Nov 20

The original 10 of us from SFO checked out of our hotel early this morning and went to the airport. The airport is called Baiyun International airport. It’s really large and nice. We had hopes of going to our gate and walking around to buy snacks and last minute souvenirs but ended up in a small waiting room on a different floor with no such retailers. We had a connection in Wuhan and had a chance to shop a few stores and picked up a few extra snacks.

First in flight meal

Movies this time included Mission Impossible – Fallout, All the Money in the World, La La Land, and When Harry met Sally.

Second in flight meal

We arrived at SFO around 10:30am local time. After we got home, I unpacked and started some laundry and the four of us passed out on the couch for several hours.

It was a fun vacation. Now back to life!

Nov 19

This is our 4th and final hotel of our trip and it’s by far the best. The breakfast buffet is on the 27th floor of the hotel with spectacular views of Guangzhou.

Our first stop today was Canton Tower. It’s a new landmark in Guangzhou and ranks third highest building in the world at 600 meters. It’s reminiscent of Willis Tower in Chicago or the Space Needle in Seattle. The views of the city were amazing.

At the bottom of the tower, there was a McDonald’s. The kids had fun ordering chicken nuggets and taro pies. Here, you order and pay at these screens and then pick up at the counter.

For lunch, we drove to an old part of town called Chen Chun and had special local dishes. One particular dish – fried milk – stood out for us. It looked like a Twinkie and tasted pretty good.

After lunch we went to “Beijing Lu”, a boulevard lined with shops and eateries. Several of us picked up some souvenirs here.

We closed our evening with a lovely dinner cruise on The Pearl River. Night time views of Guangzhou with all the buildings lit up were very pretty.

Favorite part of the day

Me: enjoying the views of Guangzhou from the cruise

David: Canton Tower

Nat: dinner cruise

Tyler: dinner cruise

Nov 18

This morning we checked out of our hotel, left our luggage with the concierge and walked over to a dim sum place called DimDim Sum and met my old friend Janet, her son Kai, and her new husband Mark for brunch. Janet used to live in San Francisco and we worked together at DI. Kai is 2 months older than Nat. They had play dates until they were about 2.5 years old, then Janet moved to Hong Kong. The kids had a nice time chatting with Kai during lunch and exchanged social media info. Hopefully they stay in touch.

The rest of the group went to Tsim Tsa Tsui to take in the sights of the HK harbor and skyline.

In the afternoon, we reunited with our group at the hotel and took a taxi over to the Kowloon train station and took high speed train to Guangzhou. The ride was under 50 minutes! It was amazing how quickly we got there. We splurged and got first class seats. It was a smooth ride.

Upon arrival, we were bused to our hotel, The Ocean Hotel. It was probably the nicest hotel on this trip.

For dinner, Po Po and Gong Gong had dinner with an old friend so the rest of us were on our own. With the help of Apple maps, we walked across the road and found a plaza with restaurants and other shops. We picked a cafeteria style restaurant and each of our plates were around $2 US each! After dinner, we shopped some retailers nearby and got fresh fruit, snacks, and drinks.

Favorite part of the day

Me: riding the high speed train from HK to Guangzhou

David: riding the high speed train

Nat: having dim sum and chatting with Kai

Tyler: hanging out with Kai

Nov 17

This morning, Uncle Albert came to our hotel to meet and escort us to Tung Chung. We took the bus then MTR to get the full experience of public transportation in HK. In Tung Chung, we had dim sum with several family members on PoPo’s side. It was nice meeting new family members and seeing familiar ones.

After brunch, we took a cable car ride to Ngong Ping. Ngong Ping is a highland in the western part of Lantau Island, Hong Kong. It hosts Po Lin Monastery and Tian Tan Buddha amidst the hills which is about 34m tall. There are several hills nearby which are also an attraction to tourists. The cable car ride was about 20 minutes long each way.

This guy was roaming around randomly. Nat was nervous to get too close

For dinner, the four of us split off from the group and met David’s family at CoCo Kitchen (hot pot) for dinner in Mongkok.

After dinner, we walked through Ladies night market again to pick up a few more souvenirs.

Favorite part of the day

All of us: the cable car ride to Ngong Ping

Nov 16

We left Beijing at the crack of dawn this morning and hopped on a flight to Hong Kong. The kids gave goodbye hugs to Ms. June, our tour guide while in Beijing. She’s been a great hostess to our family.

On arrival in Hong Kong we took the express train to Kowloon, then a shuttle to our hotel, Metropark Hotel Kowloon. (No included breakfast here). After checking in and settling into our hotel, 12 of us decided to walk around and explore Hong Kong. Gong Gong stayed behind to meet an old friend for dinner. While walking to our destination, Temple Street Night Market, we happened to pass the hospital I was born at!

We ate dinner at random street side restaurant near Temple Street night market. The place was covered with a tarp and had wood plank table tops with no covers and stools for seating. Our waiter was a shirtless man with sandals. The food we ordered included classic HK dishes, fried rice, beef chow fun, razor clams and some fish balls. Everything was delicious! After dinner, we walked Temple Street night market then took the MTR (subway) to the Ladies night market. So much walking!

Favorite part of the day

Me: seeing the hospital I was born at

David: dinner

Nat: shopping the night markets

Tyler: shopping the night markets

Nov 15

At breakfast, noodle soup and wonton soup is also served. There is a buffet of toppings available to add as well. I’ve had one bowl each day we’ve been here.

Today’s our last day in Beijing. I don’t think the kids have appreciated all the history we’ve experienced the past few days. Hopefully one day they’ll come back and see it all again and value their experience.

