Last Day in Beijing June 30th (Day 10)

Today was a long day. We first went to Tiananmen Square, which is the largest public square in the world. It is said that it can contain 1 million people. Unfortunately soon after commenting on how much cooler the weather was today, the rain began. On the outside of one of the museums at the Square is a large electronic countdown clock for the Beijing Olympic Games. We walked across Tiananmen Square towards the First Gate of the Forbidden City, which has the large painting of Mao Zedong the leader of the Communist Party that gained power in 1949. It just so happens that tomorrow July 1st is considered the birth of the Communist Party.

We then entered the Forbidden City which was amazing. It sounds cliche, but words simply can't describe how vast. The Forbidden City is the Chinese Imperial Palace which consists of 800 buildings and 8,886 rooms. It was begun in 1406 and took 14 years to build during the Ming Dynasty. The last Emperor of China when the Imperial Age ended was in 1912. All of the buildings have gold roofs which could only be used by the emperors. Since we were on a quick tour, we were only walking through each of the gates and squares, then out through the Imperial Gardens rather than going through the museum as well. Unfortunately we encountered periods of thunderstorms with heavy down pours.

We were glad to be back on the bus heading towards lunch. The 45 minute bus ride was a great opportunity to begin to know the other adoption families better. We arrived at the Great Wall. Although there was light rain, the good news was that we were able to see the Wall along the mountain ridges and it was not very crowded. The Great Wall was built, rebuilt and maintained between the 5th century BC and the 16th century to protect the northern borders of the Chinese empire. It is the longest human made structure and is 6,400 km (4000 miles long). It is visible from space. We went to the scenic Juyongguan Pass, one of the tree greatest passes. This pass has two viewing areas, the very popular Badaling and the southern Nan Pass, which is where we went. Melanie is very sick with a bad cold, so she climbed to the second tower and I went further up on the Great Wall.

Beijing - Day 9, June 29th - Sightseeing

Another early morning, but the difference was that this was an organized tour so we began to meet other American families that are adopting (one family was from Minnesota, two from Texas, and another family from Arizona who did not go on the tour). Our first stop was the famous Beijing Zoo, to see their six pandas. The stop at the zoo was just to see the pandas and we did not get a chance to visit any other part of the zoo although they do have other animals. The panda exhibits were very nice with good indoor and outdoor enclosures. There was a TV film crew from NBC doing some pre-Olympic coverage filming the pandas. They ended up interviewing Melanie, myself and another person from our group so perhaps we'll be on TV later this summer. The man doing the interviewing is also in the process of adopting from China and so he was very excited that our group are all couples in China adopting. We reassured him that the wait does finally end!

We then drove to the Summer Palace, all along seeing more of the city. Beijing is ringed with six "beltways", either highways or major roads. It is nearly impossible to describe the scale of the Summer Palace, the largest imperial garden in the world at 725 acres. Originally built in 1750, it is mainly made up of the Longevity Hill and the Kunming Lake. The Palace has the longest corridor in the world, which we walked. The corridor, which is open to the outside on each side, has 8,000 individual paintings depicting scenes and people from Chinese history on the beams that make up the ceiling. We took a dragon boat across the lake which was fun. We then drove to a famous restaurant in Beijing, which is over 500 years old. We had a wonderful meal of Peking Duck, along with other Chinese food. Our next stop was a pearl factory before going onto the Temple of Heaven - the wallet is getting thinner.

The Temple of Heaven was also amazing, but again difficult to describe. Originally built in 1420 during the Ming dynasty. This was used by the Emperors twice a year. The whole area is enclosed with a long wall. The actual Temple of Heaven has lots of blue, including the roof to symbolize heaven. We descended along a bridge that symbolizes where the earth meets heaven.

We were pleased to have a knock on our hotel door at night and met our Great Wall adoption guide, Kathy. She sat with us to describe what was to transpire over the next two days. We have some anxiety since the medical report on Indigo is over six months old. We know the families adopting from the other province, Anhui will be given in writing all updated information regarding feeding schedules, sleeping schedules and any start in toilet trainings (Chinese potty train their children very young). Kathy is really awesome and said that we should write down our questions and that she would try to get answers for us. Melanie is also getting sick with a cold, sore throat etc. and she asked Kathy about some medicine for a sore throat and later Kathy showed up with something to mix in water to drink for the throat.

