beijing

Beijing Day 1

Last night we were asleep by 10:00 all jet-lagged and what not and ready for a good nights sleep.  But then by 3:30 AM we were both wide awake.  So I tried watching my GGirls on the laptop and I dazed over for a while but then it was time for breakfast.  A nice Western breakfast buffet- eggs, bacon, cereal, etc.  Very nice.  

We met our guide in the lobby at 9:00 AM after being up for 5 1/2 hours but we were ready to walk our way through Beijing.  First stop was Tiannemen Square.  We were surprised to see many, many tourists..and in typical American fashion we were surprised to see that we were the only Americans.  From there we walked to the Forbidden City which houses the Imperial Palace which was built in 1406!  Unbelievable.  It 's amazing that they were able to build such a beautiful place so many years ago.  Nine appears to be a lucky number.  Nine dragon statues on the roof to protect it's inhabitants, nine floors in the Empresses house.  It was about 45 degrees and pleasant for walking.  A stop for lunch (in our own private room), and a fresh water pearl shop. Lee scooped up an oyster with 30 pearls in it.  Then on to the Summer Palace- very beautiful.  There were vendors outside selling snacks-roasted sweet potatoes which people ate out of hand, roasted corn, chestnuts and fresh pineapple.  No cotton candy, no funnel cakes, no Good-Humor.  Fascinating!  

Lee and I passed out in the car on the way home.  We have our own driver and tour guide.  They are great and our guide speaks very good English.  She told me that my Chinese pronunciation was perfect!  After a rest in our hotel our guide took us to the DaDong restaurant for Beijing Duck.  There were roasted ducks lined up and the server came to our table and sliced one up for us which we rolled up in little pancakes. Some more chicken and sauce, shrimp with peanuts, pickled radishes.  Then watermelon and a warm almond soup dessert with floating fruit.  Hmmm.

In our down time we rest, read, go on the Internet or watch TV.  Here I am watching Raymond and emailing friends- just like home.  We are taking advantage of this "no children" time.  It's hard to believe in a few days we will have a little person running around our room.  

Here is our schedule:

We are here in Beijing from Thursday - Sunday.  On Sunday we fly to Chongqing, which is the province where SiWei lives.  On Monday we will go to a government office and take 24 hour temporary custody of Siwei.  Then we go back on Tuesday and sign the adoption papers.  Then she is officially our daughter!  Then we have more appointments and on Friday we fly to Guangzhou.  We stay in Guangzhou until the next Friday.  While in Guangzhou we will have more appointments and time for shopping!