Tim's journey to China

The weekend after the twins' birthday, Tim left for China for work.  He was gone two weeks!  He had been to the Phillippines in 2007, but he had never been to China.  It was a great trip, but he definitely missed mommy and the babies.  In two weeks, he went to Taipei (Taiwan), Hong Kong, Beijing, and Shanghai.  It was a busy trip, but luckily, he did find some time to see some of the sites.  It is true when they say everything is bigger in China.  You can't get a sense of the size of the cities until you see them.  Between, 20-30 million people live in Beijing and Shanghai alone.  New York has about 7.5 million.

Taipei is the capital of Taiwan with about 7 million people.  Everyone there was very friendly, and many spoke English.  It was amazing how many people drove scooters around the city.  It definitely helped reduce the traffic congestion.

Outside the hotel - notice all the scooters parked and the Starbucks in the background.

A church outside the hotel.

One of the buildings at the palace museum.

The Taipei 101

Taipei 101 at night

Visiting China was great too.  It felt very safe there - safer than many places in America.  Unfortunately, Tim didnt get much of a chance to see Hong Kong.  It was amazing to see all of the construction.  30 story apartment buildings were everywhere.  In Beijing, Tim spent Sunday visiting several places.

Tiananmen Square - Full of central government buildings.  You may know it from the protests in 1989 where the student stood in front of a tank.

The Forbidden City - The center of Beijing contains over 900 buildings built in the 1400s.  It took about 20 years and 1 million people to build.  This is just one part...

A picture of a statue in the Forbidden City.

On the hill overlooking the entire Forbidden City

Tim also got to visit the Olympic Village from 2008.   The Birdcage is huge!

The last few days were spent in Shanghai.  Its definitely the most modern city with much western influences.  Luckily, he had some time to visit the city in the morning before he left for home.

Overlooking the river after dinner Thursday night

The China Pavilian - you can get a sense of the size with the people underneath.

The Yu Garden - a very famous garden built in the early 1800s.

A market in an older part of Shanghai.