Beijing Sights July 28, 2007 (Day 8)

This morning we went to the historic Hutong section of Beijing. Hutongs (Mongolian word for water well) came into place during Yuan Dynasty (between 1279 and 1368) when Dadu was rebuilt, which later became Beijing. We took a rickshaw through the narrow streets or alleys and stopped at various places, including a market where we saw meat, vegatables, fruits, spices and other assorted items for sale.

Our next stop was outside a gate within the Hutong to learn about all the symbolism behind the various features, including exquisite brick carvings, varied-style drum stones which symbolize a military family living there. One can tell the status or socio-economic level of the family by the gate. We had lunch in a traditional Hutong home with the food made by the family. We really enjoyed ourselves.

After returning to the hotel, we took a walk to the grocery store area and Melanie, Ellen and Karen had foot massages or pedicures, while the guys walked around the shops several times. After another dinner of Chinese food, we all went to the Beijing Acrobat Show which was absolutely amazing - very much like a Cirque de Soleil type show. We were tired when we returned to the hotel so we all just hit our respective rooms and crashed for the night. Time seems to be racing right now and a lot more of the GWCA families are starting to arrive at the hotel.

Beijing - Reuniting with friends June 27, Day 7

How fun to be with friends again! We had breakfast with Rick & Ellen and Ellen's parents, Jim & Jane. So great to be catching up with everyone. Later during breakfast, Pam, Robert and their daughter (aka "little bug") came down to breakfast too - they were doing some touring in Beijing with another agency so they had a different agenda for the day. We hung out with Ellen and her family and took a walk down to the grocery store so that we could buy water and drinks at a reasonable price versus the outrageous hotel prices. Since we're here for five days it's worth stocking our fridge. It was so 0ppressively hot on the walk to the store and the pollution in Beijing is really terrible - buildings that are really close to our hotel are almost invisible. It was actually nice though to just be chilling for the day. Rick's parents, Yvonne & Bill arrived around lunch time and then we all went to lunch together. We were going to go out of the hotel but a rainstorm came that was torrential! We were glad because we hoped it would cool things and also reduce some of the air pollution. Up on the second floor were some shops and restaurants so we went to check those out. There was not a lot of choice so we went to this very nice looking Chinese restaurant. There, the 8 of us were shown to a private room with a large round table - really beautiful. Then the adventures began! The menu, if you can call it that, looked more like a little brochure and no evidence of prices or English. Rick's mom knows some Cantonese but not much Mandarin so conversing with the staff was difficult. They ended up bringing a manager type man and he was able to converse with Rick's mom. We finally came together on about 8 dishes but he told Yvonne that he was going to give us free tea and that we could see the price to know what value that was - we said it was okay, and that he was also going to include starters. We were all quite worried at this point about how much this lunch was going to cost - were the dishes so expensive that they could throw in starters! The starters began to arrive - about 6 of them - really beautiful - so much so that I took some photos. They were also all delicious! Then the other dishes arrived. Everything was superb and we had the most amazing and attentive service. After the watermelon - the primary dessert served here as far as we can tell, we awaited the bill with trepidation but all feeling happy because the food was so good and everything had been so pleasant. Well, after all that, it was a whopping 640 yuan - about $90 for 8 people. Although tip was included in that, we all paid 200 yuan per couple - about $26 for David and I and we made the waitresses day with the big extra tip.

After lunch, it was close to the time when we expected the fourth couple from our mid-atlantic group of 10/28 people to be arriving so we waited in the lobby for them. Due to the storm they ended up getting in much later - they had to circle an hour in the air before landing and were almost diverted to another airport. It was so good to see them and to have our group who has been through this long journey with us, all together. We hung out in their room for a while and then walked them to the grocery store so they could get water, drinks and snacks. They were pretty exhausted so we left them after than and David and I returned to our room. We had a nice visit later in our room from Pam and she caught us up on what her family had done that day with the guide and she wanted to hear more about our travels so far. We're getting so close to Indigo now - my stomach is doing flip-flops and I don't think it has anything to do with the food.

