Topic: Beijing
Big Thing No. 1:
All the adoptive families attended a welcome ceremony at the Ministry of Civil Affairs. The ceremony was also attended by Minister of Civil Affairs Li Xueju and Deputy Minister Dou Yupei, both instrumental in creating the international adoption program In China in the not-too-distant past.
The ceremony was lovely and very moving; our children were hailed as good will ambassadors, furthering friendly relations between the countries, and told they would always have two homes. The staff at Bridge of Love Adoption Service (BLAS), who have organized this amazing tour, performed a dance with traditional costumes of the various regions, and then our children got up on stage and sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of their performance, because Liann dragged me up their with her.
Finally, the families were presented with gifts from the Ministry of Civil Affairs and gathered for a very large group picture. It really was a lovely ceremony to be involved with, and quite humbling to be thought of as a honoree.
Big Thing No. 2: The Olympic Venue
After we completed the ceremony at the MCA, we traveled to the point in Beijing where the Olympics had been held. Having been obsessed with the China Olympics from this year's opening ceremonies, I felt like I was meeting a celebrity. We only stayed a few minutes, but still managed to squeeze in a few shots of the Big Kahuna buildings of the 2008 Summer Games.
Big Thing No. 3: The Great Wall of China, Mutianyu Section
After partaking of lunch, we settled in for a long winter's nap on the bus and traveled about an hour out of Beijing to the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall of China. It was a fascinating drive, very rural, with some of the most gorgeous landscape I've ever seen. This is the China that looks like no place else on earth.
Liann was loving the Great Wall, scaling steps that were essentially half her size. Best of all, we got to ride up to the Wall in a cable car that she described as going "super fast." It didn't really go that fast, but she liked saying it. It was indescribably beautiful at the top; I kept turning and seeing new vistas that I wanted to take a picture of, knowing full well that it can't capture even a little bit of the awe and majesty of the place.
It was a spectacular - and exhausting - day.
