Widescreen China Video

Here are some pictures we took on our trip to China last year. Sometimes we think it more fun remembering the trip than it was actually going on it.

Final Post From China

We sure have had a lot of fun here. Yesterday we went to the Chinese Silk Factory and saw how they got silk from a silk worm. Maegan convinced me to buy a pure silk Duvet Cover and Duvet. You all can come over and lay on it when we get home.

Speaking of Home, we are getting on a plane tonight at 4:55 pm here in China from ShangHai to Beijing and then from Beijing to LAX. We then go from LA to SLC and should be home around 11:40pm thursday night. We basically travel for 16 hours and get home 6 hours later.

We have had enough vacationing for now and are looking forward to geting back and playing with our boys. We hope they have had fun and created some memories of thier own. Below are a few more pictures that we have not upoaded yet. We have about 1000 more than this so if you ever want to be bored to eath with stories of China we can talk your ear off. See you soon.



Maegan Got Her Hair cut. We like it and it only costs $3.

Here we are at the largest Dam Dam in the World. It is blocking the Yantze River (the 3rd largest river in the world) and will provide 15% of the power that China uses on an annual basis. Crazy Big.

They have the funnies signs in China. "No Turning Over"? They try and translate stuff into English and get it wrong often.

Another Cruise Shot...

Man, we are tired.

We are here in Shanghai now after our cruise. Below are a few videos of them. We hope you all are having as much fun and making as much memories as we are.

See you in just a few days.

Wild Monkeys

So, on our cruise we saw some pretty spectacular stuff. Not the least of which was some wild Monkeys:

Terracotta Warriors

We will be on a cruise down the Yellow river until Monday Night so we will not be able to blog. We apologize to our faithful readers. We have tons of pictures and stories to tell when we get back so sorry that you won't get to see them all here. It is tiring to blog after being awake for so long--it will be nice to not feel so obligated...yet our guess is that we will have more laid back time on the boat than we have had running around these crazy cities.

Xi'an, the city we are in now, only has 14 million people in it (not 7 million as stated below). This gigantic city, and no one in America has ever heard of it. Well, anyways. This was the capital of China for some 1000+ years.

So, we went to see the Terracotta worriors today. Below are the pictures.

We Love you All. Please give kisses and hugs to our boys. We will see you soon and bring home your little sister.

















Enjoy the photos and video

Our Crazy Rikshaw Ride

These videos are getting out of order since YouTube and Blogger don't work so well in China. When we get back we will put them all in order. Today we are off to the Terrecotta Warriors.

Here is our insane Rikshaw ride from two days back. The video never got on for some reason:

To Xi'an at Dawn with a Yawn

The yawn, or one of many. Now I listen to the snore:)

The view from the gift shop they send you through at the City Wall so you can take a nice picture. There was a lady playing a Chinese instrument and she played one of the boys' favorites, Oh Susannah! This is small town Xi'an. The wall around the city that stretches forever into the distance.

Some Huns who managed to get past the drawbridge and moat.

This morning we were up at 4:30am to catch a flight to Xi'an (She-on). Once we arrived, drowsy and hungry we went to see the city wall that used to protect the Imperial Family - like a castle with a drawbridge. You can walk all the way around the 13. km wall high above the bustling city inside. We thought Xi'an would be smaller town feel. The ride from the airport showed trees and fields and open landscapes that were a nice change from Beijing. But half the size of Beijing is still 7 million people! It is a little more humid and smells better. It seems a little slower pace and friendlier than Beijing.

We opted out of the trip to the Wild Goose Pagoda and dinner to catch up on sleep and the blog. Google shows all the blogging page in Chinese, so these blogs are not as good as when Brian does them. Also, I don't know how to get videos on here, so maybe when he wakes up these will be vastly improved:)

Tomorrow we see the Terracotta Warriors and hopefully are well rested for the next stretch of the trip. The shopping was such a rush that it really took it out of Brian. He loved every second and wonders what job in the states could truly utilize these newly discovered skills.

As for the food, we are more than tired of Chinese food at every meal. We eat out of necessity and try not to look back:) The food was a little more like American Chinese food here in Xi'an - some had peppers and pineapple - but what we really want is something else, anything else! I have consumed the most disgusting thing I have ever eaten in the past couple of days more than once and "the breakfast" the first day at a "fast food" Chinese restaurant combined with the horrific airplane food literally made me sick. Besides seeing the boys we most are looking forward to good American food and fresh air.

