China

We woke up at 6AM to make it to the Chengdu Panda Research Base at its opening time of 7:30. The internet was adamant that the pandas are only active in the morning and we must get there right at opening. It was a little rough after our late night but we made it. We…

It was a rainy morning so we stuck around the hotel. We read comics, had a big breakfast, and I played with Millie in the playroom. Usually she’s the only kid in these things but today it was busy. No English speakers, unfortunately. Nick and Millie watched a movie (Ne Zha, very popular in China!)…

Classic transit day today. We slept in and hit up the breakfast buffet. In the last three days I have grown to love congee for breakfast. Then we packed up and headed to the train station. The station is huge, like an airport. But way easier to navigate. We got on the train easily and…

Millie’s first words this morning were “wow, that was AMAZING!” Apparently she had had a vivid dream where we all got swallowed by a whale and then could breathe underwater. We had our hotel breakfast and then got ready for the day. We called a taxi and took a 1 hour ride to the site…

We started our morning with a breakfast buffet. It’s been a while since we have had one. Nick and I were both happy to have high-fiber cereal after a few weeks of eating mostly carbs and meat. Our stomachs have been mostly fine but we are starting to feel the results of eating so much…

Nick and I slept pretty badly, I assume due to baijiu and sodium intake, so our 6:45 alarm felt extra brutal. We managed to shower and clean up our disastrous hotel room and get in a taxi by 8:30. I left one big item behind: Millie’s ride safer vest. This has stood in for a…

Millie and I set off this morning to head to a park to meet up with my mom’s old friend/coworker Fei. She has two young daughters, one of whom is Millie’s age and speaks English. We (and Judy) took a car to Ritan park and arrived a bit early. Unlike elsewhere that we’ve been, the…

After 152 days of avoiding the large groups of tourists traveling behind a tour guide with flag, today we became one with them. Usually it’s Chinese tourists in other countries, today we were part of a group of non-Chinese tourists in China. The tables have turned. There were many ways to get to the Great…

This morning we all slept until, drum roll please… 11AM. I think this was a combo of three things: good blackout shades, still being on Kazakhstan time, and entering hibernation due to the amount of duck fat we consumed last night. I couldn’t believe it when I saw the time. We got up and ready…

Last week when I was in the throes of an arthritic flare I googled “Beijing rheumatologist English speaking” and found out about the Beijing United Family Hospital, where most staff speaks English. I emailed them with my details asking for an appointment. I had very little hope that I’d hear back, let alone that I’d…