The Mellons In China!

Happy New Year everybody!!

I hope your holiday season was filled with lots of fun, food and family!!

**PSA- this is a super long post and filled with lots & lots of pictures!**

Well, as you all SHOULD know, my parents and brother came to visit me in China for Christmas! They were here a total of 10 days, and let me tell you those 10 days went by in a matter of minutes. 

I took advantage of them being here and took time off from work so that we could explore all China has to offer.

We started the trip in Shenzhen before going to Beijing, Xi'an and Hong Kong. We saw all the major sites and loved every minute of it!

Shenzhen:

 My shoe chronicles of waiting, waiting and finally greeting my parents!

Checking out the "SeaWorld" area (Not the same as SeaWorld in America). Lots of Western restaurants, bars and cool places- such as this mermaid statue.

We came across these cool bench thingys. And then took a family pic by the Christmas tree at the German restaurant.

After a long day Dad and William need a nap to refresh at my apartment, and mom updated her journal.

Subway rides and Dad at Obama's BBQ trying to use chopsticks! He was worse then me!

More subway rides! and waiting at the airport for our flight to Beijing! 

 Adios Shenzhen! We are off to Beijing!

Beijing:
We started Beijing off by going to the Temple of Heaven the morning after we arrived.

 Some taxi selfies on the way there!

 Taxi Selfie and the intro to the Temple.

 The map of the area.

 

 The North gate entrance.

 The Temple of Heaven and Dad taking pictures.

 The whole thing was spectacular and breath taking!

Pictures from one of the many gates.

 The area was beautiful, and it was a pretty day!

Another gate- less color on this one.. And a beautiful church by our hotel.

On Christmas Eve we visited the Forbidden City.

 All the people waiting to get through security.

 Intro and the map. This place was HUGE!!

 Family pictures out side the south gate.

 Looking at the moat and my beautiful Mom.

Brother and the Imperial palace (I think) and family selfie!

The view of the Forbidden City from the park/temple across the street.
William and his Ramen for lunch. 

William's Ramen. Me with the hotel Christmas display.

Christmas Eve dinner at 1949 Duck de Chen.
Sweet & Sour Shrimp/Pork
Beijing Duck

Merry Christmas from the Mellons!

Christmas Day (and Dad's 60th birthday) was spent on the Great Wall!
To say it was amazing would be an understatement. It was surreal being on the wall. It was breath taking, magical, astonishing, and any other adjective you can possibly think of.

 Info and the map of the first sight we went to!

 We took the ski lift up to the top! Beautiful views!

Happy 60th birthday Dad!!! Love you!

 Definitely one of the BEST Christmas's we've had.

 Look how cute my parents are!-- At this point William went off to explore the first 3 towers. He said the wall was extremely steep.

 The big blocks at the bottom are the "original" blocks, and the bricks on the top have been added to help with the maintenance and upkeep of the wall.

 Our tour guide, Qing, brought us little Christmas marshmallows. Naturally we had to take some pictures with them. LOL

 Tower 6! Family picture looking down, and on top with the wall in the background.

Over looking the wall

We took the toboggan down! It was so much fun!
 Next we had lunch at a local place, where William got to catch his own fish and then they BBQ'd it for us. Everything Qing ordered for us was delicious!

At the second Great Wall site we were the ONLY people on the wall. It was so beautiful, quiet, and unimaginable!

 Look how beautiful! The section of the wall on the other mountain is part of the untouched original wall!

Our tour guide helped us take some really good pictures!

Our guide told us that it is believed that once you have visited the Great Wall you become a "Real Man/Woman", so we should our strength of becoming real men and women, and then took a "happy" picture.

And then we took a regular picture. I cant tell you how happy this day made me. 💛 

 Jumping pics!

 I am apparently not very good at taking jumping pics. My hair and scarf kept getting in the way. hahaha

Just beautiful.

On the way back to town we drove past the Olympic Building and Village. We could see the Torch building, the Birds Nest and the Water Cube.

Before heading to the Airport on 12/26/2016 we checked out whats known as "snack street" and did some shopping.

Then we were off to Xi'an and the Terracotta Warriors!

Xi'an:

We were in Xi'an for a total of 2 nights, and only 1 full day. Our sole purpose of being there was to see the Warriors. And let me tell you, they did NOT disappoint!
We hired a car for the day to take us to the museum and the viewing pits, wait for us, and then return us to the hotel at the end of the day. It all worked out perfectly.
Just like everything we saw in Beijing, the Warriors were amazing, stunning, unbelievable, and mind blowing.

 The map and intro.

 Brother and I with about 2000 warriors behind us.

Warriors and horses.

 Broken pieces of the warriors and the original protective coverings.

 Put together Warriors on display. Imagine them beautifully painted in bright colors.

Hong Kong:
From Beijing we flew back to Shenzhen, went back to my apartment to pick up the spare suitcases (the ones filled with goodies for me) and then head across to Hong Kong. It was a LONGGGG day of travel. So once we finally got to our hotel we decided to just hit the sports bar, play some pool and enjoy 2nd round free happy hour, with desserts!

The next day we went out to explore the city! We went to Victoria's Peak, Victoria's Harbor, took a ferry, watched the light show and just enjoyed the day.

 View from the top of the Peak

 What a gorgeous sight!

Family pic take 1

 Family pic take 2

 And finally we have a more "normal" Mellon family pic! 😂

 Mama and Me

 Enjoying the Harbor

Building started to light up as the sun went down.

 And then it was all lit up!

The next day (12/30/16) We all packed up so that I could take them back to the airport, and head back to my apartment in Shenzhen. It was definitely a bittersweet day! I LOVED having my parents and brother here in China with me, and 10 days just wasn't enough.

Last meal in Hong Kong! They were showing off their chopstick skills!

 Saying goodbye for now! Loved having them here!

And then the waterworks started as I was on the bus to the HK/Shenzhen border.

I will leave you with pictures of the goodies my parents brought me.
12 Golden Pride Carne Adavada Burritos
6 mini loafs of pumpkin bread
3 chick-fil-a sandwiches
3 baggies of butter cookies
(all of which went in to the freezer when they got here so that it would stay fresh)
and lots and lots of other snacks! 🤗😍

If you've made it this far on this post-- CONGRATULATIONS!!🎉

And THANK YOU for reading!!! This is by far the longest one yet!

I'm going to do a "Part 2" post (probably next week) with my New Years & Birthday Celebration pictures! It will also include a VERY important Chopstick update

At the end of the month Emma, Lauren and I will be off to BALI! 😊

Hope your 2017 is off to an amazing start and that this is everybody's best year yet!

Adios for now!

Margaret💛

PS. Chopstick update: I HAVE OFFICIALLY MADE PROGRESS!!
please come back to next weeks post to see video evidence of my progress! 😊