Thursday March 31 - Travel to Chengdu

Thursday was a more relaxed day.  We got on the bus at 8:30 to go to the Beijing airport and fly to Chengdu (a 3 hour flight).  Once there we went to a really beautiful park where we had tea and got to see the locals enjoying a day at the park (Badminton, Tai Chi, etc).  Some people also tried the local traditional ear cleaning and/or shoulder massage.  Sonia was excited to have her ears cleaned and declared she "can hear anything now".

We had the evening free.  After a couple really long days, we chose to go to a local grocery and buy some noodle soup, snacks, and drinks.  We spent the evening in our room eating, chatting, and playing "go fish" and other little games we had along.  It was a great way to recharge.  Sonia slept from 8:30pm to 6:30am when the alarm went off... a great nights sleep!

Friday is panda day... she's super excited.

Some pictures...

Wednesday Mar 30 - Beijing Day 2

We woke early (2:30am) ... jet lag with a child is definitely a different experience.  We're lucky that Sonia is so high energy and still does great through a busy day!  We played some games and watched a movie before breakfast opened at 6am.

We got on the bus at 8am with Sonia able to get her coveted back seat on the bus.  It was another beautiful weather day of low 70s, sunny, and clear!

First we went to Tian'an men square and the Forbidden City.  Sonia has seen pictures of this from when I went early in our adoption trip but before I met her.  So, it was a big deal to her to have now been there too.  She snapped a lot of pictures on her little camera saying "I just can't stop taking pictures of beautiful China".  It was a long walk through all the sections and garden though.  So, luckily she had some chances to play with two other little girls off and on through the tour.  This was another highlight for her, and I was thankful that the little 8 year olds were so kind to the little 5.5 year old who wanted to be with them. 

The next stop was to an old part of town (hutong) that has been maintained.  It was interesting that people live there and open their homes to people to visit and even for lunch.  So, while commercial, it was different than the restored areas we have with actors showing the old ways.  We had a nice lunch in one home.  A big highlight was the bicycle rickshaw ride through the hutong.  It was fun and Sonia declared it "outstanding". 

From there we went to the CCCWA building.  This is the government agency that handles adoptions in China.  We were able to see some of the rooms where paperwork is reviewed and even visit the room where matches are made.  Less than half the desks were being use when we visited (perhaps a sign of the much lower adoption levels today than early 2000s).  We had a touching moment were a few of us talked to one of the "matchers" to say thank you for helping put our families together.  She seemed touched as well.

We then had a (long) welcome from the Director of CCCWA.  After that, the kids had a culture class with the highlight being getting to do some Chinese character painting.  

Finally, we were taken for a Peking Duck dinner that was delicious.  Sonia was spent by then and dozed on my lap during dinner, then fell deep asleep on the bus back to the hotel.  I carried her in and she didn't wake up until 4am this morning (Thursday).

Now for some pictures...

 Tian'an men Square

A little bubble break while touring the Forbidden City

Bicycle Rickshaw Tour

One of the homes in the Hutong

All the kids on the tour before going into the CCCWA

Matching Room

"Piles of Files"

Chinese character painting

Tuesday - 1st Full Day in Beijing

Today was a great LONG day.  It turns out we slept too well on the plane.  Sonia slept from 11pm-2am and then was fully awake.  We tried to doze until 4 then got up and took a walk and had breakfast all by 7am.  We went back to the room for a short rest (iPad movie) before our group met at 8am for the start of our tour.

First, we drove by the Olympic village and got a quick bus view of the "birdcage" and "water cube" buildings.  During the drive, everyone introduced themselves... a nice group!   From there we went to a Jade Factory, climbed a little bit of the Great Wall, and then had a group lunch.

Sonia loved the Great Wall climbing!  She was so excited and such a trooper with some steps thigh high for her.  The steps are very irregular heights with some very shallow and others really high.  The weather was perfect at 70 degrees F, sunny, and clear skies.  We made it to the 2nd "castle" (about a 40 min climb straight up steps).  We then climbed down and walked a flat part on the other side with a really pretty view.  Overall, great!

Nice lunch in another shopping building then back to the hotel.  We took a brief swim in the late afternoon, quick supper and now are getting ready for bed.  Sonia almost fell asleep in the restaurant ... but now got a 2nd wind with an ice cream treat.  It's 7:30pm here and we'll head to bed.

The only rough point was when Sonia thought she'd lost her little stuffed cat "Muffin" after lunch.  She melted down in the restaurant when we went to look for it saying the "cook was going to bake it into soup" and "she could hear it crying".   I was able to distract her after a few minutes but she cried on and off on the short ride back to the hotel (so tired) only to find it was somehow stuffed into a little pocket on her backpack (not sure how it fit in there).  So, Muffin is safe and sound and after a rest the world was good again.  And, she now thinks the story of how Muffin was almost soup is hilarious!

Overall, for a really long first day, Sonia had a great day!

Beijing

We made it to Beijing last night.  Sonia was a great traveler... patient as we went through all the "airport stuff" (immigration, customs, baggage, waiting for our guide).  We got checked in and relaxed a little before bed.  It's great to be here!

On our way...

10 more days before Sonia and I leave for our vacation in China. There are so many things still left to do ... But I can now check one off ... Blog is set up! We are super excited! I hope you enjoy following along our trip!