Talk of this trip actually began several years ago when Stephen was looking ahead at the venues for the next few years of the INTA Convention. I accompanied him to the convention in Boston in 2010 and to San Francisco in 2011. I recall him mentioning that in some far-off year in the future it would be held in Hong Kong. He asked if I would go, and I said no way. Then he said that if I didn't go with him, he would take Luke. That was a definite, "NO WAY!"
So when it came down to it, my saintly mother agreed to care for the kiddos for ten days, and I agreed to go to Hong Kong. Me...never been out of the States except for a cross-the-border jaunt into Mexico once and visiting Niagara Falls in Canada as a kid...going to Hong Kong.
And China. Yeah, Stephen decided that if we were going all the way to Asia, we might as well make a stop in Beijing to see the sights. Nothing like leaping into this international travel thing with both feet!
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We arrived in Hong Kong on Friday evening after a 16 hour flight from Chicago. We had both managed to take a few naps on the flight, but we were quite tired. So finding the hotel was at the top of the priority list. It was a little hectic getting through all of the immigration stuff, getting new SIM cards for the phones and exchanging currency and getting subway tickets to get from the airport to the hotel, but eventually we made it. I admit that I was rather grumpy and cross, but once we arrived at the hotel and checked into our room, it was all ok.
Well, almost. Apparently it's a common thing in Asian hotels to activate the electricity in the room by placing your hotel room key into a slot by the door. But we were unaware of this, and it took us a while to figure out why the lights were not working. After that was sorted out, we were ok.
Our first sight-seeing tour was Saturday morning. Our group took an hour-long ferry to Macau which is about 20 miles southwest of Hong Kong. Macau was a Portuguese colony long before Hong Kong was claimed by the British and was returned to China only in 1999. There is lots of history in Macau, and there is also lots of gambling. It is known as the Vegas of the East, and apparently they pull in about 6 times as much money as Vegas does each year (according to our tour guide).
We visited the ruins of St. Paul's Cathedral, a stone church built by the Portuguese Jesuits in 1582. We also went through the Museum of Macau which is located inside the Fortalezo do Monte, a fortress next to the ruins which was built by the Portuguese traders in the 16th century.
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| at St. Paul's cathedral |
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| Macau (mainland China in top left corner) |
From there our tour was more modern. We had lunch in the 360 Degrees restaurant at the top of Macau Tower where some (crazy) people were waiting to bungee jump in the rain storm. To be accurate, they were waiting because there had been lightning sighted, not because of the rain.
The tour ended with a stop at the MGM Casino. No gambling for us, so we just took a stroll around the very westernized shopping mall attached to the casino. Lots of Louis Vuitton and the like found there.
Macau is the most densely populated region in the world, and it felt like it with the narrow streets and high rises all over. We were struck by the opulence in the casinos next to the tiny apartments that it seemed most people must occupy.
From the casino, it was back to the ferry and a very choppy return to Hong Kong. We were dealing with jet lag and were thoroughly exhausted by that point, so there was no evening outing. Just a dinner at the hotel restaurant and bed. Zzzzz.
On Sunday we visited Grace Reformed Evangelical Church. Stephen's brother had visited this church about ten years ago when he was in Hong Kong for business, and he recommended it to us. There is a small congregation there; about 30 or so, it appeared. Their meeting is in Cantonese, but they had a translator and head phones for English-speaking visitors. What a joy it was to sing well-loved hymns with those around us singing in a different language...truly a foretaste of heaven! We were able to talk with the man who preached the sermon afterwards, and he expressed a need for a Cantonese-speaking pastor...so if you know anyone interested in living and ministering in Hong Kong, please put us in touch.
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| building where the church meets |
We were invited to stay for lunch and the afternoon services, but we had already made plans for a tour of Hong Kong Island. So we had to hurry away.
The tour began with a trip up Victoria Peak on the tram. That was a steep ride...a 23 degree incline, I believe. The view from the top was beautiful, but the clouds and rainstorm moving in were a bit of a damper.
From there we headed to several sites around the island including a sampan ride in Aberdeen Harbour on the south side of the island, a stop at a jewelry factory, and some time at Stanley Market.
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| the sampan ride in the harbour |
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| Stanley Market |
Sunday was our last day of sight seeing in Hong Kong as Stephen had two full days of business meetings on Monday and Tuesday. I did venture from the hotel on my own to get some lunch on Monday, but mostly spent the time reading (or napping!) in our room. On Tuesday I actually just ordered in for lunch and read all day. Very relaxing. It was wonderful!
I did go along to two evening dinner/reception events, and that was fun. Tasty food! And lots of chatting. A number of people asked if I was an attorney too. When I replied that I stay home with our children, the responses were varied. Many were very encouraging. But the most amusing one was moderate surprise by a young woman from Beijing followed by mild shock when she heard that we had four children. But what nearly floored her was learning that I actually am homeschooling our children. She really couldn't believe it. Honestly. I had to smother my amusement because she really couldn't believe that I would dedicate myself to educating our children...all four of them! :-)
We did manage to squeeze in a quick subway trip under Victoria Harbour for a view of the Hong Kong skyline from the opposite shore. It was gorgeous! And the rain even held off for a little while (otherwise it rained most of the time we were in Hong Kong).
