It was not a bad flight .Chao lei and June were ready to be off of the plane by the end but who is not? Chao lei had his Switch to occupy himself so he was no challenge to fly with.
MY worry was June. This was her first time flying. The beginning was entertaining. She was focused on every little bump and squeak as the plane began to move. She was in the window seat so she was constantly checking outside. Amazingly, she was not white knuckled... at first. Then the flaps went down. "Mom! The wing is falling off!" I had to reassure her that the wing was going nowhere and that what she saw was normal. The death grip had begun. (I will say here, a discussion is needed with Jared. He apparently forgets that children emulate their parents and are very adept at following their cues.) We began take of and her eyes alert as she watched the ground go past faster and faster. Then as the airplane lifted from the ground, June shouted at the top of her lungs with her eyes as big as saucers, "Holy Crap!" I believe if she would not have been restrained she would have leapt from her seat and run the length of the plane. Since she could not, those poor arm rests. Passengers around us found it humorous. I found it embarrassing. Fortunately, many of the people around us did not speak English so they only knew she was startled. June did eventually settle down and was occupied by her tablet. Landing was a treat but there was no outburst for that, only torture for the armrests again.
I forgot how peaceful their courtyard is.
Mother and Father picked us up at the airport and brought us home. I was surprised by how much things have remained the same. I could navigate the house as if I lived there still. Mother said the children and I would be using my room. I had already begun walking there from habit. I pretty much lost my children immediately. Once we were in the house, I vanished as far as my children were concerned. Waipo had June and Waigong had Chao lei. I give them credit for trying to maintain English with the children but soon it proved frustrating for them. I suppose it is a good thing I have been teaching the children Mandarin. Between my parent's lack of English and the children's lack of Mandarin, I believe they communicated well and both became more proficient in their second language. Jared will know we have visited because he will return to a house that speaks primarily Mandarin for a time. Lol
The neighborhood has not changed very much.
There was plenty of daylight still so I opted for a walk around the neighborhood. The children opted to stay. I guess sitting for hours in an airplane seat makes one too tired to walk. I was eager to explore my old home again. Nothing much had changed. The shops were the same shops as when I was a child, with an exception here and there. I found that it was easy to find those places I knew as a child. There was new paint here and there. They widened the sidewalk outside the sweet shop. It is the only major change I saw in the entire neighborhood.
It is not that nothing changed though. Is this not a strange looking house? The bottom portion I remembered. It is the top portion that caused me confusion at first.As I approached, I believed the house to be familiar to me but the top addition confused me for a moment causing me to believe I was in a different neighborhood than I believed I was in. I suppose if you cannot build out, you build up. I spoke with some neighbors and they are not happy for it. They fear it may fall over. I cannot say I disagree with them.
Tuesday, I decided we would visit the terracotta army. It is a very interesting place to visit especially since it is still and active archeological site, which piqued Chao lei's interest immediately.
Archeologist working area
What I found most interesting about them is no two statues share the same features. Each face is unique. When looking at them, one might just assume they are looking at any crowd that has different shapes, some have facial hair and some do not; some have touji (top knot), some do not. It is eerie sometimes.
On Wednesday, we spent allot of the day and evening in the Muslim Quarter. There are many shops and food stalls (my personal favorite). The main attraction is the Great Mosque.
One of my favorite shops
If you enjoy architecture and religious art, this is a must visit location. Some may even discover that not all Muslims are in the middle east. ;-)
Thursday was a time to relax and let grandparents be grandparents. Chao lei knows his grandmother bu t not his grandfather so he spent the day with him. Father was a wonderful teacher and Chao lei was an attentive student. June has just met them really. In the short time we have been here, June has become attached to her grandmother. She is too much as her mother though. Each night she was found asking Waipo to stay with her at night. That does so much for a mother's ego. Lol She followed mother everywhere except when mother had patients and even then she kept a close eye on the clinic door and immediately abandoned whatever she was doing to join her waipo. I though a spatula might be required when it was time to leave.
Thursday night we went to the Drum tower. If you ever visit Xi'an, remember to save some of your energy for night time exploring.
Drum tower in the day time
Drum Tower at night
Many of China's attractions change character at night and often that change is rather dramatic. They do not look to be the same place.
As with all other attractions, there are the shops and stalls to sell trinkets to tourists. This was home to me but my children are visitors so we parted with some yuan for mementos to mark their visit.
Friday was spent exploring Huaqing.Palace and grounds. It is a lovely place to just sit and relax. If only one could enjoy the imperial bathing pool as it was meant to be enjoyed. I supposed a visit to the nearby hot springs would suffice.
Huaqing Palace
A warning to parents with young boys is to be issued here. I suppose the history of the reason the palace was created should have been a caution but it was not. I forgot of some of the artwork to be found on the grounds. It is my fault Chao lei's face reddened a bit and I had to answer many questions later.
She is quite lovely but...
On Saturday, a quick visit to the City Walls was in order as we headed to the airport.
If one were to judge by how my children behaved as we were dropped off at the airport, it was a very good trip. Chao lei was reluctant to leave his Waigong as evidenced by his many excuses to ask one last question. I had to practically peel June from her Waipo.
The flight back was ok right up until the turbulence. June did NOT care for that. She spent the final hour clutching my arm fearing we would crash any second. I feared I would lose my arm to blood loss. At the least, there was not another embarrassing outburst from her as in the first take-off.
I am surprisingly relaxed. It was a good trip. Now I only regret we did not do it sooner. Bonus... Jared was waiting at the train station for us. Now to plan some whole family adventures while we can.
