Shanghai and Beijing

It’s hard to believe that after all these months, my blogging days are coming to an end! I’m writing this blog from the Bullet Train (so cool) enroute from Tokyo to Kyoto and now we only have four more days left of our adventure. There’s no doubt that after we left Bali everyone felt anxious about returning home to friends, family, surfing, our home and Scout. With mixed emotions, loads of great memories and an enhanced vision of the world, we humbly look forward to setting foot on American soil.

Shanghai was a quick stop, but one of the most spectacular visions of a city we’ve seen so far. We were camped out on the 73rd floor of the Grand Hyatt, with incredible views of the city and the Bund River. The architecture of Shanghai is spectacular – each building more impressive then the one next to it. Sadly, the city is smothered in smog most of the time, but we were lucky to have witnessed a few nasty thunderstorms that cleared the air and increased our view of the entire metro area of Shanghai. We walked through Yu Yuan Gardens, ate at the famous Nanxian Bun Shop, sipped tea and made friends in a local tea shop, had a fabulous dinner at M on the Bund and enjoyed the view from our hotel room.

There is no doubt that Beijing is “on it’s best behavior” with the pending spectacle of the Olympics in a few weeks. The city is so clean and polished and the Olympic Village is a vision. The two most impressive buildings are the Water Cube, home to the water sports, and the Birds Nest, which will host the opening ceremonies and track and field events. Another impressive building that popped up for the Olympics is an all white building designed in the shape of the Olympic torch. You can really feel the excitement and pride the Chinese people have for hosting this awesome event.

We were lucky to have connected with some friends in Beijing that Matt has met through business. Jamie Lee, who heads the Beijing division of LA Inc., took great care of us in China and we had a really fun day at the Pearl Market with her. We took advantage of her ability to speak Mandarin, as well as her excellent negotiating skills! Matt’s friend, Steve Harper, who owns New Horizons Realty, took us out for a traditional Peking duck dinner and a night ride around the city.

I had been looking forward to walking on the Great Wall of China for some time and I was not disappointed. There are several places for tourists to experience the wall and we were taken to the Badaling section, which was beautiful. The Great Wall Museum at the entrance to the wall gave a fascinating overall history of why, when and where the wall was built and the role it played in Chinese history. Matt and I could have walked for hours, but the girls were a little tired, so we headed back. On the way down, a Chinese teenage girl grabbed Alex’s hand and welcomed her to Beijing, which was so sweet. She then asked if she could take a photo with Alex and she agreed. Then she wanted to take a photo of our family and before we knew it, we had started a feeding frenzy of photo taking of the novel American family on the Great Wall! It was very cute and I’m still not sure if they thought we were famous, or if they just thought we were funny Americans! (probably the latter, although Matt has been photographed and video tapped on this trip more then Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise put together!)

Matt and Alex visited the Forbidden City (unfortunately Madeline and I were not feeling well) and Alex loved it. Matt had been before so he got to show her around. One evening at sunset, Matt and I walked around the lake in an area called HoHai, which is completely charming – filled with cafes and little shops and locals strolling the little streets. Oh, we also headed over to the Beijing Zoo to visit the panda bears that had been rescued from the earthquake zone. They were quite the spectacle, so it was a little crowded, but we snapped a few good photos and they are so cute! It’s so incredibly difficult to visit a zoo after our experience with the animals in the Masai Mara, Lake Manyara and the Ngorongoro Crater. The girls will never be the same and we all have a greater appreciation for the wild, untamed circle of life. Zoo’s can be sanctuaries which benefit some animals, but Beijing didn’t feel that way and it was a little depressing, so we had to leave.

The Chinese people are so wonderful. Communication is a challenge, but they are always so generous and willing to help. It’s easy to be here in China. I had always envisioned traveling in this part of the world to be a bit of a chore, but it’s just not so. The taxi drivers are practicing their English, “dog” has been removed from all menus, and the city factory production has been reduced to 40% to clean up the air in time for the Olympics! Only in China!

See you in Japan for the last leg.