Think today was maybe highlight of the trip… hard to call it, but the Panda visit was really incredible and we visited an ancient/small town afterwards, Jiezi, that was really special. J/Matt and crew needed to be here for Panda time! Have sooo many videos to share too.

Here’s some snapshots from the day. We started by getting suited up in our jumpsuits. As Rawls said (many times) “who you going to call… Panda busters!”

We did very much do the dirty work// panda space clean out 

Not at all excited to feed the panda (bamboo shoots):

We ate with the volunteer crew — what they ate

Making panda cakes:

The boys made another friend. She was v. Sweet as well as her parents // they were visiting from Beijing

We headed afterwards to a walk through the ancient town of Jiezi. Loved walking through the streets, trying snacks / no tourism here it seemed.

And this was funny.  LEGO copyright doesn’t not extend here.  Minecraft = cubeworld and costs 88 yuan (abt $12)

Tomorrow heading farther south to Yangshuo, our last stop before one night in Beijing on way home!

Happy New Year’s Eve (for us today and for you all as waking)!

We woke up not quite as bright and early to visit the Terra Cotta warriors.  The warriors were buried with Emperor Qinshihuang to protect him in the afterlife (along with dancers and other areas of the Mausoleum that are in planning stages of excavation). I didn’t realize until today how recently the site was discovered. A man, farmer Yangzhifa engaged the government in just 1974 to look into the pieces of warrior that were coming up in his field. Other farmers had discovered pieces of the warriors and thought they were bad omens, burying them back into the earth. Sometimes farmer Y (now 72) is at the sites and today we were able to meet him!

Here we are at the entrance. Unlike the past few days, it was reallly cold today, if you can’t tell 😉

There are three sites that can be toured along with a building setup housing two bronze chariots. 

Since it’s low season, the archaeology team was actively working / during heavier seasons they apparently avoid open site hours (working behind boys here)

These school kids were more interested in meeting S than viewing the site:

R wanted to share this selfie

In the afternoon after heading back in town, we walked a bit of the old city wall. At night, this is so beautifully lit:

And bc it was very cold// we defrosted (bathing caps required!)

Happy New Years all!

Wow.. the Great Wall — in awe and also a bit tricky to navigate.  Absolutely beautiful visit, with a bit more stress, mostly as some of the path had iced over in spots and Shepherd is magnetically attracted to the icy/snowy patches.

We drove about an hour and a half outside of Beijing to the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall. Getting to the top was easy / by gondola!

Going down was much fun/ via toboggan! This guy behind William was an absolute trip.

We made it back for a brief rest before checking out the best Peking duck spot in town / Dadong (and realizing we went to the NYC offshoot of this placeduring Harry Potter “intermission”). Boys did so well with new food today.

Some S highlights from dinner (Rawls was barely awake this go around):

• “I wish I had this every day of my life”
• “I’m glad the Chinese make Siamese duck.“
• “Duck is like chicken but easier to chew.”
• “Dad… pls don’t give me anymore meat. Ok. I’ll eat it.”
• Also # of chopstick pairs dropped to the floor… 3! 

Random thing we learned: in China, if you want a car, you have to enter a lottery for a license plate, the cost of which is more expensive than most cars (300k rmb). Our tour guide has been in the lottery for 3 years with still no luck. Purchasing a domestic, electric car can get you a license plate more quickly (but he wants a minivan for his fam 😉

Also, it’s bad luck to point the spout of a tea pot directly towards any guest at a table.

New things we tried: congee (plain and prawn), soy milk (s), duck (boys)

To bed! Early wake up to head to Xian

“I like traveling so far” “Today was amazing” – Rawlings
“Dumplings are my new favorite food” – Shepherd
“Rawlings is the youngest visitor to tour the Forbidden palace for as long as we have today, since I’ve been doing this” – Fred, the best tour guide ever 😉

We had a great first day in Beijing! Started the morning with a diverse breakfast spreas at the hotel– steamed buns, noodle bar and plenty of pastry options that the boys enjoyed. We walked around the neighborhood near the Park Plaza where the Jing Bao shopping area is located over several blocks.

Shepherd found where the Dominos pizza delivery bikes are stored:

We met our guide, Fred, at 9am and drove to Tiananmen Square.  As much as we were taking in the setting, the boys were very popular with everyone else visiting — Fred said it’s their light hair…?

We walked through Mao’s massive mausoleum where he is very eerily well preserved. Rawlings remarked that he looked very short (Fred shared that he actually wasn’t). The crowds have been very light given the time of year, but we’ve been lucky weather wise– entirely pleasant to walk outside for the entire morning.

We moved on to the Forbidden Palace and spent well over two hours exploring the gardens, temples and treasures. The boys loved the massive copper pots intended to capture rain water in case of fire.

We had lunch at a very yummy dumpling house known for its soup dumplings

And then and afternoon of kid friendly adventures

Hackey sack

Water calligraphy

Meeting the ultimate cricket fighter followed by a cooking class that took place in a home in a hutong.

And then the boys hit the brick wall of tired!

We had an amazing first day and resting early for the visit to the Great Wall tomorrow!