Beijing, the Great Wall and on to Nanjang

We just managed to get connected to the internet Saturday evening. Here’s a synopsis of our very full journey so far:

Thursday, May 6
We successfully connected with each other at SFO (Cheryl flew in from the east coast), and began the very long flight on a very large plane (382 passengers) to Beijing. There were families on the plane from several different adoption agencies on their way to get their children.


Our Beijing local guide, Yue Xia (who goes by Rose) met us and the other CAWLI (adoption agency) families at the shiny new international airport. She led us to the bus to Beijing, introducing Mr. Chen, our driver, described as “number 2” driver in the region – “number 1” is “hospital drivers”. It didn’t take long to see that Rose has a quirky sense of humor.

Beijing is very clean, beautiful trees and flowers everywhere, and it’s spring so things are green and blooming. Quite beautiful. TONS of traffic; many people now have private cars, there are taxis, buses and a very few bicycles and bicycle carts. Everything looks new, clean, lots of new construction, much more western including way too many McDonald’s … though we were happy to see a Starbucks next door to our hotel.

Cher and Nancy went out to explore a little bit and look for the right kind of adapter plug so we could charge all our electronics. There’s a shopping mall downstairs from (in?) the hotel, and we found a little power strip that looked perfect. Wandered around a bit, had a hard time finding our way out of the mall and back to the hotel. Changed some American dollars for yuan, and went back to the room. It turns out there’s already a plug in the room – we just needed to know where to look. Which is good because it turns out the power strip we bought was just the strip – we didn’t realize we had to buy the cord separately!

Showers and bed …

It took us awhile to figure out the time difference … apologies to Cher’s Dad for the very early morning call!

Friday, May 6
Well, since it was such a long flight, and because there’s a 9 hour time difference from the west coast (12 hours from the east coast), we kind of lost a day …

Saturday, May 7
… and we were all pretty much awake around 3:30, and up by 5 am local time. Nancy went out for a walk and was pleasantly surprised to see email coming in on her blackberry (since it had not be working from the hotel room … turns out I just need to walk down the hall a little way, and it works). It’s been quite an adventure dealing with electronics here.

Breakfast was great (both western and Chinese); then we met up with Rose and the group and headed for the Great Wall. During the hour and a half bus ride, Rose regaled us with Chinese history, customs, current situation, with stories from her own life. She geared her talk to include a lot of information for the adoptive parents.

After concluding our first group photo op, we headed for the wall. There were two approaches to the wall, one more flat and gentle; the other quite steep with big steps. You can guess which one Cheryl wanted … several other families went with us. It was a fun way to start to get to know our fellow travelers. 13 year old blue eyed Natalie was stopped a number of times by young men who asked to have their picture taken with her. Doreen and her sister in law Jen (Boston area) and Rob and his wife Elizabeth went with us part of the way, then decided it was a little too steep and headed back to the other approach. Nadine wasn’t up for climbing, so she hung out with Jerry, the pediatrician (from Alaska) who is travelling with the group – he’s a sweetheart, retired pediatrician who volunteers his time, mostly with orphanages all over the world: in the Caribbean, Haiti, China, and will soon go to Cambodia.

Lunch at the same cloissone factory we visited back in 1992! We had a quick tour of the factory, where it seems the workers are somewhat better paid and in better conditions. Then lunch (many people trying out chopsticks for the first time), which was a nice opportunity to chat and get to know each other better. It’s a lovely group of folks.

The return to Beijing was via the Olympic Village. Rose pointed out the housing that had been built for the athletes, which is now very expensive and exclusive apartments that have to be purchased (not rented). The whole area has been gentrified, and people who lived there moved away from the area. It’s very beautiful, lots of trees, landscaping, new buildings though apparently they are so expensive that many are empty. The Watercube and Birds Nest stadiums are huge, very impressive. Rose said the local people want them to be used … as it is now, the only use they get is tourists coming to take pictures. So much money was spent on them for the Olympics; yet they are standing empty now.

Next was a visit to “Dr. Tea” teahouse, complete with tea demonstration and explanation of the medicinal benefits of each kind: jasmine, oolong, puer and lychee teas to taste in tiny cups. Most people bought something there, mostly in order to get the “pee pee boy” (put this little clay object in the cup, and if the water is hot enough, he pees!).

On the ride back to Beijing, Rose gave more local Beijing and regional information. She also told some touching stories about why there are so many children in Chinese orphanages, stressing that the parents who give up their children love them, and do it only because they have no other options due to social and/or financial pressures. She also went through all the children’s names, and taught parents how to pronounce them correctly. Nadine is rapidly becoming the group’s honorary grandmother, not just to Alyssa! She and Cher both have answered lots of cultural questions from other parents who are so appreciative! Their knowledge of the language is also very helpful.

Back to the hotel. We repacked our suitcases, being very careful about the weight (only 44 pounds per checked bag allowed within China), and met Doreen and Elizabeth and Dr. Jerry who had offered to give a little medical “101” for us. Too much cigarette smoke in the lounge so we went to the hotel café, and had some dinner while we talked. Very informative, and nice way to get to know Doreen, Lauren and Jerry a little better.

Back to the room to try to get the internet connected … it’s been a bit of a struggle, but at least Cher was able to read her email. (Nancy’s been reading hers on her blackberry.) Hopefully you’ll be reading this entry soon.

Sunday, May 8
Everyone has been obsessing about the 44 pound limitation on checked luggage, repacking and weighing suitcases on the little bathroom scales. We had to get ours replaced, since its base was uneven and it tilted in several directions. Not too useful.

We got all our stuff packed up Sunday morning, went to breakfast, and went to Tianenmen Square and the Forbidden City for a couple of hours tour. Rose was a fount of information, all very positive, about Chinese history. Rose has been pretty open about being past her 20’s and still single … there are more single men and women in the cities, especially now that women are working and living independently. There were long lines of people waiting to enter Mao’s tomb. Some things people in our group noticed – lots of smoking (though mostly men, few women smoking), very few if any pregnant women, more people with disabilities (wheelchairs mostly). Natalie, our youngest group member commented on the difference in social space with people getting very close, pushing.

Forbidden City was beautiful, and we were lucky that the day was clear, windy (which kept it cooler), great for walking and pictures.

We had lunch at a very nice restaurant, then headed for the airport. Half the group left at the nice new terminal to their respective cities. Our group of five families went to the older terminal to go to Nanchang. Jerry bought ice cream for everyone, very enjoyable. We were relaxing, waiting for the plane when Cheryl suddenly ran off … she had left her passport and boarding pass in the restroom! The attendant had found it, and turned it in to the police. Nancy (without her phone) went looking for Cheryl when we realized she had been gone for awhile; couldn’t find her anywhere, and went back to the group where her phone was ringing. The security people had sent Cher outside the security gate to look for her passport at the police station, which she wasn’t able to find, and so she couldn’t get back in. Eventually, the security guard herself heaved a sigh, went out and guided Cher to the police where they finally gave her back her passport and boarding pass. What a relief. In the meantime, Nadine had someone in the terminal calling security to find Cher … Once Cher finally got through security, most of our group was out looking for her. Got everyone together, got the story straight, and by that time the plane was starting to board. Quite an adventure …

Happy Mother’s Day 2010!

The last word for the day:
We’re in Nanjang at the Jin Feng Hotel; our facilitator here is named Shirley. Our room has a crib, and we have so many toys and clothes for Alyssa … gifts for orphanage staff and other helpers … tired, but excited!

The children will be brought to the hotel tomorrow morning at 10 am.

More news and pictures as soon as we can manage …