Trip to China

Our trip to China started from November 15th, when I had to go to the company at 6 am and come home by 11 am. I　promised the vice president prior to leaving that I'd be available through email or phone call throughout the vacation. Biajee and I were under a lot of pressure and were really not in much mood for vacation during the beginning of the trip.

The boys, though, were having a great time since the very beginning. We had dumplings at home before Biajee picked up the kids. We left home at about 1 pm, precisely 2 hours prior to departure. There were some playground in Bentonville airport and they had a great time crawling in and out of the castle. Biajee forgot to add the mileage to our AA One World account when obtaining the boarding pass.

I decided to correct this mistake during the transit in Chicago. We even created an AA One World account for Arnold. He'll start to have accumulated mileage from this trip and many trips in upcoming years. We ate some bar food at O'Hare airport because Biajee didn't want to eat at Chili's. The transit time was four hours so we even had enough time to get 2 strawberry vivano from Starbucks after dinner.

The flight from Chicago to China is about 13.5 hours long. The flight was very empty so our family occupied two rows in the middle. The boys slept lying down most of the time. Biajee and I slept lying down for a few hours. I watched Despicable Me and Twilight Saga: Eclipse during the flight.

It was very cold in Beijing when we landed. Both families were waiting for us at the airport. My in-laws rented a car for us so that we could drive to our hotel. We stayed at an apartment hotel on the east 3rd ring in Beijing. The location is absolutely very convenient and there are tons of restaurants around the place. It's also next to a subway station so transportation was very convenient.

My father-in-law prepared a lot of cash for us this time. Everything we do in Beijing was on him. This was a gift of love to all four of us. We hadn't been back to Beijing for 6 years due to Biajee's immigration status. Our future plan is to go back to see everyone annually.

The minute we opened the hotel room, the kids saw a red toy car and a toy police motorcycle that are both drivable in the room. There are two boxes of other toys and tons of clothes and even a baby crib. Our families had checked in for us earlier during the day and arranged the room to the best condition.

Both boys had jet lag and refused to sleep during the night. We were very lucky that we didn't stay home, otherwise there would be no rest for the whole house. Our flight arrived at around 11:18 pm so we didn't get back to our hotel till 1:30 am on November 16th.

I went with dad to the beauty center near Kunlun hotel the next morning to make an appointment for facial and massage on Friday, then we went to a salon close to the hotel to get my hair done. The whole family waited for us till 2 pm to have lunch together. Arthur was asleep then so my sister-in-law had to stay in the hotel room with him.

We went to the Fuli plaza across the street. Downstairs there are different kinds of fast food called 大食代。　We ordered wonton, steamed buns, pan-fried buns, noodles, cold veggie appetizers and 凉皮。 Everything was delicious and I felt I ate too much.

The only issue was it was very hard to find public restrooms in Beijing. Even if you found one, there would be no toilet paper so it's recommended that you bring your own toilet paper whenever you go out and always go to the restroom at home before you decide to go out. Most restrooms are squat-style vs. sit-style so it was very hard for Arnold to adjust in the beginning and generally speaking, most restrooms are quite dirty. I had to make a fair comment that the condition of public restrooms in Beijing was a zillion times better than when I was a kid. I still have nightmares these days about dirty restrooms whenever I had too much stress from work. Dirty restrooms are my pain points during the years I grew up in Beijing. I don't think I could ever forget about them in my life.

My father-in-law took all of us to the Pangu Seven Star Hotel for dinner the first night. It was right across the street from the bird nest and the water cube. The service was top notch and food was delicious. The price was sky-rocketing high as well. We ordered a fish that cost 2,500 yuan (around $400) and the rest of the dishes were 2,500 yuan. Everything they served us were delicate, artistic and soothed the taste-bud very well.

There was even private restroom inside the room we dined. The kids walked around the hotel after they finish the majority of their dinner. We took a lot of family pictures in the hotel as well. My father-in-law said that we'd come back again next year during summer. He had very good taste in delicacies and had dined in a lot of different restaurants in Beijing and other cities in China.

I went to the stock exchange and the bank with my dad on the morning of the 3rd day. Biajee went with us and waited for us in the bookstore in Xidan. This was the day we utilized the subway systems together and we had Sichuan food for lunch prior to going to the tailor's shop to make a Chiong-san for me. We bought some books for Arnold to study Chinese. We also went to Walmart in Beijing and bought a lot of DVDs and food.
We also went to my father's home and bought me a winter coat in the clothing market.

On Thursday evening, we went to the national theatre, shaped like an egg, to watch Don Quixote, performed by Royal Dutch Ballet Team. The performance was better than any of the ballet I'd ever saw in my life. It took us a while to find the entrance to the theatre though since we had to go under the ground. It was a wonderful experience recommended strongly by my father-in-law. We were lucky that we caught this performance since they only perform twice in Beijing.

