The Great Traffic Jam of China
Well, we got into the hotel last night about 2 am, beyond tired. The hotel is lovely, big spacious rooms and firm mattresses. Mmm. However, because ALL of China is one time zone, the sun is UP in Beijing by 5:15 am. But the few hours sleep felt like gold.

After a Western style breakfast buffet at the hotel, we were off on a 1 hour ride to the Great Wall of China. Impressions of Beijing: Huge, sprawling, LOTS of construction; traffic is CRAZY. Greg, who generally likes to drive in new places, has vowed never.

However, as soon as you leave the city, these absolutely stunning mountains rise out of the mist/haze; green carpets of trees on red rock. And then there's the Great Wall. Fast facts about the Wall - construction began in the fifth century BC and continued to the 16th century. It covers over 6000 km across China. We were on the Badaling Pass, where most of the tourists go. What a workout; there are stretches where you're walking up 40 degree slopes. It was glorious. The weather was perfect, about 80 degrees with a nice breeze. It's definitely one of those experiences that no matter how hard you try with the pictures, it will not equal the live experience of seeing that structure juxtaposed with those stunning mountains.




After the Wall, we travelled to a cloisonne factory which was attached to a Friendship Store. I've never been a huge fan of cloisonne, but seeing how labor intensive and how many different variations I've never known about, I gained a new appreciation for it. As evidenced by the souvenirs we purchased at the Friendship Store, doing our part to bolster the Chinese economy.



We ate lunch at a restaurant adjoining the cloisonne factory. It was fabulous. Dishes kept arriving on a lazy susan, with delicate jasmine tea. The highlight for me was the soup - peppery but not hot, with bits of sundried tomato in it. And amazing fish.

On the way back to the hotel, we got caught up in a traffic jam. Someone had had an accident on the highway and traffic was tied up a mile back. But it was an entertainment experience in itself watching the traffic flow creatively from the three lanes as shown by the painted highway lines to the 4 and 5 and 6 lanes created by the enterprising drivers. And I was very impressed that with all the merging and flow, it all remained very civil. Very few honks were exchanged.

After a short rest, we left for a Chinese acrobatic show, which (between the lengthy periods where my eyes had involuntarily closed) was very well done and quite entertaining.



In thirty-six hours, we will cease to be merely tourists and be that most fearsome of combinations, the tourist-parent!

A Day in the Air
Friday, June 3 6:45 am (feels like Ohio time Thurs. 6:45 pm)

As I write this, we've been in the air for our LA to China flight for approximately 2 hours and I have to say, it hasn't been bad at all. I will try to jot how I feel about 11 hours from now - we land in Shanghai in about 12 hours.

The day started out a little stressfully. Despite Greg having called to make our Continental seat assignments, we checked in to find that the flight was overbooked and we had no seats, so were technically flying standby, along with one other EAC couple. EAC was called and you could practically hear them go into full-alert mode - Bwoop, bwoop - sirens blaring. I was fully prepared to cry on cue, but fortunately, there were sufficient volunteers and we got seats with no problem.

Landing in LA, it was overcast, and my immediate impression was - "I have to pee, my head hurts, and I'm hungry." One bathroom, three Excedrin, and a fish taco later, all was right with my world again.

We got onto the China Eastern flight uneventfully, and here I sit, making my first entry. The flight so far has been fine. Our EAC mates all seem very nice; everyone is as excited as we are. We all stared at the toddlers and babies on this flight going to China with their families and "Aaaaw'd" as one.

6/3 - 5:40 pm (5:40 am Ohio time)

Well, we have about an hour to go until we land in Shanghai, and even then it's not done - then we have a 2 hour flight to Beijing. But having weathered 11 hours in the air, I have to say, I thought I was going to feel a lot worse than I do. The plane has actually been fine. The seats don't have the little tvs, but they have POWER, so that I could plug in my Palm Pilot and play marathon Scrabble with Greg. Current tally: Greg 1, Toddie 1, Tie 1. We did manage to sleep a few hours as well. Food was healthy and yummy. So until tomorrow, zai jian (goodbye).


Saturday 7:00 am

Just a quick update – we do not have our cell phone yet, Penny and Bill and Will, we will call as soon as we get the phone and/or figure out how to use the international line from our room!

We have an Itinerary!
The Itinerary for Chongqing Group

Date Arrangement & possible Activities
June 2 Thursday. Leave LA for Beijing via Shanghai by MU586.

Flight: Continental CO0735
Dep: CLE, 9:00am
Arr: LAX, 10:49am
Notes: Boeing 737-800, Breakfast, duration 4:49

Flight: China Eastern, MU586
Dep: LAX 1:30pm
Arr: Shanghai, 6:15pm, June 3
Notes: Airbus A340-600, duration 13:45

Flight: China Eastern, MU586
Dep: Shanghai, 9:50pm
Arr: Beijing, 11:50pm
Notes: Airbus A320, duration 2:00

June 3 Friday. Arrive in Beijing, 11:50pm
Stay at:
Holiday Inn Downtown Beijing
Tel.: 0118610-6833-8822
Fax: 0118610-6834-0696

June 4 Sat. Visit the Great Wall. An acrobatic show in the evening.

