Last Full Day in Beijing

We just got back from a nice dinner with the group at the same amazing Chinese restaurant that we ate lunch at on our first full day in Beijing (the one where Etu and Jim ordered turtle). It was a really nice way to end the Beijing phase of our journey and we are all back at the hotel now packing up our things tonight for an early morning departure to Nanchang.

At one point during dinner tonight, someone asked Scott and Elaine (who already have a daughter) what their top tips are on being a parent. After a few joking comments along the lines of "you are on your own", they gave us some good tips, including something about being consistent, not using the child's bedroom as anything but a sleeping area, and a third one that I have already forgotten. It was fun and strange to even be having the conversation. How often can your really say to someone: "hey, real quick - I'm going to be a parent tomorrow. Any quick tips on how to make that work out ok?"

I'll get to the touring part of today in a moment, but for me the best part of the whole day was when we got in the elevator to go back to our room at the end of the day of sightseeing. A couple came in with a beautiful Chinese baby in an umbrella stroller. Of course, R and I were just so taken with the baby that I think the couple could tell that our reaction was more than just the typical "cute baby!". We told them, "we're meeting our baby tomorrow." They were very sweet and even stopped on our floor and told us how great it was going to be and how everything was going to be fine. I saw that as a good omen for tomorrow. The couple was part of the large Spanish contingent of adoptive parents here that we have seen a various points over the past few days. The babies all look happy and the parents look like they know what they are doing (they have had the babies for about 10 days so they have had lots of practice!).

Ok - a quick note on the sights. I sort of was on autopilot today with the sightseeing thing -- partly because I was more thinking about tomorrow and partly because I have gotten a bit overwhelmed by the crush of people at all of the sights. In any case, here are the highlights (my version) in order:

• First we went to the Ming Tomb. It was very beautiful. Check with R on the significance because I wasn't listening to the guide very closely. I can say that it was a very tranquil and beautiful place -- with a long path with carved animals on each side leading to the tomb. I realize I'm not giving you much here. Work with me. The layout of the grounds was just very beautiful and impressive at the same time. I have attached three photos from this part of our day: one of the girls; one of the guys; and one of me and R next to one of the animal statues. Other highlight: I bought my mom a straw hat similar to the one I bought Etu at the Temple of Heaven.
• Second stop: Jade store. Again, this was one of those deals where they give you an expert pitch on how the stuff is made and that quickly transitions to the hard sell portion of the visit. We were actually looking forward to this part of the day since our daughter's Chinese name (Yu Hua) means "beautiful jade". The store was one of the top places in Beijing to buy jade so we enjoyed buying some nice gifts for Jennifer Rose to give to her when she's old enough not to eat them. We know that these will be special gifts because we got them at a time with so much significant for us and when we are so hopeful about Jennifer Rose coming into our lives.
• Next stop: lunch. This was both a lunch spot and a place that sells all manner of items of interest to tourists. It was too much for me -- the volume of tourist nicknacks; the tour buses in the parking lot, the large volume of tourists (not just from the US). So while it was useful to pick up a few gift items there, I was glad when we got back on the bus to head to the Great Wall.
• The Great Wall was....pretty great. Ok - I'm fading, but how often do you really get to use that joke in context? Actually, it really was impressive. The only minor downside was that there were so many people all over the place and the crush of tourists, tour buses, and people selling nicknacks got to both me and R (that plus the fact that someone had yacked all over the part of the path we were hiking on). So after some climbing around on the Wall, we were content to hang out with Etu while the others climed to a higher part of the Wall. I have attached two photos of me and R with Etu at the Wall. It was special for us just to be spending time with her so we didn't mind that we didn't climb to the top of the Wall. The Great Wall is just an amazing thing to see -- another one of those parts of Chinese history that just makes you want to learn more and read more. Being in China you get so see so many thousands of years of history unfolding before your eyes.
• Last stop: Chinese acrobatic show. It was truly amazing to see what the acrobats can do. It was so good that it had me wondering if it was even real! Where is the trick? The acrobats were in incredible shape and they combined the skill of a top gymnist with what appeared to be a huge amount of risk. It was also interesting that this didn't appear to be a major foreign tourist destination. A lot of the audience was groups of young Chinese kids. So it felt very authentic. It was also very crowded and loud. So while we loved the show, we were happy to get back to the hotel at the end of the day and just unwind. Thus, it was such a welcome little interlude to have that conversation with the Spanish couple with the baby in the elevator as we were heading back to our room.

That's pretty much it for now. More to follow once we are in Nanchang. As Jim and I said to each other at dinner tonight: "this is not a drill."

One last item: please keep the blog comments coming. Even if we cannot currently read them (since the Blogger site is blocked for us in China), we want to have them as a keepsake to give to Jennifer Rose when she's old enough and we certainly look forward to reading them as well.

J.