China- Beijing Day 3, Giant Panda's, Hutong

I know, I'm dragging out this whole trip of ours across the months. Please bare with me as I get these posts out slowly but surely. :)

When we met down in the lobby on our 3rd day of Beijing, we were told that it was snowing across China. The kids were excited when Sunny said we would see more snow in Xian. We had promised them that at some point during the trip, they would get to play in the snow. Until then, we were going to enjoy our last half day in Beijing.

Our first stop was the Beijing Zoo to see the Giant Panda exhibit. To be honest, I have no idea if there were any other animals in the zoo. We went in, looked at the panda's and then left. Granted, we were in the zoo for about an hour and the kids still enjoyed themselves. Having been to many zoo's, the exhibits were nothing to write home about. They animals did have small yards to play in, but they were by no means a wildlife park like that of Woburn Safari Park in England. I've come to enjoy the wildlife parks over zoo's in our travels, as they appear to provide more for the animals. Anyways, the Giant Panda's of Beijing.

We be-lined it through the ticket counter and straight to the Olympic Games Panda Exhibit. Here we caught our first glimpse. The kids sat and watched as the Panda ate and ate. Much like Po from Kung Fu Panda, this panda loved his food.

Walking outside to the other exhibits, we came across this guy. It first appeared there was a person dress in a panda suit lounging away in the exhibit.

The kids loved this guy as he truly embodied Po the panda. He laid there eating his tree and paid no attention to us all clicking away.

We then came around to another exhibit with our favorite panda. He made all of us work to get the perfect shot. He wouldn't hold still and when he did, he was always just in the wrong spot or hurried and move. We'd put the camera down, he'd stop. We'd pull the camera up, he'd move. It was a fun game and I'm glad I got a few good shots.

The money shot! I've uploaded this photo to my viewbug account because I am so dang proud of it. Not only did I have to wait and wait for the perfect shot, there is almost no post editing done on the image. Isn't he just so handsome! (I really hope this panda is male.)

After a few minutes to souvenir shop, we were on the bus and headed to the Beijing Hutongs. There is avast amount of history within the streets and houses in this area. It is here, that we we welcomed into the home of one of the locals living in one of the Hutong courtyard houses. On the way to our hosts house, we all hopped into a rickshaw. 

This is what the traditional courtyard houses in the area looked like. The street entrance was offset from the inner entrance so that passers by could not see in.

Here our host shows us how she paints within the glass object. She learned this craft from her Aunt and will pass it on to someone when she is older.

After some tea and a short visit, we were whisked off in the rickshaws back to where the bus had left us. TK and I were separated from the pack for a little bit, when our driver decided to take a different turn. It was without fail that my worst thought was "this is how horror movies start." The risks you take when traveling. We made it back to the others in one piece and didn't end up on the evening news. Once we were all in tow, we were left on our own after being dropped off at the mall in the area. Here we could eat and shop to our hearts content. We found the nearest coffee shop and chose the restaurant with the shortest line. We made a quick stop into a store to gather some things we had forgotten and then set off to the airport to catch our flight to Xian!

It wasn't until we reached the airport that we realized just how much it had snowed in Xian and the surrounding areas. We were all lined up to check into our flight, when Sunny told us to sit along the wall and wait. The entire airport was in a frenzy and Sunny was trying to figure out what was going on. After about an hour or so of waiting, we were rushed out of the airport onto our bus and headed to the bullet train. Our flight to Xian had been canceled and Sunny had managed to get us all tickets onto the last bullet train before the stationed closed the tracks. It was a mad dash and frenzy filled next few hours as we were hurried around and around. On the bus, off the bus, through the ticket line, through security, rush to the waiting area, move to the VIP lounge for the bullet train .... all with many little ones in tow and baggage. The men in the group did great about loading and unloading the bags and all of us mother's grab children and ran to our next spot. Once we got to the train station an into the waiting area, we were able to relax and got some food.

 When the train arrived, we were hurried down a hallway toward the boarding area. At some point in the hallway, there was another connecting hallway to the gate for all the other passengers. As Sunny was yelling at us to hurry to the train, we realized that down the connecting hallway was a gate that separated us from the other travelers. You could see the mass amount of people, just waiting and watching as we rushed passed them to get onto the train. While we loaded onto the train, luggage carers were trying to load all of our bags as well, in through the same door. People were yelling, we were being pushed, it was a mess but we made it! Our group ended up having an entire train car to ourselves. The empty car was wonderful having especially when the bullet train turned into the slowest moving train known to man, due to the snow and other issues.

It was about 5am when we finally arrived in Xian. We were all exhausted and excited for the day to finally end. Xian greeted us with about 2-3inches of snow on everything with only the lights of the street lamps and no other humans or cars on the road. It was a very picturesque view, making all that effort, worth it. We checked in, ate some breakfast along side guest who were waking for they day and headed up to our rooms to nap. The maker of black out curtains, you are my hero.