6/15/25: Day 19 - Beijing Day 4

John 13:35 “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

How are you known? I have been contemplating this thought a lot the past few weeks in China. The culture here is driven by performance: how well you are doing in school, how much money you make, if you have a good job, etc. They touch knobs for good luck and tie rain into good fortune. I am not knocking the culture at all, but I has made me stop and contemplate a lot of things. Despite all that consumes them, they also notice things like kindness and love. As a foreigner being asked for photos constantly, you can respond one of two ways: annoyed or with love and kindness. Choosing the second one comes naturally since we want to point others to Jesus. You can’t do that being annoyed and grumpy. Others must see something in us that they want for themselves. No matter how amazing your job or your wealth, according to Solomon, you still feel empty. Anyway, just some things I’ve been thinking through as we have interacted with others. 

Today started out cool and rainy. We left our hotel at 7:45 and headed for the Prince Gong Mansion. Juyi wanted to visit this site and I’m glad she mentioned it! We learned a lot about the history of the man who lived here. It was also fun because we were the only foreigners here. It is not a location many people visit that aren’t Chinese.

Touching the knob for good luck. 

So many people!

Sandalwood. One beam in here cost the equivalent to $1 billion yuan today (about $140 million USD).

This picture cracked me up: universal similarities- kids get bored at historical sites. 

Beautiful corridor in the garden of the mansion. 

This sweet girl was so excited to get a picture with Micaela. I have loved watching Micaela. She is always thinking of others. She will see someone trying to take a selfie with her in the background and she will walk up to them and ask if they want a photo. They get so excited to get a real photo and not just a peek picture.

Houtong streets-old homes for people in leadership years ago. 

We next headed to the Summer Palace.  Wish we could have had more time to spend here. It was a beautiful day today. If you go, plan to give yourself at least three hours. I don’t think my kids would want to stay that long, but I could have stayed half a day out there. 

Quick history lesson tied to this historic place: 

Cixi was the concubine to the 7th emperor of the Qing Dynasty. She was the only of the woman to give birth to a son. Her son was only 6 years old when his dad died, leaving him to ascend the throne at a young age. Due to his young age, his mom, Cixi, helped rule. Sadly, her son died at 18. She chose a 4 year old nephew to take his place on the throne. By selecting one so young, she ensured that she could still “reign”. This continued until around the age of 28, the nephew thought he would do a coup and get rid of Cixi from power. She found out and banished him to the Summer Palace for 10 years before she then poisoned him. She appointed another nephew that was only 3 years old. This young boy became the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty. In all, Cixi “ruled” from 1860-1908.

She loved the Summer Palace and would go out there frequently.

Last time I was here, the air quality was terrible! Today, God blessed us with beautiful weather and clear skies.

Although it is forecasted for China’s population to dramatically decrease over the next 30 years, I have seen more kids this trail then last time. A lot of babies and pregnant women. 

Cixi’s house

The beautiful corridor at the Summer Palace is 2,388 feet long! It is filled with colorful paint and paintings.

Portraits of Cixi. 

Next was a brief visit to Yuanmingyuan Park, the site of the first Summer Palace that was destroyed during the 2nd Opium War. Once again, this was a historical place that mainly Chinese visit. 

Digital renderings of the Summer Palace. Our guide said this old palace was on more land and was more prestigious than the newer one. 

We went for a delicious lunch and the headed to Little Flower Home to see where all the mkids rival supplies went. I cannot share the photos on social media. If you would like to see them, we can try to figure out how I can show them to you. There are currently 3 boys at the place: 7, 6, and 7 months. We visited the Beijing location, but they have other locations. The kids and I had an amazing time with them and feel so blessed that we were (with many of your help) to bring them so many supplies. We all fell more in love with China today!

We take a train tomorrow for Xi’an.

The kids and I called Wayne today to wish him a happy Father’s Day. We all miss him! The kids have mentioned that they are getting tired of so much Chinese food.