Another bonus will be drinkable water - all you want for free! Here they take it to you in the bottled water, but the tap water is not drinkable, so we just ration and I am sure are dehydrated half the time. Isn't America wonderful that way? Also in the "Western toilets" we have:) This has been a very fun adventure and we are so grateful for all of you who made it possible! We are so lucky to not have to worry about the boys and we are sure they are having a great time at all their "slumber parties". Until tomorrow...

Just saw your pictures boys!! Looks like lots of fun! Good job eating your dinners and fattening up! Be good and we love you!

Bikes, Bargains and Beating Drums

Brian and I at the Great Wall of China. Feel free to click on this picture and use it as your desktop back ground. :) It is a pretty good one.

A 700 year old drum. Have you ever seen anything that is man-made and 700+ years old?

The rickshaw before the death-defying ride...

Bike ride through early morning pre-traffic Beijing...

We woke up early Wednesday morning for a bike ride around Beijing. It was relaxing and fun for the first hour. We headed back to the Forbidden City where we were shown the tree where David O. McKay dedicated the land of China for the spreading of the Gospel. The trip back was like being stuck in rush hour traffic downtown in a city of 14 Million people with an old school bicycle for transportation - oh wait, that is exactly what we were doing! It was insane and we were all happy to make it back in one piece. Cars and giant buses have the right of way, so you really have to watch out.

Once back we ate and showered and headed out for one of the most fun things we have done in our lives - bartering for three hours in the local "mall". It is a hilarious experience with quite the adrenaline rush. Brian once again managed to get lower prices than even the most notorious and experienced shopper in the group. People with us would stop by to see him in action. I caught some of it on our friend's camera, though I missed the close, but you can get the idea of their tactics and his. When we get it from them we will blog it.

We grabbed some KFC - fast food is really cheap here - and then went with the group to the Hu Tong neighborhood for a rickshaw ride that turned out to be quite exciting. We found peddlers all along the way and eventually had this lady riding her bike after us, nearly getting hit by a car in an alley to sell us some little bags. She was crazy! "Low money!" We ended up with a rickshaw full of goods we hope will make it through customs:)

Before the ride we climbed exceptionally long and perilous stairs that were steep and sloped backward to the top of a drum tower where we saw a very impressive 700 year old drum predating America by 500 years. We saw a drum demonstration as well that we captured here for you.

Our group was craving another stab at the market so we stopped for pizza - YEA!! - and then went for round two of the day shopping. We helped some of our group get some good deals and ran out of all the cash we brought. Brian and I opted to stay late with Ivun Sorensen and his wife Heidi to see if they could work out some golf clubs. "I give you good price" "You strong man" "You big boss". Peddlers everywhere recognized Brian and shook their fingers at him. One in a shop across from where he had worked the lowest jeans deal of the group actually started lower than we had ever seen because he said he knew who Brian was and that "You tough man". It really was a blast and I turned out to be a better barterer than I expected. Heidi and I went to get a backpack for her husband and when we made it back to him, he had already bought one for more than double what I had gotten the lady to take. We will never be able to shop normally again.

Last night we packed our bags to the brim and prepared to leave the bustling, stinky, busy city of Beijing. This trip has been so full of amazing things I have never seen before and yet it is barely half over. Sometimes I just want to hug and kiss my tough Truman, or listen to a great story from smiley Lincoln or hold my cuddly Baby J. So whoever has them today, do that for me and we will see you soon! Blog on Duryeas web site so we can see what you are up to boys! We love you!

The Great Wall of China

We headed out to the outskirts of Beijing near the mountains where we were taken to a jade factory. We saw some exquisite pieces of carved jade. Jade is this really carvable yet strong piece of rock and is usually pretty green. Here were a couple of Jade Cougars which were about life size. And for only $120,000 plus shipping costs on a 2,000lb piece of art they almost had us convinced...uh no.

There were less expensive items, but we kept our money in our pocket here.

We are beginning to notice a pattern with touring China...go somewhere, see a piece of history, spend lots of money on souvenirs celebrating the Chinese tradition. Now that we know their tactics, our group oohs and ahhs appropriately and then we all hurry to the bus to the next site/souvenir shop.

We also saw the Ming tombs where the remains of the 13 emperors of the Ming Dynasty had their tombs built and heard morbid stories of servants and concubines being buried alive with the dead emperor.



We walked along a beautiful garden called the Sacred Way (Brian's Favorite place so far) and then headed to the highlight of the day...The Great Wall of China.

