Beijing Jun Wang Fu Hotel

A Belated Ni Hao (Hello) from China! Ah- the long awaited moment, when we get to finally share with you our trip in China! I know that you have been checking daily for our updates, but due to technical difficulties, we were unable to fill your hearts (and minds) with our astounding travels across the world (literally!). But now the time has come to contribute to your curiosity and let you know what it is we have been doing. First, let me tell you that we are in a country that is so amazing, s...

After checking into our Hotel, Beijing's' "Jun Wang Fu," a traditional courtyard style of construction dating back to the Qing Dynasty, Charles took us to a traditional dinner at the "Peking House Restaurant." The dinner consisted of a range of foods that we ate with curious excitement that included a beautiful summer fish, kung pao chicken, a wide range of vegetables cooked in many different ways, lotus flower, a variety of meats, chicken feet, Yanjing Beer and jasmine tea. We had so much fo...

Wake up call at 7am! After a great nights rest, we were all ready for the days' adventures which included sight seeing and lots more food! We begin each day by learning new words and phrases that will assist in our travels such as: Ni hao= hello and xiexie= thank you. We are all practicing our mandarin skills so we can astound you when we return. On our sight seeing adventures we visited the "Fragrant Hills Park," the magnificent "Beijing Botanic Gardens," and "The Summer Palace." After spend...

Wake up call at 7am! Another day of sightseeing and nonstop action! We began our first dreary day (a little cold and rainy by heading to the Great Wall at Badaling (the most famous tourist part of the wall.) Halfway there, we decided to detour, where we had the opportunity to visit a Cloisonné Factory (copper pots decorated with enamel.) We were walked through the factory, where we learned all about the cloisonné techniques (how they are made, fired, painted and polished) and we set loose in ...

We were able to sleep in until 7:30 on Sunday and began our day with the Panjiayuan Antique Market. We spent several hours here while everyone found treasures and bargained for their treats and gifts. Following the exhausting shopping, we visited the "Peking Duck" for lunch, whose signature dish is none other than Peking duck! MUMMMMMMM! After our filling lunch we then traveled through thousands upon thousands of visitors through Tiananmen Square (which happened to be closed - so we viewed it...

Our first day of official work! Tim, Joni, Luisa, Chang Li, and Naomi went off to shop! Hank, Gayle, myself, Carrie, John and Peter went to view art and artist studios in the areas where our contact Xuewu has his studios called the Hubei Center and where factories are converted into artist studios and gallery spaces. We all spent the entire day going from studio to studio where we were greeted with amazing spaces, a variety of teas, artist conversations (with a translator of course), sharing ...

This morning came very early, as we were all packed, and check out of our beautiful hotel by 8:00am. After check out, we traveled to Capital Airport, checked our bags, when through security and sat down for a nice breakfast and coffee. The trip to Xian was very smooth and we arrived safely by 2:00pm. We checked into our very modern- fantabulous hotel just outside the city walls. Xian (Chang-an) is known for its City Wall which was revived and still remains around the original city. The wall a...