The Hayes' & Hills in Beijing!

September 2014:

As I’ve mentioned many times before, the biggest struggle for us as expats is being so far away from our families.  There’s no substitute for spending time together in person (FaceTime just doesn’t cut it!).  So, when Debbie and George told us they wanted to fly halfway around the world to come see us in Beijing for two weeks, we couldn’t have been more delighted!  Immediately, tour guide Kristin went into full preparation mode.  It was truly an unforgettable visit...we loved showing them around our new, crazy home!

Top 10...

1.  Welcome to China, George & Debbie!

Side note:  This is Charlie, our extremely entertaining driver/Chinese opera singer.  I'm not kidding.  He'll serenade you through a video later on in the post :)  We're so happy to have found him though...he was a life saver during our families' visits.

2.  By day, meeting Grant at work for some delicious malaxianguo (basically, the Chinese version of a salad bar)!  By night, enjoying some of Beijing's finest, Peking Duck, at Duck de Chine. 

3.  Exploring Behai Park (first built in the 11th century, it is among the largest of all Chinese gardens), and enjoying dinner at Hai di Lao (THE place to have hot pot in Beijing) off of the ever so popular pedestrian street, Wanfujing. 

  

4.  Dinner at Black Sesame Kitchen (aka, George's favorite restaurant of all time!  :) )...it really was that good.  The highlight of the night though?  Our tuk tuk ride home!  I'm pretty sure we were all laughing hysterically the entire way!

5.  THE GREAT WALL!!!!  Oh, and also, a little Chinese opera for your entertainment (apologies for the sideways video, oops!).

 

6.  Wandering around Ritan Park, our beautiful neighborhood park...followed by a little rooftop happy hour action in Sanlitun.

7.  Temple of Heaven Park - visited by Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for annual ceremonies of prayer to Heaven for good harvest (constructed from 1406-1420 during the reign of the Yongle Emperor, who was also responsible for the construction of the Forbidden City).  Afterwards, rooftop drinks in the Wudaoying Hutong, followed by a dim sum feast!

8.  Tour of Tiananmen Square and The Forbidden City...and finishing the day over fancy cocktails at Janes & Hooch.

9.  Spending the day at the beautiful Summer Palace...

10.  Our weekend trip to Qingdao (where Tsingtao comes from)!  We all LOVED this small (2.7 million...small in Chinese terms) beach-side town.  Beer in a bag really is a thing there...GENIUS!  Also, delicious and super fresh seafood.  Oh, and I can't forget to mention beer street!