The Great Wall, pandas and face painting - oh my!

The Great Wall, pandas and face painting - oh my!

Coyle has been obsessed with pandas for forever - we even dressed up as them for Halloween a few years ago. He is also clearly my child because ever since he saw it on an episode of the Mickey Mouse clubhouse months ago he has been fascinated by the Great Wall.  So of course these two things were our must sees and really the reason we went to Beijing. 

We visited a section of the Great Wall that I have never been too so it was a new experience for me as well. I was a little nervous about how Coyle might react to the cable car but he loved it!  It was a little bit crazy because when we arrived they said they were shutting everything down in 2 hours because of bad winds being forecasted so we had to be up and back fast. Good thing we went when we did cause apparently the next day a bunch of sections had been shut down due to landslides (don’t tell my mother that one!). Unfortunately it was really misty out so we didn’t have great views but Coyle loved it anyway. Even Mr. Snuggles made the trip up with us!  We’ll have to come back again when he’s older to take the toboggan down. 

The next day it was time for a visit to the pandas. The zoo was incredibly crowded and it was so hot the pandas were not interested in doing much. Coyle was still thrilled beyond belief that he got to see them and he wedged himself right through the crowd to get up front just like everyone else. Once again he also collected an entourage along the way. 

Finally we got a chance to take a stroll and a rickshaw through the hutongs. These are traditional neighborhoods of narrow alleys and small houses close together. We visited one of the homes in the neighborhood which is now a government subsidized home for senior citizens which also offers classes in traditional arts. We had the chance to learn about the traditional face painting of the Beijing opera performers and then had the chance to do our own face painting on masks. Neither of ours looked anything like a traditional opera singer but it was a lot of fun. The little old ladies who lived there of course were all over Coyle and somehow the kid walked out of there with candy a toy and some flowers. 

Our time in Beijing ended with our flight to Kunming last night. Coyle handled his first domestic Chinese flight like a champ - complete with the requisite delays in the terminal, chaotic boarding via buses, delays on the runway and temporarily misplaced luggage. Now we’re on to some fun in our second city (and my favorite) Kunming.