Friday, May 7, 2010

Ni Hao!

alternate title:
We Had a Fantastic 2 weeks in China, But I'm So Glad to be Home - or at Least I'm Pretty Sure I Would Be if I Could Wake Up Enough To Be Over The Jet Lag.

Although we got back from China last night, I don't think I've actually used the word "ni hao" (the Chinese word for "hello") for at least a week.  The Chinese seem to prefer to be greeted in English - for some I'm pretty sure it's the only English word they know - and they love to both use it and hear it! It was very charming.

The trip was amazing.  I should probably be opening mail or something, but I'm not really coherent enough to do something that takes brain power, so naturally blogging comes to mind! Anyway, here are some of the highlights!

First day in China and we discovered that there really are these oriental buildings everywhere!  I thought they would only be in museums and older parts of town.



We rode bikes on the wall around Xi'an.  The wall is about an 8 mile perimeter around the original city, and so beautiful.  It was a super fun, though we wished we'd started earlier in the day and beat the heat a little.


If there's one thing they do well over there, it's architecture and lighting.  It was fascinating.


How do you go to China and not have Peking Duck?  (Which apparently they are trying very hard to rename Bejing Duck)  It was very very good.  I've never had duck before, but it certainly wasn't the strangest thing I ate.



Of course, the Great Wall.  See how steep it looks?   Seriously,  they should have named it the Great Stairs.
My sisters and I wore our running clothes so we could run on the Great Wall.  We got about 2 miles in, but it was definitely not the smooth continuous run we anticipated.


Street Food.  Chicken, pork, lamb, yes that is squid, and there are several other things I never did identify.


 Scorpions


 Oh yes I did! (well, at least the tail!) It tastes like chicken.
Really.


 The Brain ate 5 whole ones.  

That was as close to eating a spider as I ever want to get.  EV-ER. 
More to come, but first... sleep! (because heaven knows I don't want to do some laundry or open my email or something constructive!)

22 comments:

Kristina P. said...

What an adventure!! You are a brave woman.

The Mom said...

Glad you made it home safe! Can't wait to hear more!

Stacey said...

Yay,you're back!!

After reading the title of your post,I now have the Ni Hao Kailan song in my head.

Awesome pictures! (although the scorpion and squid ones made me throw up a little bit in my mouth)

mormonhermitmom said...

Scorpions? Can't wrap my had around that, let alone my mouth.

Yvonne said...

Isn't it fun how fascinated they are with the West.

I enjoyed the Peking Duck, too--it was much better than I expected.

You actually RAN on the wall, WOW. It was so uneven I had a hard time keeping my footing.

You are one brave woman.

Glad you had such a great time. Jet lag is the pits--I still don't know how Pres. Hinckley always did it. (I don't buy it when everyone says "well, he flew on a private jet". So what, there still is a HUGE time adjustment ; )

GO REST.

Stephanie said...

My hubby and I lived there for one summer. It's definitely a fascinating place. We like to refer to it as "an assault on all five senses." Glad you enjoyed it and managed to eat street food and not have a hospital visit. :)

Amy Peterson said...

Are you crazy! I tried to stay as far away from Scorpions as possible. And you are putting it in your mouth!

SO SO happy you are home--get some sleep!

Heather said...

How fun! I can't wait to hear all about the adventures. Seriously, a scorpion? Why didn't you ride the jackalope, because it's clear sanitation doesn't scare you off.

Dave said...

i'm thinking the only way to adequately take this experience is for you to hose a fireside. when is it? we'll bring brownies and sprite.

Becky said...

Scorpion!? You are brave, my friend! When we lived in Virginia, they had a cicada festival, complete with cicada casserole and cicada brittle. Got thing I was pregnant and had an excuse to pass. :)

Heidi said...

How wonderful! Have a super duper mother's day!

Jennifer said...

You were VERY brave to eat a scorpion. What an incredible trip of a lifetime!
(What? No pictures of Tigers on stilts?)

Jennifer said...

Tell your photographer I love the pics!

Barbaloot said...

How fun! I'm dying to hear more about it and see more pictures. Sounds like you did some awesome things.

I was even thinking about you yesterday and wondering why it had been so long since I'd seen anything new on your blog:)

Super Happy Girl said...

I can't tell you how proud I am of you: You ate scorpion. Good for you!! What good is it to go to an exotic places if you don't partake of their exotic food... just to say you did :D

Great pictures!
MORE!!

goddessdivine said...

Welcome home! Get some rest....and then post more stuff! (Pretty please.....) We've missed you. ;-)

Tammy said...

So fun to see your photos. I can't believe you ate the tail! I also can't imagine flying so far away. It would take me a while to get over that jet lag. The laundry will wait for you...mine always does. Glad you're back!

beckers said...

How were the flights for you? I have 2 words that made my last long flight wonderful. Sleeping. Pills. nuf said.

Vern said...

I would run along the Great Wall too, except I don't want all those astronauts staring at me from space.

Super Happy Girl said...

I showed my husband the scorpion picture.
He was most impressed ;)

Janell said...

I'm glad you had a great trip!

LisAway said...

I can't believe you ate that! Yikes. And your husband is totally amazing. And that lighting IS awesome. Like Christmas every day, only nicer.