Trip to Zhengzhou and Jining

On May 1st much of China has a vacation lasting from five to nine days. My school began its holiday on Friday the 28th of April. During the holiday, millions of people are traveling, so China's transit system is jammed with people.

Seizing the opportunity of a few days off, we decided to go and visit some Chinese friends in Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan Province.

So on Saturday morning of the 29th, we left our home on our way to the Beijing West Train Station. On the way, our bus ran into traffic, and we nearly missed our train. Less than ten minutes before its departure, we climbed aboard our train car to be confronted by a wall of passengers. Every bit of space was jammed with people. Our tickets were 'hard seat,' which is also where the passengers with 'standing tickets' stand. Gradually shoving and pushing our way through the throng, we made our way to our seats.

On the way, we were able to make use of our limited Chinese by helping a distraught lady from the Ivory Coast who had missed her train the day before figure out her situation. Although she could still take the next day's train, she hadn't been told that she would forfeit her comfortable and expensive 'soft sleeper bed.' She was suddenly facing the reality of standing for her entire twenty-two hour ride to Guangzhou. Since we were only going to be on the train for six hours, I gave her my seat. Then God rewarded me by providing an even better seat inside a little ticket booth usually reserved for train employees. Once we settled down, the trip was quite pleasant.

Arriving in ZhengZhou that evening, a friend brought us to our hotel where we unpacked and got settled. Then we went in search for dinner. We enjoyed a tasty meal of Muslim noodles and lamb on sticks. Then we headed back to the hotel for a much needed night of rest.

Sunday was spent seeing friends and meeting many new ones. We even spent several hours in the home of a gracious American couple who had much to share and teach about their many years of experience in China.

Monday was our day to play. Originally, I had planned to take the family to the famous Shaolin Temple, the Kungfu center of the universe. However the prospect of spending two hours each way on a bus on one of the busiest days of the year was too daunting.

So we decided instead to explore Zhengzhou. With my trusty map in hand, we took several public buses around the city to get an idea of what there was to do. Then we explored a brand new mall. A new indoor playplace had just opened, and that day anyone could go in for free! It didn't take much prodding for us to let the kids go inside. The kids had a blast jumping, running, riding, and climbing.

While in the mall Becky noticed some advertisements for a circus that night. Enquiring, we found that there really was a circus and that tickets were only RMB 15 ($2) apiece. So our plan for the rest of the day came into shape -- lunch, playtime at a park, nap time for kids, dinner, and then...circus!

After lunch, we went to the People's Park, which turned out to be very nice with lots of trees, flowers, and a small lake. It gave the kids a chance to run around, climb rocks, and pose for other people's pictures (This is an inevitable, if not exactly welcomed, part of going out as a foreign family in China.)

While exploring, we came to a bird atrium. Going inside we found ourselves surrounded by several dozen species of birds. We bought some bird feed and tried to make some bird friends. Josiah and Amelia were alternately awed and terrorized by the attention of the bigger birds. I must admit even I was not exactly comfortable when a hungry ostrich seemed to show up everywhere we went. Josiah armed himself with a stick, which gave us a greater sense of security, and we had a great time.

Leaving the atrium, we were planning to head to our hotel for some rest, but we spotted a Ferris wheel in the distance. That instantly became our next goal. After walking to the amusement park, we rode three rides including the Ferris wheel. Then we found a beautiful patch of grass under some shade trees and tried to rest until a park official came around and shooed everyone off the grass. With two very sleepy children, we caught a cab back to our hotel for a brief hour of rest. You can see a few video clips of our park fun here.

That evening we went to buy circus tickets before eating dinner. At the ticket counter, I was told that due to a little rain the show might be canceled. I asked what the likelihood was of the show being canceled. Another worker came over and assured me that the whole show had definitely been canceled. We were quite disappointed.

In consolation, I treated the family to a special meal at Pizza Hut. Then my ever optimistic wife suggested we check one more time about the circus. Walking back to the ticket counter, we were greeted by two embarrassed workers telling us that the show was back on. Thrilled, we bought our tickets and made our way to the circus ring. While Becky and Amelia saved our ring-side seats, Josiah and I went to by everybody ice cream. Then we came back and watched a thrilling hour and a half of performances, acrobatics, comedians, and ferocious animals that were definitely worth the few dollarsl we paid to see them. I kept my camera handy and took a few videos so you could take a peek.

On Tuesday, we took a six hour bus ride to Jining in Shandong Province to visit one of Becky's former students who wanted us to come and meet her new baby. When we arrived they had already paid for our hotel room, an extravagant dinner, and our 'soft bed' tickets back to Beijing on Wednesday. Our visit was short but happy.

Wednesday, we said goodbye to our hosts and embarked on our journey back home. Traveling 'soft sleeper' was quite nice. We all even managed to get a good nap. Otherwise we talked, studied, played, and watched the beautiful Chinese countryside fly by. That evening after an eight hour ride our train pulled into Beijing at 9:00. Two taxis later, we walked into our wonderful home ready for a day of rest before heading out again.