May 4, 2013: 4:51pm, Beijing

May 4, 2013:  4:51pm, Beijing

Today was another full day!  We went to Tiananmen Square, The Forbidden City, lunch and the Silk Factory.  Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City were both insanely crowded, and to be honest, a little more how we had envisioned Beijing to be.  Crowded, loud, and hectic.  Tiananmen Square is impressive.  It is HUGE!  A million people can fit there!  A million.  When Chairman Mao died, a million people came to the service held there.  We took a load of photos, and learned a lot.  Since we are American, we definitely stick out like sore thumbs…especially the blondes in the group!  Tons of Chinese men, women and children were coming up to us and taking their photographs with us.  We felt famous.  Especially Eva, the 4 year old in our group…she must have really felt famous.  Over the last two days she probably had her photo taken at least 30 times….and that is not and exaggeration.  One lady grabbed Eric and took her picture with him.  We’re guessing it’s because he has a beard.  I was never photographed.  I’m brunette, so I fit in a bit better than most in our group, and therefore, I am much less interesting.  I’m hoping that is in my favor upon meeting Zia Mei since maybe I will appear more like one of her caretakers and as a result she won’t be quite as scared of me.  We shall see.

The Forbidden City is absolutely breathtaking.  It is one of the most impressive places in the world.   It goes on for miles.  Just when you think you’ve hit the end, it goes on some more.  There are so many details and so much artistry.  We were all very impressed.  We did however, lose one of the members in our group for a while which was a bit scary!  His wife was not too happy, but she held it together.   It was SO crowded, and he just lost sight of us.  He found us eventually, and we were all able to laugh about it, but it was a bit touch and go there for a while. I’m just glad it wasn’t Eric.  And to be honest, a bit shocked it wasn’t!  Ha! He does tend to wander…

Today’s lunch was absolutely to die for.  It was another family style setting, and they sliced the duck right in front of us, serving it fresh (head included!).  No one in our group dared to eat the head, but we certainly had fun joking about it!  I thought maybe someone would be brave enough, but we all played it safe.    The silk factory was incredible.  We learned the process that goes into making comforters and clothing.  It was very cool.  My mom would have loved it there…it reminded me of the years she was a professional weaver with all the looms.  It brought back wonderful memories.  We wanted to buy a silk baby blanket and a cute little outfit for Zia, but the blankets were all too big, and the outfits a bit too pricy.  We’ve been told silk is much cheaper in Guangzhou, so we decided to wait.  The most impressive thing at the factory was the silk paintings.  Literally:  “paintings” that were created out of silk.  Again…the Chinese artistry was commendable, and truly breathtaking. 

On the ride back to the hotel, our guide explained the next few days to us, and the reality really set in.  So far this trip has been feeling much more like a sightseeing vacation than an adoption process, but that is all about to change!  We are eager of course, but it’s all a bit daunting.  We are so thankful we will have Zhou (our guide) with us the entire time.  Three out of the five families are traveling into unknown territory tomorrow with a new guide, but we have the luxury of being able to rely on, and lean on Zhou.  The process is daunting enough, so we are extremely thankful we have it just a bit easier on that end.  Tomorrow, we will all part ways until we meet back up again on May 10 in Guangzhou with our new daughters!  It’s a very mind-blowing feeling, and one I don’t think I’ll ever forget.  Tonight Eric and I are going to enjoy a nice dinner in the hotel and relax, knowing our relaxation time is short lived!  Tomorrow we will be leaving the hotel at 9am, and traveling down to Guangzhou, settling into our new home away from home while we anxiously await Monday afternoon.  At 2:30pm on Monday we will meet our baby and take custody of our little treasure.  Here we go!!