Wednesday morning began with an early departure for the airport and a flight to Beijing. All went smoothly aside from a delayed flight. The process of getting from the airport to our Beijing hotel was a little arduous and rather long, but we made it no worse for wear. The subway system in Beijing was easy to navigate even as English-speakers. Signs were in Mandarin and English, so we did just fine. And it was cheap!! It cost only about 25 cents to ride, no matter how far you go.
Since we arrived late in the day, we didn't do any sight-seeing that evening, but we did walk around the neighborhood a little, and we called to hire a driver for the next day.
Thursday was the highlight of the whole trip. We went northeast out of the city to see the Great Wall of China. Amazing. Really. It was just so cool. But wait...first, the driver.
He was a very nice fellow recommended by the US State Department. And he was a CRAZY, though skillful, driver. Apparently, the traffic "laws" in China are more like loose guidelines that nobody really follows. I've heard it's worse in India...which makes me scared to ever go there...because China was bad enough. Drivers pass on the right side, pass on blind curves, and pretty much play "chicken" on the streets. Bicycles and motorcycles are everywhere, and sometimes they ride the wrong direction on the street going into traffic. Sometimes they pile four people (two women, two children) onto one motorcycle, and, of course, they never wear helmets. Mercy.
We really were thankful to arrive at the Great Wall all in one piece. And then we saw that to get to the top of the mountain to see the Great Wall, we had to ride a ski-lift-style cable car. Ugh. I suppose maybe it was up to safety standards (but I'm not sure their safety standards in China are the same as ours here). In any case, I was freaking out a bit up there, and I would never, ever take children on that lift. Way too open and way too many ways to fall out.
But we made it up. And the Wall was amazing. We just don't have a lot of ancient history here in the US, and I've never traveled elsewhere. So it was just really cool to be standing on a wall that was built two thousand years ago.
The wall itself had a lot more climbing than we realized. There were flatter sections with pavers, but most of it was stairs up and down. Some stairs had a small rise, but others had a rise of 18" or more. And the incline was almost 45 degrees in some places. Not for the faint of heart! Or small children. We surely would have needed an emergency room if the kids had been with us. There must be better sections of the Wall to visit with small kiddos.
We spent about two hours hiking around on the wall and taking oodles of pictures. And when it was time to come down, I was really glad to take the toboggan ride instead of the cable car. At least it was on the ground as it snaked down the mountain...quite fun, actually!
On our return, we stopped at the Hongluo Temple on the advice of the driver. We walked around the grounds a bit but never actually saw the temple since that would have required another long, steep hike to the top of the mountain. Our legs just weren't up for that after hiking on the Great Wall.
Our drive back to the city of Beijing was equally hair-raising. We were glad to be on foot again when the driver dropped near the Silk Street market. We spent some time shopping around in the market looking for souvenirs. We met a fun young lady with whom Stephen haggled for the best price on some bracelets for the girls and me. She was a good sport and even let us take her picture before we left.
On Friday we took the subway to northwest Beijing to see the Summer Palace. Lots of walking there and even some hills to climb. But it was beautiful...built right along the lake.
After that we headed back to central Beijing to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Tiananmen Square was huge...obviously, as it's the largest public assembly space in the world. However, there is no longer any public assembly taking place there. We could only enter and exit the square through tunnels under the street and entry was permitted only after going through security which included x-ray machines and metal detectors.
In Tiananmen Square we saw the 600 year old city gate from the south wall of Beijing. There is also a museum dedicated to Mao Tse Tung. We didn't enter.
Across the street was the Forbidden City which we toured. It was enormous. There were so many buildings, and it felt like it was just never going to end. It just went on and on. "Further up and further in!" I told Stephen. He wasn't familiar with the Narnia reference, so I got to explain that, too.
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| Entrance to the Forbidden City |
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| a throne inside one of the buildings |
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| the moat and east wall of the Forbidden City |
That evening Stephen wanted some authentic Chinese food (previously we'd relied on room service at the hotel) since it was our last night there. I was totally beat from all of the walking we'd done that day, but he went out to find us something tasty. The hotel concierge recommended the Sunshine Kitchen which was nearby.
OH YUM.
They spoke no English in the restaurant, but another customer was able to help Stephen decipher the menu. No orange chicken. No sweet and sour chicken. (I guess those are American-Chinese food, not authentic Chinese food.) But he came back with the BEST Chinese food I've ever tasted anywhere.
Sweet & Sour Pork. Taiwanese Chicken Stew. Fried Rice. Hong Kong-style chow mein. And steamed veggies.
We ate so much, and we still had so much leftover. We seriously considered eating the leftovers cold for breakfast the next morning...it was that good. Too bad it took us until our last night to discover the place.
Saturday morning we actually went back to the Silk Street market to find a few more souvenirs and haggle with Emily again. She was a lot of fun and actually gave us gifts to take home when we finished our transaction.
Then it was time to pack up and head to the airport. Travels over...time to go home.
We flew back to Chicago from Beijing - only 12 hours this time - and then arrived back in Pennsylvania around 1am on Sunday morning, but were very happy to have four kiddos in our arms again a few hours later when they awoke.
The jet lag returning was more difficult, but after another week off school and trying to get back into life as normal, we have readjusted. And life goes on.