Adventures in Yangshuo June 26th (Day 6)

What a day! We awoke very early again, but this enabled us to view the mountains outside our hotel in the morning mist. The beautiful reflection of the mountain peaks in the water, with lush bamboo and other trees in view. Our guide organized a bike ride for the morning. I had visions of biking on rural country roads. Well we were driven from our mountain retreat to the actual town of Yangshou where we rented the bikes. When we rented the bikes, Melanie bought a fresh flower tiara - I guess if you don't have a helmet, you may as well make your head look pretty. Both of us have not been on bicycles for a long time. Our adventure began with riding our bikes on the city streets, avoiding all the other people on bicycles, mopeds, motorcycles, rikshaws, cars, buses and trucks too (oh I forgot all the people crossing every which way). Gradually we left the town behind us and we were on a road next to fields of rice and various other crops. On the other side of the fields were the beautiful mountain peaks with occasional farm houses.

At one point we veered off the paved road and onto a rutted rocky dirt road for some off road biking. Our guide told us this was the short version, but I'm skeptical. Although this was the morning, it was very hot and humid (yes mom we had bottled water with us). We stopped only to take a few photos, and then went on our way. At one point Melanie insisted I pose with a farmer's water buffalo that was tied to a tree next to the road. Then the farmer's wife came out insisting that we give her money for taking the photo of her buffalo (which we did). When we reached another paved road, it was terrific since it was mainly downhill until we reached the town again. We finally stopped after an hour and half we were drenched with sweat from every pore of our body.

We then drove an hour back to Guilin and had lots of interesting conversation with Wei Li, our guide. We really have a much better understanding of China's "family planning" laws and the impact on people here. We then had lunch at a local Chinese restaurant with both Wei Li and the driver. The lunch included delicious dumpling, pot stickers, sweet potato noodle dish with pork ribs, bok choy, and delicious pumpkin done in a tempura style and a spicy noodle dish (lunch for four with beer and a tip was the equivalent of $13!)

Then it was off to the airport for our flight back to Beijing and sadly leaving Wei Li. While waiting for the plane at the Guilin airport, a thunderstorm came through, but our flight only left 15 minutes late. We flew a different airline, China Southern. This flight we had a lot of turbulence and then about nearly 2 hours into the flight we were being told we were landing. Although all announcements were in Chinese and then English, it was difficult to hear the stewardess. We thought we were landing in Beijing, but it didn't look like Beijing. Sure enough we landed at another airport, Nanyang to drop off and get more passengers. We were so happy to finally arrive at our hotel in Beijing. We're one flight away from Indigo! It's exciting to be meeting up again with our friends from our 10/28 group - two couples had arrived in Beijing on the 26th too.

Li River cruise and Yangshuo June 25th, Day 5

We had to delay a day in posting because our last venue was pretty remote and we did not even have a phone in the room, let alone internet access. We have had the most incredible time since we signed off last in Guilin. We took the boat cruise down the picturesque Li River to Yanhgshuo. Amazing scenery and sights. Our boat was filled with a large Italian tour group, and a few Spainiards and Germans too. It was a bit odd hearing so much Italian on a boat in the middle of China. Along the Li River we viewed the unusually shaped beautiful mountains, fisherman on their bamboo rafts, water buffalo grazing at the side or in the water and very lush vegatation. Our lunch was cooked at the back of the boat. Beside beer and soda, we were offered snake wine which we both declined.

Upon arrival in Yangshuo, we had to navigate all of the shops catering to tourists along West Street until we met our driver to take us about 15 minutes out of the town to the Yangshuo Mountain Retreat. It was a terrific setting with a river and mountains viewed from our room. We did river rafting on the bamboo boat which was very relaxing. We had a very quick rain prior to our boat ride, and we could distant thunder while rafting but it did not hamper our enjoyment. Later we had dinner at the retreat whcih included ginger beef, braised pumpkin (yes they eat pumpkin here), vegetable spring rolls and curry chicken rice. Melanie realized that a guest at another table was South African, especially when he said "100 percent". Sure enough not only was he from SA, but he was from her hometown of Port Elizabeth. Small world indeed.