Its hard to find the right word, but it is impossilbe to understate how uterlly amazing the Great Wall of China is. It must be the only thing in the world that no matter how amazing you were expecting it to be, it would at a minimum exceed your expectations. Where some good reviews can ruin your expecations becuase you were looking forward to the event so much, we believe it to be impossible to have that same experience with the Great Wall of China. Take the coolest thing you have ever done, and then double that as many times as you can image--you would still be short of the experience of climbing on and around the Greatest Thing Ever Built by Mankind. I have never seen the pyrimads of egypt but if they are 1/10 the vastness of the greatwall of china, I would be shocked. These Pictures do half the justice.

The mountain ridges where we headed were snaked with the mighty wall that was built once the tribes of China were unified in 221 BC. The wall was used for defense and for a speedy way to transport troops across the country for battle. The streets up to the wall are lined with souvenir shops (of course) and then once you are on the wall barely breathing as you climb you have to somehow catch your breath enough to say "Boo yao" (no thanks) to all the peddlers along the length of the wall you hike. This phrase works well in Beijing, but some of the Manchurians on the wall either did not understand or pretended not to.



The Wall was amazing and it is truly impossible to imagine it being built manually in such a perilous location with so much stone cutting and laying necessary. Even today we see Beijing constantly under construction with huge jobs being done without machines. Men and women digging with shovels for highway construction, etc. Everyone is busy and yet the work seems to move so slowly.



The Great Wall had steps of various heights and then just slopes of slippery rock. One area of steps was so steep you could not see the over the edge until you were one or two steps away. Gorgeous views and beautiful weather. On our way down we practiced our bartering skills and came away with cheaper things than everyone else had managed to get. Brian is getting quite the reputation for his negotiating skills. He loves it and the interaction with the Chinese people is really fun.

Day 2 Here in Beiging!

(We don't think we expect you to read all of this or watch every video. Don't feel obligated since it might get pretty long pretty quickly. This is really for our documentation. You can do a lot of stuff in 24 hours and we want to keep good track of it. Like it says above: Feel Free To Peruse.)

We woke up at 5:45 after a very long night of catch up sleep and headed downstairs for "Western" food for "the breakfast". Once we were fed we went for a little walk/jog along the street outside where we found a very peculiar sight. It looked like a bunch of old Chinese people had gone to the playground to play on bright-colored equipment. Apparently throughout the city they provide parks with "exercise equipment" and people flock to them in their regular clothes early in the morning. "Good for the health" as our tourguide Allen would say. We are going back tomorrow with the camera and hopefully can get a shot of the group of old ladies practicing with thier samari swords.

Our first actual tourist stop was Tian'an Men Square which was a lot bigger than I ever imagined. Allen could not talk about the only history I knew of the place (student riots: "That is in the past"), but it was still cool to walk around. The square is called that because it is in front of the ate to the Foridden city. That gate is called: Tian'an Men. Some pictures and one of the Video we took while there:







We headed through that gate (behind us in the picture) and the three that followed for a tour of the Chinese equivalent to the Whitehouse of past ages.



In the Forbidden City we came across a four star bathroom which Maegan had to check out. Sure enough it was four stars - no toilet paper and smelly, but instead of the ground hole there was an actual "Western toilet" you could sit on. Yipee!



Everyone in our group took a picture of this sign and I am sure we were quite the site for the local chinese..."Uh...maybe they don't have bathroom in USA?" Well, we sure don't have 4 Star ones like this.

The Imperial Garden (Through the second to Last Gate) was the highlight of the Forbidden City and we are hopng to relandscape the backyard to mirror it.



Next came "the lunch" with highlights like fried pumpkin sticks, delicious dishes and a 30 second dance by this girl with a handkerchief. The most in your face, I want a tip event I have ever experienced. The equivilant of a animal baloon maker comming to your table, without asking, and making baloons for all your kids. Then holding out thier hand and asking for money. Anyways, funny.