June 5 Sunday. Temple of Heaven, Tiananman Square, Forbidden City. Lunch at Hard Rock Cafe. Visit a silk factory. Then go to the airport to Chongqing,
Flight: Air China 4142
Dep: Beijing, 5:10pm.
Arr: Chongqing, 7:30pm.
Notes: Dinner, Boeing 737, duration 2:20
Stay at:
Marriott J W Chongqing
Tel: 0118623-6388-8888.
Fax: 0118623-63809425

June 6 Monday. We will go to Fuling 9:00am to get babies at 9:00am. The one way trip will take about two hours bus ride, and back to the city for adoption registration in the afternoon.

June 7 Tuesday. Relax, bonding and do some shopping in between.

June 8 Wednesday. Visit the Zoo to see pandas, back to the hotel by 1:00pm.

June 9 Thursday. Visit the Three Gorges Museum and back to the hotel around 1:00pm.

June 10 Flight: China Southern, CZ 3416
Dep: Chongqing, 4:40pm
Arr: Guangzhou, 6:20pm.
Notes: Boeing 757, duration 1:40
Stay at:
Victory Hotel
Tel.: 0118620-8121-6688
Fax: 0118620-8121-6062

June 11 Sat. Do babies medical in the morning. Walking distance. Fill the paper for visa process in the afternoon.

June 12 Sun. Visit Jade, and Pearl Market, shopping and sightseeing.

June 13 Monday. Appointment at 11:00am, and only Zhou will go.

June 14 Tue. Parents need to go to the U.S. Consulate in the morning for a short ceremony. Zhou will get the visa in the afternoon.

June 15 Wed. We are leaving Guangzhou for Shanghai by CZ 3609, Dept.time 10:00am. Arrive Shanghai at 11:50am. Then make MU 583 connection to LA at 2:55pm. Arrive in LA at 11:30am the same day.

Flight: China Southern, CZ 3609
Dep: Guangzhou, 9:50am
Arr: Shanghai, 11:50am
Notes: MDC MD-82, duration 1:55

Flight: China Eastern MU583
Dep: Shanghai, 2:55pm
Arr: LAX, 11:30am
Notes: Meal, Airbus A340-600, duration 11:35

Flight: Continental CO0566
Dep: LAX 3:05pm
Arr: CLE 10:24pm
Notes: Boeing 737-700, Dinner, duration 4:19


All times are local.
China is 12 hours ahead of Eastern Daylight Time, so 6pm here is 6am the next morning in China

Here's a picture of Liann sent to us on Mother's Day -

The Place where You Live
China's a pretty big place, and just like any other pretty big place, it's provinces and regions are distinct and have their own unique identities. Given that, I thought it might be helpful to those of you who are following our journey to know a little bit about the region where Liann was born.

Liann is living at the moment at the Chongqing Fuling First Social Welfare Institute. If you're interested, there's a terrific website created by families of children adopted from Fuling called "Fuling Kids International" (www.fulingkids.org).

In China, Fuling is a district in the Chongqing Municipality. It has a population of slightly more than 1 million people in 2941 sq. km. (according to Wikipedia). Chongqing (which means "double celebration") is one of four of China's provincial-level municipalities; while provinces (like Hunan or Sichuan) are the most common type of province-level division, China's four municipalities have the same administrative level as a province. Beijing is another of China's municipalities, for example. In theory, municipalities are large cities; but Chongqing is an example where the rural population is greater than the urban population. Chongqing has over 32 million people within its borders, most of them living outside of the city, over hundreds of miles of farmland. In 2004, Chongqing ranked as the 10th largest urban area of China.

Chongqing is located in central China, at the edge of the Yungui Plateau, and is intersected by the Jialing River and the upper reaches of the Yangtze. It is very hilly, and gets very hot and humid in the summer; Greg has seen a quote calling it "China's furnace." The controversial Three Gorges Dam, in the Three Gorges area between Yichang and Fuling, has been under construction since 1994; its reservoir began filling in 2003 and is expected to be complete in 2009; it will be the largest hydroelectric dam in the world when it is complete.

Culinary-wise, Fuling is known for the "Fuling Pickle," made from a large, radish-like vegetable. Chongqing is known for its many different types of hotpots. A hotpot has a soup base, usually very spicy. This pot of boiling soup is placed in the middle of the table, where diners put a variety of vegetables and meat in it to cook and eat.

So all told, I think the region where Liann was born is going to be fascinating to see and learn about first-hand. And I can't wait to taste the hotpot.

Introducing Liann Aiyu Downs
Hi everyone -

Greg, Will and I received our packet from China on Monday, April 18, 2005 containing pictures and information about our daughter, Fu Ai Yu. Here are her vital statistics:

Name: Fu Ai Yu (to be called Liann Aiyu Downs)

Her name translates as "Love-Rare Treasure" or loosely translated, "Precious treasure."

Birthdate: June 23, 2004

Orphanage: Chongqing, Fuling Social Welfare Institute

Weight at time she was found: 6 lb. 10 oz.
Height at time she was found: 20 in.

Current weight (as of 4/20/05): 21 lb.
Current height (as of 4/20/05): 27 1/2 in.

If you're wondering, the way we know this is because the orphanage provided our agency, EAC, with updated measurements and pictures taken on that day.

So without further delay, here are the pictures.

Here's the smaller picture, showing her trepidation. . .

And here are her updated pictures too.