Finally we went to the famous Yangshuo show called Impression which was directed by Zhang Yimou who is doing the opening/closing ceremonies for the Beijing Olympics. Unfortunately no pictures can describe this amazing show. The outdoor arena seats 3,500 overlooking the river and twelve mountain peaks which are all used in the show through the display of lights. The cast includes hundreds of local people dressed in their respective native outfits. Of course we could not understand the Chinese singing, but since our guide had given us information on some of the ethnic groups we were able to understand the show better. There were some brief periods of rain, but overall we were extremely fortunate that the weather held up.

To view more pics, click on this http://www.flickr.com/photos/7322989@N05/sets/72157600507065902/

Day 4, June 24th - to Guilin

We left Chengdu this morning for the airport. On the way there we could not believe how much new construction there was - as if an entire new city is being built. Just so many new high rises going up.

We caught our flight to Guilin - we were so much in the minority that on the entire plane there were 3 westerners, us and one girl from New Zealand. We arrived safely in Guilin and met our guide, Wei Li. We already love her. Wei Li is considered from the minority. Most Chinese, approximately about 92%, are Han people, the other are minority and there are, I believe, 55 groups of minority people. Wei Li is from the Zhuang group of minority people - the largest group of minority people. Her family lives up in the mountains and still have no electricity and there are no roads so you have to walk 5 hours before you get to a road. Her story about being a girl and obtaining an education is very interesting. Wei Li also told us about the other well known minority groups, the Miao, known for their amazing handicrafts and intricate silver headdresses, and the Yao people, known for the womens long hair which is only cut twice in their life.

We checked into our hotel - again, a very nice hotel and then we had a quick lunch. David succumbed to the lure of western food and ate spaghetti bolognese (thank you Marco Polo) We met Wei Li again at 3 p.m. and went to Reed Flute caves. These caves were beautiful - similar to Luray caverns in Virginia. It was nice and cool in the caves, not like the outside which was hot, hot, hot. We try to enforce a no whining policy about things that we are either forewarned about or can't control - such as knowing it would be hot and humid, but we did drink a lot of water and it was hot. After that we stopped at the South China Sea Pearl Exhibition Centre, i.e. pearl store! We did buy a pearl pendant for me and one for Indigo when she is older - I know, suckers!

After that we went to Elephant Trunk hill and had a lovely walk through the park and down to the water where you can see how the rock formation looks like a huge elephant with its trunk in the water. The park area was very beautiful and odes to the elephant were every where. We then returned to our hotel where we had an hour to shower and then we met Wei Li at the Chinese restaurant downstairs. We were very hungry and dinner was delicious. We had a very nice sort of sweet potato soup that had pork in it. We also had a lemon fish dish and a beef dish with some sort of delicious mushrooms. We also had a green vegetable and they brought out some kind of version of Chinese french fries. After dinner we chatted more with Wei Li. She has a three year old son so we were asking lots of questions about the rearing of children and I was asking how and when they started the potty training with the split pants. Her in-laws live with her and her husband and help care for her son. There is too much interesting stuff to note here but we really enjoyed the very free conversation. Wei Li has also been keen to ask us a lot of "personal questions" as she says.

We then went down this city waterway system which has all been newly developed since 1998. Just amazing and beautiful. We took a boat ride and all along the boat ride was music playing, tea houses on the shores, beautiful landscaped edges all with the trees lit up and seating areas along the water. We also were there to see the fisherman with their cormorants. The fisherman stand on a raft essentially made of about 5 huge bamboo sticks put together. They stand up and have, it seems, about 4 cormorants on each raft. The cormorants dive for fish and bring them back to the boat. Their throats are tied with a string so that they can't swallow the fish. The fisherman then pulls the fish out of their beaks. There were gorgeous fountains that were rising and falling to music - the whole boat ride was very pleasant. We also had a lot of fun talking to Wei Li and another male guide who was there with an English couple who were seated at our table. The Chinese have terrific humor and we were all laughing and having a lot of fun. We returned to our room and pretty much crashed. Tomorrow we leave for the Li River cruise.

