the visit: Great Wall

There's a good shot of Hannah, completely unaware that we were on our way to the Great Wall. She was also blissfully unaware of Eli getting carsick on the way there too. Lucky her...but lucky me too (I had an extra shirt).


Here we are setting out. Little do we know how tired we will be by the time this day is done...

We were ambitious and did decide to "try to the whole route" but at least we did not leave "evening into the scenic".

Gorgeous weather and even a breeze!

Dana and Eli walked a lot of the way on their own, I'm sure I sprouted more than a few gray hairs as they navigated the stairs (especially going down!).

And here's Speedy Brimacombe. He reminds me of Dash from the movie "The Incredibles".

This is the view at the end of the climb, just cross the bridge and go through a maze to get to the parking lot where we were picked up. My mom and I (with Hannah) decided to walk the rest of the wall that you could see beyond the bridge. There were three more towers to get to and where it ended there was still a trail which we did not reach the end of.

I was sore for at least 5 days afterwards, hobbling around like a lame sheep and wincing if the kids so much as touched my legs. My mom was just fine though, a regular mountain goat! I hope I can be like her when I grow up! She's 68 for goodness sake!

the visit: Qingdao

After one day of rest at home, we took off again, this time to Qingdao, a coastal "town" (only a few million people) about 6 hours southeast.

Besides going to the beach we saw an old Lutheran church (circa 1907) and a naval museum.

Dana just knew how to look cute as she climbed the dark green contraptions.

Eli, however, meant business and wanted to use what the tanks had to offer. He was disappointed that they didn't really shoot.

Babi (my mom) and Dana in front of a plane that my brother Albert probably knows how to fix by now. Isn't that right Albert?

And heading out to go get some lunch. The kids and I had a rest in the afternoon while Scott walked around and scouted out some famous authors' former residences.

That evening, we walked down the pier and bought some shells and other souvenirs and gifts. Then we had kebabs for dinner. Alas, a lot of seafood is lost on me, I much preferred the lamb kebabs over the shrimp or squid, a true land-lubber am I.

This "beach" was just across the street from our hotel. We didn't swim here, but just leaped on the rocks and played in the sand. This was shortly before Boppa (Alan) accidentally threw Eli right into the water. He meant to throw him clear to the shore as it was already too far for Eli to jump it with the tide coming in, but Eli landed on his bottom right in the water. We all had a good laugh about that as the locals wondered what on earth we were trying to do.

Aha, a rare Hannah sighting! She was often in the back of the stroller, hidden under my nursing cover being fed, or in this carrier with a hat on.

Dana liked picking up the green "rocks". Sad to say that they were actually pieces of broken glass whose sharp edges had been worn down by the sand and waves. She picked up a neat collection of them at any rate.

the visit: Tiananmen and Forbidden City

Scott's parents agreed to watch Eli and Dana and take them swimming while my mom, Hannah, Scott and I did a rush job of seeing Tiananmen Square. So many people, and I couldn't believe how long the queue to see Chairman Mao's body there was.


Here was another neat dragon on a mural as we entered the Forbidden City which is quite near to Tiananmen Square.

And a picture of Scott and I as we were leaving. We had to hurry so that we could check out of the hotel on time, and me stopping to feed Hannah meant that we really couldn't do justice to even the few parts we saw in the Forbidden City.

I guess it just means we will have to go again sometime, that's all, right mom?.

the visit: Summer Palace

Another necessary sight to see in Beijing is the Summer Palace. We found that if we climbed (and carried a stroller up) a few hundred stairs, there were less people, and more nature to enjoy.

Colourful, ornate, and detailed architecture in the buildings. Gold and red are favourite colours it seemed to me.

Here we walked along a path that went around a man-made lake. There were a few people fishing as well.

This is one of the views on our way up the stairs. We were thankful for a relatively clear day and for the fact that the rain that fell earlier cooled us down somewhat.

the visit: Temple of Heaven

What an exciting time to be alive! We were so happy to host my mom and Scott's parents for two weeks in July. It was a hot time to come, but they were all real troopers and up for anything we had planned. So on day 3 of their visit, we packed up and went to Beijing for two days in order to catch some of the tourist sights there.

A group shot. Eli still hasn't warmed up to cameras, because living here and being blonde means he gets more than his fair share of complete strangers wanting a picture of him, or with him. I don't blame him for his annoyance.

I gathered that this dragon is a bit of a rogue and prone to flying off, so putting a chain net over him was deemed necessary...

Our pace was regulated by little Hannah's clockwork feedings. How pleasant to travel with such patient people, large and small. Oh and it also helped to have snacks and water on hand.

