2nd Day of Touring

Well, we were all up at 3 a.m. this morning.  Our bodies just think it is time to wake up.  We finally fell back to sleep for a little bit before it was time to get up and head down for breakfast.  We met our travel group, which consists of 15 families in the lobby for another day of touring Beijing.  The city of Beijing is very large.  It seems to go on forever, with tall buildings and lots of people everywhere.  Today the sky was actually blue.  The smog was a little better and we could see a blue sky.  We started at the Jade Factory.  We went on a tour and saw how jade things are made, as well as they taught us how to tell good quality jade from fake.  In China, jade is a very precious stone.  It has so many meanings to them.  Jade to them is like a diamond to us.  After a little shopping in the Jade Factory store, we went to the Great Wall of China... one of the 7 Wonders of the World.  It was absolutely beautiful!  Robert, Blake, and I started our hike up the wall together.  Blake and I were a little bit slower at the climb than Robert, so he went ahead on his own.  The climb up the wall is not easy!  It is very steep and the steps are so uneven.  We were out of breath and had to stop several times to rest.  As of now, our legs are sore from the climb up, and then trying to come back down the steep steps.  Robert made it up as far as the section we climbed would go.  Blake and I didn't make it all the way up.  We were happy with our progress though.  There was still a beautiful view from where we went.  Blake was quite a star at the Wall.  People were asking to have their picture taken with this American boy.  After the Wall, we stopped for lunch and then went on to see the Olympic Stadium (The Bird's Nest).  We got to see the Cube where they swimming and diving was held and the Bird's Nest where the opening/closing ceremonies and track/field were held.  From here we went to a Chinese Acrobatic performance.  We finally made it back to the hotel where we got Subway and are about to head to bed.  Tomorrow we head back to the airport where we will fly to the Henan Province.  All of the members of our travel group will be flying to the province where their sons and daughters were born.  We will all be apart for this week, but will meet back up in Guangzhou for our last week.  There are about 7 families who will be going with us to the Henan Province.  The flight is just over an hour from Beijing.  Please pray for our safety as we endure (I don't like flying!) yet another flight.  Blake will miss his little friends, Ava and Elisabeth.  The three of them have been stuck together like glue the past two days.  They are adopting babies from different provinces so we won't see them again until we all get to Guangzhou together.  They have already been planning play dates... even though they live in Tennessee and North Carolina.  We can't believe we are just 2 days away from meeting our daughter and sister!  We have been so busy with touring that our minds have been distracted.  Now that we are flying to Henan tomorrow, we are all getting very anxious.  This is it!!  It is all surreal. We can't believe we are in China and about to meet Brynn Olivia AiXin!  Pictures from our day will come in a later post.