We're in China!

I can hardly even believe we're actually in China! Our trip here went really smoothly. If any of my adoption friends are reading this and still need to look into what airline to fly, I definitely recommend Hainan Air. Great service, very comfortable seats (for an airplane, that is), the food was fine and I actually thought they served us too much, too often! Our flight happened to only be about 1/2 full, so there was room to stretch out a bit, which we all very much appreciated.

Today has been an amazing day. We started our tour at Tienanmen Square and let me just say, it's huge. HUGE. From there we went across the road into the Forbidden City. Which is also HUGE. Everything in China has a meaning and it's been fascinating to learn more about the Chinese culture and explore parts of Beijing that I've heard about for years, but never really knew what they were. The Forbidden City was built in the early 1400's for the Emperor and his family (oh, and his 3000 concubines) and was enormous. Very interesting.

In front of one of the six palaces at the Forbidden City.

Feeling claustrophobic yet?



Just before leaving the Forbidden City.



We went all the way up to that cool looking building at the top of the picture.

When we finished there, our guide took us to a Chinese restaurant, helped us order lunch and ate with us so we could visit with her more. It was so good! The staff was very friendly... actually, a little too friendly. One of the servers came over and picked up one of Rodney's papers he had set down on the table and started trying to read it and asked him what it was! It was just his cheat-sheet for converting money, but still, Madeline laughed out loud and it still didn't bother him a bit. Many people seem very interested in us for some reason (honestly, why????) and I've already lost count of how many people have asked to have their pictures taken with either Madeline or myself. Makes me laugh, but it's fun, so we do it and smile!

Yes Olivia, those are sprinkles on shrimp and it wasn't even dessert!

After that, we went on a tour of the Hutong. Again, I had no idea what that was and it was very, very interesting. We went in Rickshaws and had the opportunity to go into the home of an elderly couple who live there. The man had lived there since he was born and he was the 3rd generation to live there. It was very small, but we had tea with him and had a chance to learn some things about the Hutong area from our guide while we were there. I can't even imagine living in an area like that, and find it so amazing that it's actually very expensive to live in the Hutong because it's so near the Forbidden City and the center of Beijing.

Totally posed, can you tell?

Our guide explaining all the things you can tell about a family's gate. All doors are not the same!

Our BMW's for the Hutong Tour

Yes, we actually went in that door. (Scary looking, huh?!!)

Having tea with our new friend in his living room.

We then headed to the Silk Factory. Can I just say I did NOT know that's how silk was made? I won't say exactly what I thought, but let's just say the way spider's make webs is NOT the way silk is made. Gracious me. I had to come all the way to China to learn that.

Lastly, we went to the Flying Acrobat Show. It was phenomenal. Absolutely insane what those people do! We really enjoyed it and are so glad we got to go, even though we're all fighting the sleepies and had already had a full day, so sitting still in a dark room was a bit of a challenge, but oh so entertaining! The funny thing is, Rodney and I both said, "We could see Jack doing that kind of thing." He would have loved it!

Yes, he landed perfectly. What an amazing show!

That's it for tonight. I'm posting lost of pictures for my kids at home to see. I hope you enjoy them too!

Till next time,

Karee

Olivia, Jackson and Elijah, we love you so much and miss you already. I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving at Grandma and Grandpa's house!