Our First Day Sightseeing

Yesterday was a very fun, but exhausting day.  We started the morning with breakfast in our hotel.  It was a welcome surprise that we found fried eggs, toast and cereal...so we took advantage of that.   We left the hotel at 9AM and headed to the Emporor's Summer Palace.   The place was beautiful.   The only problem was, it isn't summer here...and it was absolutely freezing.   We knew it would be cold here, and we did pack accordingly, but cold doesn't really describe it.   We're guessing the actual temperature was around 10 degrees with 30 mph winds.   The palace itself was beautiful.  It's the largest imperial garden in the world.  It's construction started in 1750 and took 15 years to complete.   We spent about 2 hours there.  We then stopped at the Cloisonne Factory.  Cloisonne is a enamelware that is unique to China.  We received a demonstration on how it is made and then ate lunch at the restaurant on the top floor.  After lunch, we headed to the Great Wall.  We went to a different part of the Wall than when I was here in June.  It was absolutely freezing....but Doug & I managed to make the climb all the way to the top.   It was quite the hike!  This part of the wall was extremely steep with alternating paths of steps and steep slopes to climb.   The trek was worth it though when we reached the top and was told that was the highest point of the Wall.   The 2 hour ride back to our hotel from the Wall was welcomed as we tried to warm ourselves up (and Doug caught a short nap).   Dinner was a traditional Chinese dinner at a restaurant close to our hotel.  All meals in China are served on a lazy susan, and there are about 8-10 dishes to choose from.  There were a few brave souls that tried the fish (served with the head and tail on.....bones and all).   Doug is "jonesing" for a double cheeseburger and is still waiting for his fortune cookie (and American adventure).

Today we attend a foreigner's church service.  To attend, you must prove that you are a foreigner by showing your passport at the door.  We take for granted how fortunate we are to live in America.   After church, we head to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City.

Tomorrow we meet our son for the first time.  We leave the hotel around 5AM to catch a 7:30 flight to the Gansu province.  We found out that Alex will be brought to us at the hotel sometime in the afternoon,  We then have interviews with the orphange director along with a notary of the province (he would be like a Supreme Court judge would be in the US).  Please pray that all goes well.  Doug and I laid in bed this morning talking about Alex.  Wondering what his personality would be like.  Wondering how our life will change starting tomorrow.  Wondering if he will be crawling or walking yet.  Realizing at this moment he has no idea how his life is about to change so dramatically.