Beijing Trip - Day 1

While Greg's parents were here, we took the kids out of school one day to make a trip to Beijing.  We took the high speed train there and back. We had a private tour guide for two days and had a great time. We all learned so much China history in two days. The first afternoon, we walked to Tiananmen Square. At sunset and sunrise each day, the guard raises and lowers the flag.  The Square is only open to visitors during that time.  They have the military there to remove everyone just after the ceremony. They don't want any gatherings.  That night, Greg took us to have Peking duck for dinner. Beijing has more pollution than Shanghai. It's not as clean either. It has a whole different feeling with all the military presence.

Views out the window of the high speed train. The air quality between Shanghai and Beijing was horrible. In 5 hrs on the train, we never got out of it.

The kids are enjoying their laptops in first class on the high speed train!

Me and Greg's mom

Greg's dad

Grand Hyatt hotel in Beijing

Street outside our hotel in Beijing

Tiananmen Square

 

Lowering of the flag at sunset.

Being in Tiananmen Square gave you a very strange feeling. No one in Beijing talks about what happened there.

We had Peking duck for dinner.

Bad Air Quality

Shanghai has been experiencing really bad air quality.  I was at the bus stop this afternoon picking up the kids.  The air quality was at 245.  It burns your eyes outside and causes your throat to be sore.  Below is a picture of the sun that I took at 3:45pm this afternoon.  It wasn't cloudy today at all. I'm glad the kids and I are inside for the evening.

I can't wait to breath North Carolina air in 4 more weeks!!

"Very Unhealthy" AQI is 201 - 300. This would trigger a health alert signifying that everyone may experience more serious health effects.

Taiwan - Night Market

Kenting had a really big night market. Lots of food and games.  Since the temperature gets so hot in the summer, we assumed people like to go out at night instead of during the day. There was some food that smelled so bad that we had to hold our noses to walk by. We never figured out what it was. A few places had big bowls of tiny shells.  We assumed that you put the shells in your mouth and suck out the broth in the shells that they were soaking in. We didn't try any food from the night market.

These people had baskets and was picking out various food to eat.

Someone getting a head massage.

Unknown meat on a stick.

This tree only blooms at night.

This food stand looked like the back of a car.

This sign didn't translate correctly. We really laughed at this one. Notice the spelling of cooperation.

Taiwan Trip - Snorkeling and Sailing

The kids really enjoyed snorkeling for the first time.  Anna got a little scared once. She said a fish was following her and wouldn't leave her alone.  They both were afraid of the eels.