February 17- Our Hotel

Our last morning in Beijing didn’t leave us any time for exploring after we finished packing our bags. Luckily, I did sneak away for a few minutes to get a couple pictures. We got so lucky with the weather. It was cold, don’t get me wrong, but at least the skies were sunny every day. We really got lucky with the beautiful weather. The last morning we were in China, we woke up to it snowing. I can’t imagine how cold the Great Wall would’ve been with snow on the ground! We stayed at the Jinglun Hotel (a Nikko Hotel), and I was very happy with our accommodations. It was clean, with adequately sized rooms, and conveniently located in the heart of Beijing near the China World Trade Center.
The street in front of our hotel.
Beijing: Population 14 million! With an additional 4-6 million people commuting into the city every day for work. And all 18-20 million of those people were sure to tell us we had dragon/phoenix twins.
Our transportation for the duration of our stay in China. I can’t tell you how perfect this tour bus was for two traveling families.
After being the best little travelers ever, these three were back where we started, the Capital Airport in Beijing (PEK). Time to get these little ones back home to Korea.
Pizza Hut. Our tour guide had insisted on getting us to the airport by 9:30am for a 1:45pm flight. We cleared security and customs relatively quickly and made it to our terminal with hours to spare. I wouldn’t say it was ideal getting to the airport so early, but it was nice to have time to unwind and breath before boarding our flight. Traveling with small children usually means we struggle through the airport security and customs arriving at our gate just in time to pre-board, then spend the rest of the flight trying to recover from the chaos of the airport. So it was nice to have time to actually sit down and order a meal at the Pizza Hut inside the airport. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve traveled with the kids and passed those restaurants inside the airport and thought to myself, “yeah right, those aren’t places that exist for parents trying to travel with small children”, but today they did.
After lunch the Daddies and babies had time to play a little game of hackey sack using the funny feather hackey sack the Chinese use (the Mommies enjoyed the little break from corralling).
Who knew what entertainment some empty seating would provide? These kids loved climbing all over the rows of empty seats in the vacant t terminal.
True love.
Air traffic control. These three little friends made sure they kept a vigilant watch over all the planes on the tarmac.
As I’m sure you could guess, Sterling was absolutely in Heaven watching all the planes outside the window. This little guy loves all things that “go”. He even picked up the word “plane” on this trip.
Woe! Ella’s new favorite word for anything that fascinates her.
One more picture watching the planes. I just like this picture…I think it’s a very cute glimpse into Sterling and Ella’s lives.
Add another plus to arriving at the airport so early…after the kids ran themselves ragged in the terminal, they were all soundly asleep in our arms before we even took off.
Talk about the best flight ever! Michael and I kept commenting to each other how this was hands down the easiest flight we’ve ever taken with the kids. It was only a 2-hour international flight…nothing compared to the previous international flights we’ve taken.
Both the kids stayed peacefully asleep until we landed at ICN in Seoul. We actually had to wake them up when we got to the gate so we could de-board!
It was kind of fun watching the kids sleep on the plane. They haven’t shared a crib since they were about 3 months old, so they haven’t slept side by side like this in a very long time. It made me remember all the time I spent watching them sleep cuddled into each other when they were tiny little newborns. It’s fun watching the way they yin and yang to each other in their sleep. So sweet!
Back on Korean soil, our wonderful trip to China comes to an end. We had such a great time seeing a country I’m not sure we’ll ever make it back to. Traveling with the kids continues to be nothing like the traveling Michael and I did when it was just the two of us…it is so much better! Nothing can compare to seeing the wonders of this world along side your children. We look forward to many, many more adventures with out little dumplings!
I'm finished! I'm so proud of myself...this might be a record for me. I have finished posting the 103 pictures and stories from our recent trip to Beijing, China. I hope you enjoy seeing Beijing through our eyes. If you don't have time to read through the pages and pages of entries I've posted, here's a little slide show to give you a brief overview. Enjoy!