The Forbidden City & Hutong Tour

Today we visited The Forbidden City. Tiannamen Square was on our itinerary, but due to the recent "elections" of a new leader in China, the Square was closed. Evidently the officials are conducting meetings from March 3rd through the end of the month in one of the buildings that flank the Square. Understandably, security measures are heightened in that area.
 

 

 

At the entrance of the Forbidden City is the famous painting of Chairman Mao, the first Communist premiere of the country. To say he is revered in the country would be a vast understatement.
 

 

Our orthodontist, responsible for putting braces on my teeth, Torie's, Michaela's and scheduled to put braces on AnnaGrace this summer, has a fun contest each year. Where did you take your t-shirt on vacation this year? AnnaGrace brought her t-shirt to China and wore in front of The Forbidden City! I bet Dr. Hamilton's tee's haven't often traveled that far!
 

 

We had a bit of fun before we entered the gate. Although it's generally unacceptable to take photos of the soldiers in uniform, after seeing another girl pose with a soldier in front of the Forbidden City, we sent AnnaGrace to try her hand at posing and I snapped off a quick shot.

 

 

 

Since today was Saturday, the tourist spot was quite busy!
 

 

It gave me an opportunity to snap a shot of one of my favorite sights in China - split pants. If you are unfamiliar with this convenient option to a standard diaper, they are widely used in China. They allow a child to go to the bathroom whenever the urge strikes them. Yes, even on the street.
 

 

The Forbidden City, sole home of the Emperor and Empress, along with the Emperors concubines until the early 1900's, included 999 1/2 rooms. It is a beautiful combination of architectural detail and brilliant colors. Although we toured the City in 2001, I learned a few new facts today. The most interesting is the double meaning of "Forbidden City". I knew that no one was allowed to enter the Forbidden City, during the rule of the Emperor, unless expressly invited by him. What I did not know was that the Emperor was not allowed to leave the City except for a few select special occasions...thus the double meaning of "Forbidden" City.
 

 

While in visiting, I noticed a place where we could rent Qing minority costumes. Of course after having SO much fun earlier this week, I couldn't pass up the opportunity and coerced the girls to dress-up one more time!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The best part was when a Chinese national, who was dressing up in a warrior costume, asked the girls to pose with him! Priceless!
 

 

After we left The Forbidden City, we went on a Hutong Tour. Although I've heard of other families taking these tours, this is the first time we have taken one. Only three Hutong portions of town are still preserved in Beijing. These are the areas with the traditional homes that open into courtyards. Many families prefer not to stay in the Hutong areas because you must be willing to have your home open at all times for tourists to visit as a requirement for living in these districts.

We rode a rickshaw to get into the heart of the Hutong area.
 

 

I was shocked by how small the rooms surrounding the courtyards were. Vanessa, our guide, told us she and her family lived in a Hutong until she was 22. You can see in the following photo two rooms side by side on one side of the courtyard.
 

 

 

Each of those rooms measured at most 12 x 10. Vanessa, her brother and her parents lived in ONE of these rooms for the 1st 22 years of her life. Twelve families lived in her courtyard. By my count, only 10 rooms surrounded the courtyard and one of those rooms was a communal kitchen. She told us that they spent much of their time outside in the common courtyard. They had to walk to the shared bathroom which was quite a distance away (think campground bathroom.)

Below is a photo of Vanessa, our guide, and AnnaGrace sitting on a traditional bed in a room off the courtyard. The bed took all except about 4 x 10 of the floor space in the room.
 

 

Vanessa has fond memories of growing up in the Hutong community and her grandparents were devastated when the homes were torn down, and they were forced to move to apartments.

This is a photo of the courtyard in the middle of the rooms which all the families shared.
 

 

It was a fascinating day of remembering, that not so long ago, all of life in Beijing was not as modern as it is today with its skyscrapers, overabundance of cars, Starbucks and cell phones.

