Summer Trip to Beijing, China

Pictures from our recent trip via train to Beijing to see the Great Wall and the Forbidden City.

This free digital slideshow generated with Smilebox

Hope everyone else is having wonderful adventures too!

~vbb

Hope 

Rain on the Windshield

I just love this picture taken last week from our double-decker tour bus (more pictures coming soon).

Click on the photo to see it blown up nice and big

Yes, that's rain on the windshield that we're looking through which gives the photo a cool look of Pointilism. Incidently, this was taken not too far from the Museum of the First National Congress of the Communist Party.


I like the granny standing so far out into the road there on the right ('miss the granny, beat the taxi,' I've heard said here ;) and the cross section of wheeled devices that we see everywhere.


Also note the green light and remember where we're taking the picture from. =}


~vbb

More Shopping, More Eating

I took some of these pictures a while ago, and I'm cleaning out my computer files these days, so I'm finally posting them.


We have normal size grocery carts here except for the rack underneath. I'm used to not having space there now, but sometimes I still forget.

a full cart

standing in line-note the coolers which may or may not actually be cooling since Chinese people on the whole prefer most of their drinks, including water and in ANY season, very, very hot

AND here are the same groceries neatly packed and waiting for the shuttle to take us home

yeah, it's a terrible picture, but that's us cooking pot stickers . . .

But not normal ones. These are pizza ones. =] Beca wanted pizza for dinner, and the dough is very cheap pre-made. It worked, though it was weird--not what my taste buds expected.

I've never seen a card board holder for carry out drinks. They're all in plastic bags. We got the kids a bit of lunch from McDonalds and filled everyone up with the much cheaper local foods-in this case noodles which are more popular here than rice dishes.

We do a lot of shopping and eating here. It's a good thing everything takes a long time to get to, and we do a lot of walking and back packing in the process. Otherwise that might be a bad thing. Anyone want to take me on a back packing trip when we get back? Between shopping and my 3 story house, I'm ready!

~vbb

Otter Pop - Not!

So last week we found our new favorite Chinese summer treat. They are similar to Otter Pops in price and convenience, but better in all the ways I always wished Otter Pops could be (if I'd really ever bothered to think about it, which I'm not really sure I ever did ;).


Introducing:

果味棒 Guǒ wèi bàng (fruity stick)

by the company 台尚 Tái shàng

 They're shaped like a sausage with a place in the middle for bending and twisting until they pop open. NO scissors or little pieces to pick up-- just cold hands, but that's the point, right?

There are no edges to cut up your mouth, and the insides are true to their name-fruity without a chemical (??) after taste. YUMM! Everyone at our house loves them.

Occasionally, China really surprises us. =]

~vbb

Beca's Birthday and Party

Here's a few pictures of Beca's birthday and her party.

presents

Her cake-Uncle Steven and Aunt Jolee, this is what you missed. Come visit us, and we'll buy you some!

her party at the park

playing with friends

sharing with new friends

 Happy birthday, Beca!! We love you!

May and June

Here's a few pictures from May and June:

the boys in their baseball uniforms

riding the shuttle to the subway station

a free park at Yili Rd stop on Line 10 (yes, most parks charge a fee to enter)

Shanghai may be flat but they like their rocks and their lakes to break up the monotony.

Sky Lake

Nathan dubbed this flower the Droopadill

Máhuā 麻花 (fried dough twist)
We purchase these noodles for 10 rmb and break them up for Hawaiin Haystacks. They're greasy but good. 

The mag lev station near our church building

A path through a park on our way to church

The Yongda Tower where we have church is in the back ground.

March decapitation

June foliation - I'm not a tree hugger, but I cry to think about these decapitated trees and their loss of dignity.

Our gardener filling in our planters with dirt and mulch

cleaning up

really big cinder blocks

Mathew, his sandwich creation, and his lego iPod creations

A random street view as I walk from Ikea to the Metro station up ahead

School's out

A normally crazy street becomes wall-to-wall kids and parents

YW/YM swim party

Hong Kong Temple Trip

Last April Rob and I went on a pilgrimage to the Hong Kong Temple. Here's a few pictures from our adventure.

Waiting to board. We did not take pictures of our ~3 hours on the plane waiting to take off. We're not a big fan of Spring Air, but it's very cheap.

The double-decker bus that took us from the airport to the temple and back. Very cheap. Hands up for the roller coaster ride to the temple!!!

This is what the temple looked like when we arrived late in the evening. The bus dropped us off just a block from here. We were happy to know for sure that we had made it.

This is the Stake Center across the street. The patron housing is in the left side of this building with a Distribution Center on the first floor.

A view of the temple from across the street

After our temple session we took a few pictures.

Even a temple with a very small space can have some really great gardens

and really great fountains.

Enjoying the view of the mountains while out getting lunch. Shanghai is very, very flat.

Branch members accompanying us for lunch

and the double-decker roller coaster ride back to the airport.

An amazing city built on not very flat ground.

A really cool bridge traveling to the airport that is on an island about a 50 min bus ride from the temple.

Headed home. We made it just in time to take one of the last subways trains home that night saving ourselves quite a bit in taxi fees.

The kids did a great job taking care of things at home, and Rob and I felt very blessed to have made the trip and renewed our temple covenants.