of Heaven with a guided excursion/private van. On Saturday, we went to the JuYongGuan Pass section Great Wall and out to dinner with friends. On Sunday, we visited Tiananmen Square prior to catching our cab to head back to the railway station and taking the 5 hour train ride home.

Old man and instrument. Temple of Heaven.

Yep, that is a lot to pack into just a couple of days. But that is how it is. You try as hard as you can to check off all those "musts." With kids though, you just can't. You have to do things at a much slower pace or everyone is just off their rocker. We saw a lot, but very briefly.

He is SO unhappy here.

While Beijing was an easier time for me, it was not necessarily easier for the kids. Our little life here in Wuhan: the safe apartment, our driver Song, their toys, the streets they know is the home that they know right now. I desperately hope that we can go back, for reasons I will talk about in my next blog, but for now, I am so glad that I was able to see what I did.

If you tell him a joke about farts, he smiles. FYI.

And I am so glad that I will forever be able to ask Tucker, "Remember that time when I changed your diaper [standing up] on the Great Wall of China?"

He is smiling because his diaper is soaking wet at the moment.