Steven...Steven......Steven!!!!

Mom, Dad and I had a few fantastic happy weeks......... but not Steven, he had a sad/horrible few weeks..and this last week was not his best week at all. As you all know Steven was lost in Beijing a few weeks ago, well read further because it has gotten worse!!!!

STEVEN......LOST.......DAD'S.....BRAND NEW.........PHONE.......

IN...........THE.....................................................................................................................

TAXI  !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes I know it is terrible for this (the ones who have been reading my blog since the beginning of the trip) is the 2nd time this happened. 
In Argentina my dad put his phone in his bag through the scanner of the Casa Rosada and when it came out on the other side it was missing from the bag.

 ....Here is what happened......:

On a sunny morning Da Ya - a friend of ours here in Beijing - organised an interview for us with a local Magazine. This time it was not us interviewing them, but they wanted to interview us about our journey (totally exciting!!!!). The interview was in Chinese and Da Ya translated everything. They made it into a great party with milkshakes and delicious fruit teas. When we came back from the interview, we went with the taxi back to Beijing and Steven was playing games. We paid the driver, got out and when Steven paid he forgot to give back dad's phone. I was the last one out of the taxi and checked, but there was nothing on the seats. So our theory is that Steven must have dropped dad's phone on the floor. We always get the slip from the taxi driver, but not this time and therefore could not phone him. Off we went again to the local police station to report the lost phone. The officers did not speak English, but where all very nice and helpful.

Meeting friends.

While we where waiting at the police station I met a friend who worked at the Silk Market. A market where they sell everything (clothes, glasses, shoes, watches etc) and you bargain till 1/3 of the price.While I was chatting to her she taught me how to bargain and gave me very good bargaining tips!. She was at the police station, because a customer wanted a product of her shop and she said " NO " because the price was too low. The customer pushed her and this she reported to the police. For her and for the Chinese it is a big thing to be attacked like that because there is not a lot of crime here in China. The punishment for crime here is very big so people won't do anything wrong. 

So, 2 days later I visited her at the Silk Market to test my bargaining skills and bought a lucky golden kitten (which all the shops have in the windows). Also Steven needed new shoes, since with all the walking we did, his shoes had many holes under his feet. 

 

Panjiayuang Market. 

We also went to another interesting market where Audrey took us (a friend of us who lived in South Africa). Now it was much fun, because I knew how to Bargain. First I bought my first 'glasses'. The specs are with glass and are very much in fashion here. Some girl are even wearing glasses without glass, just a frame. Afterwards we walked over the big market where they sold products from old Chinese coins to Buddha statues to big Chinese cupboards and when walking back we saw someone trying to put a Chinese cupboard in a Riksja. It was very nice to see how all the different shopkeepers organised their own little stores and at the end they loaded all their statues and items on their little bikes and went home. 

Great Wall of China

The Kreeften on Great Wall at Mutianyu - China

...and YESSSSSSS, we finally went to the Great Wall of China. I was so excited to finally get up the wall which I only looked at in books or Wikipedia but in REAL!!!. 

We took the public bus to Mutianyu where the Great Wall is not so touristic. We had to get up very early and the drive took 2 hours. Then I saw the mountains and the wall. Of course we did not take the cable car but climbed the steps up to the top. 

I was the first one up, first I was running up the stairs, but after half an hour I was starting to get exhausted and walked the steps. Steven was the last one up, because of his ankle. He got an injury the day before during soccer training. We found a nice spot to have our picnic on one of the 1000 watch towers the Wall used to have. The view was not very clear, because of the smog (also here in the mountains) but you could see mainly trees and mountains. When there was danger the guards used to make a fire to warn the Emperor in the city. While we were having the picnic I gave my family a presentation about the Great Wall of what I researched. The Great wall was built more then 2000 years ago, was 6400 km long and 4-5 meters wide with steps and watch towers. There used to be 1 million guards keeping the Empire save from enemies coming from the north and the west of China. After we had the picnic we walked some time over the Wall and guess how we went down again? There was a giant SLIDE all the way through the forest down into the valley where we started the walk up. Weeeeeehhhhhhhhhhhhh back down in 15 minutes only. Our bus was already there and we hopped and slept on the way back for 2 hours.

