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Friday, August 28, 2009

First Day in Beijing

We have arrived safe and almost sound, I pulled something in my left knee on the plane and thought I wasn't going to be able to do any walking around, but it has seemed to work most of its way out today and hopefully by tomorrow I'll have forgotten the whole incident, lol. We are staying in Beijing at the Holiday Inn and the rooms are newly renovated and very nice. Of course you still can't post to Facebook, Blogger or MySpace from China, so my daughter Leyna is going to be doing all the posts for this trip.

This morning we met in the hotel lobby at 9 AM to go tour the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square, which we did quite successfully, and as you can see from the pics it was pretty crowded. It has been a beautiful day, mid 80s with a slight breeze, perfect touring weather. Afterwards we hopped on rickshaws and got a little tour of Hutong, which is an older section of China and then had lunch in a regular family courtyard house with about 15 servings of different food. And for those of you who were wondering what in the world I was possibly going to eat in China, lol, I'll have you know that I ate all kinds of different things this afternoon, e.g., pork dumplings, sliced lotus root, garlic chutes that were actually very, very good. Ok, you can all stop laughing

now. But seriously they were rather good. Would I make them at home I liked them so much? No, not so much, but to try them, yeah, they were good, lol And it didn't take long for me to master chopsticks either!

After lunch we went to the silk factory, learned a little about the silk worm, and of course SHOPPED! Since my husband does not read this blog, I would appreciate it if none of your shared that last little detail with him, lol. It's only the first day and I wouldn't want him to worry about taking a second mortgage on our house just yet!

Of course with everything we do and see while in Beijing, there's always the underlying thought running through your brain, I'M HERE TO GET MY DAUGHTER! So unlike a vacation, you see things, you hear what they are telling you about them, but you just aren't as interested as you would be had you come here for any other reason. I've said to myself several times today, get more excited, girl, you're in China for crying outloud! And although everything is beautiful and I am certainly taking it all in, August 31st at 9:30 in the morning is why I am here and everything else is like you're just going through the motions.


8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm happy that the pain in your knee is working itself out. It looks like you and your mom really like sitting in that rickshaw. How was the ride?

Karin said...

So glad you are there safely! Enjoy Beijing! Monday will be here before you know it!

Kat said...

SOOOO excited and can NOT wait to read about your meeting with your little precious blessing!!!!

Anonymous said...

Jackie,

Technically it will be August 30 at 9:00 p.m. here in the states when you receive your baby. That is my 23rd anniversary. We will drink a toast to you and your new addition. Have lots of fun and take lots of video and pictures. I can't wait to see you and your sweetie together.

Steph said...

Jackie,
I think you are staying at the same Holiday Inn that we did in December. Is it part of a mall? If it is the one we were at, the food court is awesome! There's a Korean place that we ate at all the time that has the stone bowl meals. If you are there, be sure to check it out (cheap and delicous).

Stephenie
(from CHI group)

Steph said...

Jackie,
Glad to hear you made it safely. We stayed at the Marriot Courtyard, which by the way is part of a huge mall with the cheapest food at the food court. The Korean restaurant there was our favorite. Enjoy your stay!
Stephenie

Steph said...

Jackie,
We stayed at the Marriot Courtyard, which is right by the subway, and is part of a large mall that continues across the street. If you find it, go to the 5th floor food court for cheap, delicious food. We ate at the Korean place there over and over and loved the stone bowl meals. (They are only spicy if you add the hot sauce.) They also have a good hot pot place too. Enjoy your visit and see all you can! My 12 year old is still mad we didn't make it to the Olympic Village, but I was so tired and stressed, oh well, maybe next time!
Enjoy your visit!
Stephenie
(from CHI group)

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Oh Jackie/Leyna---I am SO happy for you and SO excited... George (my hubby) has been to Beijing--and to many of the same places where you are visiting. He taught in Chine for several semesters in the early 90's as an exchange teacher. LOVED it.

Keep us posted.
Lots of prayers coming your way,
Betsy