After seeing the Temple of Heaven, we had lunch and then took the kids to the pool.

Christmas and snow!

We had a wonderful Christmas! We especially enjoyed Skyping our families and chatting with them. The kids were pleased to receive Play Doh (especially for Dana)toys and Lego (especially for Eli). The best toy of all was the box the Play Doh Creativity Center came in: the kids are sitting in the box and it reminded me that they are two of the best gifts I've ever received!

We also had a big snowfall (after Christmas), the biggest in 20 years. I went around taking pictures of "typical Chinese snowmen." Here are a two examples.

Yep, just piles of snow, with heads on top, but points given for creative decorating of the heads nonetheless. It was entertaining to me (since I do not own a car) how upside-down the city was rendered by this snowfall. It really slowed things down for a few days there, and it seemed to clean things up a bit (rather refreshing to see clean white snow on the ground for a few days rather than the usual dirt and frozen loogies!)

big snowman and big news!

We got more snow! It only lasted a day so we had to take the opportunity to make a snowman, as (this time) the snow was actually sticky enough to roll and build a snowman. While Scott and I worked on the snowman (Scott made the bottom and middle, I just made the head), the kids fended for themselves at the little playground.

We couldn't and didn't let Eli wreck the snowman we were building so he had to satisfy that need by kicking the snow off some shrubs instead.

Here's Eli on the teeter-totter.

And Dana (the more cautious one) assessing the danger on the slide...

She did go down after all.

Voila! Our finished work--the best-looking (well most typical anyway) snowman I have ever made, not to mention the tallest (~six feet tall!). Scott and I had to both lift the middle section together to get it on its bottom section.

And Scott, the one who did the lion's share of the work:

The one on the left just received a full three-year scholarship to do a Master's degree in Modern Chinese Literature! We are really excited at this opportunity! Without the scholarship, we could not, would not consider doing this, but all is paid for! He even has an office on campus that he uses as his study space. Scott has been reading as much as he can as fast as he can as a result(yes, in Mandarin!), he has really jumped in with both feet!

.

Since Scott has a study space on campus, we have decided to move to a slightly smaller place closer to Eli's school. Eli and Dana share a room now (since Thailand) and so a 2 bedroom is all we really need. It didn't take long to find a suitable one and now we are poised to move on May 1st.

Chinese New Year almost here!

I am off school as of yesterday for the Chinese New Year holiday and tomorrow we fly to Thailand. A neighbour said it was good timing as there is talk of a blizzard coming on Saturday. In any case, we will really appreciate the warm weather, clean air and the ocean, not to mention Thai food...


They have been busy decorating our xiao qu (neighbourhood) and even supplied us with posters to put on the outside of our doors with the character fu (福) which means blessing. Red and gold posters, red paper cut-outs are everywhere, ushering in the year of the Ox.

We recently went for a walk to a park nearby which had some ice. You might be thinking, 'oh they went skating, how nice...' but no, we tried something we'd never seen or heard of before.

It's a cross between skating, sledding and cross-country skiing. The little sleds have two blades that enable them to glide along the ice, and usually they are self-propelled via two small ski poles. The ski poles looked a little dodgy to me, and frankly dangerous with the inch long spikes on the end of them, so we went without.

At least three of us could fit on at a time and I would push, or Scott would use the short ski poles. Eli preferred to push Dana and Dana liked being pushed in the sled so it really worked out well. Where we live is pretty flat, so this is as close as we got to going sledding this winter.

I was glad that I actually had a use for those winter boots I bought the kids this year. I bought them in faith that we would 1. get some snow and 2. be able to do some winter activities...plus they weren't all that expensive. Although it seems mild here most of the time compared to where we're from in Canada, the wind can get pretty chilly here, cutting to the bone as you walk or bike where you need to go.

As we walked back from the park where we went ski-sledding, we must have passed at least three of these roadside stands selling firecrackers. Chinese people prefer to start their New Year with a bang and it is LOUD...like, don't bother trying to sleep kind of loud! I didn't ask how much the different kinds were, but I couldn't resist getting a picture. The whole country will soon be erupting in firecrackers and fireworks on Chinese New Year, I hope you do your part in celebrating too, even if it's just ordering Chinese Food or shooting a cap gun.

eventful May...

