 Several members of the 2009-10 Honeybees squad will be traveling to Beijing, China to perform and promote the NBA through June 9. Follow along as the girls write about their experiences overseas! CLICK HERE to view more photos from their trip to China. Nicole's Entry
 Well, our adventure has officially come to an end, but we are anxious and ready to see our family and friends back in the Big Easy. This was a life changing experience for us all and it is definitely one of my most memorable moments. All of our performances were such a big success. We were given the opportunity to show Beijing what our game night experience is all about. We put on a great show, and we were well received by our Chinese audience. Aside from all of our Honeybee appearances we were happy to get the full experience, to see the sites, and to explore such a beautiful and historic city. We learned about Chinese culture and saw many historic buildings and artifacts. We actually climbed the Great Wall of China! The Forbidden City and Summer Palace were among our favorite attractions. They are both so beautiful. We were entertained by remarkable local performances and ate authentic Chinese cuisine at the best restaurants. We experienced the Chinese culture at its finest. What a great opportunity!Many thanks to the Hornets organization and the NBA for offering us this once in a lifetime experience. We are honored to have been given the opportunity to represent our home team and the entire NBA in Beijing to expand our brand abroad. We’ve submitted some of our favorite photos from the trip, so check out our photo gallery and enjoy. See you next season! Go Hornets!!! Jessica's Entry
 Hey Everyone! It’s Honeybee Jessica here in Beijing. It has been a great trip so far and our last two days have been even better. We have been preparing all week for our big performance on Monday at the Live NBA Finals Viewing Party! The NBA and Disney partnered together to put on this event at a local hotspot. After a short rehearsal on Sunday, we were feeling well prepared for our final performance Monday morning. We woke up bright and early because we had to be at the venue by 7:00am. When we arrived, we had a few minutes to meet some of the other groups that would be performing along with us. There was a girl and guy cheer group from the Beijing area called the Malong Cheerleaders and an all guy kung fu group. We all performed at different time-outs during the watch party, so we were able to watch the other groups perform. It was interesting to see what our fellow dancers and cheerleaders do half way across the world! We also got to choose the “best-dressed fan” along with Rip Hamilton of the Detroit Pistons. Although our Hornets weren’t in the big game, we had a great time and put on an awesome show for the Chinese fans!After all of the dance rehearsals, appearances, and site-seeing we did all week, we decided we needed some time to relax. We were told about an awesome spa called Oriental TaiPan right around our hotel. The girls and I walked there together and each enjoyed a full body massage. Then we went back to the hotel to get ready for our last night in Beijing. We got all dressed up and our tour guide Charles took us to a beautiful Italian Restaurant called Ciro’s Pomodoro. The food was amazing. It was the perfect way to end our week long trip in China! Christina's Entry
 Despite a day filled with rain, chilly weather, and herds of umbrellas, we still managed to have a great time while touring the many wonders of Beijing. Our first adventure was the Forbidden City, where the emperor, his concubines, servants, and the empress all once lived. Even after the end of the last Emperor’s rule in 1911, the Royal Family was still allowed to live in the Forbidden City for 14 years until the People's Republic of China was established and turned the Forbidden City into a museum and solely a tourist attraction. Before the Forbidden City was turned into a tourist attraction, it earned its name because the common people were forbidden to enter the city. Although we were splashing through puddles and knocking into people with umbrellas the whole tour, the Imperial Palace inside the Forbidden City was a sight worth seeing. Right outside of the Forbidden City is the Royal City followed by Tian’anmen Square, which is the largest city center square in the world. Many history changing events and ceremonies have taken place here and the square is very important to the people of China because it is a symbol of the People’s Republic of China.Once the rain came to a stop, we then headed to the Temple of Heaven, which is the largest temple in China. It was a place of worship where the emperors prayed for such things as good harvests for the coming year. The Temple of Heaven is surrounded by a large area consisting of parks, which is mainly occupied by seniors who gather with their friends to sing, dance, and play games. This looked like so much fun so we had to stop and play a game of hacky sack with some of the locals. We were not very good compared to them…they were pros! Later that night we headed to a KungFu show. All I can say is, “Wow”! These guys were amazing! From the dancing, flipping, breaking steel on their heads, and balancing on sharp spears, this show was so exciting! After the show we headed to catch a glimpse of the Beijing nightlife. I was shocked to see how much the younger Beijing crowd was in tune to the American music culture, specifically the hip-hop culture. Every place we went to played non-stop popular hip-hop and rap music! Ashley's Entry
