China
The Beginning
As most story's go, this one begins with a plan and ends with a Typhoon. What follows is a two part adventure to the People's Republic of China while encountering a Peking duck, The Wall, screeching cats, jazz, and of course a typhoon.
In the Summer of 2015 our plan was to spend two weeks in China, one in Beijing and second in Shanghai since it's such a short plane ride away - driving is not recommended for reasons obvious to anyone with a map (hint: don't drive North).
Beijing
Everything you've probably heard about Beijing is true; good food, crowded, smog, and yes it really does have a Great Wall!
Jennifer and Kevin at Tienanmen Square with Chairman Mao in the back.
Lions are a symbol of protectiveness in China. They are usually depicted in pairs, a female on the left with her paw over a pup and a male (shown here) on the right with his paw on a ball.
Kevin's attempt at artistic portrayal of one of the rooms in the Forbidden City.
We then took a day trip to the Great Wall of China at Mutianyu. The wall is about an hours drive north of the city in the middle of the country side and stretches for thousands of miles. It truly is amazing the size and scale of an operation it took to build this remarkable Wall.
This is a picture of the restored portion of the Great Wall of China. Most tourist areas and pictures of the Wall are of restored sections.
The most important part of the trip to The Great Wall of China is when Kevin and Jennifer got engaged (Spoiler Alert: She said yes!).
Custom made two piece ring with a Blue Sapphire and Maw Sit Sit Jade inlay.
The happy couple!
Both Jennifer and Kevin's rings were made by Patrick at SouthWest Orignals, a custom made stone inlay jeweler from New Mexico. His work is truly amazing and we thank him so much for our happiness!
Our final stop in Beijing was the amazing food: high end dining all the way to street food.
All the side dishes in this meal were fantastic! Even the peas were delicious!
Out of all the Duck we've had, the Peking Duck in Beijing is truly the best!
The scorpions were not served at the restaurant, we found these little guys wiggling on a skewer on the street.
Peking Duck is a famous dish in Beijing. It is roasted in an oven and is special for its thin crispy skin.
Most of the street food in Beijing was not this strange. We took this picture because it was out of the ordinary.
At the end of our week in Beijing we were supposed to travel south to Shanghai to spend our second week in China. The weather was not a participant in our planning and sent a typhoon to Shanghai that was then supposed to turn and hit South Korea (where we were living). We ultimately decided to cut our trip short and race back to South Korea before the typhoon stranded us in China. We eventually did end up making that trip to Shanghai a year later in the summer of 2016.
Typhoon Chan-Hom ruining our trip to Shanghai!
Shanghai
One full year after our trip to Beijing we finally made that trip to Shanghai. During that year we had a whole separate adventure of getting married in the Philippines and expecting our first child, which we shall tell in a separate post.
Shanghai is a mix of old and new as well as Chinese, European, and American. During the trade wars of the 1800's different European and American powers took control of different parts of the city. So the architecture is different from block-to-block. For Jennifer and Kevin who spent over a year in Korea seeing the European parts of the city was a huge blessing.
We stayed in the Astor House Hotel, which was originally built in 1846 in The Bund, an area of Shainghai controlled by Britain. The hotel has been remodeled and renovated numerous times over the years, and each time it still maintains its original look. Most of the wood, molding, chairs, and furniture are over a century old.
The Astor House Hotel as seen from the River.
President Grants room in 1879.
Formal Dining room used for weddings and where we ate breakfast each morning; it was also used as the floor of the Shanghai stock exchange at one point.
Because it is so old and so well known it has been the destination for Presidents to Entertainers alike over the years.
Our room!
Scott Joplin's room in 1931 and 1936.
Entrance hallway to some of the rooms.
The Bund is a waterfront area in Shanghai that is a popular destination for tourists. It has housed major banks from all over the world and such it's Architecture is like taking a mini-tour of the world! Across the river is the new section of Shanghai with some of typical skylines that you think of in Shanghai.
Shanghai night skyline.
We couldn't leave Shanghai without eating some delicious food! Kevin was able to get a reservation at FU 1088 one of the more renowned restaurants in city. It was converted from an 19th century Spanish (Spain) house, so there is a limited number of rooms. Ours included a piano with accompanying music, and a couch to take a nap after dinner if you so wish.
OOoooh Fancy!!
This was not served at the restaurant, we found this little porker on the street, would you eat it?
Braised pork belly; one of the better foods Kevin has had!
Birds nest soup dessert. Jennifer tried to warn Kevin it was terrible but he insisted on ordering it and he regrets it to this day - awful!
Their tea was extremely good!
Scallops and stuffed mushrooms.
Overall we enjoyed our time in Shanghai a lot. We enjoyed seeing all the different parts of the city, the varying architecture, the music, and especially the food. Below are some final pictures from our time in Shainghai.
Jennifer's belly covering one of the sphere's in Oriental Pearl Tower.
Stone carving of 1,000 little Buddha's.
Shanghai night sky!
The parents and grandparents of single Chinese men and women meet on Saturdays in a park and put a description of their child and the desirable characteristics (height, weight, job, salary, Zodiac sign, etc.) of their potential mate on umbrellas. The success of this practice is debatable but it continues.
Kevin holding his fried crabs leg.
More of the marriage market.
Conclusion
We enjoyed both Beijing and Shainghai. Beijing has more of the traditional Chinese history and government infrastructure while Shanghai is more eclectic and a great mix of old and new. We prefer the culture of Shanghai more and would gladly return to see some of the other areas we missed.
To see all the pictures from our China trip check out our gallery here.