Topic: Beijing
The girls all seemed to enjoy the wide open spaces of the courtyards; Liann found that marble stair boundaries make a rocking slide!
The girls all chased each other and had tons of fun watching the water calligraphy, people practicing tai chi, the Chinese version of hacky sac, and more. Liann was beyond happy making so many new friends, like Lily.
Next it was onto lunch. All that energy must come from somewhere. Our restaurant also provided a traditional dance performance that Liann loved: "These guys are great!"
After lunch, it was onto shopping at the Pearl Market. For someone who tends to run from the hard-sell salesman, it was a little bit of an intimidating experience for me. Imagine HUNDREDs of stalls and booths all selling souvenirs, jewelry, clothes, shoes, knock-off luggage and bags, all with wares you'd want to pore over - except at every stall, vendors from that stall and every surrounding stall are calling you, "Lady, Lady! Come see my [insert merchandise here]. Come feel. Real Pashmina. Come try. I give you good deal." Very soon, I was at the point of overload. Yet despite the odds, I was able to do my part to bolster the Chinese economy and find some fun things.
But wait, the day isn't done. There's still Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. The girls had a ball chasing each other through the Square and generally hanging on our very accommodating and kind guide William.
Perhaps it was for the best that by the time we reached the ticket window for the Forbidden City, it had closed for the day. So we got to ride on a little mini bus back to our tour bus. Liann's quote: "This is the most fun carnival ride ever!" It did show me a side of the Forbidden City exterior I hadn't seen on the last trip, though.
And then finally, back to the hotel, where our friends from our original travel group, Trina and Erica, had just arrived. We also got to see our travel guide Zhou for a few minutes after dinner, since he was in town to meet some new adopting families. It was wonderful to let him see how big the girls have gotten.
Today, we don't have firm plans yet. There's a number of families here now, so I'm certain we'll find something to keep ourselves occupied. Keep tuned.
P.S. I was going to start loading photos from Liann's camera, since she's been quite the shutterbug, but I just realized her CF card won't fit in my mini-laptop. So that will have to wait until we're home. My apologies.
I did just ask her if she wanted to say anything about China for the blog. She said, and I quote, "No." For anyone who's ever talked to us on the phone and heard the same response when she's asked if she wants to talk on the phone, this comes as no surprise. I think you can tell by the smile on her face, though, that she's having a ball.
