The Muthaland

Back from an amazing trip to China! The weather was gloomy all but 3 of the 13 days but it was still good times. The itinerary was Beijing -> Xian -> Chengdu -> Guilin -> Shanghai. What that means to everyone that hasn't visited China is The Great Wall and Forbidden City -> Terracotta Warriors -> Pandas -> Mountains and River -> Lots of Shopping.


Peiking Duck
This was gooooooooooooood!! If Daffy lived in Beijing, I'd eat him too.




The Great Wall
This was absolutely breath taking. We hiked 10 km on a section that isn't very touristy. It's a lot harder than one would think because it's on the ridge of mountains so it's very hilly.



The Forbidden City
This was huge. You could spend an entire day here because there's so much to see. Each building has exhibits, pictures, history, etc of the different Chinese royal families. There I traced my family lineage back to the royal family. We were next in line Mom! We were robbed!




Terracotta warriors
This was cool too. Thousands of unique warriors and thousands more waiting to be dug up.



Pandas
Chengdu has a big breeding center for Pandas. We saw many from little cubs to chubby adults. Hmm, here I was also somehow able to trace my family lineage.



Li River
We took a 5 hour cruise on this river on this really beautiful river with karsts everywhere. The scenery was amazing. Good thing we didn't pay for the $5 cruise like that guy in the picture.



Humble Administrator's Garden in Suzhou
We saw some famous gardens in Suzhou (about an hour from Shanghai). This was the most famous in the city.


Shanghai
It has a really good China artifacts museum, a lot of great street food, a lot of shopping, and even more shopping.


In conclusion

Chinese people are flemmy and aren't afraid to admit it. You must watch every step so you don't step in a loogie (outside AND inside).

China street food is super good, greasy, and very cheap (about 12 - 50 cents for each thing). Pepto-Bismol has probably made 90% of their profits in China.

English isn't a foreign language in China. It simply doesn't exist.

There are a lot of things to do and see and a lot of good food everywhere.

Boba. Boba. Boba. ($0.35 - $0.75)

Now I understand why my family bargains on everything. It's in the Chinese blood.