Visitors

Abbie and James came to visit!  Even though we are still new here and don't know all the places to go, we were very happy to welcome family here.  They flew into Shanghi and spent a day at Disneyland.  Then they took a "sleeper" train to Xi'an.  I put "sleeper" in quotations because I'm not sure they did too much sleeping on it!  😳😂 That's a story you'll have to hear from them.  I picked them up at the train station on Tuesday morning.  I was pretty proud of myself that I got there without any problems.  Now I feel like, yeah it's no big deal.  But I was still a newbie then.  While waiting for them to arrive (the station is FULL of people just sitting around outside with their suitcases and family) a sweet older lady came up and offered me an egg. I politely declined but she insisted and put it in my bag that I was carrying with food for Abbie and James since they wouldn't have had breakfast yet.  I thanked her and threw it away when I got home.  😬 It was hardboiled at least, but you just never know....

Then our journey began with the Schramms.  We rode bikes on the top of the old city wall.  It's around 3-4 miles.  It was quite hot but we still loved it.  We walked through the Muslim Quarters and tried the food some more.  We rode buses and subways around the city.  We took a private tour guide as we went through the Terra-Cotta Warriors.  Without the help of the guide, we would have missed so much.  It was well worth the 300 RMB which is about $30.  (Most things are so cheap here--as long as you don't go into the big fancy malls! 😮) . They got to experience a morning in the classrooms with us.  It was my VERY FIRST day of teaching so I didn't even know what I was getting in to or what to expect so they spent most of the time with Kim.  We also visited the Wild Goose Pagoda which is a active monk monastery.  On Thursday night they left and took another sleeper train to Beijing. On Friday after school we took the bullet train and joined them.  We didn't have a lot of time since we had to leave to come back Sunday afternoon but we're glad we did it.  We were able to see Tiananmen Square, The Great Wall of China, drove past the "Bird's Nest" from the Olympics, saw an acrobat show and went to the Emperor's Summer Palace.  Abbie & James visited the Forbidden City and said the Summer Palace was much better.  Glad we got to go there.  It was beautiful.



"Old City Wall"
One of Kim's classes.  He has 8.
Riding the bus is so fun!  

Having a "fish bath" . The fish eat the dead skin off your feet.  It tickles and fells so weird.  We all did it but I can't find the pictures of Abbie and I.  :(

Muslim District/Quarters
 Muslim Mosque 
Bell Tower in the very center of the old city and right outside of the Muslim Quarters.

 Terra-Cotta Warriors.  This place was amazing.



 The only warrior that had no damage done to it.  
 Notice the "old" man who is slumped slightly and the "skinny" young man in front of him.  Every warrior has character and is different--definitely representing individuals.
This is at the Wild Goose Pagoda.  It is a functioning Monastery.  There are several depictions of Buddha in many buildings.  Something I definitely have little knowledge of and would like to know more.

 The Pagoda which was built to store scriptures that were brought here.  Books and books and books.


 Sometimes their translations get a little crazy! ☺️
Lighting incense.
Bullet Train to Beijing
Tiananmen Square

 The Great Wall of China
 It was a little hazy that day but it could have been worse.  This is at Mutianyu.  The crowds were not bad at all and it was a Saturday.


How we came down from the wall.  Would have been more fun if the people in front of us hadn't gone sooooo slow!
 Waiting for the Acrobat Show



 This was the Emperors' summer palace.  VERY BEAUTIFUL!


 People have written things on these red cards and hung them here.  We think they might be prayers. 😏

This was my favorite thing while at the Summer Palace.  It was so cool.  Kim took a video with James joining in with this group.  It's pretty funny.  You can't tell he doesn't know what he's doing.  It reminds me of the grinch when he tries to join in the singing with all the Whos on Christmas Morning.  😂 But unfortunately I don't have a copy of that video.  😢





Comments

  1. AbbieSeptember 27, 2017 at 10:40 PM

    We had a great time traveling with you guys!! I think we biked like 11 miles around the city wall though, right? Not 3-4. Didn't they say the whole thing was 14 miles and we almost made it?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. RropermomSeptember 27, 2017 at 11:14 PM

      EEK! Was it that far. It make more sense why we hurt so much. 😅 My memory is shot. 🤔

      Delete
  2. Gasper AlmeidaSeptember 29, 2017 at 8:04 AM

    What an amazing adventure
    Great reading the blog

    ReplyDelete
  3. jpinkSeptember 29, 2017 at 9:28 PM

    So many fun things! That fish bath sounds a bit weird :)

    ReplyDelete

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