Transitions to Beijing

Now that we’ve been in Beijing for a week, I can finally begin to put down on paper the past couple months of transitions and travels. Since the last post, we went on R&R to New Zealand, moved from Guangzhou to Beijing, and went back to the U.S. for the winter holidays.

Thanksgiving and New Zealand

Hong Kong Disneyland!

Turkey day was spent in Hong Kong, ofcourse! We spent half the day at Hong Kong Disneyland, which is less than half the size of the original Disneyland. Being in the sub-tropics, it was warm enough to comfortably wear shorts and sandals.  The park catered to the local diet. So, instead of frozen lemonade and chocolate-covered frozen bananas, which I hoped they had, they sold dried squid and shrunk-wrapped chicken feet.

Then night after Thanksgiving, we headed to the airport for a 10.5 hour flight to Auckland. We flew Cathay Pacific, my first long international flight that was not United. I was surprised to be showered with so many amenities, considering we had economy seats. Besides the good food, each seat had an outlet to re-charge our electronics, a TV, and unlimited movies, tv, music, and games. After a comfortable flight, we arrived in the “Land of the Long White Cloud”. In short, New Zealand was the anti-China: clean air, clean water (you can literally drink from the rivers and streams), unpopulated, organic everything and everyone speaks English! Hence, it was the experience we needed after living in China for about a year.

New Zealand: Typical geography (especially on North Island) rolling green hills.

Before coming to New Zealand, we mapped out our trip, day-by-day and what activities we wanted to do from the North to South Island. We followed it up until the end when we experienced heavy rain and were forced to make a few adjustments. We rented a camper van, where we could sleep in and stay at campsites. 1/3 of the time we stayed in hotels, which was a nice break from the bed in the van. We experienced gorgeous weather in the North Island and rain half the time we were in the South Island. We learned that though December is early summer, it does have characteristics of spring, where it’s wet. We also learned it was seasonably cold while we were there, so we needed a jacket and jeans for half the trip. And literally every restaurant and cafe we ate was AMAZING! The food is so fresh and the animals (if you’re a meat eater) are taken care of. They eat well and are free to roam around…I’m not sure how they’re slaughtered though.

Paihia: Swimming with Dolphins!

North Island

We started in the Northlands, the tip of the North Island where we swam with dolphins (which was amazing to see and hear them) and scuba dive. Because New Zealand is temperate, the water was a pretty cold 65-70 degrees. We had to use a double wet suit.  It was my first scuba diving experience and I got to see schools of fish, sea urchins, eels, and fishes of all sizes up close. Because it wasn't the tropics, the fish weren’t very colorful, but still fun to interact regardless. I’m excited for future scuba diving trips in the tropics. Hopefully in February!

My first scuba dive. I'm the one of the right. (Photo courtesy of Matt Paschke)

Matamata: Hobbiton

Rotorua: Maori Cultural Experience and Geysers! 

Franz Josef Glacier: Glacier Hike via Helicopter.

After the Northlands, we headed south to Auckland, which is a cute small city. It reminded me of a smaller Seattle, but sunnier. Then, we headed to Rotorua, the Geothermal capital of New Zealand where we learned about Maori culture, saw volcanoes and geysers and relaxed in geothermal spas. It was a bit stinky, but felt so amazing! We then visited Hobbiton days before the international debut of the movie the Hobbit, saw glow worms, and drove through the windy city of Wellington. Much of the North Island is filled with it green, gorgeous rolling hills and grazing sheep and cattle. We were spoiled with crystal-clear blue skies and beautiful, billowing clouds during this part of our trip.

South Island 

The South Island is filled with moss and ferns.