As mentioned before, Scott made a quick trip to Canada to be at our friend Jeff's wedding. Here's a picture of him with the groom (right) and another excellent buddy Zeal (middle): A definite highlight for Scott was seeing his family. He got to meet his sister's boyfriend Mike, spend some time in the mountains with his dad, as well as see his grandpa. Wish I could have been there! I love this picture of the three generations of Brimacombe men, if I knew how, I would splice a picture of Eli in to make it four. I can just imagine Scott coaching his mom on how to take the picture which explains the expression on his face.Meanwhile, back in Canada, Pam and I were having a great ol' time. Poor girl though, she didn't get to see much in the way of tourist sites (next time, I promise!). Instead, I gave her the tour of parks and play areas since we had "tire out Eli" on the agenda every morning. When Scott returned we did do a little sight-seeing and souvenir shopping though. We had loads of fun, went for bikerides and walks, watched movies, got massages, took a boat ride, had a picnic...we packed a lot into the ten days. Here's one of our more serious (well Pam's anyway) shots:
And here's Eli on a tank. There was a sign that probably said "Don't climb on the tank" but my Mandarin reading is still not there yet so we took the opportunity for a photo. It was one of those cases of "don't ask, just ask for forgiveness later if necessary" courses of action.
Same with the cannon, he freakishly blends in with the statues behind him don't you think? Hopefully there weren't any almost-3-year-olds involved in (or anywhere near) the battles!

signs of spring

I went for a walk this week with the kids and I finally remembered to take my camera with me. Below is a picture of our "driveway". They are doing some major work on it, digging large trenches to put pipes in. Eli likes watching the excavators, dump trucks and front-end loaders. He might be the only sad one when all the work is done.

We live in the tall brown and grey apartment buildings (although in this picture you cannot see our building itself). Here's Eli and Dana in our stroller, man that all-terrain stroller was worth every penny we paid! Shortly before this picture was taken, a Chinese grandma told me I should buy a different type of stroller because where Dana sits is too low and she inhales too much of the exhaust from cars there. I politely told her that I would discuss it with my husband, but actually I don't think the 6 inch difference in height really makes any difference. She also told me that taking the kids to McDonalds and Kentucky Fried Chicken was not good for the kids to which I heartily agreed! (I haven't taken them there once yet).
Here's Eli at the top of his gravel hill. He gets nice and dirty every day which to me is a sign of a happy, healthy kid. Plus, there are so few hills here, that we had to take advantage. It comes more naturally for me to take the kids outside to play instead of doing indoor crafty things (although I'd love to be good at that too). I love this time of year, there are so many trees blossoming everywhere, it's remarkable how forgiving the trees and flowers seem to be here, they just go on blooming as if there were no pollution at all. I don't know what kind of trees these pink ones are, but they are lovely! We even have lilacs here too! There's a bush just outside our bedroom window actually.
Here's a typical street scene these days. My brother Albert asked me for some "typical" shots of what things look like here. They wrap rope around the trees for the winter and secure tarps around all the bushes. I'm not sure what it's for but I'm sure the Chinese know something I don't (they always do). The tall skinny building in the distance (centre) is the TV Tower. It is how I discern the air quality on any given day. Some days I can't see it at all. One clear day, we plan to go up there, have lunch and take pictures.

We went to this nearby park that is near the site of an Olympic venue. Because of the proximity to the Olympic site, there is a huge drive for general beautification of our road these days. They (many peasant workers, male and female, aged from 20-50 I'd say) are planting trees and flowers, sweeping streets and picking up garbage. They tore out all the brick sidewalks and poured concrete instead (I found out how to say "concrete" in Chinese, literally translated it is "water mud", and, by the way, I knew this word before Scott did!). Anyways, I was feeling a little stressed on behalf of the powers that be because the concrete work was not at all well done, it had footprints and bike prints all over it and was lumpy and uneven. I thought the bricks they had before looked way better. But--Scott informed me today that the concrete is just a base and they are putting tiles over top of it and that it looks sharp. Phew! Here is Dana at the park, looking triumphant for good reason: She just completed her first set of stairs and I set her down to do it again. Way to go Dana! She's such a cuddly and happy baby! How blessed I am!

Another random thing to tell you is that I saw this ad and was tempted to enter Dana: Baby models are being sought by HUGGIES diapers (China), the shooting will take place in Beijing on April 21st, half day. The organizers are looking for 8-14 month old 'crawlers', girl and boy, and must be 'Euro' looking. Each model will receive 2500RMB (that's about 350$). What do you think? Does Dana look "Euro" to you? Why doesn't Huggies (China) use a Chinese baby, that's what I'd like to know. I doubt I'll enter her, it's one thing to have cute kids, but quite another thing if and when those cute kids realize they are cute (and make money off it). No thanks.