Our flight to Detroit went well and we are now once again in the clouds on our way to Atlanta. We are all pretty tired as we slept the minimum amount in order to function on the plane as we attempt to transition back to EST. I have two girls sacked out of the plane beside me now. Sleeping in our beds will be a glorious event this evening.

Ansley enjoyed the flight and her entertainment options. I have a cute picture of her chillin below. This morning we strolled through the streets of Beijing and shopped. We found a really nice tea shop by the hotel. While walking around, I was struck again by the amount of wealth being generated and those wanting some of it. All of the high end retailers (Chanel, Prada, Louis Vitton, etc…) we’re present. In particular, I was impressed by the car dealerships (Maserati, Ferrari, Ashton Martin, Range Rover, etc..) lining the streets. Not only are these cars already expensive, most of the luxury imports have tariffs making the cost nearly triple the already excessive US prices. Things have certainly changed but you could see some of the economic and social cracks. I was surprised how blunt the China Daily newspaper was in pointing some of them out. I guess we can add that to the list of changes China as experienced since we were last there.

We said our goodbyes to the Slater family and our Beijing guide (Arthur) at the airport. The Slaters were wonderful travel mates and we thoroughly enjoyed our trip together. We feel very blessed to have been able to return to China with them allowing our daughters to share this experience.

Arthur was a great guy and we will miss him. He is a great example of the many really nice people we have meet while in China. He cares greatly for his country and it’s amazing history. Even more so, he cares about the tourists under his care and did everything he could to make us feel happy, secure and welcome. As an example, the Slater family took the train from Beijing to Xian while we flew. They described the train station as pure madness. People were everywhere and everyone was seemingly in a hurry. It sounded very much like a pedestrian version of their chaotic streets. Arthur navigated them to their train and then stood outside their window until the train departed before making his 50km trip back home late at night. He wore a suit for us today just to provide us with a formal send-off. A really great guy!

Thank you for taking the time to enjoy this journey with us. It was an amazing trip and a true blessing for our family. I will miss all of the together time we had without the distractions of life. Christi’s back held up extraordinarily well given the conditions and pace of our travels. Thank God and you for the prayers. I hope Ansley we be able to recall this trip throughout her life and how much fun we had. She has been such an overwhelming joy for Christi and I since joining our family nearly ten years ago. She has opened our eyes to many new worlds including her birth country. I hope this trip deepened her love for both the US and China. Prior to leaving, we asked the girls today if they wished they had grown up in China or the US. I liked Ansley’s answer the best. She said wherever we were.

God bless!

Woke up this morning feeling a bit better. This was good considering we had a 90 minute ride back the airport in Guilin and then a 2.5hr flight to Beijing. It probably served me well to miss a day and a half of food based on how we have been eating. We have come full circle and are back in our original hotel. What was at first strange now feels oddly familiar.

I wanted to post some pictures from our bamboo raft tour of the Li River. It was nothing short of stunning. The landscape is just so beautiful. The guides direct you upstream using a long bamboo stick by pushing from the bottom of the fairly shallow waters. The water was very clear and quite serene. The tour took roughly an hour but in the end seemed brief. The bamboo rafts are a main tourist attraction in the area so there were quite a few people on the water. A number of the Chinese people on the rafts asked to take our picture. In particular, Christi felt like a movie star as many of the Chinese people are enamored with her blonde hair. Like most landscape photos, the pictures below still don’t fully represent the beauty of the area.

Last night, the rest of the crew went to the show on the Li River. The gentlemen who choreographed the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games did the same for this performance. They all said it was really wonderful. The show started with bamboo rafts drifting in carrying lanterns with the mountains lit in the background. It sounded very cool and hated that I missed it. The other Todd claimed it to be one of his favorite events of the whole trip. This is a good thing since they were celebrating his birthday.

We elected to dine Italian tonight as we are spent on Chinese food after two straight weeks. Although, Christi made a valid argument that while in China shouldn’t it just be called “food”. We head to the airport tomorrow afternoon and will spend our morning waling the streets of Beijing. Please pray for safe smooth travels for us tomorrow.

