Category: China

We all woke up early today and I was really wishing I could have slept longer, but my mind was racing. We got dressed and headed down for breakfast since we were being picked up for the airport at 8 am. I found out that the breakfast that has been included with our room each morning cost $66 a day! So the sweet deal on the room got even better. And each night we ate our dinner during the happy hour on our floor. That was so nice to be able to just walk a few steps, eat and then head back to our room and go to sleep.

It had snowed a lot overnight in Beijing so our driver was very careful on the road taking us to the airport. We got there in plenty of time, checked in for our flight on China Eastern and settled in to wait to board. A lot of people were giving us double takes since there were so few Westerners waiting on domestic flights and especially to Yinchuan. They said that our flight would be 90 minutes long and they would serve lunch. I told Mike it confirmed the amazing thing about Chinese airlines – they are fast. We boarded the plane and they gave Nadia a cute little bird puzzle, then we took off and they brought Nadia’s meal first like Korean Air. Then they served all the adults, came back through and gave everyone a drink and had plenty of time to spare before the plane started to descend. The only really weird thing was that they had us bring our stroller on board and put it in the overhead bin instead of gate checking it.

We got to Yinchuan and our guide Tony was there to meet us. He showed us to the van and said that this would be our driver for the week. We got to see the Yellow River on our way into town. He told us they call it the Yellow River because of all the dust from the desert. And flying in all you could see for miles was the desert going every direction. We drove into town and got to our hotel and boy were we getting looks of confusion everywhere. Tony got us checked in and told us that he would be back to pick us up at 8:40 am. He said there were 2 other families adopting in the morning with us and that one family was from Italy and they had their own guide. In all the years I have been involved in the Chinese adoption community I have never even heard of anyone from Italy adopting so I think that is neat.

We got into our suite and I started getting things unpacked while Mike got the girls beds set up. I like all the extra time we have this trip. (For Nadia’s adoption we got off the plane, had about 15 minutes in the hotel and headed to meet the children. I felt very disorganized and rushed and it added to how frazzled I was feeling that day). We all took a nap and then there was a knock at the door. A man delivered a fruit tray and a bottle of milk with a straw for Nadia.  A while later we walked down to the restaurant in the hotel for dinner. They had a buffet set up and so we looked at everything and started to sit down and eat when several of the staff members got really stressed out. They couldn’t speak English and we couldn’t speak Chinese and she kept saying “Western Restaurant”. At that moment I was so thankful that I had a China SIM card in my phone and I called Tony to have him translate. The problem was that they were worried we wouldn’t want to eat the Chinese food on the buffet and wanted to offer us the Western menu. Tony told her that we were glad to eat the Chinese food and then she was so happy and relieved. The food was great and the best part was that they had random American music like the Eagles and Eric Clapton playing during our meal.

Once dinner was finished we headed off down the street in search of a grocery store to buy bottled water and soda and of course more snacks. People in the grocery store were practically breaking their necks looking at us and then at Nadia and then back at us. Little kids were getting their parents attention and then they would look startled at our family. Wait until tomorrow I kept thinking 🙂

I have everything for tomorrow morning packed up. Amelie’s stuff, our paperwork, gifts for the officials and camera equipment. Time for bed. Then next post you see will be really exciting!

Nadia slept until 6:30 today which was great. I woke up in pain and knew I had finally caught up on sleep because the horribly hard bed actually bothered me. We headed down to breakfast and then came back to the room to relax a bit. Nadia said, “Mom, can we do some school?” And you know that I was ready and had packed some stuff so her and I got to work.

We had plans to meet our friends Kiki and Jing and their daughter Chengyue for lunch at Da Dong restaurant near our hotel so we bundled up and headed over there. For those who haven’t read our blog a long time here is a little information. When we lived in Beijing for the month of March 2008 we met Kiki because she was the tutor they sent over from the language school. Mike took his classes on site, but since Nadia was so young Kiki came to our apartment every day. We became good friends and have stayed in touch these last 3 years. Their daughter has the exact birthday as Amelie which I find amazing. She is totally adorable!

Da Dong is one of the very famous restaurants in Beijing for having Peking Duck. We had read online that their menu is the size of the encyclopedia Britannica and they were not joking! Mike looked through it and the first thing he said was, “A menu shouldn’t have a table of contents.” I told Kiki that I would like the duck and that we trusted them to select anything else. The food was really amazing. We started with bamboo and sweet and sour pork. Then we had traditional Beijing Chestnut soup – this was my favorite thing after the duck. Then they brought out an eggplant dish which was wonderful and I have no idea what it was seasoned with. Our last side item was a corn and mustard fried rice – light and delicious. The chef came out to cut the duck table side and we were given little plates with all the items for building your pancakes. Jing told us that you dip the duck skin in the sugar and it was a very interesting flavor combination. Nadia decided to dip her cucumbers in the sugar instead.

After the main meal we were served a soup that was sort of like chocolate and topped with sesame seeds. Along with that was a large plate of fruit on dry ice. Then came the traditional Beijing snacks for dessert. This was an assortment of little desserts. Some were good and a couple were just odd tasting. Whew! Can you believe all that food? It took almost 3 hours for this lunch.

