CRYSTAL AND ISABEL This is a weblog for Crystal Sun Zhao and Isabel Sun Zhao. As parents, we'd like to keep the records for them as much as we can.

Because it’s 油菜花开的季节, we decided to make a trip to 江西婺源 since it is the most famous place for 油菜花.

We left to 江西 around 3pm after the girls finish their school on April 4th. After 9 hours driving, we arrived at a hotel under 三清山 just before the midnight.

Normally, it is very crowded at 三清山. It might takes a few hours to wait in the lines to buy the tickets and get on the 缆车 to the top. But we were lucky that day. Since April 5th is the first day of 3 days’ vocation, not too many people have arrived yet. After only one hour, we were at the top of the 三清山 already. We started one day of hiking about 9am and finished until 4pm. We walked a very big loop. The whole distance is about 20km by my guess. Up and down all the way. At the end, everyone is a little bit exhausted.

During the late afternoon, we left 三清山 and drove to 婺源. We stayed at 婺源清华镇 for one night. Unfortunately, this week is a little bit for 油菜花. The view would be much more better if we could come one week earlier. But still, the view in the villages is still very nice.

Along the way, we visited 江西婺源里坑村.

After we left 里坑村, we kept on driving to 江岭. We found many beautiful views along the road. On April 7th, we drove back home.

On March 29th, both Crystal and Isabel attended SCLS Athletics Tournament.

On March 23nd, Isabel and I went to 常熟 with Tongtong and her parents.

Since Crystal and Isabel joined the SCLS girls soccer team, they become very fond of this sport. Their skills keep on getting better. On March 15th, their team had a few maches with other teams. They won the third place of 7 teams and one player from their team won the MVP of this tournament.

During the 2014 winter vocation, Wendy and I took the kids back to Canada.

On Jan. 17th, we took the flight from Shanghai to Toronto. We stayed at Dajun’s home for 3 nights. Dajun’s two boys, Andy and Daniel, played along very well with Crystal and Isabel.

On Jan. 21st, we took the kids to Toronto downtown. We visited many old places we studies and lived before.

On Jan. 22nd, we went to Niagara Fall. Although it’s very cold, Niagara Fall still looks very nice.

After the lunch, we drove all the way from Niagara Fall to Ottawa. We arrived at Ottawa around 7pm.

The second day, on Jan. 23nd, we visited Parliament Hill and National Gallery.

About 3pm, we went to the Rideau Canal, the world’s longest skating rink at a length of 8.54km. This is the first time for Crystal and Isabel to try the real ice skating. They did very well. Crystal skated 10km by herself (5km one way). Isabel skated 5.6km (2.8km one way).

On Jan. 24th, we arrived at Montreal and stayed at YanFeng’s place for 2 nights. YanFeng took us to a couple of places: McGill University, Mount Royal, St. Joseph’s Oratory and Montreal Biodome.

We took some pictures with YanFeng’s family and Naonao.

On Jan. 26th, we went to Montreal Snow Festival at Notre-Dame. Crystal and Isabel had a lot of fun there while I stayed inside a camp to stay away from the coldness.

In the late afternoon, we left Montreal and took the flight to Calgary. We stayed in Calgary for 8 days. We met Doudou the first time.

In Calgary, we skied a lot. During the week, we skied at a resort inside the Calgary city. At the weekend, we went to Lake Louise.

On Feb. 3nd, we took the flight again, from Calgary to Vancouver. We stayed at Jody and Sam’s home for 7 days. Crystal and Isabel got along very well with Jody, Sam, Amber and Oliver. During the stay, we went to UBC, West Vancouver, North Vancouver and many other places. All of us love the place and we will choose Vancouver as our next stop.

On Dec. 19th, SCLS held the Christmas Concert 2013.

On 2014 New Year’s eve, lots of people came to the bund to count down and celebrate. I took Crystal and Isabel to here too.

In November 2013, Isabel became 8 years old and Crystal became 11 years old.

On Oct. 12th, Isabel attent the 3km cross-country race event. After the event, I took the kids to 辰山植物园.

On Oct. 2nd, Wendy and I took the kids to 江苏南通, 启东. 南通 is a very nice and relaxing city.

