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Blog > The Little Mail Carriers in Tianjin, China!

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The Little Mail Carriers have written home again! Turns out they’ve been enjoying a relaxed time in Tianjin, China! Read all about their adventures on this post from their host fitziane.

Ni hao, everyone, hello from China! We have spent a couple of lovely months in Tianjin, a dynamic city about an hour and a half away from Beijing. Our host family’s mom and dad work at an international school in China. She’s the elementary librarian and he heads the PE department. We spent our time living the expat life and enjoying family life.

Our very first weekend we went camping. Our host family, the Fitzgeralds, love the outdoors and we went camping twice during our stay. The first trip was to Yunmengshan.

Yunmengshan national forest park

This is a beautiful forest in the mountains north of Beijing. There are quiet mountain paths and lots and lots of trees and plenty of wonderful fresh air. (Although we can’t complain of the city air. October is the best month for air quality in Tianjin and we had many beautiful clear days. Still, there’s no beating fresh mountain air.) Camping was a lot of fun, although a bit of work, especially for people our size.

The Little Mail Carriers go campingThe Little Mail Carriers go camping

After setting up camp, we went exploring. The stream that ran past our camping site provided endless opportunities for splashing and wading. We didn’t get too wet, which was a good thing, because there was definitely a chill in the air in the shadows of the forest. Little Paulo, of course, had to swing from the trees like Tarzan and he kept looking at the water as if to calculate the size of the white water raft he’d need.

Hanging on a tree like Tarzaaaaaaan!Checking out the water

Going back to the city was good. We were happy to spend time with our librarian friend at her school. So many eager students come into the library every day. Libraries are wonderful!

Children at fitziane's schoolAncient Culture Street in Tianjin

During our month in the city, we did the usual tourist stuff. We went to Ancient Culture Street in Tianjin, among other places. This is a market that has grown around a Buddhist temple. About 5 years ago, the whole market was torn down and refurbished to give market vendors modern facilities, but the ancient character was kept. The market itself is very much a tourist site, with people come from all over the countryside surrounding Tianjin to visit. The temple was very busy, with many people lighting incense at the different altars.

At the Tianjin TempleAt the Tianjin Temple

The best part of our trip, though, was camping at the foot of the Great Wall of China. The first week of October is a national holiday in China, as the country celebrates its founding anniversary. We took advantage of the holiday to go for a long weekend with 6 families and camp at Jingshanlin.

On top of the Great Wall

The Great Wall was built by China’s first emperor to protect China from the Mongols in the north. The aim of the emperor was to have a wall stretching from Lop Lake in the west to Shanghaiguan in the east. It was to be 6 horses wide at the top and 8 horses wide at the bottom (or something like that. We read a book about it in the school library.)

With Fitziane on the Great Wall

There were to be watchtowers every 100 meters. The emperor sent a million people to build it. Many died and are buried in the wall. The conditions must have been brutal. It took 10 years to build, but subsequent emperors built different parts of it. The part we were on, Jingshanlin, was built during the Ming dynasty, only 500 years ago.

Click here for more photos of the Great Wall from our host.

Checking out the Chinese stampsOn a Chinese post box

We’ve had a great time in China and although we’re sad to go, we’re eager to continue with our adventures. We wish you all great happiness and good fortune.

Happiness!

Thank you fitziane for this lovely report! Now we wonder where the little ones will show up next…

24 comments so far

shui, Taiwan

Great to see little Paulo and Ana again!! And thank you very much for sharing so many beautiful photos!! The little Paulo swing one did make me laugh! XD

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ecprmb, Portugal

Beautiful! ;)

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jaiirawr, Canada

First time seeing this blog and the Paulo and Ana make me smile =)

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moonlessnite, Canada

Always a pleasure to read about their experiences abroad!

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Zmrzlina, United States of America

Fabulous! I so enjoy these travel narratives.

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Mundoo, Australia

Great to see little Paulo and Ana again. They are certainly exploring the world. Is there a map of the different countries they have visited so far?

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JinaSensei, United States of America

This is so cute! China is a wonderful place. Cool to see it thru the Little Mail Carriers' eyes (:

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Geminiscp, Portugal

Lucky guys!!! :D

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ar421, United States of America

Someone please explain--do they send the dolls to a "host" family for x amt. of time, or does Paulo & Ana actually travel around with the dolls? I've always wondered about that

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meiadeleite, Portugal

Hi ar421! The little ones travel around the world on their own, from host family to host family... but sometimes I do wish we could go with them! :)

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DianaS02, Puerto Rico

I enjoy reading the adventures of every place the little mail carriers make a new appearance. Wonder when they can visit the caribbean. I will be glad to host them!!!

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infernova, China

Nice pics! Fu(the big red character as seen on last pic, "bliss" in Chinese) to everyone.

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nicoleclementine, Netherlands

I was just wondering this morning where Paulo and Ana might be and it was nice to read this travel report from Fitziane. You made sure the little mail carriers had a great time!! Thanks for sharing this with us.

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martymarty, Czech Republic

Wow, that report pleased me a lot, as in June next year we are also to become expats in China to follow my husband´s work, and even when I am looking forward to it, a bit scary ideas I have about living in a city (because I come from a wonderful countryside). So the possibility of going camping and existence of camping sites really eased my head. It may sounds funny, but nature means a lot to me.

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GloriaERL, China

OMG!Can't believe you guys were in my city! I hope you like our local food especially the breakfast:)Did you guys buy anything good from Ancient Culture Street?

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jjmedusa, United States of America

What a great report! Did you happen to see any pandas in China?

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dollart, Finland

After seeing the pictures i so want to travel to China !!

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andrea209, Germany

Do they know about the big 2. International Postcrossing Meeting in Bielefeld/Germany? Maybe they have fun to stop there??

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Rocio85, United States of America

Thank you meiadeleite for the reply! :) If the mail carriers ever wish to travel to Chicago, they have a warm bed, lots of delicious meals and many places (and movie sets!) to see! They're welcome to visit, any time!

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Beining, China

Great!Tianjin is my hometown.

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sophie-wang, China

it quite near my place~

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zhan, China

wow~I'm really glad that the little mail carries visted China!!!!I'm sure they had a good time here:)

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Ireneind, Indonesia

Oh Oh...nice travel. Oh oh... Great Wall...

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PATRYCJA_PRZERADA, Poland

great :) OMG great fotos!!! I was in China, it was wonderful! I was in Great Wall to! :) Happy postcrossing!

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