The Ellis Family: November 2011 - China Trip

As most of you know, we went to China in November. as you might have guessed I took a zillion pictures (yes, that is the actually number of pictures taken, haha). I have been trying to figure the best way to share them. I want you to be able to see them all! So you can! I've included some on here, and then published albums online where you can scroll through all of the pictures. Since there are a zillion, I'll post the albums in spurts to give you time look at them! So sit back, relax, and enjoy viewing our trip of a lifetime.

With the China trip we went to three cities: Beijing, Shang hai, and Xi An. We traveled for 8 eight days and took about 5 different flights. We went with a guided tour, so we didn't have to worry about anything. It was wonderful. They told us what to do every second of the trip. They even told us when to pee! (Except for the special stop they had to make for Daddy to go potty. You'd think it would have been one of the kids that needed to go so bad to make a special stop - But no, it was our Daddy :)) It definitely wasn't a relaxing trip. It was go, Go, GO! And cold, Cold, COLD! We all got a little tired, a little sick, and a tad cranky. But. Like I said. It was the trip of a lifetime. And it was wonderful. So glad we were able to see all of the things we did. So much history filled the trip. I found myself recalling bits here and there from HS Global Studies. If only I paid attention a little bit more back then! But nonetheless, now when Livvy learns about it in school, she can bring in pictures and say "I went there!"

We started our trip in Beijing. We spent about 2 and a half days there. Lots filled this city: The Great Wall, The Zoo, The Summer Palace, The Temple of Heaven, Ming's Tomb, and more!
We started out in Tiananmen Square. We all know the bloody history there. Sunny, our tour guide leader throughout China, just kinda glossed over that part.
This is the first picture, it's across from the square, just a scenic shot I guess.

Mao Zedong - His picture was everywhere

On the Square:

Olivia on Tiananmen Square:

We drove past and saw where the 2008 Olympics were. The cube building is the pool, the "bird's nest" is right next to it. Also - China was dirty! So many people and so much pollution. you can see how hazy it was in this picture:

We ate noodle, noodle, noodle, and dumpling, dumpling dumpling. The food was great (most of the time) and the restaurants were neat. In one, you were able to dress up in China garb and have your picture taken. We were able to con Olivia into doing it! (note: The hat is actually hers. We were roped into buying it. It's a Mongolian Princess hat. There are lots of peddlers all over the place, just eager to take crazy tourist's money!)

I loved these old high heels. They put the heel in the middle for better balance. Genius! (History note: The men would tie up the women's feet and force them to not be able to grow so that they had small feet and were not able to run away. Wow.)

We made a stop to a Jade factory. We learned all about jade and how to tell the real from the fake. Here a man is making one of those dragon balls. Something amazing - They make those balls from one piece of jade and just carve within it!