I attached the two dogs on a scooter as I forgot the other day.

That would be me. We have made it the whole trip with everyone feeling well, but it got me today. It was nothing too bad but enough to waste a day. The good news is that this was our free day so I did not miss anything. The bad news is that our lodging is a bit more rustic like the landscape. There are some similarities between our hotel and the farmers house. Instead of an electric blanket on a wooden frame, I have a sheet on a box spring. I ache more now from resting most of the day than the initial ailment. Overall, our stay here in Yangshuo has been fine. It is just not the place you would want to be stuck. To borrow a line from a friend, we just spent three days in a one day town.

We did have a great day yesterday drifting down the Li River on bamboo rafts. I will post some pictures of it tomorrow. In the morning, we head back to Beijing for our last night in China. It has gone amazingly fast.

Everyone else is out celebrating our travel mate’s 50th B-day (the other Todd). They are attending a show with over 600 performers on the river. It is suppose to be very entertaining. I remained on my box spring resting for two straight travel days on our way home.

We made it to Guilen very late the other night and elected to sleep a little bit later. The girls ( & by that I mean parents) were a bit worn out. I think we underestimated how busy the trip would be. Part of the challenge is the distance between airport and city. The second challenge is dealing with the traffic once you reach the city. The traffic really is hard to describe and something you really need to witness to completely grasp.

In Guilen, we started by venturing towards the Reed Flute Caves. The cave was first explored by a monk about 900 years ago. The locals were afraid to enter the cave because they believed monsters or demons lived inside. Due the monk’s faith, he wasn’t worried about what he would find. Luckily for us, he discovered a beautiful cave for us the explore. Scientist believe it takes 800 years for a rock to grow one inch. In the cave, you will see stalactites reaching 30+ft ceiling to floor. It is hard to fathom how old this cave and it’s rock formations must be. Inside, you could pay an extra $5 yuan to see a turtle over 1000yrs old. Lacking a turtle expert in the group, we took a leap of faith and paid up. My gut tells me they pulled the turtle out of the Li River last week. However, I figured it was worth the risk as $5 yuan converts in to roughly US$0.85.

We stopped for a bite to eat prior to visiting a tea farm. Guilen is known for making noodles from rice floor not wheat. History suggests that Marco Polo introduced Italy to noodles after visiting this area some 700yrs ago. The noodles were fantastic and a must try if you are in the area.

At the tea farm, we had most of our assumptions about tea blown out of the tea cup. I assumed that white, green, black, etc.. tea all came from different species of plants. Actually, there are over 250 different tea shrubs in which each of these teas can come from. The distinguishing trait is when the leaves are picked. For example, white tea is the most delicate and is strictly made from the leaf sprout. Green and yellow tea (just processed differently than green) are made with part sprout and young leaf. Oolong tea is derived from a middle sized/aged leaf and black tea with the largest/mature leaf. When understanding this, you can make sense of the flavor and boldness each tea brings. The flavored teas are made the same way and just mixed with a flower or fruit at some point during the process. The girls loved picking the leaves off the trees in our traditional hats. At the end of the tour, we participated in a formal tea ceremony and were able to try several varieties of tea. It was a really fun and educational experience

The landscape in Guilen is breathtaking. The landscape is littered with small mountains rising up from the ground much like skyscrapers in Manhatten. We enjoyed the view as we drove to our last stop (Yangshoo) before returning to Beijing. The area is predominately farm land and rice fields. I saw a guy plowing with a water buffalo which was cool. We are in a much more rural setting and the buildings, streets, and traffic certainly reflect it. The government purposefully keeps Guilen (650k) and Yangshoo (300k) small so it doesn’t lose it’s appeal to tourist. They could re-pave a few of these roads though! Last year, roughly 25mm tourist visited the area (5-6mm outside of China). The car to bike/scooter ratio is skewed heavily backed towards bikes. This is more akin to our experience when we were here in 2005. A lot has changed since we were here not even a decade ago.

I wish I had been able to get a picture of all the bizarre transportation methods we have experienced. I did get the one below though of the scooter with two people and two dogs cruising around.