On Friday morning, Biajee tried to take the boys to the day care opened by my sister-in-law. They got stuck in traffic for 2 hours and Arthur missed the toddler class. I went to treat myself in the morning via subway so I managed my time really well. Biajee came to pick me up at 1:50 pm and we drove to my in-laws' home for lunch. They steamed a fish and made some mushrooms for us. The boys ate a lot.

It was decided that we couldn't go to Water Cube that afternoon since we didn't pick up the tickets. My father-in-law ordered some tickets for us via phone, but we had to pick them up in the military museum in Beijing. Everyone suggested that we go by car at 4 pm in the afternoon.

The next thing Biajee and I knew was that we got stuck in traffic for 3 hours and there was almost no gas in the car. We couldn't find a gas station and we circled around Beijing West Station 3 times. Biajee even went into a taxi lane by accident and had to back out in the middle of the street. There were 3 taxis behind us, waiting patiently while we performed all the above. Fortunately, my father-in-law loaned us his iPad so we were able to reboot it and then search for the locations of gas stations. We finally refilled the gas and I went to a public restroom. Then we decided to pick them up and go out for dinner.

We went to a place called 江南赋。It was located near Zhongguancun. The food was not bad, but it was very cold there. We later found out that they turned off the heater at 8:30 pm every day and we arrived at about 8:30 that evening. Arnold was sleeping all night long. Arthur ate quite a bit. The beauty of this restaurant is if you spend over 100 yuan, they will give you back a 50 yuan gift certificate that you can use next time.

The next day was Saturday and we decided to go to China Science and Technology Museum for the whole day. Arnold and Arthur had a great time in there. We spent the morning in the Kid's Area and then had buffet lunch. The yogurt and soymilk were the best ever at the buffet restaurant. The only embarrassing thing we ran into was when I took Arnold pooping, there was no toilet paper in the restroom so I had to rush back to the restaurant and ask for a handful of napkins to wipe his butt. The lesson learned again: bring your own toilet paper whenever you go outside your home in Beijing.

We then watched the IMAX movie of cave exploration for 40 minutes. Afterwards, my in-laws watched Arnold and Arthur for a while and let Biajee and me walk around the 4th floor. The museum closed at 4:30 pm and Arnold missed the opportunity to ride the mockup roller coaster. We decided to come back next year.

We took the kids directly to dinner with Biajee's college classmates. The restaurant was 眉州东坡酒楼　near the airport. Everyone arrived really late so the boys were starving till 7 pm before we placed orders. The food was mostly Sichuan style, but all the veggie dishes tasted the same.

On Sunday morning, we dropped off the boys at my in-laws' home and then drove to University of Science and Technology Beijing to visit the former department head of Economy Management. He taught me during college and we had a very close relationship. We took him, his wife and another teacher (Ms. Xu Changmin) to lunch in a canteen in school. We then toured the new building of Economy Management Institute.

Biajee and I then called back home and decided that we need to go watch Harry Potter prior to having dinner. We went to the theater across the street from Shuangan Shangchang. The earliest seats we could get was for 4 pm. The beauty of the theatres in Beijing was that we had to sit according to assignment so there was no worry of losing good seats.

We went to Shuangan Shangchang and bought some undershirt and pants for the boys. I had to say that everything in Beijing was very expensive, from food to clothes to housing. I started to wonder how people could survive in Beijing. One interesting fact was that during our get-together with Biajee's classmates and my classmates, we had to pick up all the bills. Nobody was willing to pay for anything. I believe everyone was under a lot of pressure to make more money.

The movie was wonderful. It was Part I of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The director of this movie was as good as the director of the first Harry Potter movie. There were a few episodes in between that were not well made. But this one was worth seeing for sure.

We met our families in 鼎泰丰　for steamed buns. These were the best buns we'd had for a while. Arnold must have had at least 15 buns. Arthur ate a lot as well. The dessert and the side dishes were very tasty too. Again, this was a recommendation by my father-in-law.

We decided to go to Tianjin on Monday via the high speed railway. It only took us 30 minutes to get there. My dad went with us. We toured the Old Culture Street and bought some brushes and papers for the boys to practice Chinese calligraphy. We then went to the original store of 狗不理　for lunch. It was located on 山东路，quite a distance from the Old Culture Street. We utilized taxi in Tianjin. The steamed buns there were the best. We strongly recommend pork and cabbage stuffing for the best buns in China in any good restaurant. Other flavors would not be as good.

We took the train back to Beijing and went to rest in the hotel, waiting for my uncle's family to come and have dinner with us. I had a massage while waiting. We went to the restaurant across the street from our hotel. The name is 松鹤楼。The food was great, but I didn't think my dad ordered the right dishes and Biajee had diahrrea afterwards. My aunt and uncle prepared two red-packets for the boys, along with toys and food. I believe the boys would be spoiled if they stay in China for too long.

