Haunting the Great Wall
For the first time since we moved to China, our usual almost-American Halloween celebration did not materialize the way I had hoped. Our Western friends in Beijing who threw the best All Hallow's Eve parties decided rather suddenly this summer to move back to their home country. Any alternate plans I tried to make seem to fall through. These last six (!!!) Halloweens had been so easy for us, and now I was faced with having to improvise.
And improvise we did. Randy and I proposed taking our costumes and pumpkins to the Great Wall and have our own Halloween gathering. It took some coaxing for them to warm up to the idea, but Myles was definitely sold once we described Halloween on the Great Wall as something we had never heard anyone else doing.
We won't claim being the first, but merely the first among people we know for lighting Jack-o-Lanterns and wearing costumes in the ruins of the Ming Dynasty's defenses.
More after the jump
It was cold and windy but very clear Sunday afternoon when we arrived at a fairly empty piece of Great Wall.
If it looks familiar, it is the same one as my blog header.
We clambered over the overgrown paths, carrying pumpkins and costumes, until we made it to that first tower. There were few other people there. By the time the kids were wearing their costumes and our were pumpkins lit, we were alone.
Myles and Brigid both went with super hero costumes this year. I feel as though I should defend the pink, but the normal blue and red Supergirl costume was sold out already this summer from the catalog I was using, so Brigid asked for this one in its stead. She had to be Supergirl; no other other hero would do (I tried). Even in sparkly pink, though, she was ever the heroine.
In the rubble that is this part of the Great Wall, our comic book heroes combined forces to battle the forces of evil, and kept the restless ghosts from the Ming Dynasty at bay.
As the sun sunk behind the mountains and the moon rose in its place, we knew it was time for us to return to being our normal selves, and get off that Wall.
If only I had been as easy as flying away.
The kids gushed all the way back to the car about how much they loved our Halloween. It wasn't what I had planned, but it will difficult in the future not to include this in our observance of Halloween.
And improvise we did. Randy and I proposed taking our costumes and pumpkins to the Great Wall and have our own Halloween gathering. It took some coaxing for them to warm up to the idea, but Myles was definitely sold once we described Halloween on the Great Wall as something we had never heard anyone else doing.
We won't claim being the first, but merely the first among people we know for lighting Jack-o-Lanterns and wearing costumes in the ruins of the Ming Dynasty's defenses.
More after the jump
It was cold and windy but very clear Sunday afternoon when we arrived at a fairly empty piece of Great Wall.
If it looks familiar, it is the same one as my blog header.
We clambered over the overgrown paths, carrying pumpkins and costumes, until we made it to that first tower. There were few other people there. By the time the kids were wearing their costumes and our were pumpkins lit, we were alone.
Myles and Brigid both went with super hero costumes this year. I feel as though I should defend the pink, but the normal blue and red Supergirl costume was sold out already this summer from the catalog I was using, so Brigid asked for this one in its stead. She had to be Supergirl; no other other hero would do (I tried). Even in sparkly pink, though, she was ever the heroine.
In the rubble that is this part of the Great Wall, our comic book heroes combined forces to battle the forces of evil, and kept the restless ghosts from the Ming Dynasty at bay.
As the sun sunk behind the mountains and the moon rose in its place, we knew it was time for us to return to being our normal selves, and get off that Wall.
If only I had been as easy as flying away.
The kids gushed all the way back to the car about how much they loved our Halloween. It wasn't what I had planned, but it will difficult in the future not to include this in our observance of Halloween.
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