Parenting Month 91: We're going to China and we're so happy we just want to sing

The last month was marked by a family wedding and a visit to China.  The wedding was a reason for lots of cousins and family from around the world to congregate in one place, and get another generation picture of cousins, the last one was soon after my son was born.

Cousins on stairs

An additional wedding standard are the kids on both sides playing together, DD4 (A) provided much amusement as she became fast friends with a 4 year old daughter on the other side of the wedding aisle, and they spent the entire weekend playing and dancing together at every opportunity.

The next step was a visit to China, mostly Tianjin and a couple days in Beijing.  This was the first trip to China for both (DS7 has been to Thailand twice, DD4 visited Thailand once).  

We stayed at a historical hotel in Tianjin.  Unfortunately, it was not near a subway line, so we had to walk a distance to get to anything we would want to do (it was geared for people working with banks). And it was more formal than we would like.  But, it was a location of much history during the Foreign Concession era and the Chinese Communist Party, so it had its own museum which we visited.

Museum at the Astor Hotel, Tianjin

We did a bit of the tourist thing.  The ancient town for souvenir shopping, historical sights like the liberation of Tianjin bridge, and modern sights like the Tianjin Eye.

Live crickets for sale

Tianjin from the Eye

Liberation of Tianjin bridge

We also did a number of kids activities. We took advantage of the fact that all the kids were in school so the crowds were thin.

Umbrellas in the lobby of the Museum of Nature, Tianjin

Museum of Nature, Tianjin

Tianjin Culteral Center

Tianjin Library

At the Tianjin Museum of Science

The highlight was playing with cousins in China. One "cousin" is an old friend, and we hope they see and play with each other throughout their growing years, both in the U.S. and in China.

And there were some places that were clearly for parents, such as the China Military Museum in Beijing.

Liberation of Tianjin exhibit at China Military Museum

And food

Making sugar animal candies in Tianjin

Steamed dumplings a Dan Tai Fung, Beijing

Some observations on the kids.

1. We enjoyed watching them play with cousins in China.  There is a cousin that is close in age for each of them, and we are hoping that they get to grow up together  Note that because of the one child policy, "cousins" tends to be more broadly defined than we would normally do in the U.S.
2. T (DS7) is not as adventurous or as willing to engage in new things and experiences as he had been when he was 5-6.  We are thinking that years in the school system have led him to regress towards the mean.
3. A (DS4) provokes the observation that she talks a lot from pretty much everyone.
4. A does not travel quite as well as T did at the same age.
5. T has figured out that almost everything has a QR code that is accessed through WeChat.