Planes, trains, automobiles and rickshaws

Well, We made it to Beijing!  The 13 hour flight was actually not too bad.  The kids did awesome and are adjusting to the time change really well. When we arrived in Beijing we were greeted at the airport by one of our adoption agency reps, Cindy. We met up with two of the other families that are in our travel group and headed to the hotel. Our travel group consists of 14 families from all over the US. Including kids, the group is about 45 people in all!  Some of the families have been waiting 5 years for this time to come.  I think I'm still in a daze....here I am sitting in the lobby of a hotel in China, half way around the world, anticipating picking up my daughter in 3 more days, somebody pinch me, I must be dreaming.

Today we started the day off with a rickshaw tour of the oldest part of Beijing.... Hutong.  This is where the upper class lived back in ancient times.  We also got to take a tour of the inside of one of the homes.  Next, we headed to the silk factory to see the process of making silk from the silkworm and then on to a delicious lunch at a local area restaurant. After lunch, we toured Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City.  

Today was the last day of the Chinese holiday so the crowds were't too bad.  They have been celebrating the birth of the People's Republic of China which was actually announced on the steps of the building behind us on Tiananmen Square.

Ethan has become quite the celebrity!!!  The Chinese are fascinated with his blond hair!  Luckily we had heard that this would be the case and had prepared him ahead of time.  People would just come up around us and start smiling and pointing and wanting to take their picture with him.  We also got to experience our first squatty potty :) The toilets are basically a hole in the ground that you squat over to do your business.  Just a little challenging!  

Beijing has been amazing!!!  We are having such a great time soaking in the culture. So far it has been fairly easy to navigate. Most of the people at the hotel speak English and when we have been out and about we have been with our tour guides who have had everything set up for us.  We did however go out on our own tonight for pizza.  It was quite comical to see us trying to order!  Nevertheless, our pizza arrived just the way we like it.  Next stop......The Great Wall of China.