I am a day behind updating our adventure because we did not get settled in to our hotel until about midnight yesterday. It was a long day but one of the best thus far. We started our day shopping at the Jin Li market in Chengdu. It was so cool! The narrow streets were layered with mostly tourist shops but it was so beautiful. The decor and decorations is what really made the market so special. They had a several interesting local artists and unique crafts. For example, there was a man who made candy (like Ansley’s panda below) out of hot caramel. While he shaped it, the candy would harden and hold its shape. We were very impressed by his creations. Another lady would make candy that resembled blown glass. The girls enjoyed shooting a crossbow at targets after mowing down some ice cream. I did get a shot of a Tibetan monk on his cell phone in a Starbuck’s courtyard. I figured you don’t get to see that every day. They had what was essentially an outdoor food court. While tempting, we headed out to the Panda Sanctuary for lunch.

The weather was perfect to be outside and the Panda Sanctuary was really nice. We started with a traditional Sichuan lunch. While it is known for its spice, they took it easy on us. We only ordered a couple spicy dishes and both were very good and tolerable. While at the panda sanctuary, the girls (and Christi) had what was probably the highlight of their trip. Each had the opportunity to hold a baby panda. It was truly a rare experience and one they’ll treasure for the rest of their lives. It was hard to top that high but we spent the remainder of the afternoon wandering around the park. The grounds were lush and they have one of the largest collections of pandas in the world.

Chengdu is a must stop for anyone touring China. The city felt cleaner and newer than our other stops. Many of the residents had a noticeably lighter beautiful skin tone. The city didn’t feel overwhelming either considering it has 14mm residents. The only negative would be the typical pattern of overcast weather. This is the preferred weather of pandas though which is why the sanctuary is placed there. As a stated before, the city just has a good vibe to it.

We already blew through Guillen and are now in Yangshoo. I will try to update further tomorrow.

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Being the “foodie” that I am, I am sure many of you can find the irony in me being in the culinary capital of China (Chengdu) and us dining at KFC tonight. It is even better when you consider that my family owned a KFC (and I worked there) for many years. Chengdu is known for its Sichuan style food which is very hot. I believe we will get to tip our toe into that water tomorrow. However, we needed a break from a solid week of real Chinese food. For example, our breakfast this morning (below) looked eerily similar to our dinner last night. We did have boiled egg instead if scrambled egg though. Everything was very good again. It is just that we are not use to that style of breakfast.

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Since I didn’t get any pictures out yesterday, here are a few from our experience at the Terracotta Warriors, village school and home. I love what Ansley wrote on the chalkboard at the school.

I was pleasantly surprised to learn that our home in the farmer’s village has wifi. They said it is one of the few but still a pretty amazing sign of the times. Our hostess and daughter are extremely nice and prepared a wonderful dinner for us. I was able to watch her cook most of the meal in what most of us would call a tiny kitchen using primarily her woks. For us spoiled Americans, our lodging would be considered interesting. For example, they have a western style toilet versus the traditional squat potty historically used in China. However, the system doesn’t do well with any paper being flushed. Therefore, all paper used goes in a trash can beside the toilet. Good times with seven people sharing one bathroom. But, we have wifi!

Our day started with a trip to the terra cotta warrior museum. It was quite amazing! The site is the mausoleum for China’s first emperor named Qin Shi Huang. He was the first to unify China in 221BC. He is also responsible for starting the construction of the Great Wall. At the mausoleum, there is an estimated 10k terra cotta warriors. They are spread among five pits of which three are open to the public. Each warrior was unique with different facial features. The detail in their armor and dress was stunning. Pit 1 houses over 6000 of the soldiers and was impressive to say the least. They were made and buried with the Emperor in order to protect him in the after-life. You can tell the rank of each warrior by their hairstyle. It was truly a surreal experience and only second to the Great Wall in our trip thus far. A am sure Qin Shi Huang would be pleased knowing is still having a great impact of Chinese life some 2000 years later.

