When your trip to Beijing begins with a hotel room on the 13th floor, it’s safe to assume this is just the first in a long line of things you could never experience at home. 
When you reach said hotel room and you’re greeted with a chocolate rendition of the Bird Nest Stadium from the 2012 Olympics in Beijing, you get your first inkling of understanding the immense pride of Chinese people.
When your children find said chocolate bird nest “too amazing to eat” and transform it into a toy nest that has recently hatched a baby bird (whose “shell” is actually a discarded peel from a mystery fruit delivered with the chocolate bird nest) you know that they’re likely to appreciate the pride-filled details of this culture and have an incredible experience.
From our room on the 13th floor, we could see the Olympic Village. 
Our first Beijing outing began with a walk through the Olymic Village. Something so unexpected happened as I reached a stunning tower of flowers. I caught a scent of a type of flower my uncle Keith and aunt Sherry used to grow in their greenhouse and I was instantly transported back to Weise’s North Juniper Gardens. It was incredible to smell something so familiar from my childhood in such an utterly unfamiliar place.
The other thing that struck us as we walked through the Olympic Village is how incredible it must be to train your whole life for the Olympics and then compete in stat- of-the-art facilities built just for you. An entire city built for the world’s best atheletes. It was awe inspiring to walk amongst the buildings and imagine what it must have felt like to be an Olympian in Beijing. There’s a reason they’re still doling out chocolate versions of these buildings, they’re magnificent.
Despite everyone telling us we had to hire a car to get around Beijing, we wanted to experience more than an isolated car ride and took the subway instead. The moment we got on the train two adults jumped up from their seats and insisted on Eliza and Georgia taking their places. The same thing happened when another child and an elderly man entered the train. People are so conscientious in China. We quickly learned how to say thank you in Chinese to express our gratitude for all the kind gestures extended to us.
We got off the train at Tiananmen Square. It was one day before the 28th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests. We shared a bit of the tragic history with the kids and Georgia said she wanted to take the signature hand holding picture in the square, but she was too distraught to look at the camera.
It wasn’t long before people started asking to take pictures with the girls. Posing for pictures helped Georgia recover after learning about the dark history of the Square and the glorious water fountain choreographed to music helped too. (See video footage of the fountain at the end)
Behind Tiananmen Square lies The Forbidden City, the largest palace in the world. We had a wonderful guide share its incredible history with us, most of which was so gruesome I couldn’t stomach it. The architecture, however, was incredible. All of the structures are made of wood and painted in most stunning detail. We learned so much about the emperors who ruled from this palace, and not unlike the Olympic Village, we found ourselves wondering what it would feel like to have such a magnificent city built just for you….and your 3,000+ concubines.
After The Forbidden City, our guide insisted on showing us the tree the last emperor hung himself from in the park across the street. The park was gorgeous and we got to learn a bit about the life of a modern Chinese mother during our conversational stroll with our guide. She graduated with a degree in architecture but needed flexibility in her job since her husband and son live with his parents 7 hours away from Beijing. She works as a tour guide and only sees her son during long holidays. She had just seen him for a week during the national children’s week holiday but wouldn’t see him again until September. It was heartbreaking to imagine her being away from her child that long. 
Our guide took us to the National Tea House where we had a formal tea tasting and learned the proper way to drink Chinese tea. Then she sent us on our way to Houhai Lake for dinner.
This was one of the most enchanting stops on our trip so far. I captured the experience of walking around Houhai Lake on video and you’ll just have to see it to believe it. Men gather here and swim to an island in the middle of the lake. When they swim back to shore, they perch themselves at the edge of the lake and sing songs out over the lake at the top of their lungs. I asked a local onlooker why the men were singing and he said, “Because they like to hear themselves and they are also grateful for this beautiful day.” 
We listened to the singing for quite awhile, as it was so outrageous and then found dinner at a nearby restaurant. Eliza and Georgia were in rare form and a little boy seated behind them was absolutely enamored by them. He would squeal with delight as they did their best to entertain him.
Our last stop was again the Olympic Village. We were stunned to find dozens of groups of people dancing, doing group workouts, and performing karaoke all along the Olympic grounds. This place has not fallen into disrepair in the years since all eyes were on Beijing. It is a source of national pride and people use the space to gather together to sing, dance and get fit. 
When in Beijing…
I compiled a series of clips from this day. If you’re interested in hearing and seeing the sights and sounds of Beijing on June 3, 2017 Click here!
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