Travel and Day 1: Hutong, Silk Factory, Traditional Chinese Lunch,Tianamen Sqaure, Forbidden City

Ni Hao! It's been a whirlwind couple of days...we had an uneventful trip...flights on time, luggage all here, and we were able to make it from airport to hotel with no problem. We were sooooo tired-20 hours of travel with a 14 hour flight from Newark to Beijing was exhausting. When we arrived at our hotel (Crowne Plaza) we wanted to go to sleep, but since it was 3:30 pm here we tried our best to stay awake first, so we could talk to the boys...second, so we could try and get on the 12 hour time difference schedule. I was feeling pretty sad and home sick...I am sure some of those emotions were part of sheer exhaustion, but it wasn't a fun night. We got to talk to the boys and then went to sleep about 7:30 p.m. but woke up around midnight and could not go back to sleep. We watched Duck Dynasty (on the ipad...only a couple English shows on TV) till about 3:00 am and finally went back to sleep until 6:00 am. We went to breakfast and then had a full day of touring. With CCAI, we are always with a guide and have a travel group of around 20 people so far. It is sooo nice to be with people who are also adopting. Most of the families have their children with them though, so that does make me miss our boys even more.

Our tour of Beijing today started at a Hutong (old, traditional Chinese housing) on a rickshaw. The rickshaw right was my favorite part of the day. Next, we went to a government run silk factory. It was cool to see how silk was made, but we refrained from making any purchases due to the high prices. Then we went to a traditional Chinese lunch...our guide ordered for us and it was really very tasty, but made me sick...so I got my first experience with a squatty potty (which made me even more sick). Thank God for zolfran and immodium!!!!! And for tissues and antibac...there isn't toliet paper or soap in the yucky bathrooms. After lunch, I still didn't feel very good so it was kind of a blur, but my history buff husband enjoyed the square and Forbidden City. It was soooo smoggy though so our pictures weren't very good and we walked for MILES, but it kept me busy and my mind off wishing this trip would go quickly.

 

Richshaw ride

 



 

Forbidden City

 

Silk Factory

 

Chinese lunch with our group

 

Tomorrow, we head out for The Great Wall, chinese lunch (I won't eat), Olympic Village, and an acrobat show. It should be another full day!!! Then Sunday we say goodbye to Beijing to fly to Chloe!!! We will be united with her on Monday (China time) Sunday night (U.S. time). Goodnight from China!