Pandamonium - Day 3 Chengdu June 23, 2007

Before the blog update, a note on the comments - we really appreciate them! We have not been able to view our own blog and comments but Mom & Dad are sending the comments to us so that we can read them. So thanks, and please continue to keep sending comments.


The day began with another early rise from bed. Lilly suggested that we leave for the Chengdu Panda Research Center by 7:30 a.m. to beat the traffic and crowds of tourists that would come later. Her advice was right on the money! We were among the first to arrive and since it had rained in the night, it was a bit cooler which made the pandas more active. Chengdu PRC is a world renowned center that currently has 39 pandas. They are expanding the center greatly with much more land. What a sight to see nine baby (well ten months old) pandas all together in one enclosure. It was pandamonium. The panda enclosures are really super - large, clean, very natural environment. Several adult pandas were nearby as well. Melanie had her dream come true of holding a baby panda, while I had my picture taken standing behind an adult panda. Unfortunately they give you so little time, but it was amazing to be so close to a species that is loved the world over but in serious danger of going extinct (even with all the conservation efforts!). We also both held a red panda. Tanja, we thought of you the whole time. We know that you would be in seventh heaven or higher! We then walked to the Swan Lake where we saw the water lillies, black swans, thousands of koi fish and other birds.



Lilly wrote down a variety of places in Chinese and English for us to explore the city during the remainder of the day. Our first taxi ride was an adventure and reinforced the impression that there are no traffic rules, or the rule is anything goes! The taxis are really cheap! We had what would have been at least a $10-$12 taxi ride in D.C. for the equivalent of about $1.50! We had another terrific Chinese lunch Sichuan style based on Lilly's instructions to the restaurant as to what we were to order - another delicious Kung Pao chicken because she knew we liked that and a beef dish - with warm cokes! Lunch was 58 yuan, before tip - about $8. Then we went to a Chinese Massage Center where we both had wonderful and relaxing messages. I had a full body massage and Melanie had a foot massage and neck massage. Melanie decided to follow her American doctor's advice (although I don't think he meant to have this done in China) and actually had acupuncture done on her neck and arms (see the picture to believe this one!). Of course she grilled the people about the needles to ensure that they are sterile. The place is actually a university training center for Chinese medicine.

Next using Lilly's paper, we hopped into a taxi and went to the Wenshu Temple (also known as the Manjushri Monastery). This is a very important Buddhist site. Unfortuantely there were no guides or anyone who spoke English to explain everything we saw, but many of the buildings and gardens on the grounds were labeled in English. There was some amazing architecture, beautiful gardens including a pond overfilling with turtles, monks walking about and others praying with incense at the various Buddha statues around.


Our day ended with an adventurous walk near our hotel. We walked to a large shopping center where we experienced how far westernized China has become, and yet differences that are striking. When we enter the department store, every conceivable cosmetic counter you would find in a Macy's, Sacs 5th Avenue, etc. was available. The store was packed, and it is apparent that the Chinese have wholly embraced our materialistic consumer culture. We noticed there was a grocery store on the 1st floor so we went down to explore. This store was much larger than the other grocery store we went into. We could not believe how many people work in the store - there must have been close to 5-10 people working on every aisle. Again, we were fascinated by all the things that are so foreign to us - so many varieties of mushrooms and herbs and of course, the always interesting meat department. Nothing really gross but it's obvious that no part of any animal is ever wasted. We were also obviously the focus of much attention and felt ourselves being stared at a lot.


Across from the shopping center, there was a Pizza Hut. Lilly told us that she is aware that Pizza Hut in the US is considered cheap fast food, but in China this place is considered upscale and people would take their honored guests there. Notice the curtains in the windows in our picture! We fell asleep early and skipped going to dinner, hence we have now been up since about 3:30 a.m. updating the website for everyone anxiously awaiting panda photos!

To view more pics, click on this link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/organize/?start_tab=one_set72157600507065902