Help Getting your Chinese Visa
In order to travel to China, you must have a Chinese visa. There are several companies that help you with this process. Typically, I am comfortable with doing my own paperwork, but we had a slight problem. In order to get your visa for China, you must have at least 3 months left on your […]
Day 8 – On our own in Shanghai
This was the departure day for most of our group. My son and I however had added on a few days on this trip to see Shanghai Disneyland and Hong Kong Disneyland. We had reservations this night for Toy Story Hotel at the Disneyland Resort. We had found a friend who had the same itinerary […]
Day 7 – Tour of Shanghai
This day was a very long, but exciting day. We visited many of the main sites in Shanghai. We started the morning by walking along the Bund. This is where we could take iconic photos of Shanghai. This area is extremely popular with the tourists, but it is much more busier at night. It was […]
Day 6 – Free Day and Shanghai VIPKid Meetup
This day was a free day for most of the day until we had our Student Meetup that night. I will have an article specifically about the Student Meetups. We were not really given many options or information about this day. Many of us had chatted about going to Shanghai Disneyland before the trip and […]
Day 5 – Bullet Train from Beijing to Shanghai
This day was less walking than we had done the whole trip. We took the Bullet Train from Beijing to Shanghai. Before we left the US, we got a message from the travel agency asking if we would like to upgrade to First Class for $55 each. We took the upgrade for the extra legroom. […]
Day 4 – Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Hutong, Olympic Park
This was probably one of the most exhausting days on the trip. First of all, the complex that holds Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City is HUGE! I felt that we did not spend much time here, other than simply walking through, but I think it would literally take a full day (or more) to […]
Day Three – Temple of Heaven, Tea Ceremony, Pearl Market, Peking Duck
This day was packed! Our first stop was the Temple of Heaven. This was a religious temple used by the Ming and Qing Emperors for yearly prayers for the harvest. The complex was absolutely beautiful and the area is free for “senior citizens” to visit. In the park, there were groups of seniors doing exercise, […]
Day Two Beijing – The Summer Palace, VIPKid Headquarters, The Legend of KungFu
Day two in Beijing was a little bit harder to get up in the morning. We had walked a lot the day before and jet lag was still causing us trouble sleeping through the night. Our first stop was The Summer Palace. On the way from where our bus left us to the entrance, there […]
Day One Beijing – The Great Wall and the Golden Mask Dynasty
Our first day was absolutely amazing! After a nice breakfast at the Penta Hotel, we all loaded a bus and headed to our first destination: The Great Wall at Mutianyu. It was almost a 2 hour drive, but our tour guide Cactus kept us entertained and informed the whole way. She told us about the […]
Flight and Arrival in Beijing
Our adventure started on November 12, 2019 when our flight left DFW airport at 10:35 in the morning. Upon arrival at the gate, we met a couple of the other VIPKid teachers (and family members) mostly since I had worn my bright orange “Teacher Twila” shirt. TIP: There will be a list of flights in […]