In China
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Thursday-Friday, May 7-8, 2009 Hi everyone. Yesterday was a good day, but not too much of interest to retell. We spent the morning doing paperwork – about an hour at the notary’s office and then off to apply for a passport for HuiHui. At the notary’s office, it was very thorough and well organized, and if producing paper is any sign of success, we had a banner morning. We provided one copy of Ethan’s adoption certificate, and we got back 9 packets of paper, and that doesn’t count the packages that the orphanage keeps. From there we went to another location to apply for Ethan’s passport, where he had to take a photo and then there was a brief line before the application was finished. It all took about 20 minutes. While we were waiting on line, though, we met a very nice Chinese gentleman who had lived in Boston for about 6 years, had traveled around the States, including Florida . We suspect he studied in the US , and he congratulated us on our adoption, though he was shocked it had only been 4 days. Afterwards we went to a Dim Sum house near the Forbidden City , and once again we were the only Caucasians there, which we always take as a sign of a successful venture. You know, I kept reading from other sites that Chinese food here is not like what we get at home, but I have to say, we haven’t found it to be entirely different perhaps because we’re in Beijing . It’s not exactly the same in terms of all the choices we’re used to, but the food is very similar here– dumplings, wonton soup (though that is much much harder to find), spring rolls v. egg rolls, and the ribs are different, but we’ve had Kung Pao chicken and different sautéed vegetables and fried rice. Noodle soups with different meats and vegetables are very popular. After lunch, we went back to the hotel and we all (adults and children) took a nap. In the evening, I ventured out on my own to a nearby mall for some things, and this time, I was the one who was quite the attraction. I don’t know if you ever get used to people staring at you….. When I actually bought a pair of pants, the sales people were so so happy – I had told them I thought the pants were very nice, and after I went back into the dressing room, I heard “nice nice” and a lot of excited laughter……and though no English was spoken anywhere, everyone was very nice and very helpful. Malls are probably the biggest example of the dichotomy within Communist China – the push/pull with capitalism. There are some very high end malls (I saw one that included a Cartier and a huge Georgio Armani which alone was the size of Bergdorff’s) and normal malls with tons of very good merchandise, and apparently they also have a lottery! The money from the lottery pays for these exercise machines you see throughout the city (I’ll try to grab a photo in the coming days). And we see mostly imported cars on the road – Audi is very big, as are Buick and VW. You’ll see American and German cars before Japanese. It’s all so interesting. Today was back to some more sightseeing – we went to the Lama Temple which is the largest Buddhist temple outside of Tibet . Instead of the term “monk”, these men of prayer are called “lamas” – ie, the Dalai Lama. It included a series of halls, all of which are over 250 years old. Originally, it was the home of the Emperor’s 4th son, who over time offered it to the lamas as a place of prayer in a gesture of good will between China and Tibet (which at that time was not a territory of China . We learned today that 45% of China ’s land is in the Tibetan boundary, though it accounts for less than 10% of the population). The temple is still actively used, and we had the amazing good fortune of being there during study time, which included chanting. You can’t take photos inside the halls, so I stepped outside during the study session, and being the ugly American I am, I stood on my tippy toes and reached over heads to capture the shot you see here (bad Dawn, bad…). Like the Forbidden City, the paintings and detailed decorations were absolutely beautiful, but it was also filled with Tibetan decorations as well, including large Tak pictures – Tak is like quilting, but the pieces overlay on one another, giving it a tremendous depth, and the illustrations depict an actual figure or scene. Again, Veronica was a gem giving us the history and background of the location as well as insights into the different Buddhist “sects” (for lack of a better term). One other major site there was a large Buddha made out of a single tree some 28 meters high – it even made the Guiness Book of World Records. That statue was given to China by Tibet as a Thank You for the temple, and it was gilded in gold. Again, beautiful. As we were leaving, we had 2 “chops” made up for the kids – blocks of wood with their names in both English and Mandarin carved into the bottom, to be used as stamps. At the top of each block is the symbol of their respective Chinese Zodiak signs.

Dim Sum restaurant Clowning around in room Lama Temple – Chanting and Study Happy Ethan Family Biking at Chaoyang Park Outside our hotel, the Poly Plaza

After the Temple , we went to Chaoyang Park , which is a large amusement park, with lots of rides like you’d see at any fair. Most of the rides were not open, perhaps because of the flu scare (similarly, they’ve limited the night market to weekends only now), but we did rent a big bicycle to bike around the gardens. Ethan LOVED it, and when Emma would yell to Gregg to go “FAST, FAST”, Ethan would in turn yell “FAA FAA” and giggled hysterically. I think we have a pro-Disney kid on our hands! After lunch, Mom did some grocery shopping and the kids are now playing with Play-doh. Tonight for dinner we went to a duck restaurant called the Beijing Dadong Roast Duck Restaurant – its supposed to be one of the best in city, and it’s within walking distance from the hotel. On that note, to say something is “in walking distance” really doesn’t provide an accurate picture. CROSSING streets here takes nerves of steel. For instance, by the street lights, where we are used to seeing Walk or No Walk signs, their signs focus on the bicycles – pedestrians are on their own. Needless to say, we made it unscathed (physically at least), and then enjoyed one of the most outstanding meals ever – it compares to any of the top restaurants in New York City . As Emma noted below, they brought the entire roasted duck to the table, chopped off its head, and then carved it before describing for us the traditional way to prepare and eat it. Delicious! Tomorrow will be an adventure for sure – we’re on our own without Veronica, and we’re going to the Hou Hai area, hutongs, a rickshaw ride, a local vegetable market and lunch with a local family, before heading to Bei Hai park (supposed to be unbelievably beautiful and includes the 9 Dragon Screen). Wish us luck!   Emma’s Corner Hi everyone, today I went to a real Buddhist Temple (the biggest outside of Tibet ) and I got to see lamas (no, not the animals, they’re monks) chanting while they studied. I also got to see an amusement park in the middle of the city, and I rode on a big bicycle with my parents and Ethan. Lastnight I had a Chinese meal called Dim Sum, and today I walked to a restaurant where they brought a whole duck to my table and then chopped off its head, and then the duck was so yummy! Quack Quack. More tomorrow. From, Emma.

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