Day 4, Saturday April 14

We never did make it out for dinner (second straight night), but instead found ourselves falling asleep in our room and waking up at 3 am. And, like the previous night, we had a burst of energy, followed by a few more hours of sleep. This time-change/jet lag thing has really had an effect on us, but I (Blair) have to say, it's nice being able to be up, dressed and ready at 7 o'clock in the morning (something I can't say at home, right co-workers?) :)

Today was a day to travel outside the city limits of Beijing. A constant haze seems to hang over Beijing at all times, but it was clear and sunny as we traveled north of the city towards the Great Wall. Along the way, we saw a lot of the contruction for the Olympic games taking place next year, including the main stadium and the Olympic village. (Half way to the Wall, the finished stadium for the bicycling events looked really impressive. Charlotte, and other locals we talked with, are very excited to host the Games in 2008).

On our way to the Great Wall, we stopped at a government-run Jade factory. We took the tour of the facilities, and then had an opportunity (once again!) to purchase some jade products. We got Tami a beautiful bracelet, and a rooster pendant for Allie (she was born in 2005, the Year of the Rooster). We are hoping to give Alison this pendant to wear in the future, when she's old enough to appreciate it. Like many adoptive parents, we are hoping to celebrate "Gotcha Day" each year on April 16. This seemed like a perfect gift for one of those celebrations, maybe when she's 10 or 11 yrs old.

Anyway, we got back on the van and drove up to the Great Wall. It was as steep as Blair remembered 23 years ago, except this time he was older and quite a big heavier. We made it just up to the second tower/watch point before coming down those crazy, uneven steps. We were, however, able to get some amazing pictures in the 70 degree sunshine.

Near the Wall was lunch for the six of us, and then shopping at the Cloisonne factory next door. This enamelware, dating back to the 15th century, originated in Beijing, and is quite beautiful. We did a lot of our Christmas shopping before hopping in the van once again.

Back in Beijing, we had one last stop, at a government run Tea House. We were shown the different types of tea, and the procedures to make/sip each one. Tami, the tea lover, was in heaven. She has been talking about buying a Yixing tea pot for the past few months, so nothing was too good for my beautiful bride. We left with the best quality Black tea, Green tea, and Oolong tea....and yes, a few pots. :)

Back at the hotel, Tami and Hope ran out to find another carry-on bag for our trip tomorrow (to fit all our Beijing purchases!), while Blair took Christian down to the hotel pool, complete with mandatory swim caps. Talk about looking like a dork!

We then went out for dinner (finally) to a restaurant across from the WangFuJing. It was recommended by our guide for it's western cuisine. (Blair had a cheeseburger, not bad he noted). Getting across the street was quite the experience, though, like the old arcade game "Frogger", where you had to dodge objects from both directions.

Tomorrow we visit the Summer Palace before heading to the airport, and our flight to Guangzhou in the evening. We can hardly believe that in less than two days, we will be parents.

Couple of thoughts about our time spent in Beijing come to mind as we depart:

1) The traffic here is horrendous. There were so many less automobiles here in the early 80s, when bicycles ruled the streets. Now it's cars, cars, cars, everywhere you look (mostly Volkswagen and Audis we noticed). And they all seem to go wherever they want.....merging, pulling U-turns onto oncoming traffic, using the shoulder as a passing lane, dodging bicyclists, all the while honking incessantly....think Manhattan on steroids! The lane dividers seem merely to be a "suggestion", and I can't tell you how many times we came inches to being hit by others. But somehow, our driver seemed to intuitively know where all the cars around us were going, and in spite of all the honking and cutting people off, I never saw a hint of anger or road rage.

2) The amount of new buildings, and new construction is just amazing. But it's clear that the city is old and new co-existing together. Older areas (as old as 200+ years old we were told) are being torn down, and new high rises and apartment buildings are going up everywhere. Yet you still see pockets of the poor, run down housing, the likes of which we will never see in the west. The view from our 9th floor hotel room is the perfect juxtaposition: Next to this four star hotel is what I can only describe as a "slum" or a "shanty-town" so to speak. Hundreds of crude houses crammed into a half-mile radius, surrounded by new apartments on both sides.

We feel so blessed to be here, and are looking forward to exploring the southern part of China. We were getting good this week at our Mandarin (we had "hello" and "thank you" down pat), so we will have to tune up our Cantonese for the rest of the trip. :)