Increasing Our Hearts and Home: Big Beijing Tour Day

We think we have made it through our jet lag, but colds have gotten hubby and the girls down a little. It is still cold here, but we are thankful it is not as windy today, which made touring more comfortable. We also we able to meet the other families in our group. All of us are adopting girls from different provinces, with the youngest being 2 years old and the oldest 9. We all had a great time meeting one another and learning more about the country our daughters are from. Being in the minority here - we received a great many stares and had our photos taken by the people.

Today's itinerary consisted of the silk museum, the Summer Palace, Ti'anmen Square, Forbidden City, pearl factory, tea ceremony, and dinner at the Peking Duck. It was amazing to see different parts of Chinese history know that many of these places were built before America was even a colony. We also learned that no matter the religion here - they all believe in feng shui. As you see, our guide Sherry, kept us very busy.

One of our favorites was the silk museum. It is very fascinating to see that they use every part of the worm to cocoon, even it's waste product. It is truly a wonder what is made from this little worm. I enjoyed experiencing the tea ceremony at Dr. Tea. Learning about different teas and tasting them. Emily and I purchased us some new tea cups we cannot wait to have with our new tea. I hope Dr. Tea will ship to US for when I run out. Did you know there is a tea that is better with age, and it taste like rice? It is called puer tea.

Tomorrow we will attend a church service in international visitors, and then we will travel to the Great Wall. I am anxious to see how far up the wall we will make it. Yesterday we climbed the Bell Tower, and that was pretty tough. We cannot wait to see this wonder of the world. Despite the current state of affairs here in the country, it is a very interesting history and a long one at that.

It is hard to believe, in 2 days we will meet our daughter. We pray she is just as excited as we are.