“How’s China?” “COLD!” This one word describes CavWife’s China experience thus far. It is a damp cold, and they spent much of the day outside so the digits were numb. Add on jet lag, and it wasn’t as much fun as it could have been.
They were both feeling quite queasy toward the end of their flight into Beijing. They were a bit held up at baggage because the stroller had been put in with the oversized bags. This held the whole group up. There are 2 AWAA groups there, and a group from China Hope too. So, lots of adoptive parents running around.
They went to the Forbidden Palace, which was huge, and Tiananmen Square before a traditional lunch. The table shared beef, chicken and pork dishes. The pork dish reportedly had tons of fat. In the afternoon they visited a pearl factory. She didn’t quite the cross-cultural experience of peeing in a trench. Without consulting me 🙂 Cavwife bought a pair of pink pearl earrings for CavDaughter- for her 16th birthday. So don’t be telling her about that! Her ears are not pierced- yes, we are neanderthals. Then it was off to the Summer Palace, which her friend Wendy says is much more beautiful in the summer- hence, Summer Palace. The gardens there must be beautiful in the summer.
For dinner they had Peking duck in Beijing. For those of you who don’t get the irony of that statement- Peking was renamed Beijing, but the name of the dish was not changed too. It’d be like having New Amsterdam Stew in New York City. Oh, …. never mind.
They swore they were going to make it until 9:30. No, they were ready to sleep around 8, but our phone conversation kept them awake at least until 8:30. There are some other families with very young children. They are doing well, all things considered, but we are glad we didn’t go with CavDaughter. It would have been very difficult for her, and she wouldn’t really remember it. Monday the families split up to head to their respective provinces before joining up in Guangzhou (formerly called Canton). Fortunately, our son is from the same province so that minimizes travel expenses in country. One family has to travel farther north before heading to Guangzhou. It would be like packing for New York City, Alberta Canada and central Florida in the same trip. Cold, very cold and mild temps. That’ll mess with the immune system (as if the 13 hour time change wasn’t enough).
So far, so good.
Update #1 (sappy kid story alert- you no likey, you stop here now). CavDaughter and I had some interesting conversations this morning. She has been sleeping w/out the fan on because she wants to hear my voice- making sure I’m home. She said she’s praying for me, so mommy will come home. Lastly, she’s storing up kisses for her mom. She gave me a scare when sitting on a wooden chair in her pjs. She sat sideways and leaned back. The slickness meant she did a tumble on her head. Lots of crying involved there. But she’s doing okay. The friend we spent time with yesterday has been sick this morning- whether from something she ate or the bug we aren’t sure. So far CavDaughter’s tummy is fine. The last 2 days she’s “needed privacy” to put her socks on.
Happy to see you made it to China! Its below zero here in MN…so I know how you feel 🙂 Luckily my husband & I are going to Vegas tomorrow morning…hopefully it’ll be warmer there!
We were in China in June & it was soooo hot & humid. So I’m not sure what would be better…sweating or freezing.
Have a wonderful time, no matter what the weather is like 🙂 Monday will be a wonderful day for your family 🙂
Amy (babycenter.com friend)
[…] Day Three was cold. Sorry, COLD! A huge cold front had descended upon China that would remain for her entire trip. Other families would get stuck in northern provinces. It was a transportational nightmare. But this was also sightseeing day. Amie and Wendy shivered their way through the Forbidden City. Back home, Jadon really missed her mom. There are some really cute stories about that. […]