Triple Happiness

When we were married, it was considered "Double Happiness" in Chinese tradition. When Sophia arrived, our family was blessed by "Triple Happiness"! I guess not that Heidi, is here, there must be something about 4-Happiness, but I'll keep my address the same. Here is an attempt to share all this happiness with friends and family.

Monday, April 17, 2006

Spending the day in Shanghai

After lounging in the hotel room as long as possible this morning and enjoying our complimentary breakfast (which was really quite fancy), we took to the streets of Shanghai. Since we had limited time before our overnight train left in the evening, we couldn't do a whole lot of sightseeing. We did, however, mangage to make it to the Yu Yuan garden and to the oceanside where the Shanghai skyline is in full view. Both were spectacular.

The Yu Yuan garden is a section of Shanghai that keeps traditional Chinese architecture all around. There are several Buddhist temples located in the area, and there are sections that are enclosed for pedestrian traffic only. There are vendors selling things in every nook and cranny. We even got invited into some secret alleyway closets to look at knockoff designer purses and wallets for sale.

One of my favorite moments from the day was the throng of Chinese tourists who couldn't stop staring at Sophia and I. It really was hysterical, especially because they were all talking very animatedly to one another about me and the baby. I made Peter take a picture of the event.

Other things that struck me today about Shanghai: the public toilets charge you to go inside. It costs 50 Chinese cents (about 6 US cents) and it allows you one small square of paper. I can't even call it toilet paper since it was so rough. The toilets are nothing more than covered holes in the ground. It's not an experience I care to repeat. We had some extra time before boarding the train, so we stopped in at a McDonald's (they are everywhere) and had a meal. The whole thing cost less than $5 US dollars for the three of us.

The Orient Express
Our train departure was scheduled for 10 PM. Dragging luggage and baby to the station, jet lagged and tired, we made it an hour early. A ragged man with a beat up hand cart approached us and we agreed to pay him 30 yuan for escorting us and our luggage to the train. It was the best money we spent all day. He was able to take us the back way (hauling all our luggage down three flights of stairs in three different trips), allowing us not to wait in the crowded line. The journey to the train would have felt unbearable without him.

We settled into our compartment...equipped with 6 beds, three high on a side. They were narrow enough to only hold one reasonable sized adult laying down. I am just barely reasonably sized (height and width). Peter's mom was smart to get us reservations for the bottom two and one on the second level. There is a pillow and a blanket for each bed, a small table and a hot water thermos on the floor. Across from the beds under the opposite window are two small chairs that fold up when noone is sitting in them and a small tray under the window.

We made our way north through China, and though Sophia cried off and on through the night, the trip is a success. It was great to be greeted by Peter's dad, brother and cousin when we reached the other side!

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Our Itinerary


Here is our planned route while we are in China: we are flying into Shanghai (western coast, mid-south region) where Peter's mom is meeting us at the airport. We'll stay for 2 days and take the overnight train to Peter's hometown, Jinan (look north of Shanghai). From there we are planning on taking small trips to Beijing (north of Jinan) and Qingdao (not on the map, but a coastal city straight west of Jinan). On our way back to Shanghai, we are considering stopping on Nanjing as well. Though we really wanted to visit Xian, it looks like it is too far out of the way for this trip. We'll have to do it next time!

For the map included here, as well as detailed maps of the cities we'll visit, go to :
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/map/index.htm.

Only three more days til we are in China!!

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

China, Here We Come!

Well, we've been packing our bags and preparing our gifts in anticipation for our trip. This morning I picked up our Chinese visas at the embassy in downtown Chicago. We had to fill out application papers, drop them off in person, and then come back four days later to pick up our passports. Sophia's passport is so cute! It is good for five years, and I can't wait to see how different she will look in five years from her little baby picture!

So, we're ready to go!
Plane tickets: $1700
Chinese visas: $100
Passports: $150
Gifts for Chinese family and friends: a lot
A trip to China: priceless

I'm really proud of the gifts we mustered up to bring over for Peter's family members. Over the weekend, I made goodie bags with Easter chocolates, jelly beans, granola bars, Wrigley's gum, Chicago keychains, and a Chicago postcard complete with our website information, address, and email for keeping in touch. They are in really cute Easter bags with ties. We also picked up some nice photo books with "tours" of Chicago, Chicago t-shirts, sweatshirts, and mugs. For Peter's father and brother we got a nice set of Craftsman tools (it was a stretch to find anything not MADE IN CHINA, so Thanks Craftsman for being made in the USA!) and some made in America candles for his mom and aunt. We also filled six small photo albums with pictures of Sophia and our family to leave with them. We got a great selection of pictures for the books (14 in each).

I'm hoping to find some internet cafes along the way to update this blog on our trip. So sit back and enjoy our ride! We're so excited!

For those who want to watch the skies, we'll be taking off on Saturday morning at 11 AM on American Airlines, non stop from Chicago to Shanghai!