Beijing Day 3

We woke up to snow this morning!  It is also Scott's birthday so he gets to celebrate by going to the Great Wall.

We left the hotel after breakfast and had about an hour and a half drive to get to the Mutianyu Great Wall.  The snow was coming down pretty good, but we were prepared with lots of layers to keep warm.  This section of the Great Wall was the last section to have been rebuilt, so it is said to be the nicest section.  We rode the cable car up to the Wall.  If you don't ride the cable car, it is about a 40-minute walk up the stairs to even get to the Wall.  No thank you!

Once we got onto the wall,  we were able to slip and slide our way around the walkway and stairs tolook around.  There are 24 watch towers in this section of the Wall.  We went into two of them.  One of them has paper on the walls where you can sign your name.  The other watch tower we saw was larger, with many corridors for the soldiers to go and be protected during battle.  We didn't stay up there too long due to the cold and snow, but we got some great pictures.

After the Great Wall, we went back to the hotel and I had arranged with our guide to have a cake delivered for Scott.  I was able to surprise him with it.  It even came with candles and a birthday crown!  After we had started eating the cale, I noticed a box on the TV stand.  It was another cake!  The hotel had put it in our room for him, so of course we had to try that one too!

Tonight, we will walk to a local shop for dinner and pack our suitcases so that we can go to Fuzhou tomorrow morning.  That is the capitol of Sydney's province.  Then on Sunday,  we will finally get to meet our little girl!  We are so excited and can't believe this day is coming so soon!

Great Wall pictures

Great Wall snowman

Scott's birthday cake!

We woke up to rain today, so we got an umbrella from the concierge and faced the cold, wet day to see some of Beijing's beautiful sights.  We toured the Temple of Heaven where the emperor would go to pray twice a year.  The first time, he would pray for rain and the second for a good harvest.  These prayer times were full of rituals, such as animal sacrifices and multiple changes to the emperor's robes before he would pray.  Each part of the ritual would be held in a different building.  Then, when it was time to pray for rain, he would pray in an outside area where he would stand on a center stone.  When he would pray for a good harvest,  he would pray in the large temple.

After we were thoroughly soaked seeing this temple, we went to a noodle shop for lunch.  Our guide Flora said that this shop was like Chinese fast food.  The food was ok but definitely not the best we had since we've been here.

After lunch we drove to the outer part of the city to see the Summer Palace.  Here the rain was coming down pretty good and it was foggy, so we couldn't see too well, but it was still beautiful.  This palace is higher elevation and has a large lake so it would stay cooler.  Also, it has the longest covered walkway in the world, over 700 meters long!  This walkway overlooks the lake and is very beautiful.

Then we went to the night market to get some souvenirs and to enjoy the "cuisine" of scorpions, octopus, spiders and seahorses on a stick!  No, we absolutely did not eat them....just took pictures.

When we got back to the hotel, we were soaked to the bone, freezing and exhausted.  So, we went and got massages to help us relax, ordered room service of some yummy American food and passed out!

Temple of Heaven entrance
Here are pictures of our day.....

Temple of Heaven

Temple of Heaven

Temple of Heaven

Summer Palace

Summer Palace

Summer Palace

Summer Palace dragon boat

Summer Palace marble boat

Night market cuisine

Night market cuisine

Beijing Day 1

Today was our first day touring Beijing and we had a wonderful time!  We are exhausted but it was a great day.  We toured Tiananmen Square, The Forbidden City, and went on a Hutong tour.
 The Forbidden City is beautiful with all it's different palaces and courtyards.  The prettiest area was definitely the garden.  We ate lunch at a local restaurant with our guide Flora.  The food was excellent.  We had Kung Pao Chicken, rice and beef dumplings (pot stickers).  I (Angela) even tried it all, and if you know how picky I am, that definitely speaks volumes.
After lunch, I had my first experience with a Chinese public restroom!  I was prepared though.  I had toilet paper and seat covers.  However,  there were no lights in there, and I couldn't figure out how to flush the toilet and ended up ringing an alarm!  I quickly exited and we walked on down the street.  Oops!
We then went on a Hutong tour.  Hutong is a very old area in Beijing with homes and shops but the streets are very narrow, only one lane.  On this tour we rode in a rickshaw which is a carriage that is pulled by a bicycle.  On this tour we got to go into a private family's home and see how people live here in Beijing.  The home was beautiful and had an inner courtyard.  The lady of the house played a song on a Zither, which is a Chinese instrument.
Now we are back at the hotel and will venture out to dinner and to a market to pick up some snacks and drinks for our room.
Here are some pictures of our day, enjoy....

