The Sights of Beijing and the Surrounding Area

It's me again and I guess it will be for the duration of the trip.  It is a VPN problem that won't let them onto the blog...actually the problem is lack of a VPN. :)  I'm glad Shana set this up so that we would both be able to blog.  I know how tiring this trip can be (since we did it almost 4 years ago), and I'm glad to be able to help out.  I'm living vicariously through them and the pictures they send.  I so want to go back!  Anyway, enough about me, I'm sure you would rather hear what they are doing...

The Hansens are back at the hotel now and hopefully sleeping soundly.  Thanks for all the prayers.  They felt them.  Shana messaged me yesterday and told me that she had slept for a good seven hours and that the girls were still sound asleep.  Keep praying for their rest and sleep for all of them and also for Phoebe as in less than 36 hours, she will be with them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) :) :) :)  This is so exciting.  After two years of paperwork and even longer "heartwork", there is one less child without a family,  This is truly an exciting, life-changing, God-orchestrated trip of a lifetime.

The first stop of the day was the Great Wall of China, probably the most famous site in all of China.  The wall was started partially in the 7th century BC, but was joined somewhat by the first Emperor of China in 220 AD and became what we know as the Great Wall when it was completed by the Ming Dynasty which ruled China beginning in the 1300's.  Anyway you look at it, the Hansens were seeing and walking on some pretty old stuff.  The pictures of the Wall do not do it justice.  I always imagined something like the top of a castle where people can stroll and enjoy a leisurely walk, but no, the Wall follows the mountains, so it is like walking along a mountaintop - up and down, and up and down.  The steps going up and down are definitely not to code.  Shana told me that they were able to take a ski lift to the top of the mountain and rode toboggans down.  I'm so jealous.  That sound like a lot of fun.  I'll put that on the list for next time.  Hopefully Carsen or Gracie thought to take a video of the trip down!

The next stop was a dinner of Peking Duck at a popular restaurant.  Peking Duck is a tradition of Beijing.  (Beijing used to be Peking.)  The duck is roasted whole until the skin is crisp and the meat is tender.  They bring it out on the plate whole, including the head!  The highest ranking person at the table is offered the head to eat.  So I wonder if Dwight ate the duck head!?!

After a nice dinner, the family headed to the Summer Palace.  This was a summer destination for the royal family - their vacation home of sorts.  There are gardens and ponds to enjoy and it would have been out of the city at the time when it was used.  While they were there, Gracie was attacked by the paparazzi!!! The Chinese people LOVE to take pictures of Westerners.  They will just grab you and take a picture with you or start snapping pictures of just you.  The farther out of the big city you get, the fewer Westerners there are.  Wait till they get to Bautou!

In case you are wondering how they are getting around, the Hansens have a guide who takes them to the places and a driver who drives them in a van.  Dwight says that their driver, Gong, is the best and worst driver he's ever seen.  The traffic in Beijing is crazy...in some ways like Los Angeles, but with tons of bikes and pedestrians and also a lot of drivers who don't quite obey the traffic laws.  Interesting fact about traffic lights in China: Before the Cultural Revolution and the opening up of China to outsiders, red was the color of "go".  Because red is the color of China, it has a tradition of being lucky and also means moving forward.  I guess that when they decided to change the traffic lights to match the rest of the world, there were a lot of crashes!

I will post more when I get word from Shana.  There time in Beijing is coming to an end.  They will probably be heading to Hohhot in the morning (The city, not the restaurant!).   The adoptions are finalized in the provincial capital and since Phoebe is from Inner Mongolia, that is Hohhot.  LiLi's Children's Welfare Institute (orphanage) is in Bautou, about 2 hours from Hohot, as I understand it.  The Hansens would really like to visit the orphanage, but it is not on their itinerary.  Please pray that they are given an opportunity to visit.  It would be a great thing for them to have some pictures and be able to tell Phoebe more about that part of her life as she gets older.  Many families do not get the opportunity to visit the orphanages, but when they do, it's always good.

Even though they don't have access to the blog, I've been passing on the comments to them.  They love hearing from you!

The Great Wall...along with thousands of other people

Gong, the Hansens, and the Peking Duck restaurant

Paparazzi!!!

The Summer Palace...check out the photo-bomber :)  If only it felt like summer - the highs have been in the 50's.  If you're from Wisconsin that's warm for March, but if you're from California, it probably feels pretty chilly!