Later in the afternoon, we were able to visit a local school. The girls were able to get a glimpse of how kids in rural China gain an education. There were almost forty kids in the class with one teacher. The kids were around 7yrs old and very cute. We did not get to stay as long as hoped due to the school closing a little earlier than expected. I believe this afternoon and evening was a good dose of reality for all of us though. It should make us more appreciative for what we have and at the same time remind us not to make material items too important. We have spent our afternoon in the village greeted by a chorus of smiling faces. All of the conveniences we have aren’t needed for a happy life. However, it sure was nice to have wifi!

Having trouble with uploading pictures tonight. Here is one of Ansley though after the girls learned to make dumplings. In classic Ansley mode, she made one in the shape of a heart for her mom.

We had a great culinary day in Xian. For those that know me well, you know that this was right up my alley. We started with a traditional hot pot lunch. Basically, it is the original version of fondue. We each got out own hot pot which is a bubbling brew of chicken stock. The table was layered with various proteins, vegetables, and noodles. Trying to use chop sticks, we wrestle with our food of choice and cooked it in the hot pot (like the dry tofu noodle below). We each made our own dipping sauce with an array of ingredients. Traditionally, the core of the sauce is fermented tofu sauce, sesame paste, and coriander. From here, you can elect to add hot chili oil, garlic, soy sauce, etc…Once finish cooking, dip in sauce and enjoy. The kids liked cracking an egg in the hot pot the best.

This evening, we had an 18 course dumpling meal followed by a performance of traditional song/dance of one of the eight ruling dynasties that made Xian the capital of China. Because it was the capital city, it was fortified in the late 1300’s with a city wall. Today, it is the only remaining fulling intact city wall in the world. It stretches over nine miles. To hasten our examination, we cruised on top of the wall on tandem bikes. Yes, it was quite bumpy and I probably shouldn’t have taken a selfie (below) – especially with Ansley on the back. However, I am here the write about it and Ansley is safely in her bed. Best of all, the picture turned out quite well.

During the day, we toured an art gallery and learned about Chinese calligraphy. There are over 100,000 character. Our guide told us the average person can write roughly 5-10k. The girls were able to learn the technique and had their names drawn for them. Interestingly, Ansley’s (below) name translated in to “peaceful, gentle, beautiful” with beautiful being the same character of her Chinese birth name. Pretty cool coincidence!

Tomorrow, we visit the terra cotta warriors. If you are familiar with them, I encourage you to look it up. It is pretty amazing. The adventure extends to staying in a local farmers house in the countryside tomorrow evening. While there, we will learn how to make dumplings. Our lodging will be quite primitive compared to the nice hotel rooms thus far. We are all a little nervous I think. I doubt they have wifi so please excuse my absence tomorrow.

I feel like I am only able to share such a small amount of our experience with you. There seems to be little time in the evenings and too much needed sleep to prepare for the next day. Please excuse my tired typing and poor descriptions. We hope that each of you are well.

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We made it to our hotel in Xian last night around 11:00. It was a long but very fun filled last day in Beijing. We had been moving at a fairly torrid pace and elected to have a more relaxed morning. Christi’s phone has not been working (FYI to anyone trying to text her) so I dropped by the Apple store to no avail. Later in the morning, we took a rickshaw tour of the Hutong neighborhood. This neighborhood is over 200 years old. Beijing use to consist of mostly “Hutong” style neighborhoods but all the others have been torn down for newer buildings. This one is now protected and was a real treat to visit. We gathered in a local home for what has been our favorite meal of the trip. It was really good! The girls got to learn how to make their own kites from a kite master. We took those kite to the Temple of Heaven that afternoon. The Temple of Heaven was constructed in the early 1400’s (about the same time as the Forbidden City) and was used to pray for good harvest. Today, the facility is used mainly as a tourist site and a local park. Our guide called it a natural oxygen tank due to all the trees. The smog in Beijing was noticeable but we we’re fortunate to catch it during a milder period. We did not need to break out our mask yet. That may change today though as Xian evidently has even worse smog.

Xian was the capital city of China during several dynasties. We will visit the still intact city wall today and attend a calligraphy class. Our hotel is really nice but you can tell by the breakfast we have moved more Mainland. We had many noodle options and I could not recognize about half of our options. We are going to be pretty tired of boiled eggs by the time we make it back home!