Day 1 - Beijing (Great Wall, Jade Factory, Tea Room)

Day One in China was a good day, even though it had a rough start... ; )

I didn't get much sleep last night due to the fact that the room doesn't have air conditioning and jet lag.  We got up between 4 and 5 this morning because sleep was becoming more work than rest,  I didn't realize that I was really affected by my lack of sleep until I went to brush my teeth,  It's a simple act, but after I put toothpaste on my toothbrush and started to brush I realized something wasn't right.  The toothpaste tasted odd and felt creamy rather than foamy.  It didn't take me but a second to realize that I had put a big glob of hydrocortisone cream on my brush and all in my mouth!!!  The worst part was knowing I couldn't rinse my mouth out with water because you can't drink tap water in China!  It even says so on the sink!

Sam came to my rescue with some freshly boiled water after figuring out what had happened to me!  Trust me, I will be more careful with my toothpaste in the future!

After a great breakfast in the hotel restaurant (there were plenty of "western" favorites such as scrambled eggs, croissants, etc.) we headed out to climb the Great Wall.  This was also our first chance to get a view of the city, as we flew in at night.  What you hear about the smog in Beijing is true.  It was thick and heavy and we actually never had true sunlight on us all day.  It appeared overcast because of the smog.  However, the Great Wall did not disappoint!

 This is our first family selfie...  we're not very good at them!

 This little girl was so cute!  Lots of children and even elderly people were climbing the wall, some even had high heels and skirts on!

Our travel group (we were joined by the D family this morning!)

 I have no idea what this sign said (something to the effect of, "If you come to China and don't climb the Great Wall you are not very brave."), but I knew we were supposed to take a picture in front of it!

 Our cute, sweet buddy, little H!

 A beautiful view despite the smog...

 We really enjoyed our short time at the Wall, and the exercise it offered.  No, we didn't get to go down the part of the Wall with the Alpine slide, but it was still fun.  I hope I can come back and climb much more of it one day!
Next up on our list was the Jade Factory and lunch!


We were able to see some amazing pieces of art made from jade, learn all about the stone, how to test for quality jade and make a few small purchases for our girls in the future.

 These are artist hard at work creating a piece that is called "The Family Ball."

 Our lunch - mostly foreigners ate here in the large dining area as it is a tourist attraction.  Because of this, the food seemed to be a more Americanized type of Chinese food.

 This piece was probably my favorite - I love the way they carved the horse's hair.

 This piece was created by one artist over a period of three years.  The chain was created from one solid piece of jade!!!

We were supposed to tour Olympic Park, but due to several global dignitaries being in town, they shut down the park to outsiders.  It didn't make much sense as there were already people in the park, but we couldn't go in.  We had another eerie "happening" here.  Below is a picture of the typical traffic flow and The Bird's Nest.

 Because we weren't able to tour the park (no one was terribly disappointed to tell you the truth), we were able to go to a tea house and sample the tea!  It turned out to be really fun and we learned a little bit about tea, how to taste it, hold the cup, etc.

As a group, we sat in a room together to sample and learn about the tea.

 This is where the host prepared the tea - there were different ways for different teas.

 My two favorites were a black tea and a fruit tea.  We plan to get tea sets for the girls in Guangdong as they are a little more within our price range.  Many of the special brewing cups they also sell at our local World Market store! :)

 What is it?  I first thought they were oddly decorated rocks... upon further inspection it is tightly packed tea!  It apparently never "expires" but improves with age.

 One of the tea hostesses in the tea house.  I will tell you that if you visit this particular tea house, the employees will push you to buy more and more with great pressure.  I knew what I did and didn't want, so it wasn't an issue for me.  We probably could have bartered some, but that's just not Sam's cup of tea.  ; )

Beijing has a little bit of the older, more ornate architecture mixed in with the more modern.  The driving is different than what I am used to in the south, but everyone seems to understand it and I saw no wrecks despite many seemingly close calls.

 This precious little lady stopped in traffic to check her phone - I like her choice of bike riding shoes and it looks like she's selected some fruit from the market to make something this evening.

And speaking of food, it was time for us to eat again!  When we asked our guide what we were going to eat she looked at us a little funny and said, "Chinese food..."  Oh, ok - thanks for clarifying!  :)

Our driver even parked the van right on the sidewalk by the front door of the restaurant!  What service!

I was open to trying new things, as this was an authentic Chinese restuarant.  Above was broccoli, lotus root (the white circle-tasted like a water chestnut) and a rubbery purple thing that turned out to be a fungus.  I ate it before I knew that!

There was also an item that was brought to us that we were truly unsure as to whether or not it was worms.  It turned out not to be, though we had some brave volunteers to try it!

The "worms" that turned out to be pork slivers are in the bottom left corner.  I tried and ate most everything pictured above.  I even tried the purple yams that poor little H thought was ice cream!  Boy was she surprised!!! 

More "worm" taste testing by Sam and Mark!  We had lots of good laughs taste testing and figuring out all of the food!  Our guide eventually came back to the room we were in and told us what everything was.  Can I be honest and say I'm ready for some home cooking?! 

Our fun group above! I've really enjoyed getting to know all of these sweet people and their families.  We will all journey to Guiyang together on Sunday and meet our children (joined by two other families).

It was a really fun day - hopefully I will sleep well tonight (please pray for this) and we'll enjoy more fun tomorrow!

I'm glad we went ahead and decided to spend the time in Beijing to acclimate.  It has helped to set our internal clocks to the local time and allow us to get to know each other before we all take that big, big step and grow our families again.

Please pray for:

* Sleep and rest

* Continued health

* The U family to receive their missing suitcase

* That someone is lovingly helping our children prepare for their big transition 

* For God to prepare and equip us to love and help our children through this difficult part of the journey and to support and encourage each other

Things I'm Glad I Brought Today:

* hand sanitizing gel

* sanitizing wipes

* tablet with camera

* water

* a decluttered, light, travel worthy purse

* my crocs shoes

* an open mind

* a sense of humor :)

Things I wish I'd Had:

* better bartering skills

* common mandarin phrases (thank you, you're welcome, please, excuse me) 

* more water

* still more water

* more water, please

* I'm still thirsty!