September 7, 2025
I have fallen far behind on the blog, I am writing this on Sept 30th, and am doing my best to catch up now. A combination of long days, lack of reliable internet, and enjoying the freedom to relax all contributed. Hopefully catch-up posts don’t lose too many details!
Up and ready for another big day of exploring with Vivien. The hotel breakfast is fine but not my favorite. Kayleen had noticed a nearby Starbucks so once we meet Vivien in the lobby we headed there before going to our car. On the way we stopped at a massively tall blind box the kids had spotted a few days ago. We eventually got it to work for each of them but the prizes were nothing special. After loading up at Starbucks we headed out.
The first stop was the Summer Palace. After noticing a dragon statue upon our arrival, we reviewed the four animals that make up a dragon; fishes scales, snakes’ body, eagles claws, and a shrimp’s eyes. Though the internet says different, I guess it depends who you ask…
The boys did their best to step over any zombie barriers with their left leg first as we made our way into the palace. It began to heat up and hoping to avoid a ton of walking around the palace with boys we asked Vivien if we could take one of the little covered boats out on the lake. We were able to and began our hour-long slow motoring around the lake. There were hundreds, or more, of these boats on the massive man-made lake. The boys got their fill of driving, looking around it was easy to see most Chinese families also letting their kids drive. A universal joy for children.
Once off the boat we started to walk through some of the different parts of the palace learning all different facts from Vivien. Sadly, most of them I will forget but I won’t forget all the attention the boys got. A family was very keen to get a picture of their daughters with them and eventually I convinced the boys to do it. I whispered to Ollie that he was famous in China which he pretended to get upset at but thought it was a bit funny. Shortly after we asked Vivien to head to the exit to meet the driver and get lunch as everyone’s patience was wearing thin.
Lunch was enjoyed by all but the boys. They did not care for what seemed to be a favorite of Chinese kids. I don’t really blame them, the soup didn’t taste like much of anything, but the chicken wings were good. Ollie eventually agreed once I took the skin off and he ate them. Next, we headed to the Temple of Heaven but Lenny opted out during the car ride…
Lenny remained asleep for the walk from the car all the way to the main area of the Temple of Heaven. Luckily it was shaded for the walk so I didn’t melt in the sun carrying his dead asleep body. We were all a bit fried on facts about different dynasties and beliefs so we just snapped some photos and moved on. A young Chinese man rocking a NY Yankees t-shirt asked me if he could take a picture with the boys using a translate app on his phone. I told him sure and the boys were fine with it. I guess Ollie didn’t hate my joke earlier that much!
We made it back to the Hutong area near our hotel where we met out food tour guide, Garth. He was an Australian who learned Mandarin in college and moved to China in the early 2000s. Though he said he goes back to Australia for a few months each year to keep his sanity. The tour could last up to 4 hours but he kept us moving fast with the kids being a constant risk. The boys really liked him as he gave rides on his shoulders and showed them various different hidden restrooms throughout the city.
The tour was one of the best things we did in China, even though we were exhausted. We started with a Beijing hot pot, fueled by scolding hot charcoal inside the center compartment. Ollie took down some dumplings here and Garth got the boys to try all different things, some dipped in the sesame sauce, by beating their challenges of picking up food with 3, 4, or 5 chopsticks.
Then we stopped at a store to grab Old Beijing yogurt, drank through a straw, as we walked. Garth joked that the origins of the yogurt were Mongolian but Chinese branding made it “Old” Beijing yogurt. Once done he told me it was fine to leave the containers on a ledge anywhere as someone would be by to grab them since they could be traded in for money. Then it was time for knife cut noodles called dao xiao mian. They were amazing with chili sauce and some vinegar but the kicker was you peeled, and ate, full cloves of raw garlic with them. Mouth full of noodles, bite off a chunk of garlic to wash it down. You can see a small bucket of garlic on our table as we eat.
We stopped to try fancy rice wine (way better than expected), a grilled sandwich made of donkey, and some type of savory crepe I was too full to take more than a bite of. For the grand finale we had grilled chicken wings! The restaurant, if you could call it that, was someone’s house. Not a place you go unless your taken there by someone that knows it exists. Garth said if an unknown person comes in, they typically tell them they are out of wings. The numbing Sichuan pepper was so fresh and lemony while it made your mouth feel like it was vibrating. I couldn’t stop eating them even though I felt like I was going to explode. The boys were so intrigued by the vibrating mouth sensation they grabbed a few to join in.
We did our normal ice cream desert at the end from a convenience store and I stumbled across a black sesame coconut ice cream that ranks in the top of all that I have had. Sadly, I doubt I will see it again, maybe for life.
Towards the end of the night as we walked, we saw a few people on different corners lighting small fires on the sidewalk. Garth told us that they were burning ‘fake money’ to deliver it to their ancestors who have passed to help them get through the levels of hell. Ollie had a ton of follow up questions for Garth on the levels, if they are like video games, what are the challenges, what does the money help with, could he tell him more about the different hells, etc…
As we were heading back to our hotel Lenny claimed he got a brain freeze from his popsicle. Ollie attempted to help him by hugging his head to warm it up which Lenny appreciated.
Kayleen asked Ollie what his favorite part of the day was before bed. “Learning about the game to go to heaven.” He was referring to learning from Garth about burning ‘fake money’.