By the original plan, I would take Crystal and Isabel to Taiwan with Dandan’s family. Since we have Canadian passport, we don’t need Visa to get into Taiwan. When We arrived at Shanghai Hongqiao airport, we found there is a serious problem: Isabel’s passport would expire in 4 months, less than 6 months which Taiwan Customs requires. I was so disappointed for my mistake. So I insist on getting onto the plane. The check-in lady told me that we could go to Hongkong first and tried again there. So, I took Isabel onto the plane anyway.

After we arrived in Hongkong, Crystal kept on checking into another plane to Taiwan with Dandan’s family. Isabel and I were not allowed to get onto that plane because the policy is very strict for people from China mainland. We could try again with Taiwan agency or Canada Consulate in Hongkong. But that was Saturday, on August 3rd. We had to wait until Monday. I only brought one bag with me with no clothes for Isabel and me. Our luggage had arrived in Taiwan successfully.

On Aug. 4th, Sunday, I brought Isabel to 浅水湾 for swimming. The wind was very strong and there are many medium sands and stones on the beach. It is not very nice for swimming.

We didn’t stay too long at 浅水湾. Then we took the local 双层 bus to 太平山顶. The view at 太平山顶 was amazing, whether it’s afternoon or evening. We walked Hongkong Trail at 太平山顶.

On Monday Aug. 5th, we tried the Canada Consulate first. The people are very nice. But temporary passport will take 5 days. It would be too late. Then we tried the Taiwan agency. After 2 minutes, I gave up the hope. The real official relationship between China mainland and Taiwan is very formal. I got the feeling that we were not very welcomed. So, why bother?

Now, where should Isabel and I go? We walked into a travel agency and we knew the answer after 10 minutes: Guilin, Guangxi. Wendy was on a business trip in Guangxi now. That was part of the reason.

We took a flight and arrived in Guilin in the late afternoon. Wendy arrive around 9pm. The next day morning, three of us rent a boat on 漓江.

In the afternoon, Wendy left back to Shanghai. Isabel and I continue the 2 weeks’ journey. 漓江 is very clean. It would be a shame if we don’t swim in it. After 4pm when the sun is down a little bit, we found a very nice place for swimming.

In the night, we took a boat show and see the night view of Guiling 五江四湖.

On Wen. Aug. 7th, we left the city and went to 龙脊. Along the way, we played our first 漂流. After changing 3 buses, we arrived at 龙脊梯田 in the afternoon. We hired a woman to carry one luggage. It took us a few hours to climb to the hotel we stayed. The view at 龙脊梯田 is definitely worthy all the efforts.

We had some local dishes for dinner, 竹筒鸡 and 竹筒饭. It was very delicious. Isabel almost buried her face inside the bowl.

The next day is a cloudy day. So, I didn’t see the sunrise. But I found another even higher hotel with better view. So, we decided to stay one more night on the mountain. We left one luggage in the middle and climbed to the top.

There was still no sunrise at the third day morning. So unlucky.

On Aug. 10th, we left 龙脊. We played our second 漂流. That was fun. In the late afternoon, we came back to Guilin.

On Aug. 11th, we headed to 阳朔. We took the 排筏 from 杨堤 to 九马华山.

We stayed at 阳朔 for 2 days. We visited 遇龙河, 银子岩 and played our third 漂流. In one night, I had a candlelight dinner with Isabel at one bar. That was nice. We tried 啤酒鱼. But still, 阳朔 is not as good as I imagined, maybe because of too many people.

On Aug. 12th, we met two girls and they suggested us to try rock climbing. So, there we went. Both Isabel and me tried the rock climbing the first time.

On Aug. 14th, we left 阳朔 and went to 兴坪古镇. For us, it was the right place to stay. At 兴坪古镇, we stayed at a small inn for 3 days. I rent a bicycle and rode Isabel to everywhere. The view there was the most beautiful place in Guiling.

From the inn we stayed to 黄布倒影, 二十元人民币取景处, it took 10 minutes riding by bicycle. To 九马画山, it took another 10 minutes more.

On Aug. 16th, we hiked for 15km from 兴坪 to 杨堤. Unfortunately, it was a rainy day. Rain kept on and off. We kept on taking on and off our raincoat. But still, the trip was very exciting.

Following are some pictures when Crystal was in Taiwan with Dandan’s family.