Beijing 7 years ago

Five months after Jon and I got married 8 years ago Jon was offered a job in China. Our first New Years Eve together was spent over the Pacific Ocean. We're not sure if it was ever actually midnight because of that whole International Date Line thing. All we know is that we left on December 31 and arrived in Beijing on January 1. Our first few hours of the new year were spent bouncing around in the back seat of a minivan taxi cab, taking the side streets from Beijing to Tianjin, a quaint little city of 10 million nestled a couple hundred of kilometers just southeast of Beijing. (The driver said that there was a wreck on freeway, but we think he just didn't want to pay the tolls).

We spent the next 6 months of our lives in Tianjin, China, enjoying the culture and spending time with friends from our church branch.

The Olympics have brought back memories for both Jon and me, so I thought we should post some pictures from 7 years ago. Beijing has changed tremendously since we were there. My biggest question I have from watching the Olympics and seeing the changes that have occurred is "Does it smell?" I remember getting off the plane and trying to breathe without throwing-up. I remember in that long cab drive to Tianjin holding my nose inside the collar of my shirt. One may ask what it smelled like? I would say if you combined car pollution, factories and open sewers then maybe you'd understand. On a side note I would say that I never thought New York smelled. This is probably due to my experience in China.

We grew up a lot in those 6 months and had many adventures and experiences. We were part of a close-knit church branch (we held our meetings in a member's townhouse). We made lots of friends. We were able to travel to Hong Kong and Thailand. We even had our first fight. Ha, ha. I bet you all are wondering what that was about. But, I won't divulge because honestly it's too embarrassing to admit how immature I was:) haha.

Well, here are a zillion pictures from our time there. Enjoy.

Beijing train station.

Garbage Man

Jon in his hard hat and work boots at his work-site. Isn't he cute.

The picture of how the Green Channel is suppose to look when all done. (located in Tianjin)

This is how it really did look. A worker is washing his hands in it. Nice.

Mao's Tomb. Jon pretending to be a guard. (Beijing)

Power to the People. Tiananmen Square.

This may look like the Washington Monument but it's not. It's located in Tiananmen Square.

Taiwan Room in the People's Hall in Beijing. Look how young we were!

Lido Market in Beijing. This is where we shopped for clothes, blankets, coats and basically everything. In those days, a new name-brand wardrobe for two people was just over $100 -- and that was if you went all out.

Pearl Market in Beijing. Zillions of pearls for cheap.

Pizza Hut One Trip Salad Bar. The Chinese know how to get the most for their money. (A couple of local teenagers let us take this picture of their creation)

One of many ways of transportation.

The Great Wall. Enlarge this picture and then you can see it better. Incredible view. We called my dad on our cell phone from up there. Thankfully, it was on the company's dime:)

The Forbidden City. We went on the coldest day of the year. I was wearing 2 winter coats, long johns and I was still cold! It was a work retreat in Beijing and that is why we went on that particular day.