Haha look at dad flying through the curves
 " GO DAD "

Ready, steady GO!! down the slopes of the Wall.         

Next week Xi'an and the Terracotta warriors

(Thank you Marga for the tip on blogging)

Xie Xie Loes

People, Animals & Temples

These 2 weeks were very interesting, because I learned a lot about the people and their believes, how they treat and take care of their animals and historic buildings.

Beijing Zoo: We went to the Beijing Zoo to mainly see the Giant Pandas. The Panda's are the national animal in China, it is very big and furry with white with black. But the panda we saw was not black and white, but more grey with black. It did not take a bath for sometime. The Pandas eat bamboo for 14 hours every day and the rest of the day they play on swings and slides and they sleep. Most of the other animals in the Beijing Zoo we saw at 'their real homes' a few months ago in the Kruger National Park. There was so much difference between the Zoo animals and wild free animals. In the Zoo the animals all looked sad and were dirty, alone, not a lot of green grass/plants to eat and play in. In South Africa in the Kruger National Park there is green everywhere with rivers and trees and bushes where they are free!!!! The rhino was the animal that I wanted to take out of the Zoo the most. It was lying under the one little tree on hard ground without any grass, very skinny and dirty all alone.
Us/tourists came to look at the Giant Panda while the locals looked at the peacocks!!!??  They seemed to love that bird with its feathers all showing off. Steven and I was strange since for us it is very normal to see a peacock, because it walks sometimes through our garden and on the road near our house in Hout Bay.

Temple of Heaven: is a big complex of religious buildings. It was visited by the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties for ceremonies of praying to Heaven to get good crops. There are many temples with a large park around it. The temples are all made from wood with beautiful colours with many different patterns. The blue color stands for the sky and heaven, the red color is the color of the Emperor and the yellow color is sometimes gold paint and means sun.


Summer palace : When the Emperors were hot and tired in the Summer they often went  from the Forbidden City to their Summer Palace in the north of Beijing city. Here they had a large garden with a lake. They also used it to invite kings or important people from other countries to impress them. It was a pity that many buildings were a little old and the paint was ugly and scratched. The website said it is painted every 12 years, but it looked much longer ago. Maybe because there are so many people every day. Also the entrance fee is a little strange. You pay to enter the Summer Palace, but then you must pay again and again every time you wanted to go into a temple or special part of the Palace.

Lama temple/Buddha: It was a temple  that most of the Lama Buddhists visit. Lama Buddhist is a branch of Buddhism and Buddhism is a believe or religion of many Chinese. With Buddhism you believe in Buddha and The moment- Now and not Tomorrow). To great or pray to Buddha you have to burn 3 incenses and kneel and bow tree times in front of his statue. The Llama temple had the same colours as the Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace. There were many statues of Buddha and gold, you could also see the Monks pray in their orange dress/coat.



Bike Riding : On a partly sunny day we went with friend's Jean Pierre, Juune and Pieter to ride a bike. Not just normal bike riding no we went on a tandem. Around lake Hou Hai with old Chinese streets and colourful shops. We had a break at a beautiful old Chinese tea house, where we drank old tea (Pu-er) as a local in special pots and cups. You have to put the hot water from the kettle in a teapot whit the tea branches, then after 1 minute you put the tea in a glass teapot from where you put the tea in the little cups. We loved the traditional way of preparing and drinking the tea. The tea tasting and drinking of old tea is the same as the wine tasting in South Africa. Some tea is special and cost more than a bottle of special wine.

Ping Pong  : Ping Pong is the national sport in China and everyone plays it. To me Ping Pong looked easy, just hitting the ball from left to right (BORING). My dad wanted us to try a lesson and after 3 times of asking I finally did take the Ping pong lesson with Steven...........WOW IT WAS DIFFICULT.  It wasn't at all what I thought. You had to hold your racket in a specific degree, move your waist from left to right and I had to bend my knees, because I was to long and the Chinese are all shorter than I am. After 2 lessons I liked it because it was tricky. Steven is very good in Ping Pong and liked it from the beginning. We  are both doing Ping Pong since 2 weeks now on Sunday and Wednesday for an hour and we get homework from our teacher.