 

 

We Conquered The Great Wall

Today we set out to conquer The Great Wall. For some it wasn't that big of a job. For this 40 something body, it was a BIG accomplishment...all 800 steps of it!

We were greeted at the front gate by a kitten that looked like he had put his paw in a light socket. Of course the girls wanted to pet him, to which they received a resounding "no" answer from me. Somehow getting bitten by a stray cat, who certainly has never had shots, half-way around the world from Western medical care, just wasn't on my "To Do" list today.

 

Vanessa, our guide, agreed to pose by the front gate of this section of The Great Wall.
 

 

This is a photo of the girls at the beginning of the 800 step climb. Poor AnnaGrace really struggled since she is still fighting a respiratory infection. She was a trouper and pressed on all the way to the top.

 

 

I had to take a photo of another fun sign! Decency is required in China...even of their fire evidently.
 

 

While we were toiling up the mountain to get to the Great Wall, some people had the right idea. They were riding a toboggan down the mountain.

 

 

 

Thankfully the majority of the climb had been sissified for tourists and all the stairs had been made uniform.

The original stairs on the Wall differ in both height and depth. The intent of the difference was to make it easier to defend against attackers. Each soldier knew his own portion of the wall and the particular design of "his stairs" which gave him a distinct advantage over any pursuers.

In the next photos you may be able to see the varying sizes of the steps. It was exhausting to climb this portion, as you could never get into a rhythm.

 

 

 

Finally we reached the top and saw a beautiful view of the mountain ranges in the distant.
 

 

AnnaGrace and I posed for the camera after I finished gasping.
 

 

Michaela, on the other hand, never even broke a sweat. I don't say that with any bitterness in my voice. Oh, to be seventeen and fit again...sigh.

 

The Great Wall, according to our guide, is 3,600 miles long. The portion we visited took 10 years to build and was built 800 years ago. It boggles my mind to think about the manpower needed to build a structure of this magnitude.

 

 

 

After climbing to the top, we opted to take the easy way down, the chair lift.

 

 

What a great feeling to know that we conquered The Great Wall!

 

In the afternoon we relaxed in our hotel room and enjoyed all the comforts of home...Starbucks and Pizza Hut pizza. Yes, even in China!

Back in Beijing

We're back in Beijing now, but finished up our time in Changsha by having dinner with our guide, Ashley, from a previous adoption trip. Ashley was our guide for Sarah Mei's adoption in 2007 and is on my top 2 or 3 list of all-time favorite guides in China. He graciously agreed to give up family time with his wife and two sons and joined us for supper.

We had a great time catching up with what's been going in his life and hearing about his travels. He works for a travel agency and travels to Europe, America and most recently to Taiwan as a translator and guide for Chinese nationals. Growing up he was inspired by his father, a Chinese national but French professor on a college campus. His brother is an English professor at a local university and always maxes out his classroom each semester at 120 students. Ashley continues the family legacy, although not in the education business, he obviously has a love for learning and discussion. Fascinating!

 

I also took a few candids of the girls while we were waiting in the lobby of the hotel.

 

 

 

Today we visited New Hope Foundation which is where Savannah Faith has lived for the last four months. Savannah was taken back to her orphanage this morning, for paperwork processing, so sadly we didn't see her.

I was SO blessed by the care that New Hope offers their children. You can read more about their ministry here www.hopefosterhome.com

Here are some photos of the rooms where Savannah lived and played including a preschool room that made this homeschool mom envious and Peter Rabbit and Winnie the Pooh murals on the walls.

 

 

 

To say we are thankful for the medical intervention and care that New Hope and Love Without Boundaries offered her is an understatement.

We were also able to meet the ayi (nanny) that gave Savannah so much love over the last 4 months. We gave her a scarf that my niece, Lauren, knitted. We also left scarves for the 2nd and 3rd shift nannies that cared for Savannah. Those scarves were made by Michaela.

 

Tomorrow we get to tour The Great Wall!

