Heading off to China

            This past May, I went with my mother, and then girlfriend, to visit my brother for two weeks in China.  He was studying at Tsinghua University in Beijing and I was extremely excited to visit him and travel abroad with my mother and girlfriend.  Three weeks prior to leaving for China I had returned from living in South Korea and was excited to get back to Asia, following my experience of living there for a year.  I was also excited to see China, not alone, but with my family.  This blog is about the places we went to see, and how you can go there too, but it’s more about the people I went with.  

            We each have our own perspectives and I asked everyone to write their thoughts each day, no easy task, and only my mother returned them to me.  So with each post you’ll have my perspective and my mother’s.  I’ll do my best to weave our two different perspectives together but my mother’s words are her own and have not been altered.

            Also, some might be unsure why I would write about our experience in China if I’m no longer with the girl that traveled with us. Quite simply everyone has different ways of moving on, so for me sharing the great experience, one that is attainable for anyone, is my goal.  It would be disrespectful, and small by me, of our relationship to completely write her out of the trip. Moreover, she made things lighter and more enjoyable when we Monday’s and Mom were getting on each other’s nerves.  I feel that if one of the main reasons we dated was for her to help us be closer as a family then I’m grateful she came.  

            Moving on, since we spent two weeks in China the first week is about our time in Beijing and the second is about our travels through the country.  I’ve decided to break it down into each day for the first week and then where we went for the second week.  I’ll have links to our hotels, how to plan for tickets when travelling and how to pack for when you’re only visiting Beijing or when you’re travelling.

            In sum, China is a country that we all hear about but rarely see for ourselves.  This blog is not meant to self-aggrandize our trip but to make it relatable for anyone who’s curious about visiting or just wants to know what it was like to go there as a family. I look forward to your comments, questions and emails.