Beijing Duck Dinner

Pictures from our dinner experience!

Great Wall

First of all, sorry for not writing the last couple of days, but we've been a little busy! After our taxi experience from the Forbidden City, we were definitely excited for our private driver to pick us up and take us to the Great Wall on Tuesday. Weather was still very cold with snow everywhere. We managed to get us all in a cable car and up the mountain to the absolutely amazing Great Wall. What an absolute feeling of amazement to stand up there and think about how difficult it was to have constructed it and the years it took to do it. Katy's exact words were, "I am in awe!". It was a little treacherous because of the steep stairs and ice that was packed on each step, so Curtis stayed at the beginning with Nana and the rest of us walked the wall for a faurly long distance. Mike had a great idea to climb up this narrow stairway to a look out area. The view was spectacular and we had a nice little snack together, then tried to get back down the icey steep stairs! Ha! It was a site to be seen, but we made it.

Our driver then took us to see the Bird's nest and the Water Cube from the Olympics. Once again, another amazing site to see. Our hotel suggested a place to eat Beijing Duck for dinner that was within walking distance of the hotel. Of course, by the time we were half way there we all had a different version of the directions to the restaurant, but never the less we found it. Curtis was pleased that we were all amazingly surprised that we all liked the duck!

By now, Macy is really tired of all the attention to her blonde hair, and sticks like glue to Curtis, knowing that he is her only hope to tell these people that they can't touch her hair or take pictures of "your little child".

Back to the hotel fairly ealy as we were off to see Tianjin the next day! Tomorrow we will update you on our trip to Tianjin, which was so fun, and Betsy's exciting adventure entering Hong Kong while getting detained in immigrations!

Second Day in China; Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City

Uncle Mike falling asleep by the pool after the long day

Towards the end of our stay at the Forbidden City

Beautiful Scenary at the Imperial Garden

Our long, freezing walk back to the hotel

The beginning of our journey through the Forbidden City

After a short walk to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, we began our sight seeing adventure in China. The weather was a bit cold but spirits were high. We had a great time seeing the more than 600 year old city that housed emperors and concubines. Walking up and down the icey stairs was a bit scarey with Nanya and company, but we made the walk safely from the entrance to the exit. After we completed our journey through the forbidden city we encountered our first experience of Beijing taxi cab drivers. We were rejected from three or four rides before we decided to walk back to the hotel. The walk back to the hotel was a bit longer than anticipated. Upon our arrival to the hotel, we decided to go to lunch at a magnificant Chinese restaurant in the Grand Hyatt Hotel. Curtis ordered our "questionable dishes"(speaking in Mandarin, we have been so completely impressed with his proficiency of the language! He is amazing!) and like the troupers we are, we ate. After eating we went to the market and shopped. Hours of bargaining left us without money and forced to head back to the hotel. Everyone was satisfied with their purchases and quite tired of the chaos. We decided to go to the club lounge for drinks and appetizers to settle everyone down. We headed back down to Pee Schree (Uncle Mike's Mandarin term for Hotel Floor P3) to finish off the evening pool side. We ate a little bit of dinner and the kids swam. Tomorrow we are going to see the Great Wall of China and maybe to one other sight. Everyone is having a great time!

First Day in China

Standing in front of the Grand Hyatt pool

Complimentary robes and panda bears

Katy and Macy snuggling and comfy with sleep pockets & stuffed animals

We finally arrived. Only to discover a gigantic city with millions of people that was completely covered in snow. Either way, seeing my baby boy made all right again. We loaded up in our Benz with a half ton of luggage and headed to the hotel. We were suprised upon arrival to see a magnificant hotel that reminded us of a cross between Ceasars Palace and the Bellagio. The city we all thought was Beijing was indeed not quite what we expected. We all dreamed and imagined that there was going to be pagaodas everywhere with Chinese roof tops. Instead, there is skyrise buildings and modern architecture. We decided to begin our evening by cleaning up a bit and heading to our complimentary happy hour lounge. After a few satisfying drinks and appetizers, we headed to Da Giorgio, a delicious Italian restaurant. We ate our dinner and headed to the pool. The pool is magnificant indoor pool. The ceiling looks similar to that of the malls in Caesar's Palace. The stary skys above the jungle esque features provide a feeling of complete tranquility.

We are off tomorrow to see the Tiananmen Square/Forbidden City, shop at the silk market, and possibly the zoo. Ending our evening with a delicious Da Dong trip to eat the world reknowned Beijing Duck.

Sent from my iPhone

Our Trip Has Begun

We made it to Chicago! Breakfast at Chili's and a few beverages...now
the fun flight to Beijing. Instead of matching pj's like we had at
Christmas, we all have matching sleep pockets. In case u aren't
familiar with those...they r like silky cocoons that u get in for
comfort or in my case to avoid the germs!

The Okie's Itinerary

Sunday, March 14th:

 

    Arrive Beijing 4:30.  Curtis meets us and off to hotel in our Mercedes Van.  Dinner at Ritz Carlton.

 

Monday, March 15th:

 

    Silk Market for suits

    Forbidden City

 

    Dinner:  Beijing Duck

 

Tuesday, March 16th:

 

    Great Wall Tour

    Beijing Zoo to see Pandas

 

    Dinner:  Relaxing dinner at hotel?  Evening by the pool?

 

Wednesday, March 17th:

 

    Train to Tianjin:  Curtis to show us the sights of the city.

 

Thursday, March 18th:

 

    7:30 a.m. flight to Hong Kong

    11:15 a.m. arrive Hong Kong

 

    Day and evening at Disneyland, maybe pool or beach time also?

 

Friday, March 19th:

 

    Ferry or train to Hong Kong

    Go to the Peak

    

    p.m. Victoria Harbor Symphony of Lights either by ferry or Chinese Sailing Junk

 

    back to Disneyland Resort

 

Saturday, March 20th:

 

    a.m. Visit Big Buddha and Polin Monastery

    p.m. Disneyland

 

Sunday, March 21st:

 

    Leave Hong Kong 12:30 p.m.