Outside of Beijing Hotel

Beijing hotel lobby

Beijing hotel lobby

Beijing hotel lobby

Tiananmen Square

Tiananmen Square

Forbidden City

Forbidden City gate

Forbidden City

Forbidden City

Forbidden City

Forbidden City

Hutong tour in rickshaw

Hutong tour

Hutong tour

Hutong tour

Beijing hotel room

Hello China!

November 17, 2015

We made it to China at about 7:00pm, which is 3am PST.  After 18 hours of flight time and a 3-hour layover in Chicago, we made it!  The flights were not bad, pretty uneventful.  On the 14-hour flight from Chicago to Beijing, we were served dinner, breakfast and 2 snacks, so we definitely didn't starve!  Angela slept for about 2 hours and Scott didn't sleep at all.  By the time we got to our hotel, we had been up for over 24 hours!  Our hotel is the Inner Mongolia Grand and it is very nice.  It is a 5-star hotel and we have been impressed so far!  We will have to remember not to drink the water!

Tomorrow we will tour Tiananmen Square,  the Forbidden City and on to a Hutong tour of the city.  Our guide Flora is a very nice girl and we are excited for her to be able to show us around.  The weather here is cold.  It's 30-40 degrees, so about the same as Klamath.  We brought layers to be able to stay warm here in Beijing!

We are so excited to meet Sydney in 4 short days, but in the meantime will enjoy every moment of our adventure here in Beijing!

Will post pictures tomorrow of our first day in Beijing.

Travel dates!!!

We are so excited to share that we got our travel approval from China! We booked our flights today! We will leave on November 15 and return on December 5. Our "gotcha" day is November 22!!! That is the day we finally get to meet our sweet Sydney May! We will be updating the blog regularly while we are in China with lots of pictures and details of the trip, so check in frequently! Grace and Jared will be staying with Aunt Michele most of the time and with Scott's parents over Thanksgiving. We will be gone for Scott's and Grace's birthdays, so pray for Grace as she will be without mommy and daddy for her 7th birthday. Please keep Scott and I in your prayers for travel safety and to stay healthy during the trip. Also please especially pray for Sydney as she will be experiencing a significant trauma in being removed from everyone and everything she has ever known. Of course, we know that this will be for her long-term benefit, but for the short term, this precious little girl is going to be scared, confused and sad to leave everything familiar to her. The best thing any of you can do for us right now is pray, pray and pray some more! Once we return, after we get Sydney settled for a few weeks, we will have some sort of get together where you all can meet Sydney. We will probably do an "open house" style party where people can come and go, so not too many people are there at once to overwhelm her. Of course we will take our cues from her, so we are not sure yet when she will be ready, but we will keep you all posted! I have listed our itinerary below so you can know where we will be throughout out adventure in China!

• November 15:                         Drive to Portland
• November 16:                         Fly out of Portland
• November 17-21:                    Tour Beijing
• November 21-28:                    Fuzhou (capital city of Sydney's province)
• November 22:                         Gotcha Day!
• November 28-December 4:    Guangzhou
• December 2:                           Consulate day
• December 4:                           Fly home
• December 5:                           Return to Klamath Falls!

Thank you all for your continued support!

Final pics of Sydney!

We recently received our final update on Sydney along with some new pics of our girl! According to her measurements, she is 48 inches tall and weighs 42 pounds. So, she is tall and thin!

Adoption Shower

On October 24, my mom and sister threw an adoption shower for Sydney. We had a great turn out and lots of fun! Thank you mom and Michele for making the day so special. And thank you to everyone who was able to attend, your support means so much! Also, we got presented with a very generous, anonymous donation- to whoever sent the donation, THANK YOU!!! Here are a few pics from the day.