We arrived in the South Island via ferry, which wasn’t cheap. Actually, nothing in New Zealand is cheap. It’s about $50 for a regular lunch for two, more for dinner and at least $100 for each activity.  The minimum wage is $16, which explains why the costs are so high. This trip and our trip to the US made us nearly broke. During our stay in South Island we got to see seal colonies, hike through glacial caves via helicopter, zip-line down a mountain, and kayak by ourselves in a still, blue lake while watching avalanches erupt on a snow-capped mountain. It rained half the time we were on this island, spoiling a few activities-seeing Milford Sound (fyordlands that have the most spectacular views in New Zealand), and stargazing (arguably the best dark skies in the world). 

Lake Tekapo: Stunning Views of the Southern Alps and the lake.

Rotorua: Seaside Campsite.

Queenstown: Zipping down mountains.

We fell in love with a cute town called Queenstown, which is known as the “Adventure Capital in the World” where you can jump out of anything and any place. It’s also a town that surrounds a lake and with snow-capped mountains from behind. The drive down a mountain into Queenstown was also one of the most breathtakingly beautiful I’ve ever had in my life.  The South Island is very geographically diverse, with micro-climates less than an hour from each other. For anyone who visits New Zealand, the South Island is the place to visit. We also found ourselves buying lots of fresh fruit on the sides of the street and passing by vineyards all over this island. We bought wine for our family here and they LOVED it.  We definitely plan on coming back plan to come back in the next couple years to see we missed.  You should totally think about coming here, too!

Kayaking in a secluded lake by ourselves and watching avalanches erupt from above us.

Beginnings of night sky photography. You can see Jupiter, Orion, & the Pleaides. (Photo Courtesy of Matt Paschke)

USA: The Land of Milk & Honey

Tamales: A Family Christmas Tradition

After coming back from New Zealand, we said out good-byes to our friends and colleagues in Guangzhou. Then, we moved to Beijing, where we spent a couple days shopping for Chinese trinkets and Christmas gifts before heading over back to the U.S.  The 12.5 hour flight (via United airlines) to the US was a mediocre experience after flying Cathay Pacific. There was a little girl who kicked my seat half-the trip and people who were sneezing/coughing by us. Hence, we got back very jet-lagged and with colds. However, we were so happy to see our friends and family. Upon arrival, I realized how much I missed diversity. China and much of Asia is homogenous. It took me a couple days to get used to people being nice, not having to question whether or not something is fake, and one-colored currency. During our stay in the States, we visited D.C., our respective homes for Christmas (which was amazing to see Matt’s family and mine!) before heading up to the Central Valley in California to meet up with our friend, Brooke in Visalia. We also booked a couple rooms in a lodge in the Sequoia National Park in celebration of Matt’s birthday. Once we got there, it was a winter wonderland with everything covered in snow. The one night we stayed featured a clear sky with a full moon. It was amazing to see the moon’s silvery glow light up all the snow-covered trees/buildings/mountains. And the next day, we were blessed with a clear day. Matt and I really enjoyed our time and want to visit this park during the summer. Then, we stayed a couple days in L.A. to celebrate Matt’s actually birthday, which consisted of shopping and eating good Mexican food. And then back to the Middle Kingdom!

Sequoia National Park: A Winter Wonderland!

Beijing: Our New Home

Matt and I were spoiled coming back to Beijing because the air was clean and clear, which is rare in the winter. There was no pollution because the locals had three days off for New Year’s. However, once people started working, the visibility quickly declined. It’s been pretty cold and dry, though. They say it’s the coldest winter in decades and snowier than usual. As a Southern Californian, I’ve probably never been colder in my life!

Beijing on a clear day. Rare in winter, apparently.

During our first few days in Beijing, we spent most of it recovering from jet leg and head colds, and getting acquainted with our neighborhood. We live in a really good neighborhood, where there are tons of great restaurants and Western shopping (groceries and clothes). We also love our new place. It’s a couple notches above the place where we lived last year in Guangzhou. You all have to come visit during our four-year stay here!  Just not immediately, because our stuff just arrived and it looks like a warzone.

Beijing: After nearly a couple months, we are finally re-united with our things.

More adventures to come!

All photos taken from my iPhone unless otherwise noted.