 Hey Fans! It’s Honeybee Ashley here, straight from Beijing! We didn’t have any official appearances today, so we traded in our dancing shoes for our walking shoes. After a quick breakfast, we headed to the hotel lobby to meet Charles, the best tour guide in Beijing. It was 9 am and time to get the day started. Our first stop of the day was the Great Wall of China…almost 9,000 kilometers of man-made magnificence. There’s no question as to why it’s one of the 7 Wonders of the World…it’s breathtaking…literally! Halfway through our journey to the top of the section we visited, we were breathless! It was a long way up! You can imagine our disbelief when we found out the vendors that work at the different towers along the way climb those steps everyday to get to work! But, knowing we were walking the same steps as those that pieced together this Great Wall thousands of years ago motivated us to keep climbing…at least to the next tower. It is said, “It takes a great man to climb the Great Wall.” Well, you can put Hugo and the Honeybees on the list of great men because we did it!! Been there, done that, got the t-shirt!Climbing the Great Wall was just the beginning of a great day! After our climb, we refueled at a local Chinese restaurant, and then headed to the Summer Palace, an ancient sprawling resort where China’s past emperors spent their summers away from the Forbidden City. With a beautiful temple, calming gardens, and the most serene lake, who can blame anyone for wanting to spend time there…I know we enjoyed every minute of it! We even got to take a ride across the lake on a dragon boat! But not before we saw the Marble Boat…a 2-level masterpiece, made completely of marble. It stands in the water, because it was not made to float, but it is still quite a sight to see! If you think our day ended with a boat ride, guess again! From the Summer Palace, we made our way to yet another amazing structure…the Bird’s Nest, one of the most popular venues for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. We snapped a few shots there, and then a few more in front of the Water Cube…you know, where Michael Phelps won all of his gold medals?! And yes, they are both as awesome as they looked on TV! After we relived a couple of our favorite ’08 Olympic moments, we got back on the bus for a ride to the theater for a Chinese acrobatics show. You haven’t seen cool until you’ve seen 12 people on a bicycle at one time! After the show, we had another delicious authentic Chinese dinner, where we taught our tour guide, Charles, some southern expressions everyone should know…”Hey y’all!”, “Aw man!”, “Ya heard?”, and of course, “How’s ya mom ‘n dem?!” After he mastered all four phrases, it was time to make our way back to the hotel. With such an action-packed day, we were all in need of a hot shower and a fluffy pillow to rest up for Saturday, which is sure to be another exciting day of sightseeing! Trista's Entry
 Hi Hornets fans! This is your Honeybee Trista keeping you updated from Beijing. We had another performance today (Thursday, June 4th) so we started the day off with a great buffet breakfast at the hotel then had a quick practice to make sure that we were polished and ready. Then we were off to the local NBA Store. We participated in Hugo’s magic skit, did our best impression of Beyonce with our “Single Ladies” routine, and welcomed Scottie Pippen to the stage once again. We had an autograph session and posed for many pictures. The store had lots of great merchandise, so we tried to get a little shopping in. It was difficult because the staff was so excited to have us there that we spent most of the time taking more pictures.After our visit to the NBA store, we headed to our first adventure in Beijing…”The Silk Market”. We could compare it to the French Market in New Orleans only there were NINE FLOORS full of vendors who were all very aggressive and insistent to get our attention. All of the handbags, sunglasses, clothing, jewelry, electronics you could ever imagine! Our tour guide gave us some tips before we went in to make sure that we received fair prices. The key here is to bargain because the first price they give you is always way too high. And if you walk away…they’ll drop the price significantly. It was a little overwhelming, but it was every bargain-hunters dream. We have a big site seeing day tomorrow so stay tuned! Trista Krista's Entry
 Neen-how (“hello”) Hornets fans! Six of your favorite Honeybees are here in Beijing, China at the moment representing our great team, and we’re going to be sending you daily reports so that you can experience this great city along with us.We boarded a plane in New Orleans at the first sight of daylight last Sunday, June 1st. One layover and 19 hours later, we finally arrived in Beijing. Since Beijing is 13 hours ahead of New Orleans, it was already 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday when we landed. Much to our surprise, a new health policy was recently put into practice which required all of us to remain on the plane until health officials were able to board the plane and take every single passengers temperature before we were allowed off. Getting through the airport itself required us to pass through several more security/health check points. We were delayed even further when two of us were pulled aside to be evaluated and have our temperature taken again. After our adventure through the airport, we were greeted by our NBA China contacts who shuttled us to our hotel. We grabbed a quick bite to eat and turned in early. As you can imagine…we were exhausted! We woke up this morning fully restored, ready to practice, and excited for our first performance. We stopped to grab a quick group photo in the lobby and before we knew it, it turned into a photo shoot. Some locals were snapping their own photos and began to jump in the shot with us one at a time. One gentleman even posed just like us. It was priceless! We were gaining fans in Beijing! On arrival at our performance venue, we were highly protected with guards surrounding us everywhere we went. So that’s what it feels like to have an entourage! We finally took the stage and did what we do best, DANCE. We got the crowd fired up with two great routines then cheered as they called Scottie Pippen to the stage. To end our night, our tour guide took us to a wonderful authentic Chinese dinner where we ate roasted duck, spicy chicken, pan fried beef noodles, and so much more. Delicious!! Before heading home, we wandered through a popular outdoor shopping area with so many great stores, street vendors cooking right on the streets and bars lit up like Christmas. It was a great day in China! Stay tuned for more from Beijing! |
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