Beijing Manicure

Nika Fei Fei has finally had a manicure! She accidentally scratched someone with her rough fingernails at the Silk Market tonight.

Let me take a moment’s pause from all the love and joy to kvetch – I’m exhausted. Getting to sleep is always iffy around the deep rumblings of Wolfgang’s nasal passages…then, Nika usually wakes up sometime between 3 and 5am, after which I generally do not go back to sleep.

We started early on Sunday and went to the jade factory, the Great Wall, then lunch, and a silk factory. I did not manage to enjoy the day as much as I would have liked – being tired and cranky while surrounded by insistent sales people in the jade factory store…or getting so much attention with our baby. It’s peak tourist season here in Beijing and there are throngs of people everywhere! After we came down from the Wall, we took Nika out of the sling and I turned around to see about 100 tourists pouring towards us! I ran with her over to the cool stone wall so we could avoid their attention. We chose the steeper route because the sun was quite hot and that side was still in the shade, but I could barely manage it, I’m that exhausted. It would have been nice to climb just a bit further to get one of those impressive views of the wall extending as far as the eye can see. So, we had two long days back to back with chaotic meals and short naps. Nika was so good – she was tired but remained in good spirits!

At the jade factory we had name stamps carved for all three of us. Nika’s has her full Chinese name, Jiang Xue Fei, plus her English name. Ours have our English names plus the phonetic version in Chinese characters.

Back at the hotel, we relocated into a non-smoking room, and somewhere in all the kafuffle I lost my night guard! It was very complicated to explain to the hotel staff how I had lost it and what it looks like.

We met King for dinner and learned about his experience here in Beijing so far – I think he has been here about 10 months. He is working as an art lead for a company that does translation work, and is in the process of moving into more areas of animation production. His girlfriend is studying in Hong Kong so they travel back and forth for visits. He ordered a special soymilk dish for us as a joke, and we were so polite we didn’t even flinch! It was fermented and served warm, and tasted like one of those things that’s supposed to be good for your digestion. Nika slept in our lap for the first half of dinner.

Today we had our immigration medical exams – an early start and a long morning, but luckily there was a play room for the kids. That was the first time they’ve had some serious floor time together. It was fun to watch them interact and observe their different stages of development. And! Nika learned how to eat Cheerios from Jada! This was our first developmental milestone! Today Nika also learned how to chew gently on my finger instead of clenching it in a vice grip.

In the afternoon we came back to the hotel and got a solid nap, ate a light snack and then went to the Silk Market. This is 6 floors of vendors. We got silk jackets for all three of us, 2 sets of chopsticks, the third teacup, and a rattle drum. Then we made our way to the restaurant at the top. The staff wore beautiful traditional costumes, and we managed to have a relaxed dinner, just the three of us. The market was even more oppressive than the jade factory, but after catching some Z’s today I was better prepared for it.

Here's a sampling of photos from the last few days - our last day in Chongqing till today.