We then went to the chinese government owned (everything is government owned) pearl place where I bought maegan some pearls. I am so nice. We were given a demonstration of opening an oyster and getting some pearls out of it. Interesting. Much to our suprise there were 24 pearls in this one oyster. Aparantley that is pretty common:



The Temple of Heaven (where we went to next) provided a cultural exhibit of Chinese at leisure that even surpassed the exercise place! Rewathing this does not portay a 10th of culture shock it did in person. The Music, art, games and Elderly Chinese acting like you would not catch most American Elderly if they were sleep walking. If you are going to watch any video on this trip so far, this would be the one. We wish everyone could have experienced this in person:



Brian showed off his Hacky Sack skills before we headed out and to the Acrobat Theater. People were doing amazing tricks and we tried to capture some of it. We recorded about the whole thing but just put a litle bit on there since this blog is getting long enough. The boys should like this one:



We then went to do a little bargaining where Brian bought some $198 dollar knock off ties for $2 a piece and probably still over paid for them. It sure was fun to shop.

Today we are going to the Great Wall of China and the Sacred Way. We will make sure to again take more videos and pictures that you are willing to watch! We have about 3 times as many as what we have posted here.

We love you Lincoln, Truman and Jefferson.

Hello From Beijing China: Day 1

We sure miss our boys. We left them with Jeff, Courtney and Hinkley what seemed like just a few hours ago. Abby was soon to arrive to fill in as referee and last we heard she was still planning on making it.

We really don't have much ability to communicate outside of this blog as phone calls cost approximatley $1.2 Million per button dialed.

We are in Beijing for the next 4 days and then we travel to some other parts. If we do it correctly, you will be able to follow us along this journey through our blog. HOpefully those of you with the boys will also sign on so our litle guys can see what we are up to.

We left SLC at 8:40pm Friday Night to Los Angeles. In LA, we changed from Southwest to Air China and were quickly glad that we had a 4 hour layover as AirChina was as slow as any state run government airline that you could imagine. Alas we checked in, went through the proverbial strip search and boarded the 747 for a 12 hour 20 minute flight to Beijing. Putting to use our tax return and buying an ipod (actually a zune) was helpfuly entertaining.

Almost immediatley after landing we met our Tour Guide who took us to the Chinese Version of Fast Food Breakfast where we ate this:





Immediatley after that we went to see the Summer Palace (A 75 square mile lot that served as a summer home for the emporers during the Ching Dynasty). We were celebrities there and it is actually pretty difficult to explain why. According to our guide, most of the people there were from southern China (Beijing and the Summer Palce is in the North of China). Basically, from what we were told, people in Southern China don't get out much and seeing handful of Fair Skins walking within touching distance sort of gave us the, what I later refered to as, the Cortez effect. Maegan and I were probably photographed 50 times. Many were daring enough to come and ask "Take Photo?"...which could be interpreted as: "Can I have my friends take a photo of me and you so I can show my family that I met someone famous."

Our response: "Well...of course."

At the summer palace there is this thing called the Long Corridor. The name kind of gives away what it is, but it is pretty impressive. We post it here to show you some of the Summer Palace, and to show you people asking us for pictures.





Xiexie (pronouced shishi) means thank you. You hear us say it once in this video.

Here is another short video of us at the Summer Garden. Notice the girls behind Maegan just getting up the courage for the sentence: "Take Photo?". It was like this all day long to the extent that I started to avoid potential papparazzi type moments.





Here are a few more pictures. Maegan is in front of the famous Chinese Peach Trees. (So famous you have never heard of them, right?) And I am in front of the largest single Rock in China. Apparantley, if you pour water on top of this rock, it will come out evenly from each of the holes. I say propoganda, but what do I know?




After all that fun, we went to see the Panda's at the zoo. We are confident that Lincoln, Truman and Jefferson will love this one. Nice zoo but it seems a little barbaric. Unlike American Zoos, these things don't realy accomidate any desire the animals may have for privacy. Nice for little kids but a little unfortunate for animal rights activists.

Also, since I am the equivilant of a Giant over here, as I was holding up the camera over eveyone's head and pointing it down on the Pandas, about 15 Chinese standing in the crowd around me (who were still not up to the window yet) were all very excited that my camera monitor was showing them a good view of the Panda from the back row. You can nearly hear some quick chinese chatter when I get the Bear in view. The translation was something like: This big oafs camera can see it...just look there.



After the zoo, we went to Lunch where we at this:



(Yes Those are Fish Heads, two of them. Click on it to get a bigger picture)

Then they let us go home early so we could catch up on some sleep. Since it seems like 4 in the morning and it is really only mid afternoon.

Talk to you tomorrow. We Love you Lincoln, Truman and Jefferson. Thank you to all of you who are helping us out with this adventure of ours. Tomorrow is the Temple of Heaven and this think called the Great Wall of China. We'll be sure to leave some notes tomorrow.

B&M From China.