If you’re from North America, you’re probably familiar with the Duggar family. In case you’re not (in which case, we count you among the lucky ones), they’re featured on an American reality television series called 19 Kids and Counting that follows the lives of dad Jim Bob, mom Michelle, and their 19 kids (nine girls and 10 boys).
Recently, the Duggars traveled to Beijing. They walked around the city with their many strollers, climbed the Great Wall, tried some weird food, and visited the Sun Village Orphanage.
The places that the Duggars visited included:
- Tiananmen Square (On the way, they had trouble fitting into subway car and had to split up into four different carriages. Once at Tiananmen, they attracted attention from many Chinese, who couldn’t believe that they were all part of the same family.)
- The Great Wall (They stayed in Gubeikou Village and saw what life in a Chinese village was like. After struggling with chopsticks for a bit, they ate some authentic local food. When they got back from the Great Wall, they found out that their producer water broke and that she had to deliver her baby in China. In the end, everything went smoothly and the baby was born in less than an hour.)
- A duck restaurant (They were surprised by how the duck good was.)
- Wangfujing Snack Street (The Duggars bought scorpions, but no one was brave enough to try them in the end.)
- Sun Village Orphanage (The Duggars played with the kids and brought them presents. Before leaving, each member of the family wrote a blessing on a piece of ribbon and hung it on a tree.)
During these holidays, due to the size of their family the Duggars ended up to be an attraction for Chinese people rather that the opposite. Since Chinese families usually have just one child or sometimes two, they found the Duggars very unusual and funny
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The holidays also gave the Duggar family something to think about. China is one of the most populated countries in the world and, in order to prevent overpopulation, each family can’t have more than a child (with a few exceptions).
This lifestyle is the opposite of the Duggars’, which made them appreciate the opportunity to have such a large family and – who knows? – maybe also think about the problem of overpopulation.
Photo by Jack Zalium on flickr
