Welfare Home Tour

June 29, 2007

Today was the day that we would go back to the welfare home. After a day of travelling we had a Chinese style Western breakfast. We met Christina and Elsie down stairs in the lobby - we carried our 2 big bags of donations, a present for the director and a picture collage of me throughout the years.

We arrived at the orphanage after a 15 minute drive. As we got out of the van we saw another family entering the orphanage. They were also here for a homeland trip to visit their orphanage. We met with the assistant to the director at the door and told her my Chinese name, Bao Lixian. Christina told us she said that she had remembered me because of my big eyes. We went into a conference room and met with the director, Mr. Chen. He told us about the orphanage and how it had been rebuilt in 1997. He showed us upstairs to a play room where the special needs children were playing. We even gave them some of the toys we had brought. We left the room and went to another section of the welfare home where the babies slept. We played with more kids there. We toured the rest of the welfare home and they had gifts for us. It was a silver coin with the front of the welfare home engraved on it. We went next door to where the welfare home use to be, but is now a kindergarten. In the kindergarten there are children from the welfare home and from the neighborhood. Ironically, Christina's son goes there.

We left the orphanage and drove to a close by village to try and find my finding location. Since China has modernized so much, it was difficult to find the exact street. We finally found a street. There were railroad tracks, small apartments, stores and a gate at my finding place.

We returned to the hotel and and Dad & I walked in search of a McDonalds. After walking about 10 blocks, we finally found it. We had spicy chicken wraps, quarter pound BEEF burger and french fries. Lucikly it tasted like home.

We went to the pool andon the way we found a place to get a foot massage. After a very relaxing day we had dinner and went to sleep.

(Elsie had called the airport and had discovered that there will be no morning flights on July 4th, the day we were suppose to leave Zhanjiang for Guanzhou. So we will be leaving a day earlier, July 3rd in the afternoon).

Flying Day

June 28, 2007

Waking up early in the morning to catch a 10:30 flight. We quickly had breakfast so we could go upstairs and pack. After a quick packing job we went downstairs and met Elsie in the lobby. Tom drove us to the airport about 30 minutes away. We arrived at the airport at 9:30, so we had 1 hour to go through security. We were in the waiting room for about 15 minutes before Rebecca and I started getting hungry. Dad walked us over to a close by coffee/deli shop. We got "Chinese Subway Sandwiches." When it was finally 10:30 we started to line up at the gate when we realized that people were coming off the plane! Elise told us that the flight attendant said that people had to come off the plane and the plane had to be cleaned. It was 10 minutes later that we could now board the plane. We got on then shortly after we all boarded the plane we took off. Then 2 hours later we landed in my birth city, WUHAN! After going through baggage customs we met up with a travel coordinator that would be with us for our time in Wuhan, Christina. After driving for only 10 minutes we could see the Yangtze River. Christina informed us that because this is, at the time, the only brigde that is available to cross over the river there was a special law. On even days only cars with license plates ending with an even number may cross the bridge, same thing with odd numbered days. After driving for another 40 minutes we arrived at our hotel, The White Rose. After checking in and meeting the manager, Mary, we arrived in our room with our luggage. After resting for 1 1/2 hours, we met up with Christina and went sightseeing in Wuhan.

We drove about 15 minutes and arrived a the Yellow Crane Tower. The Yellow Crane Tower was built by an emperor over 1500 years ago, who had made money by having a rare yellow crane sing and dance. After a year of doing this, he had made a lot of money. He decided to build a tower in honor of the bird and called it The Yellow Crane Tower. We toured the tower and went up all 5 levels. You could see all of Wuhan from the top of the tower. You could even see my welfare home. On the 4th level, when we went outside to look around, there were 2 Chinese people who asked Dad for a picture of him with them. After they saw Mom they asked for a picture with her too. Later after they left Christina told us that the reason why they wanted pictures with Mom & Dad was because they looked so different. They don't likely see Westerners in Wuhan. On the 2nd level there were models of the Yellow Crane Tower at different stages of time.

When we got back to the hotel, we put on our swimsuits and Elsie joined us to go swimming in the indoor swimming pool. After swimming, we took quick showers and met Elsie again to go to a local shopping center called Carefore. We bought lots of soda and chips (and underwear). After an exhausting day we finally went to bed.

Chang Cheng (Great Wall)

June 27, 2007

Today we would climb the Great Wall. We woke very early, 7:00am, to meet Elise downstairs, not at the usual 10:00, but at 8:00. After eating breakfast very quickly, we rushed downstairs to find Elise already waiting for us. Tom drove us 2 hours to the Great Wall at Badaling. We walked north words, climbing very high steps and very steep streets. After walking for over one and a half hours we met up with Elise who didn't feel like climbing today.

