Squares, Cities, Jade, and Walls

Be prepared.....there are a lot of pictures!!

No rest for the weary around here!

We all slept pretty well last night. I almost ditched the whole tour day because I was feeling so rough this morning, but rallied right before we left for breakfast and made it through the day (it seemed like I only had half of my lung capacity, but who can use that as an excuse?). We Skyped with the girls for a bit before breakfast, which certainly lifted our spirits.

Jonah's day started out on a positive note when he found shrimp as an option at breakfast....which he gladly helped himself to. :)

We met with our guide and the rest of our group to get an early start on our day. Surprisingly, there is only one other couple in our group adopting a non-infant with special needs. It is a very different dynamic than our group with Rylie's adoption, which was comprised predominantly of SN kids.

First, we hit up Tiananmen Square. There were WAY more people there than I remember. Right beside it is the building which holds the body of Chairman Mao encased in crystal. People stand in line for hours to pass by him and "worship" his body. I absolutely could not believe the lines outside of the building. They crisscrossed all over the Square and around the building....it was certainly thousands and thousands of people.

The Forbidden City, the ancient home of the Chinese Emperors, was beautiful, of course. I am still amazed by the detail of the buildings, especially considering how old they are. Our guide told us that rules were so strict in regards to the Emperor and his safety, that even things like wearing the wrong color, using certain "restricted numbers", or crossing over the wrong bridge could have you killed.

He also mentioned that although Beijing is a very international city, many people who visit the Forbidden City are from rural areas and have never in their lives seen a foreigner in person. Much less a foreign child...with blond hair. Jonah learned this well, as he was asked to take pictures left and right with people. He was a little overwhelmed at first, but warmed up after some coaxing. I loved it! But now he says he does not want to be famous!

We had a nice lunch and tour of a jade factory, and then headed to the Great Wall. Rush and Jonah did some climbing, while I decided not to push it and rest. Jonah did think it was pretty impressive.....he and Rush had a little "army playtime" in one of the towers. :)

On our way back to the hotel, we passed by the Olympic Village from the 2008 Olympics and saw the Water Cube and Bird's Nest.

Once we arrived back to our hotel, Jonah passed out right away. We forced him up long enough to head across the street to grab some Starbucks, and then came back and he went right to bed again.

We leave the hotel at 6am to catch our flight to Guangzhou...our home for the remainder of our time in China. HOORAY!

Less than 48 hours now til we have Jude!