....Yuelu Academy, Continued

Sadly, I can't get on Blogger anymore, so Torie has graciously agreed to post my blog updates for me.

Speaking of Torie...I have to brag for a minute. While we are here in China, Torie is giving up her college spring break to babysit Sarah Mei, Lily Rose and Isabelle. This is the first time, in six trips, she hasn't accompanied me to China, and it's just not the same without her! But I am blessed that at 22 she is willing to sacrifice her one week vacation to help the family!

 

Thanks Torie!

Now back to the Yuelu Academy....

After we finished touring the buildings, we were treated to a short Bronze Bell Chime performance. Although plaques were placed at the base of each musician and instrument, I'm assuming indentifying the four instruments used in the performance, they were all in Mandarin so were lost on me. However, the musicians were skilled and being a flutist myself, the recorder/flute instrument was my personal favorite.

 

 

After the concert we walked to the base of the mountains to the see the pavilion. While there, I made the find of the day...a place where I could rent Miao minority costumes for 10 RMB each. The girls dressed in the costumes, and I was allowed to photograph them.

Some were more excited about this prospect than others. However, I thought it was the best $3.50 I've spent so far this trip. Michaela doesn't share the sentiment. Maybe that's because as soon as she donned the costume, a Chinese national ran up to have her photo taken with Michaela. This happens every trip because of Michaela's dark hair and blue/green eyes, but never when she has been in a Miao costume. That's one for the scrapbook.

 

 

 

 

Visting Yuelu Academy

Today we visited the "most ancient academy" in China.  It is one of the four remaining ancient academies in the country with a 1,000 year history. 



It only requires traveling internationally to remind us, as Americans, of our brief history!



The architectural detail and colors used in the Academy were exquisite.

The Yuelu Academy is located at the base of the Yuelu Mountains.  It is the only ancient Acadmey that has actually been incorporated into an university.  It is now on the campus of Hunan University.

The Academy had a library and a lecture hall but also a temple to Confucius, the Chinese teacher and philosopher that lived from 551-479 BC.  Our guide, Celia, told us that parents bring their students to the temple to implore Confusicius to give them wisdom in hopes of gaining admission to University. 

The temple boasted the same architectural detail as the rest of the buildings.

Well, Mom got bumped off in the middle of the post. They are flying back to Beijing tomorrow and she will try to finish it then. - Torie

 

 

 

 

Visiting AnnaGrace's Orphanage

Today was the big day when we returned to AnnaGrace's orphanage for the first time in almost eleven years.  Although still the original building, significant renovations have taken place.  And in 2011 Half the Sky began implementing their Little Sister's program.  The positive effects are visible everywhere.

When we arrived at Changsha SWI, we were greeted by a white board with AnnaGrace's Chinese name Tan Xiang Wen on it and the following words:

It was such a special gesture of caring!


Zhiao Ying, the Children's Program Director, began by showing us AnnaGrace's file.  Unfortunately it revealed no new information but allayed any curiosity we had above the possibility of a missing finding note.


After that we toured the orphanage.  The orphanage is in-charge of around 500 children, ages 0-14 years.  About 300 of those children live in the SWI, while 200 live in foster homes or in the Butterfly House or CCI which are both independently run programs for children with critical medical needs.


They graciously allowed us to take a few photos of the rooms and grounds to put in AnnaGrace's lifebook.  They asked us not to post those pictures out of respect; however, Zhiao Ying said we could post a photo of her and AnnaGrace together.


AnnaGrace presented fifteen of the hats she knitted to Zhiao Ying  Our prayer is those hats will keep some babies' heads warm this winter.

As good as the care and nurture appeared to be at Changsha SWI, you just can't visit any orphanage without feeling a bit of despair.  It's a stark remainder of the fact that EVERY child needs a mommy and daddy to love them.  Nothing can replace the love of a family! 


AnnaGrace is fighting a fairly significant cough and cold.   Due to that and the emotional morning,we decided to just hang out in the hotel for the afternoon.  


