Our first game was a bit of a slow start for us, perhaps train legs and no sleep might have played a small part. We were outshot 49-11 and only lost 1-0 so it was fun for us defensively. We learned some new rules and had to teach the lineswomen what icing really was. Interesting when the ref doesn't speak your language, anything you say with a smile won't get you in trouble.

We also had a shootout after the game - which we are going to do each game so the Chinese team can practice it - 5 shooters a side, which we won 1-0 on a goal by Yahtz. Their first shooter got to go again cause Keely left the crease before the player touched the puck and apparently she was supposed to stay in her crease until after the player touched the puck - no one told her, and the ref wasn't too solid on the english language. Stosky tried the big slapper from the hash marks, but hard to score when you hit the goalie square in the stomach.

Chinese Word of the Day - hen hao chi (hen how chrr) - that was very delicious

March 20 - We had another morning skate this morning and then Richard (our Chinese host) hooked us up with massages in our room for 100 Yuan ($15) from some student massage guys - not too bad, unless you were Kaye and had tears in your eyes when she was done

Some of us tried pigs ear for lunch.

The game went a bit better - we were tied 2-2 after the second, our first goal was a sweet redirection from Heidi on a pass from Bode, our second goal was a nice rebound goal that Deanna took care of, then apparently they have a rule in China that when you trickle the puck off the bottom of the post and it comes straight back out, that is a goal - strange. The ref waved it off twice then the "goal judge" who is sitting at an angle where he can't see that corner of the net nodded his head and the ref called it a goal. Saige hit the cross bar later in the third in the other end but we didn't manage anything closer so basically China won the game, and we headed to a shootout again. Brit started us off with her classic drag and drop move, then Kaye roofed it on their poor goalie, but China countered with 2 nice goals and we were tied after the 5 shooters. The ref wanted to be done after that, but neither team was willing to quit so we kept going. Finally, China trickled a shot in on their seventh shot and we got turned away on our last shot so China won the shootout today as well

March 21 – Free day in Harbin. We hopped on a bus that took us to the largest Tiger park in the World. It was a cooler day, much to the disappointment of Barry who wore shorts and sandals, then had to put on Yahtz’s track pants a bit into the trip.

Lunch at the revolving restaurant in the sky with Team China . What a spread. There was a “welcome Canada hockey team” on the rotating sign outside, and the whole place was decked out, excited to have us come to their restaurant. When Dee was painting the dragon’s eye as part of our welcome, Heidi had the highlight when she ran over to a podium, slipped and fell, much to the amusement of our whole group and our hosts. We got to hang out with Sunny and Berry and the rest of Team China, Sunny made us try cow’s stomach and chicken’s heart – not too bad, then a few of us got to put on chef’s hats and aprons and they taught us how to make dumplings.

After lunch we went shopping again, this time with Sunny and Snow hanging out with us. Then we had dinner at our hotel, and off to a local bar scouted by Barry and Maureen. Boy were we surprised that in the midst of our having a drink and dancing, the pole dancers came out (Ethan and Kaye have the best pictures of this), then there was a live auction (not sure what for), bartenders juggling bottles as in Cocktail but 10 x better, and a Russian singer with her three dancers. Another highlight was the poor Chinese guy who was trying so hard to pick up Jen, much to the entertainment of the rest of us.

March 22 – This morning we had a special team practice with Team China – it looks like the ice time was at 10:30, not 10 which we originally thought so nice to get there real early before practice. We had a fun time playing 5 on 4s, 5 on 3s, 6 on 5s and 6 on 4s to help prepare for any situations that might arise.

Then we went back to the hotel for those few brave souls who wanted another massage.

Our third game went very well. The first period was scoreless, then China scored part way through the second on a powerplay, to which we responded quite quickly with a goal. In the third period, we battled hard but China took advantage of a rare breakdown of ours and got a breakaway goal to win the game 2-1. Off to shootout again. It came down to our fifth shooter to tie it up to force extra shooters. Jen skated in with the puck, looked up, saw that the Chinese goalie had tripped on her lace on the way out of her crease, and Jen deftly flicked the puck over the sprawled out goalie to tie the shootout at 2 goals a piece. Despite these heroics, China managed to score again a few shooters later, to which we couldn’t respond so they won the shootout.

March 23 – Given the option of a free morning or joining Team China for their morning skate, all of the Chimos suited up again and we had one more practice sharing tips for small area games and strategies for different drills. Lunch was a special trip to Pizza Hut where we gorged ourselves on pizza before our last game – maybe not a super pre-game meal choice, but this far into our trip, the reminder of home was enough to make up for the full belly of bread and cheese before we started to skate.

