Interesting Signs - Part 1

Just a quick post on some interesting translation from the Lanzhou Zoo.

Magic Cave - toilet

No Stirring Animal - No feeding animal

Organism - garbage

More to come.......

Gotcha Day

The day. The day we have been waiting for since August 15 arrived as a whirlwind. We arrived in Lanzhou around 2:30 after we were witness to the beauty of the province Gansu from the air. Terraced mountains and dry would be the best way to sum up the scenery. We were picked up by Megan, our guide, at the airport and took an hour long car ride to the city. The neatest part, I think, was seeing how the farmers make caves in the side of the mountains to store their food since it is relatively cool inside of them. The caves were everywhere.

We arrived at the Sunshine Plaza at about 3:45 and we checked in and placed our bags on the floor when there was a knock at the door. Lo and behold, it was the orphanage director, Ms. Yang, three nannies, an interpreter, our guide, and our Ting Ting. So much happened that my head was spinning and I couldn't even catch my breath. Our guide swept Mr. South away immediately to complete paperwork and I.....well, I melted.....I was speechless. Absolutely speechless. Since we have seen so many pictures of our beautiful daughter we both felt like we already knew her and now we finally get to put her in our arms. So surreal. She let me hold her with an occasional whimper and glimpse at her nanny to see if it was ok. Eventually, I too had to complete paperwork and I couldn't even write since I was shaking so badly (partly since I hadn't eaten since 7 am).
Ms. Yang gave us a beautiful gift for Julianne (a home-made traditional children's pillow) , a photo album of pictures they have taken of her, and returned the disposable camera I sent (pics all taken : -) As the director and nannies left, I was in a quandary since we are supposed to give the director and nanny a gift, but I was not expecting to have three show. It all worked out. Eventually, everyone left except for our guide who took us to a photography studio to have our family picture taken I believe for official paperwork. I would love to have seen the picture since I am sure we looked like deer in headlights and at the same time Ting Ting was screaming. From there we went to the grocery in a mall and picked up diapers, water, crackers, and boxed milk. At this point, I was spent - physically and emotionally. We said good-bye to Megan and went to our room to finally get to know OUR daughter.

Thank goodness there is a full length mirror in the room because she had a blast looking into it. She realized that the little girl looking back at her was actually herself. While looking at the mirror, she actually pulled herself to a standing position while holding onto the mirror. We saw her first smile - it would make anyone melt. As play winded down we gladly went to bed for it had been a very long day.

Looking back on the day, I can honestly say that this day was quite similar to the birth of my biological children. I had the same emotions - excitement, nervousness, joy, frustration, and most importantly, I experienced love upon eye contact. At days end, I was just as exhausted too.

I am so grateful for the loving care that Pingliang nannies gave to our daughter. It is so obvious how much they all love Ting Ting and even while in our hotel room, they catered to her every need. The nannies had a difficult time saying good-bye to her and that speaks volumes. Even Ms. Yang gave me her card, so that I could email her pictures of Julianne and the other Pingliang children. She misses them and wants to see how they are.

Ting Ting!!!

We have Ting Ting! She is just so perfect in so so many ways! We are now officially mush! We are also extremely exhausted so we will post pictures and blog with words tomorrow.

Last day in Beijing

"Gimme back that fillet-a-fish,......."
























The Great Wall

The Great Wall again

The Empress' Summer Palace

The marble boat at the Summer Palace

Today was a marathon! First came the Great Wall of China. You're driving along past many older homes and industrial sections of town then all of the sudden, these MAMMOTH sized mountains appear! We parked and began our ascent up one of the passes on the Wall. STEEP is all I have to say! The steps themselves were uneven from centuries of wear and tear, unequal in height, and very narrow in places. It made for some tricky manuvering. The wall was begun in the 700 B.C. era and connected around the 200 B.C. era. It was built to keep the enemy Mongolians out of China. It was amazing to actually walk upon a structure that dated back over 2000 years!

The next stop was a factory/restuarant. Here, the factory cranked out VERY nice peices of painted copper vases and such and was a pretty nice restuarant. Check out the pictures of lunch. Over here it is common for the heads of the fish and chicken to be kept on even after cooking the food. I kept waiting for this catfish to lift its head and sing, "Give me back that fillet o' fish, give me that fish..."

Last stop was the Summer Palace, which is even more expansive than the Forbidden City. Absolutely beautiful! Again, countless painted structures and fantastic trees, some over 300 years old!

Tomorrow we have our "Gotcha Day"! We finally meet Julianne (Ting Ting) and have her in our arms! All of the waiting and planning has come down to less than 24 hours!!

The Water Cube and Bird's Nest

McDonald's - a little bit of home

Tian'anmem Square

Mr. South tries out for the acrobat show. That spear was sharp against my neck!

Today we visited Tien'anmen Square, a very important and historic gathering place in Beijing. This place was the site of a massive pro-democracy protest in China back in 1989. Ask Mr. Ridener about it, sit back, and hear the tale...

From the Square, we went across the street to The Forbidden City (which isn't forbidden anymore). To say it was incredible would be an understatement. The place was ENORMOUS. Originally built with 9999 rooms, (the number 9 is very lucky in China) some rooms have been since destroyed (down to 7000 or so). Here is where the Emperor of China would stay along with certain high-ranking officials. The buildings kept going on and on. Mrs. South was a bit of a celebrity! People wanted to get a picture taken with her. Her Blond hair is a curiosity over here due to all of the jet black hair of the Chinese.

In the evening, we were taken to the Olympic village to see the Bird's Nest stadium and the "Water Cube" were Michael Phelps won his 8 gold medals. Later on, we watched a show given by a troop of Chinese acrobats. As you can see by the picture above, I did audition for the show by suspending myself in mid-air with a sharp spear pointed at my neck. I didn't get the part so I guess they didn't see my natural talent.

Traffic in China makes your blood pressure sky-rocket! It seems as if there is a complete disregard of signals and right-of way. A steady barrage of beeping horns. Somehow it all seems to flow as cars come within inches of each other, bicycles, and pedestrians. Amazing...

Off to the Great Wall tomorrow.!

We're in Beijing

The flight over was smooth (for the most part) and long!! (only took 13 hours). Flying over the North Pole was cool. I said HI to Rudolf for you! What things struck me most about the Beijing are the shear number of people in a small space. The population here is VERY dense. To house all of those people requires an enormous amount of apartment buildings and shacks.
Tomorrow we go to see the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, and a Chinese acrobat show.
BTW, we shopped for food today at the local "Wonderful" store. Quite the experience!

We're in Beijing

In the air

Squatty Potty
Flying over the arctic and near the North Pole

Squid anyone???