Last Day in Beijing

Today is our final day in Beijing. We went to the Lama Temple and Beijing Zoo. The pandas were wonderful. We saw a total of 12 pandas. Many Pandas were moved to Beijing because of the damaged earthquake region.

The Lama Temple was very interesting. Many people were there praying and burning incense.

We had a shorter touring day. So this afternoon we spent some time in the local shopping area. I found a pair of Levi's for Chris - $100. Can you believe that? Needless to say, we didn't get them, Herberger's has much better sales.

We repacked our luggage due to China Air's luggage restrictions. We can only have 1 checked piece each and 1 carry-on. We accomplished it - we love the back pack (thanks Joel & Emily!).

We are anxious to get to Nanning - we will see Emma soon! Tomorrow afternoon we will be meeting one of the families we will be traveling with during the adoption process. We will meet the other family on Sunday.

Enjoy Laskiainen! (A Finnish sliding festival in Palo, MN)

Olympics & Summer Palace

Today we enjoyed visiting the Olympic venues. We saw the Bird's Nest, Watercube, and Pavillion. We were very surprised when our guide said that we would be visiting the inside of the Bird's Nest and Watercube. It was unbelievable - we were standing inside the venues where US athletes won gold medals. The Watercube now holds a concert complete with water fountains that follow the music. Sorry, Chad, we were unable to see the basketball gymnasium. It is located in another part of the city.

We also toured the Summer Palace. Emperors spent 4-5 months here vacationing and conducting business.

This evening we took a taxi ride to Hard Rock Cafe. We enjoyed a nice dinner.

Some of you commented that we looked cold in the pictures. The temperature has been about 40-45. The wind is cold.

Things We've Noticed

• Smiling is a universal language
• The male head nod is a universal language
• People in Beijing are friendly and helpful even if you can't understand them and they can't understand you
• The air pollution in Beijing is very heavy
• There is a roundabout in Beijing - driving it is as confusing as driving in one in Minneapolis
• You cannot order a Diet Coke at a restaurant - only regular Coke
• Traffic in Beijing is heavy
• Taxi rides make us nervous
• McDonalds, KFC and Pizza Hut exist in China
• There are many waiters and waitresses at every restaurant
• Sales staff are glued to you in the stores
• Technology is wonderful - we are able to update this blog and even called our mom's and my brother using Skype for 2 cents a mintue!

Pictures from Beijing - Day 1

The Temple of HeavenThe Forbidden City

Enjoying a rick-shaw ride through the Huotang Neighborhood

Entrance to the Forbidden City

Great Wall

What an awesome day, we visited the Great Wall and the Ming Tombs. The Great Wall is truly an amazing site. It is hard to believe that such a structure was man made with no heavy equipment. We took the steepest walk because it was less crowded. It was quite the walk, the steps were very uneven and slippery. The weather was nice but it was a bit hazy. Our guide said that it is usually hazy unless you visit in the summer. Here are some pictures from today.

Beijing - Day 1

Hi from Beijing!

We were busy all day touring.  We went to Tianemen Square, the Forbidden City, Huotang Park, a Silk Factory and the Temple of Heaven.  The sites were amazing.    We have a wonderful guide.  He is very knowledgeable about Chinese history.  He is a walking encyclopedia and yes, Chris is understanding him.  We have learned about the different emperors and dynasties.

The Forbidden City was beautiful,  the architecture is amazing.  So much detail and meaning to everything you see.  I am sure that we will be some child's show and tell at school.  We had a number of Chinese families wanting their picture taken with two Finlanders from the USA.

The Huotang Park was quite the experience.  We went on a rick-shaw ride and visited a family's courtyard (home).  The home was a typical home found in "old Beijing".  These homes are becoming very hard to find.  The family was very nice and inviting.

We began our day with a wonderful buffet at our hotel, had lunch at an authentic Chinese restaurant and ended our day at McDonalds (a block from our hotel).  Yes, Chris had fries, and yes, they taste like home.

Tomorrow we are going to the Great Wall.  We hope to post pictures tomorrow.

Thanks for commenting - we are able to read them.

We are in China

We are in Beijing! After many hours of traveling (too many to keep track of), we are here! The flight from Minneapolis to Tokyo was very long. We read, watched movies and ate a couple of times. Once we reached Tokyo we switched planes and headed to Beijing. Our hotel is beautiful, the Beijing Peace Novotel. We will be touring tomorrow morning early - our guide is nice and very informative. Of course, Chris is already having a hard time understanding him. We need to get some good sleep - sleeping on the plane is very uncomfortable.
In a week we will have Emma!