Tomorrow we are going to do a little sightseeing and Wednesday we'll be flying back to Beijing.


I took a few more photos that I thought we're interesting. 


The first one is from our 19th floor hotel window.  We overlook a school yard and watched the children line-up first thing this morning.  We asked Celia, our guide, about it.  She said that every Monday morning the school children line-up to pledge to the flags - communist, national and school flags - which we saw marched past the student body.  Then the teachers make announcements to the student body which are pertinent to the week. 


The orderliness of the entire process was nothing short of amazing as no teachers' were actually in the line-ups with the children.  I just can't really imagine hundreds of our school-age children lining up this orderly and standing for twenty minutes without any adult supervision.



Just a note...although the smog in Changsha is nothing like Beijing, it is still significant as you will note in the  blurriness of many of my photos.  This is not a focus issue; it is a smog issue.

Another thing I always find interesting in China is the city planning.  I'm not sure Charlotte would allow this type of zoning...


Brand new high rise apartment buildings in the back, in the middle are older apartment buildings, in the front (and obscured from view because we were speeding down the highway) are businesses.  The zoning all seems so random to me.

But then again Changsha has a population of 6.5 million according to the Hunan Bureau of Statistics. That number is just staggering to me.  I don't know how you have city planning for a city of that size?  The new construction is absolutely fabulous, and they are even beginning to preserve some green space.  You can see the effects of a thriving economy, at least in the big city.


While I'm enjoying China, of course a piece of my heart is at home...missing my girls and Phil....

but I'm also counting down until we add another pair of little feet to our family.  Only six more days!

We're in China!

We landed Saturday evening after an uneventful, 13 hour flight from Chicago to Beijing.   Our guide and driver met us, and we made the hour drive to the hotel.  Exhaustion set-in, so we settled for a supper of snack bars and bottled water. 

We were in bed by 7:30 p.m. but not before we snapped one picture of AnnaGrace on her first night back in her birth country.  The photo was taken on the patio of our room which overlooked a beautiful pond and garden.

I find the signage in China fascinating.  Not quite sure what this sign meant.  It was on the side of the highway on our drive from the Beijing airport to our hotel.

Do you think they were worried about people transporting tall giraffe??  Probably not.

Today we made the plane trip from Beijing to Changsha, and tomorrow we are visiting AnnaGrace's orphanage. 

Thanks for your prayers as we spend the next three weeks in China.

Packing or Procrastinating?

Well, I packed Savannah Faith's suitcase.  That's the fun one!  Mine...that is another story.  Maybe I will get to it tomorrow.  After all, I have six more days until my plane leaves.  Plenty of time.


The last days have been filled with making arrangements for the three girls I am leaving behind,

making meals and freezing them

(okay, maybe Michaela has been doing more of that than me),

getting caught up on all my accounting work for my job,

and picking out a paint color for the little girls' room. 


Did I mention Phil is going to paint the bedroom while I am gone.

I am sure he will have plenty of time.

He will just be holding down the fort,

keeping up with the three little girls,

working full-time,

doing the laundry and

making sure the girl's make it to their speech therapy appointments. 

Did I mention he is my HERO!  I love that man!!



The most exciting thing I have been working on the past week is learning more about photography. 

For my birthday, Phil, my sisters and mom went in together and purchased a new camera for me.

It is amazing!

I am determined to get it off Auto!  



I want to perfect a few new techniques to "take" with me to China!

If you are looking for a great tutor,

check out Nancy at Ordinary Miracles & The Crazy Nine

http://nancyvnjourney.blogspot.com/p/photography-101.html -

She's not only a fellow adoptive mom and homeschooler,

but also a very gifted photographer and teacher.



So when I should be packing...



I just might be coercing my girls to be my "subjects"

and my dog to pose...

I am learning about f-stops and bokeh...

However my girls might be starting to lose their patience...

I can't wait to take photos of Savannah Faith.  Can't you just see her with a little dress on and a bow in her hair.  You're almost home sweet one.