Day 1 - Friday, November 18, 2005 - Beijing

Our alarms went off at 8am. The breakfast buffet ends at 10am and we HAD to make sure we got our crepes TODAY! :) 

Backing up in time - we had a looooong days journey to Beijing starting early in our hotel room in S. San Francisco (flying from SFO to LAX - 1 1/2 hrs. - flying from LAX to Narita/Tokyo - 11 hrs. - flying from Narita/Tokyo to Beijing - 4 1/2 hrs.) and ending late as we finally hit the rack at 12am. Seats in the front of the planes enabled us to exit each plane quickly! Two hours in the Tokyo airport gave Lilla much needed playtime in a beautiful playroom with many other Asian children. Getting luggage and passing through customs in Beijing was quick and painless. The tour guide holding the HOLT sign was a very welcome site! A rose given to Lilla by a young Chinese woman was a wonderful way to be welcomed "home" to China! An hour or so van ride (not so crazy) to the hotel passed quickly. Our room was not available and we were given a suite - an older and so-so room. Emma was blessed with an extra soft roll-away mattress while Ben and I had the traditional hard Chinese mattress. 

Fast forward to after the crepes . . . off we go (after cashing those must have American Express Traveler's Cheques) looking for the International Christian Church that we hope to attend on Sunday. None of the Chinese are quite sure where this is. We may need someone who has been there from American to e-mail us the directions!!! We never found it . . . but we experienced a look into the local Beijing people's lives as we strolled the streets heading anywhere they led. Believe it or not, we ran smack into the Forbidden City! And since we had taken the tour of the FC in January of 2004 - it was just that - forbidden. We walked around it and crossed under the road to Tiananmen Square - we watched 3 young people risk their lives to walk across the 8 or so lanes of Chinese traffic. While walking through Tiananmen Square we met a young Chinese couple that we began to talk with. They somehow became our tour guides for the day! This is where they took us - The Chinese National (Art?) Museum (across from Tiananmen Square). They are both artists and were exhibiting their work. We bought a painting done by the woman of plum blossoms (for Emma - it is the symbol of a young girl's strength and independence). Afterwards they led us to McDonald's so we could satisfy Lilla's need for french fries and nuggets. :) Then on to a traditional shopping area we went. Shopping for shoes at a shoe store that began in the late 1800's was fun for Emma. She came out with some Chinese slippers that seem to be the rage for girls "back home." How cool to get them actually made in China and bought in China! Looking for jade bracelets was to follow. The ones that are 10 yuan are most likely glass - so we passed them by. We were led up a steep flight of stairs in the back of a candy store to a tea shop. We had a traditional tea and bought some delicious fruit tea. A little gift was given by the tea shop to help entertain our friends who stop by for tea - you can see it when you come to tea at our house!Finally we walked down another street with merchants selling their wares - and many running out to wave a child's garment at us to buy for Lilla. We figured we'd better save some shopping for another day! A crazy taxi drive back to the hotel left us all in one piece (I closed my eyes a few times while Emma said it was so exciting to watch and wonder how all the bicyclists make it out alive!). Off to the pool for a swim went Ben, Emma and Lilla while I searched for bottled water and food. I ended up with Chinese spring water (1/2 the price of the French spring water) from the small gift shop in the lobby and room service (2 plates of dumplings, 2 plates of rice, a bowl of chicken noodle soup and a plate of fried noodles with chicken - all at $10!). The troops are all sleeping. I have written too much. But this will be our record of this trip. I don't want to forget any of it! All of this will be shared with Clara Li Juan one day. And we look forward to the day when we can return with her and Lilla to their homeland again and share all of these places and memories with them!

 Until tomorrow, 

Mama Lisa, Papa Ben, Jie Jie Emma and Mei Mei Lilla (soon to be Jie Jie Lilla!)