Well, this is just so exciting. It's hard to believe that we are actually in China! It looks almost like any other large city, but with a little Asian flavor to the buildings, plus Chinese on everything. It's kind of like being in ChinaTown in Boston or NYC. Except for the mix of old- & new-world. It's very westernized, yet there is old-world all around us. You know, a rickshaw driver talking on his cellphone. Along with a lot of traffic, there are people riding bicycles everywhere. And rickshaws. Not the kind we imagine, though. The ones we've seen so far are driven by bicycle. Drivers are very agressive. Both of our taxi drivers today nearly ran over several people! Cars have the right of way, but usually stop for pedestrians that are already in the street. Apparently the taxis don't. They just beep & beep until people stop walking. The roads are so congested that there are underground walkways & overhead bridges for pedestrians to cross the street in many places. All vehicles literally drive about a foot from each other. Those of you who know me know I am a nervous rider. Only one of the three vehicles we've riden in, so far, has had seatbelts. And yet, I have hardly been nervous. It's actually kind of fun! God is so good!
A huge answer to prayer is that the heat - although very hot & horribly humid - is not killing me. When we walked out this morning, the air was so thick it felt like I couldn't breathe. But the taxi was air conditioned, so once we were in it, we were okay.
We had dinner with Rose and the rest of our group tonight. We let Rose order for us, and it was fabulous! I was afraid I might not really like authentic Chinese food, but it was very good. I even tried the Peking Duck. It was delicious! But it was the first time I've ever eaten where the head of the animal was also on the serving plate! I thought how our little vegetarian nephew, Aidan, would not be very happy with a duck head on the table!
If you look just past the Sprite bottle to the left, you'll see a partial plate of sliced duck. The long part across the back is the head & neck. (You can click on the photo to enlarge it.)
You can see, near the front of the photo, the edge of the large glass turntable. It's almost as big as the table. It was fun - you just gently spin it until you get to the food that you want, take your chopsticks and bring some to your plate - even when you've been eating with those chopsticks. Talk about double-dipping! Learning to eat with chopsticks is no longer just for fun - it is a neccesity. There were no other utensils, so I actually ate my entire meal with them. I've never really been able to do it, but I guess hunger will drive you to anything!
We are to drive 1-1/2 hours to visit The Great Wall tomorrow. Sunday we will visit The Forbidden City & Tien En Men Square, eat lunch together at a restaurant, and move on to the airport to fly to Nanchang, Jianxi. They will bring the babies to us in the hotel that night. So...in less than 48 hours, we will have our little Jade in our arms. Some people call it "Gotcha Day", others "Forever Day", but I just keep thinking it is going to be the best day of my life - the day I finally become a mommy. It makes me all teary just thinking about it.
I've been falling asleep while trying to type, so I'm going to go to bed now. Hopefully, we'll be able to sleep past 4 tomorrow.
It's funny - it's after 9 p.m. and I can still hear cars beeping at pedestrians as they drive by our hotel!
We'll check in tomorrow - and add some great pix of The Great Wall!
Love you all!
Theresa