Welcome to Chinatown

So after talking and talking about how we just had to make it to China, we finally took a trip to Beijing. I was so interested to see the differences between Japan and China and there are just so many. We so loved seeing all the cool historical sites.

We had a really great tour guide who helped us out with understanding what we were seeing and getting us around the city. First we went to Tienanmen Square. It's just so strange being in different places where you know so much violence has occurred. Just makes you sad and thankful for all the freedoms that we have experienced in our lifetime. We got to see Chairman Mao. He basically looks like a wax figure...rumors are that it is a wax figure. Sadly, no pictures are allowed in the mausoleum, so no seeing him. Then we moved onto the Forbidden City which was massive.

The next day we went to see the Temple of Heaven where all these cute old people go early each morning to do their morning exercises, which in most cases was Tai Chi. We saw some dancing and other sports going on to though. After that we headed out to my favorite spot, the Great Wall of China. There really just aren't words to describe how amazing it is to see. It just goes on and on as far as you can see. It was fantastic.

We also got to see the terracotta warriors, which we both loved seeing. To even think about how much effort went into creating them. They said there were estimated to be like 7,000 warriors and the sole purpose was for these statues to surround the emperors tomb and protect him in the afterlife. Each warrior was made individually and had it's own features. Wild, right?

All in all, we had the best time. It was a nice little pick me up after our first trimester and a great way to announce to our family and friends that we were going to be increasing our family.

Enjoy the pictures!

Until next time...Jenn