February 14 (PM)- Our family

Our first evening in Beijing, China and getting ready to head to the Flying Acrobats Show.
Notice the drinkable yogurt in Sterling’s hands. I think both the kids survived on those yogurts for the majority of our stay. One morning Sterling drank 3 yogurts in a row! Guess we needn’t to worry about his calcium intake.
Flying Acrobatics Show at Wansheng Juchang. I couldn’t believe how much the kids loved the Acrobatics Show. I wasn’t sure how they would handle sitting in a dark theater where they were supposed to watch acrobats perform and not disturb the people around them. I can say with great satisfaction that they loved the performance and behaved beautifully. Both kids sat enraptured in their seat or on our laps for the entire show. Sterling tried to mimic the dance movements, and Ella was the most enthusiastic clapper after each performance. If you’re traveling to China any time soon with toddlers I can’t give high enough praises for the show at Wansheng Juchang theater.
The spinning plates act. I also must mention how pleased I was with the performers ages. Having a great moral objection to the trafficking of young Chinese girls (some not even kindergarten age yet) to these acrobat companies, I was very happy to see older (as in post puberty) men and women performing. Only once was a child on stage performing…a little girl who turned more back handsprings than anyone could count. Thrilling yes, but hard to swallow when you see what these children endure to be part of these troupes. So, hooray for older acrobats!
During the final act the performers moved through the audience to the stage. I loved getting to see their costumes up close. Aren’t they incredible?
The final act.
This little cutie enjoyed entertaining the crowds at the theater. During intermission I took her with me to the lobby to buy some popcorn and cokes. She had fun dancing for anyone who would watch. She also impressed a couple of Koreans we bumped into, with her bow and saying “anyo” (hi!). What a little world traveler…an American baby speaking in Hangul while visiting China! I have to say, I was surprised at the number of Russian travelers we bumped into. I guess I really shouldn’t have been all that surprised, but it was shocking to realize that the majority of the Caucasians we saw in China were not American or British, but Russian.