Xie xie  Loes

BREAKING NEWS!!!!!!!!!!

On Tuesday 15 May 2012 the electronic passport is introduced in China/Beijing. 

I am very sorry for the late blog update but , because Blogging is not allowed here we had some problems (father in jail and mom at Police station,haha). Everything sorted out again and Monday you will have our normal update again.

We have  had a rough week with the Visas of China and Russia. We had a Visa for China, but you have to go out of China every 30 days and we did not want to do that. We rather wanted to stay in Beijing for the whole 1 1/2  months not traveling again. Therefore we went to the embassy of China to extend the Visa which wasn't as easy as we thought. We had to come back 5 TIMES.

1. First time we had to get the forms & ask questions
2. Second time we had it finished, but there was a mistake and had to make copies of papers and could not find a copy machine.
3. Handed it in (ready and complete)
4. Wanted to pick up the Visa, but because of the introduction of electronic passports it was closed.
5. FINALLY on the 15 of May it was open, but there was a celebration in the building because of the electronic passports. We all had to wait till 10.30 with a lot of people. Around us were many Chinese red decorations, camera's and reporters from the radio and TV. Dad was interviewed for Global News. Note from my father : "Interesting to see that foreign & Chinese reporters working for foreign Media companies were asking different questions than the local journalist. The last category was asking question how did we find the efficiency linked with customs, visa extensions ect in China (we give it a high score because after arrival at the airport we were within 15 minutes outside and also the initial visa application in Cape Town was very efficient and professional. Australia was more than 1.5 hour waiting in lines at the airport. Foreign journalist came with questions like do you think the Chinese will be controlling the local Citizen even more. I answered that there is overall control any way (See picture with Camera) in China but the passport will lead to more efficiency on arrival at airports"                                                                                

So this was Global News reporter, but where were the Dutch and South African journalists???? Luckily I had my Presscard with me so I think this is my task to report about this important event for China:

BREAKING NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

China is catching up....and celebrated the introduction of their new Digital Passport system on the 15th May 2012.

It looked impressive with special books printed for the Chinese and foreign people who want a passport or visa for China.   Here is a short paragraph of the Handbook  : 

"Beijing is a world-renowned historical city and also a modern metropolis. This handbook is specially designed for the foreign people in Beijing. It aims to protect foreign people's legal rights and provide a safe and convenient environment." 

A lot of international reporters and TV were invited and the passport and the system with automatic filing systems was shown to them. Speeches and Chinese red balloons were flying through the building and everyone was happy! 

So, at the 5th visit we finally rushed through the doors, up the stairs and to the empty ticket office. Within 1/2 hour we were outside again with all our passports and visa extentions. YAAAAAAY.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well if you think we are done now.......wrong!!!
Now we had to go to the Russian Embassy to get our  visa for the Transsiberian Express (it is the longest train ride in the world and during 6 days the train passes many different views and you can eat & sleep on the train). 
We also had troubles with the Russian Visa (visit 6 TIMES).

1. First day. It was only open in the morning form 9:00 - 12:00
2. We came in the morning (missed school)but it was Public Holiday due to the election of the Russian President
3. We came to ask questions, but had to wait for a long time in the line baking in the sun
4. Handed in our passport's and forms and pay
5. Because we are going to the Xian(Terracotta Army) we needed our passports back to travel in China 
6. Got our passports

Loes's apologies for the delay!

I saw the (blue) sky above Beijing & Steven was LOST in Beijing

When we were heading to the Silk Market (cheap clothes, shoes, glasses where you bargain to at least 1/4 of the requested price) we had for the first time since we arrived here in Beijing a blue sky!! instead of Smog. It was an unexpected surprise, because the air pollution here is a big problem and many people talk about it. The American Embassy even sends out a 'warning'-sms to inform their people to stay indoor when the air is unhealthy. There are many cars and factories in Beijing and because there is a large mountain in the north of the city, I was told that the wind does not blow enough to clean the air. Also there are not a lot of trees in the city which can clean the air.
So, even with the beautiful sky, we still took the underground and before we realized we lost Steven. He knew the way and he was in front of us and we thought he used the other exit of the subway-train, but the next station when we had to change to line 1 he didn't come out. We waited and went back to line 1 but no Steven. His cell phone was also not working. Steven thought we were going to another shop (complete different direction) and could not find us when he arrived there. Because the phone card was empty he could not reach us and after more than an hour waiting he went back with his subway-card. Luckily he knows the underground lines and stations and the small streets to our apartment so he could find his way back home. From home he could skype us that he was okay, but that was only after a few hours of worries.

