Adventures in China

Well today was our second day in China, we left our Island on Wed, July 20, flew out of Moncton at 6:30am, landed in Newark Airport in New Jersey and flew to Beijing from there at 12:05pm.  We had a 13hr and 40min flight to Beijing. Our guide Fay met us at the airport and we arrived at our hotel at 3:30 in the afternoon, very tired and ready for showers.

We went to a local supermarket to get some bottled water and snacks, lets just say the variety of foods and the way they are handled are very different from what we are used to.  With the heat, and the other smells around, it doesn't take long to kind of loose your appetite.   We then met up with another family from NS whom have done this twice before and are back for their third daughter.  They were headed to go eat supper, but we were just ready to go to bed, so that is how we ended our 1st day in China.

Today we met the others in the lobby at 9am and left to go on a little walking tour.  We walked to The Temple of the Earth park.  There were lots of people dancing, little kids in their split pants(if you don't know what split pants are it is when toddlers and babies have a split in their pants from front to back without a diaper  So they just do their duty wherever they want!)  There was a live band playing, and lots of interested locals in the couple with the two adopted daughters.  It is such a different way of life here and just because there is a crosswalk doesn't mean that you really dare cross because bikes, and cars definitely don't care if you are an inch away from them, they just honk and you have to get out of their way very very quickly.

We ate dumplings and noodles at lunch with chopsticks and drank Chinese Pepsi.  At supper we went with Yulin, her daughter and the other family and had a variety of different dishes. (Chris figures the Peanut Butter we brought is going to get used a fair amount in the next two weeks. )  The heat here is unbelievable, you walk out of the hotel and it is like a blanket of heat consumes you almost making it hard to breath, and that is with no sun, just smog of fog.  The people here are very calm and friendly, we feel very safe walking around Beijing.

Tomorrow we are headed to do some more sight seeing, and visit some local homes to see how they live.  In 2 more sleeps we will be getting on a plain and going to Wuhan to meet our girl.  Then the real adventure will begin!  I will hopefully be able to journal each day so I don't miss or forget anything of this awesome journey.  Trying to savor every moment, even the smells in the streets that can turn your stomach in an instant. (Well I could do without that part.)