After breakfast, we visited Beijing Pacific Undersea World. The place is an aquarium with a variety of sea life. The kids enjoyed exploring here. They also tried a 5D ride.

Next was Tiananmen Square. It’s one of the largest public squares in the world. It was really cold today so walking to and around the square was a bit tough.

Lunch was at Hai Di Lao. It’s a popular hot pot place known for their great service (and the service was great) and they’re expanding in the US.

After lunch we stopped at Starbucks for coffee and hot chocolate and David and Big Uncle got taro pies from McDonald’s.

We spent the rest of the afternoon shopping at Qianmendajie and Drum Lane.

Favorite part of the day

Me: lunch at Hai Di Lao

David: getting taro pies from McDonald’s

Nat: walking Drum Lane and trying a variety of snacks

Tyler: getting a 1000 piece One Piece puzzle from a shop on Drum Lane

Nov 14

We hit breakfast at 7am this morning. Much less chaotic than yesterday. One of my favorite items at breakfast are the perfectly fried eggs.

Today’s first stop was Olympic Park, built for the 2008 Olympics China hosted. We got to see the Bird’s Nest and Water Cube. The smog was extremely heavy today, so pictures don’t do it justice.

Next stop, Dingling. We went to the tomb of one of the 13 Ming Dynasty tombs. Only 3 are open to the public.

Lunch

The Great Wall at Mutianyu. The Great Wall of China is a world heritage site, also one of the seven wonders of the world. At this entrance, we were able to ride a gondola to the top of the hill where The Great Wall is. Unfortunately for the heavy smog, the views weren’t as spectacular as they could be. Still, seeing this place and imagining its grandeur was impressive to say the least.

For dinner, PoPo specially requested a restaurant so we could experience Peking Duck. We ate at Wangfujing Quanjude Roast Duck Restaurant which is a famous duck restaurant in Beijing. The duck was pretty good.

Favorite part of the day:

All of us: The Great Wall

Nov 13

It’s been a very long day. We walked over 19,000 steps today!

Breakfast at The Friendship Hotel is very similar to a Vegas style buffet. It’s very large, with a good variety of selections. The place is packed full of tourists. Note to self, get there early!

Our first stop today was the Summer Palace. What a magnificent place to live! If it weren’t for the very thick smog, the views would’ve been amazing.

Our lunch spot was not a normal tourist restaurant. This was a nice surprise and the food was pretty good. Nat said it was the best meal in China so far.

Next stop, The Forbidden City. Wow! This place is just wow. The place is huge. So much rich history here! I’m looking forward to showing the kids the movie “The Last Emperor” when we return home. Hopefully after they see the movie, they’ll appreciate having had a chance to come here.

This picture looks like we are standing in front of a fake backdrop, but it’s really The Forbidden City. The air was that bad.

Dinner

After dinner, we went to watch a variety show at Lao She Teahouse. Most of the kids enjoyed pieces of the show, but it had been a long day and some of them fell asleep.

Favorite part of the day

Me: The Forbidden City

David: The Forbidden City

Nat: The Forbidden City

Ty: The show. In particular, the diabolo performance

Nov 12

Most of the Asian hotels I’ve been to offer free breakfast. It’s a buffet with many non breakfasty items like chow mein, Chinese vegetables, and other random stir fry. The Ramada we are staying at also has a self serve ice cream station. The kids hit this both mornings we’ve been here.

Nat: how much do you want Gavin?

Gavin: a lot!

After breakfast, we checked out and hopped on our bus to the city Jieyang. It was about a 2 hr ride.

Saying goodbye to relatives. The kids are flanking Gong Gong’s Auntie who lives in Guangzhou. It’s his dad’s sister. She’s 85.

This is our tour guide Joyce. She sang a nice local Hakka song to us during the ride. Video below.

On arrival at Jieyang, we had lunch at a super random restaurant that looked to be set up for tour groups. The food was just ok…

Then we headed to the airport and hopped on a plane to Beijing!

Our in flight meal

We arrived in Beijing and checked into our hotel: The Friendship Hotel and called it a night. BTW, this hotel reminds me of the movie The Shining. Creeps.

Favorite part of the day:

Me: driving from Meixian to Jieyang. Got to see the countryside of China. It was pretty.

David: teaching my brother Dee how to solve a rubics cube while waiting at the airport

Nat: getting snacks at the convenience store before hopping on the bus.

Ty: getting a 5×5 rubics cube at the airport and figuring out how to solve it.

Nov 11

I woke up at 3:15am. Jet lag is real.

We started our day with breakfast at our hotel.

Then we got on the bus and headed over to the Chiu house. This place is huge and old school, but still standing well. I think 1 family still lives there. This property housed multiple families with multiple generations at one point. It was amazing to see how people lived back then and humbling compared to how we live now.

Gong Gong’s old room

PoPo explaining the ancestors to us and where we tie into the family.

We started the day praying to the ancestors, followed by group photos and then a huge 10+ course lunch.

This is the “kitchen” where all the cooks were preparing lunch for almost 300 guests!

Lunch

After lunch, we went over to the home of Gong Gong’s mom. He said it has changed a lot. The place is being rented now and part of it is a child care center.

The original 10 of us decided to skip the evening party at the Chiu home and we headed back to the hotel to rest. In the evening, we walked over to Wanda Plaza again and ate dinner at a hot pot place that our tour guide recommended. It was yummy but very hot. We ordered a ton of food and the bill came out to around $75. Not bad compared to what we would’ve paid in the states.

Guy pouring hot water to make tea

Favorite part of the day

Me: seeing the Chiu house

David: seeing the Chiu house

Tyler: playing with firecrackers

Nat: taking a bath in our hotel room. There’s a big separate bath tub.