Peking Duck (not for my vegetarian friends!!)
The other name for Bei Jing is Peking and a very famous dish here is Peking Duck. My mother always  tells the story about how she went to eat 'Peking Duck' when she was here in 1991. She had to eat the whole duck from eyes, head, feet/flippers etc.
So we had to try this. Audrey  (who is working at the Embassy here) and some Dutch friends found a perfect place to eat Duck. Much more fancy than our food-courts where we went so far. They had a separate kitchen with big glass wall where you could see how they prepared the Duck. After several starters served on the round turning place in the middle of the table the Duck came and we were eating it in small pancakes (what we learned before at Katima in Hout Bay). For the different parts of the Duck there was a different sauce and ways to eat it. The skin was dipped in crispy sugar, the feet was eaten with garlic and unions and YESSSS, I had the DUCK BRAINS.It tasted like pate.

We saw people eating black Scorpions,
 fury spiders, beetles,cat ears etc. but no
dog brain.

Near our apartment we have a food-court, so we love to go and choose noodles and eat with chopsticks between the locals. We also like to shop at the local supermarket and make an interesting dinner at home. What we don't like is the 'specialties' which some of the shops have on their menu. One day we saw a food shop with the most horrible insects and they were all ready to be fried. But also there were many clients waiting in line to eat these fried scorpions, big black spiders, cockroaches and locusts.


Queen's day

We do not only eat local food and special dishes. In most of the cities where we are, there are also many Dutch families working and living. So it happened that on the 30th of April and the 5th of May we celebrated Queen's Day (Koninginnedag) and Liberation Day with the Dutch kids. First our parents had an evening in Orange organised by the Dutch Embassy with all the local Dutch People living in Beijing. The children could go a couple of days later to a picnic and we went with Juune and Pieter to the International School in Beijing who also has a Dutch School in it. We did games and sold sweets AND there was traditional Dutch food (krentebol en bitterballen). Afterwards we went to swimming classes with them and I had hockey training on the fields of the British school. It was a fun day (but also tiring), but after a diner at my favorite restaurant Anni's we had another great day in Beijing.

Attractions
Steven is going to his football club every Saturday and Sunday and  the fathers play also and the mothers walk around the field and do Chinese exercises on Chinese music. Is is part of the sport fields used for the Olympics in 2008. The soccer and the walking reminds us a bit what we do every Sunday morning on Hout Bay Beach, when we play beach football at 10.00 with the fathers and sons and the ladies are walking on the beach.

After the training we went to see the National Olympic stadium of Beijing also known as the Bird's Nest because it looks like a nest. This stadium was built and used for the Olympic games in 2008 and the Paralympics.

We also visited this week The temple of Heaven,  a park with many buildings/temples, where the Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties were praying to Heaven and their ancesters. It was built from 1406 to 1420 and is very big and impressive. Beside the several temples there is also a place where you can hear the Echo of the prayers, so people where standing there and giving a speech or started singing.


School
School is going great and we have a big apartment with a park around, so we both read in the park with the smell of flowers and hearing the fountains and the waterfalls. For EMS (economic management science) we had a big test
about inflation/unions/money etc. For Natural Science we are learning about the atoms and types of energy. For maths we have done more than 3000 questions on our IXL website and every week -as usual -a spelling test. Mom is being a great teacher teaching us a lot, but sometimes someone didn't go to bed in time or is bad tempered and than the day is spoilt. Steven is reading South African Memories about the Anglo Boer War and I am reading Jane Eyre. I love Jane Eyre, but its a long story.

Thanks Loes