We went to visit Sam's Club, Autie Zhao Peng's home on Tuesday. Sam's Club Yi Zhuang opened on November 14th. It felt a lot bigger than the Sam's Club in US. It was a very high end place in China, targeting middle and upper class consumers. We bought some bottled water drinks there.

Auntie Zhao Peng took us for hot pot. Arthur slept for the whole time while we ate and talked. We went to her home afterwards, watched TV, ate more and drank more soymilk. We left there at 3:30 pm and headed to my dad's home so that we could avoid rush hour traffic.

We had dinner at my dad's place. My mother-in-law and sister-in-law joined us as well. My father-in-law departed for a meeting in Huairou on Monday afternoon. We had crabs for dinner, along with fish, shrimp and other veggie dishes. Auntie Cao did most of the cooking. We also played badminton with dad in the house.

Daddy went to see the doctor on Wednesday morning. Biajee drove us to the tailor shop to try the Chiong-san. It was decided that we could pick it up on Friday. We then went to Xidan Transportation Bank to meet with dad again and drove to Xiaochang Chen to meet with Li Tianze for lunch.

The Xiaochang Chen Biajee picked out was located on Nanheng Jie, in a very shabby building. The price had gone up to 20 yuan per bowl. The food was delicious though, even the boys ate a lot of them. I decided that we need to get some more food in Hong Zhuangyuan.

We met my in-laws in Military Museum afterwards. Arnold was able to play with the tanks and planes. It was too cold outside. I strongly recommend not to purchase the extra tickets in Military Museum. The entrance to the Museum was free. All you need to do is to show your ID to get the tickets.

We drove to 江南赋 on 光华路　after the military museum to meet with my high school classmates. The gathering was very pleasant although not a lot of people showed up. Niu Hongtao arranged the whole thing and she is the one I'd missed a lot over the years.

On Thursday morning, we went to Beijing Hospital to visit Dr. Li Guozhen. She is 95 years old now, living with a nanny in her original home. She is Huanhuan's grandma and has always been very kind to me since Huanhuan and I became high school classmates. We had breakfast downstairs in 田野家。　Everything was really good there. Biajee was very impressed with the steamed buns and the pan-fried dumplings.

Granny was a bit lonely lately and she wanted very much to have lunch with us in Xinqiao Restaurant next door. We decided to visit the next day to have lunch with her. We met our families at 晋阳饭庄　for lunch and then toured 纪晓岚故居　next door. The food was so-so, but the tour was most interesting. The public restrooms are very cold in China during winter. I realize I'm complaining about restrooms everyday, but it's the reality if you plan on visiting China. Be prepared for it. Or you could pick very high end restaurants so that you won't run into such problems.

We tried to go the Nature Museum, but it was under construction and needs appointment for tour. We decided to skip it for this trip since we were running out of time. We went to our hotel with my in-laws and rested for a while. Biajee's high school classmates would join us for dinner in 巴国布衣　that evening.

Around 20 people showed up for dinner. Biajee had great conversations with old friends. I was able to socialize a bit as well as learn about all the silly things Biajee did when he was a kid. Wuyi shared with me the true life of diplomats in China. It feels like there are a lot of sacrifices in family life if you decide to be a diplomat.

Friday was the last day we were in Beijing. We went to pick up the Chiong-san only to find out that they were late and they delivered it to us on Friday evening. We went to Hong Zhuangyuan again for breakfast. It was not as good as the first time. Then we drove to Dr. Li's home to take her out to lunch. We had dim sum in Xinqiao restaurant. It was the best dim sum we'd had for years. Granny ate a lot of steamed buns and other food. She missed Huanhuan a lot. I sincerely hope Huanhuan and I could be back annually to see her. All she need was some attention from family.

Biajee taught my dad how to use iPod in the afternoon. We then went to dinner in Shuangjing Xuan. Two of my classmates from college joined us. Our luggage was packed afterwards. We bought 3 full priced plane tickets and were able to bring 6 check-in bags and we did check in six bags. Most of the luggage were toys and books for the boys. There were also some food we purchased as well.

The coming back flight was full so I didn't sleep at all. Biajee and the boys slept a bit. There was no headset in this sector of flights and the service was horrible. I got sick when I was in Beijing so I had a running nose and was coughing all way long. We arrived in Bentonville on time. We all slept in the afternoon to catch up the time zone change.

I woke up at 4:30 pm to start unpack and finally finished by midnight. Biajee blow dried two of my cashmere sweater and permanently damaged them. Right now everyone in the house is fast asleep except for me. I'll need to get ready for tomorrow's work day.