Christmas in Beijing

Corrie and I took our first trip outside of Shanghai and celebrated Christmas in Beijing. It was a very quick visit, but in under 60 hours we were able to tour the Forbidden City, walk on the Great Wall, and eat our Christmas goose (i.e. Peking Duck). The weather was quite cold, but we braved it and managed to stay warm by eating some of the spiciest food I have ever had. The trick is to get progressively spicier until your mouth is so numb that you start to lose your mind a bit and you can’t taste anything anymore. That’s how you know its good.

This was our first Christmas that was not spent with our families, but through the magic of FaceTime on our iPads we have been able to stay connected. I was “passed around” and got to chat with all of my cousins and aunts and uncles on Christmas Eve and we opened presents with Corrie’s family on Christmas morning. It was almost as if we never left!

As always, lots more pics on FLICKR.