Beijing with Gabriel

I needed to return to Beijing to pick up my passport. Gabriel has been begging to visit Beijing sometime so although I would only be there a short time, my little boy came along. We had SO much fun!! After leaving the embassy (Gabriel thought it was so cool we were on U.S. soil) we went to Tiananmen Square.

It was SO cold!! The wind was howling and sliced right through our clothing. Despite that there were many people out on the square. Not much had changed since my visits there many years ago other than you now have to pass through a security point to get onto the square. From there we went to the Imperial Palace, otherwise known as the Forbidden City. We chose to take the audio tour so as you walk around this immense city / palace the audio device picks up where you are in the city and begins explaining in your ear the different details and history.

Because much of the Forbidden City is outside, we kept ducking into souvenir shops to have hot chocolate and escape the brutal cold. We then paid a cab to take us to a shopping center but it turned out to be a motorcycles with a two seat, jury rigged, passenger area hanging out the back with a little metal box over you to break most of the wind. We must have looked funny zooming through the streets of Beijing on the back of this contraption.

Beijing has changed so much since I was a student there in 1991. Back then if you wanted western food you needed to go to a hotel and the food was "hit or miss". Either that, or there were three Kentucky Fried Chicken's in the city. Now, there is a plethora of familiar names such as Hard Rock cafe, TGIF's, and Outback Steakhouse. I was all for Outback but when Gabriel heard there was a Papa John's Pizza, that ended the discussion.

We stopped at a special grocery store with imported groceries from the U.S. and Europe. Won't bore you with the details of all the "Oh my gosh, they have..." moments other than to say that when Gabriel saw A & W rootbeer I thought he was going to lose it. He started hugging a can right in the aisle and muttering, "I love Beijing, I love Beijing."

When we got to security at the airport they stopped Gabriel who had a can of A & W in his back pack. They wouldn't let him through and were going to confiscate it. Obviously they have never dealt with Gabriel. He took the can, opened it, and starts chugging it down on the spot. He downed it so fast that a huge involuntary belch erupted out of him. I know its bad, but I could not stop laughing.

In the end, Gabriel and I had a great father - son bonding time.