We Made It To Beijing

Relaxing in LAX before our
long leg to Seoul.











Seoul, South Korea airport.


We arrived safe, sound, and a wee bit tired in Beijing at 9:45a.m. (Beijing time). It only took us a total of about 34 hours of travel time from when we left Corvallis. Marsha, our guide, hired through Journey's of the Heart (our adoption agency) greeted us. She and her driver dropped us off at the Debao Hotel in Beijing, where we checked in and then headed straight to the 3rd floor hotel restaurant that specializes in Cantonese cooking. I thought my gluten-free diners card, written in great detail in Mandarin, would be a real help in keeping me well fed and safe from gluten contamination. We showed it to our server, who called over another server and then a manager and they talked to each other at great length and still seemed perplexed about what to do with it. I managed to point to rice and steamed vegetables and had a great, light lunch. Cathy and Sebbie ordered some much more exotic dishes and really enjoyed them. Marsha picked us up a couple of hours later and we enjoyed an awesome tour of












Tiananmen Square and then the Forbidden City. We were surprised by the literally 10's of 1000's of Chinsee tourists visiting at the same time as we were. Today isn't a holiday, and there is no school holiday this week either, just another busy day here in Beijing. After that tour, we went to the Dr. Tea Tea House and had a tasting of 5 of their best teas: White, Oolong, Jasmine, Green, and Puer. We bought a container of each and needed the small caffeine boost to get us through the rest of the evening. After she dropped us off at the hotel, we went for a quick swim, enjoyed some takeout in the room, and then Sebbie fell asleep, Cathy, and now it is time for me. Only 4 more full days of being a family of 3. We are all quite looking forward to meeting little Maggie Xu Di on March 31st - which would've been my dad's 74th birthday. He would have been so proud to share that day with her.