Our fourth game was solid, tough to the very end and we displayed true Canadian passion throughout the entire game. Especially when once again, China trickled a puck off the post and straight back out, the ref waved it off twice and blew his whistle when Keely covered the puck, then the goal judge decided to put his goal light on. Amazing that the net can move so far, when Keely stood up to show some of that true Canadian passion as she “politely disagreed” with the goal judge’s decision to call a puck that hit the post an actual goal in the third period of a 0-0 game. Sunny fessed up to the ref that she saw the puck she deflected go off the post (honest girls those Chinese players) so the ref waved it off once again and the game ended in a 0-0 tie. Overtime solved nothing, so off to a real-life shootout this time for our last game of the series.

Another shootout that went down to the wire. After 5 shooters, China had 1 goal and so did we. Once again, apparently the ref decided that Keely left the crease early so China actually had 6 shots, but that second shot was turned away as well. Eventually, a few shooters later, China scored after our miss so their bench went wild as we feel we did our part to help build their confidence.

The evening was a sad one as the Chimos once again had to say goodbye to their close friends Sunny and Berry from the Chinese team. We wished them the best of luck at Worlds the first week of April, and we went back to our hotel to eat dinner, share a few beverages and pack for our trip back to Beijing.
March 24 – No more train for us. We loaded up the bus early Monday morning (well, all of us except for Duggan who got to sleep in, she was catching a flight to Tokyo instead to hang with her brother) and made our way to the Harbin airport for our flight to Beijing. We were a little worried about luggage weight and number of bags, but Richard did well working it and we got all our gear and luggage on no problem. We tried to see the Great Wall from the plane but couldn’t find it, and sleeping was a priority for most of us as well.

When we got into Beijing, we felt like experts, got our bags, went out, avoided the cars to cross the streets and went to our bus. We loaded up and waited while Barry and Richard helped Feds catch her flight back home, then we all went back to our hotel in Beijing. Power shopping was in order after dropping off our bags and having a quick lunch. Richard wrote out on slips of paper something to the effect of “please take us to the Showha market” because when we showed the paper to our 4 taxi drivers, that’s where they dropped us off, then we all went into the markets as seasoned barterers ready to load up on great deals for our trip home.

To get back to our hotel, we each had to find our own taxis, most of us were able to make sure the meters were on and we only paid the regular amount, but Stos and Jen got the “special” ride home with the more expensive flat rate, then poor Jen left her room key in the taxi and had to pay for him to come bring it back to her.

After shopping came dinner at the hotel, where we got to meet Richard's wife (and pick our her English name - we settle on "Kei") then a trip to a local bar to sit, listen to music and sample some local beer on our last night in China. We started the dancing, which made things more exciting, then a few girls continued the party at another bar, which included Stosky arm wrestling one of the guys.

March 25 – on an idea from Kaye, supported by Jen as one of the top 1,000 things you should do before you die, a handful of us got up before the crack of dawn (5 am), hopped into three cabs and went down to Tianenmen Square to watch the raising of the flag – an event that happens every single day at sun rise and sun set. Apparently our directions and map pointing weren’t too perfect because Deanna, Monty, Saige and Heidi got dropped off at a totally different location and missed the whole things – why else would foreigners be up at 5 am and going some place down town? Anyways, the rest of us crowded in with all the other tour groups in the freezing cold morning and watched the military guys march across from the Forbidden City, hook on the Chinese flag and play the national anthem as the flag rose.

Then we all piled back into cabs and went back to sleep in our hotel. A few of us dragged ourselves up a little while later to walk down the street to the Beijing Zoo where we watched the giant pandas lumbering around in their enclosures, eating bamboo leaves, climbing trees etc. The rest of the zoo was pretty full too, all the animals you can imagine.

After lunch we packed up our bus and went on our way to the airport. Bode and Deanna went their separate ways – Bode to New Zealand and Deanna had a different flight home. The rest of us stood in line for Air Canada for about an hour and a half to check in, dropped off our bags (with a few “minor” issues about number of bags and weight – sticks should not cost extra, they are part of our sporting equipment, and good on Jen for putting hockey tape around her bag to turn it from oversize baggage into acceptable baggage. Strange that through all that, no one complained about the size or weight of Keely’s goalie bag – guess is depended on who you got at the counter).

After some last minute shopping at the Olympics store, we boarded the plane for the 11 hour ride to Vancouver. Vancouver was a bit of a rush to get all our bags through customs, then back on the way to Edmonton, and yes Brit and Mick, you cannot take liquids from the first flight over to the second flight, say good bye to your duty free, would have been nice to know hey?

We all arrived home tired but safe, happy to be back, but full of wild memories and great experiences.

A special thank you to all those who helped us get there, to Dee for connecting us with the Chinese team, to Barry for taking care of so many details with Richard, to Richard and the Chinese National Team for having us come play, and to Shirley and all her connections who helped us find some funds to make this trip possible.