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The Red Thread Express
Sunday, 23 November 2008
A Day of Very Big Things
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.
Posted by heartstringsoh
at 8:36 AM EST
Saturday, 22 November 2008
Day Two: In Which the Forbidden City Loosens Up a Bit
Topic: Beijing
Another wildly fun and exhausting day. Met up with many of the families at breakfast with no real plans in mind. Some of us finally decided to try to walk to the Forbidden City, since we hadn't gone in yesterday. At least one of the parents in the group has been to China several times, so we felt like we were in good hands. And it was terrific to be able to do something unstructured; I enjoyed the walks to and from enormously, just being able to see the people and sounds and sights of everyday China. I meant to mention this in yesterday's post and forgot - the weather the past two days has been gorgeous and the sky absolutely blue. The environmental work that was done here in preparation for the Olympics really paid off; it's far less hazy from pollution than when I was here three years ago. The Forbidden City was big and imposing and awe-inspiring, but with our less structured pace and the little girls chasing each other around, the pace was very relaxed. We kept to many of the side Halls, which had fabulous names like "The Hall of Mental Cultivation." And the Imperial Garden was so lovely with its rockery and trees - I could have stayed there all day. 
Liann was a joy to everyone, and entertained countless people with her impressive skill at looking and the map and telling people where we were, all while walking. Something I could not do at all. 
Now, sadly, I was having a wee bit of gastrointestinal distress, despite all my precautions. So my favorite part of the Forbidden City was not the Imperial Garden, or the Throne Room, but a smaller throne room. . . 
Let me just say, it was well worth every star. Upon returning back to the hotel, we enjoyed a brief respite, then sojourned back out, this time to the shopping mall connected to the hotel - nine floors of chaotic consumer sensory overload. It was magnificent. Best of all was the knowledge that even when you travel halfway around the world, some things remain the same. 
Meanwhile, in the courtyard of the mall, someone was putting on some kind of dance competition. There was a pole involved, but let me reassure, participants remained fully dressed. As Liann watched the dancer below, she asked the question for the ages: "Can Daddy do that?" 
After finding dinner at the mall (Dairy Queen was involved), all the families met at a brief orientation that outlined some of what is to come. Tomorrow, in addition to scaling the Great Wall of China, we will also be participating in a Homecoming Welcome Ceremony at the Ministry of Civil Affairs. It is a very big deal, and one I will be excited to report about tomorrow. Until then. . .
Posted by heartstringsoh
at 8:37 AM EST
Friday, 21 November 2008
Day One: Sisterhood of the Traveling Fulingers
Topic: Beijing
Well, despite the fact that we hadn't yet accustomed to China time yet and woke up at 2:30 am Friday morning, we (and I mean Liann especially) acclimated pretty quickly. Liann was a ball of energy the entire day until she finally closed her eyes about 8 pm. Think about that - that's 17 1/2 hours. Pretty impressive for a 4 year old. I'm fairly certain that the girls all fed off each other's energy yesterday - but more on that in a moment. We began the day with a fine buffet breakfast at the hotel. Liann ate about 8 pieces of bacon ("I LOVE BACON!"), the Chinese version of Cheerios, and lots of fruit. We met out tour group at 9 am - about 6 families, 2 from Washington and 3 from Australia - and began the day at the Temple of Heaven. 
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. 
Posted by heartstringsoh
at 4:51 PM EST
Updated: Friday, 21 November 2008 8:05 PM EST
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