At the start of our lunch Nadia was very shy from just waking up and Chengyue was a little nervous too. Kiki said that she was not used to hearing them speak English and she was looking at them very confused and wanting to be held. After a while both girls warmed up and the fun began. Chengyue said to me “Aiyi” (auntie) and she would point at something or another or show me a photo on her mom’s itouch. And her parents told her that Nadia was her “meguaren jie jie” or American big sister. So she was calling Nadia “jie jie” and by the end of the day she was saying “Nadi Nadi!!”

The restaurant had a bunch of koi fish that the girls went to look at several times during the meal and they were holding hands as they walked along. Then they did some dancing for us at the end of the meal which was so funny because Chengyue was trying to imitate everything that Nadia was doing. We all came back to our hotel so the girls could play a little and we could visit some more. It is a sweet and special blessing from God that we got to see our friends and the girls got to spend some time together.

Mike and I have talked since the visit about how today was a little glimpse into what our life will be like in less than 2 days. Watching Chengyue try to imitate everything Nadia did and seeing the 2 of them dancing around and holding hands was so sweet. Back at the hotel Nadia wanted me to put several things up because “they were not baby things, we don’t want her to choke.” She is going to be such a good big sister.

After Kiki and Jing left we all had a nap and then headed up the hall for the happy hour food on our floor. We weren’t really hungry so their appetizers were pefect and Nadia gobbled up some spring rolls. Nadia and I headed back to the room and Mike went out to take some photos while I started packing. We are being picked up early in the morning to head to Yinchuan. Beijing has been wonderful and helped us get well rested, but we are ready to move on and meet Amelie!

Nadia woke up at 3 am and asked if it was time to get up. I said no and she slept until 5:30 thank goodness. We had some breakfast and watched a little SpongeBob and Shaun the Sheep in Chinese. They don’t quite have SpongeBob’s voice right, but Nadia still thought it was funny. We decided to head out again since the sun was shining. We wanted to find some gloves for Mike and a scarf for me. I was so zealous packing warm gear for the girls I forgot about us.

Spiral staircase in the restaurant where we eat breakfast.

We walked over to the Oriental Plaza mall to wander around. This is like the biggest most expensive mall you have ever seen. It’s at least 2 city blocks and who knows how many floors it was. It’s like the Galleria supersized, or the mall at Ceaser’s Palace in Vegas times 100! Every possible expensive brand name you can think of was in there. Plus dozens and dozens of restaurants. We were in there for a while and Nadia fell asleep in the stroller again. While we were walking around these 3 girls came up and started talking to us in English. They were telling us how they were art students and the government invited them to do an exhibition showing their art and “today was the last day, would you like to come see our art?” We decide to check it out thinking that of course they were going to try and sell us some, but at least we could see what they had to offer. So we get over there and of course their “teacher” is there ready to show us all the art. We look around and almost everything is beautiful. Then the hard sell comes on and we decline. They offer to take us to the post office to mail it and various other things and we decline. Then comes the hard core manipulation as we are leaving. “your daughter likes this, you will help us students with our school” and on and on. So we leave and they head back for the mall to look for their next “mark.”  Mike said he gave them an ‘A’ for effort and a ‘D’ for presentation. It really would have been better if they just said they wanted to see if we would like to buy their art instead of the whole student and teacher routine. Notice their look of disappointment in the photo.

After that we found some gloves for Mike and I got Nadia a bracelet like the ones I got for myself (and for gifts) on our last trip. This store had them in little sizes and Nadia picked a light blue one with Pandas on it. She was so excited to have a bracelet like mommy. At that point the spring rolls at the Yummy Coconut were calling my name so we headed over there for lunch. This time we got 2 orders of spring rolls and Chicken Fried Rice. Nadia loved all the food and I was glad she was awake to enjoy it this time.

After lunch we swung by the grocery store and I found a very nice scarf/wrap and “got my haggle on”. It was funny how the guy looked so exasperated at my counter offer. And when I said no and started to walk away he said, “because you friend I give you that price.” So I bought it and I am sure I could have gone lower since he only went back and forth with me a couple times before accepting it. By the end of the trip I am sure I will haggle even harder. We also had to re-supply our snack pile.

On Wang Fu Jing we saw part of a dragon dance performance.

Tea house by our hotel.

We went back to the hotel for a short nap and then got ready for the Chinese Acrobat show. We arranged our airport pick up and drop offs through a girl named Annie. She came to our hotel to pick us up for the acrobat show at the Tiandi Theatre. Nadia fell asleep on the way over, but woke up once the music started for the show. We all LOVED the show and the performers were really amazing. The performers start training for this when they are 3 or 4 and some of the girls looked young like they were 10 or 11 years old. They didn’t allow any photos or video, but Mike got a photo of the thearte.

When I was getting Nadia ready for bed she said, “I really liked the acrobats, thanks for taking me mommy.” I am glad that she liked it so much since it was our last thing to do as a family of three. I know she is going to be a great big sister, but her whole world is about to change. She keeps saying the sweetest things, like when we go out to eat she will point at the empty seat and say, “That’s where sissy will sit.” Or “I am going to help sissy with her food because she will be little.”

We had a great second full day in Beijing and I think that we all feel a lot more adjusted. It was so smart of us to stay up so late at home to get ourselves closer to China time. Thanks for all your comments, prayers and love!