We then drove to the Dragon Restaurant. We had sweet and sour beef, soy sauce chicken, tofu with sweet sauce and fried rice with a lot of meat. After a very big meal, Tom drove us to a small village to learn about Chinese paper cutting and artificial flower making. The teacher had a student (all of the teenagers there had special needs), that demonstrated the art of paper cutting. She made two butterflys for Becca and me. Then we helped the teacher and the student make an artificial flower out of wire and silk fabric for us to keep. Then we walked to their warehouse where they store all of the hand made products. They make slippers, purses and of course paper cuttings. They had everything from small fish to huge cuttings of butterflys. All hand made. We bought 4 cuttings from them. Tomorrow we plan on leaving Beijing and going to the airport to fly to Wuhan at 8:30.

Kuaile du Rizi (Fun Day)

June 26, 2007

We woke up bright and early at 8:30 after going to sleep at 1:30am. After an exhausting day in Tienanmen Square and the Forbidden City, we were glad that we weren't climbing the Great Wall today. Once we had a very fulfilling breakfast we met Elise down int he lobby. We went on a 30 minute drive to go on a Hudong tour. We met our tourguide Kathy. We walked across the street to the Drum Tower. It ws a very nice building, very decorative. The drums were very high up so we had to climb 79 steps up on a straight incline. Mom got very scared going up. We reached the top at 10:45. Kathy told us they had a drum show at 11:00. We learned that the drums were used to tell time. We even got to see the largest drum in the world. We went outside and walked around the outside of the drum tower. We got to see the Bell Tower across the street that was also used for time telling. We also saw part of the Foribidden City and many houses from the top. After the drum beating show we carefully walked down the very steep steps. We got on a rickshaw (a bicycle driven taxi kind of thing), and toured China.
We went to see a kindergarten with kids ages ranging from 3 - 6 years old. We were not able to personally play or talk to the kids, but we saw them eating their food. We even had a child come up and personally greet us.
We got back on the rickshaw and rode to a family's house. We saw Mr. & Mrs. Wei's (pronounced Way) house. We learned that grashoppers are very common pets. A "sport" that men gamble on is grasshopper fighting. After seeing and learning a couple more buildings, we finally met up with Melody from CHI for lunch. We even visited Melody's home and met her youngest daughter Angela.
After visiting Melody's house we drove over to the CHI's Beijing foster home. We got to play with the kids. Sadly most of the kids had a disability, but ALL of them were VERY cute! (Grandma, we met a blind girl that LOVED your tag blankets!)
After the very memorable evening, Elise and us went to the Chinese Acrobats show. Flipping, turning, and balancing! Amazing! After the show, Tom drove us to Melody's house. We picked up Melody, her husband Kevin and two of thier 5 kids, LeeAnn and Angela . We had a very nice dinner. The main dish was "Beggers Chicken". Begger's Chicken is wrapped in a lotus leaf and cooked in the ground with mud for a very long time. All in all, today was VERY busy, but VERY fun. Today was a Kuaile du Rizi.

Kuaile de Rizi (fun day)

1st Day in China

June 25, 2007

After a very long plane ride we arrived in our hotel, the Radisson, in Beijing, China. Getting use to the new time zone we went to sleep around 1 am China time, then waking up around six o'clock am. A sleepless night. We slowly trudged down to the breakfast buffet. We had a very western meal that included fresh cooked omeletes, bacon, toast, fresh fruit and at least eight different types of juices. After a very good breakfast we walked down to the locl strip mall. We went into a 7-eleven and bought fresh clean water. Next door was a friendship store (like a mall). After our CHinese shopping we met up with our Chinese coordinator Elsie. We arrived at CHI's Beijing office. We met some of the 20 full time staff that work there. Including our travel coordinator, Michelle. Elsie even had an adoption orientation presentation for us to watch. After we got finished with our CHI tour it was almost noon and we were ready for lunch. We walked across the street to the King Duck restaurant and had fresh steak, chicken and carved duck. The roasted duck was cut right in front of us. We made duck tortillas. Our driver Tom drove us to Tiananemen Square and the forbidden city about 30 minutes away. Walking through the Forbidden City while it was 93 degrees is not fun. Rebecca got so tired we had to cut our tour short. Tom drove us back to the hotal and we took a short nap. We woke up hungry for dinner and we walked to KFC. We had crispy fried chicken and Pepsi. When we left KFC we heard thunder and lightning and then it started raining. We quickly ran into the local supermarket, it was kind of like Walmart and Sam's. After buying some snacks for later, we returned to our hotel. We put our swimsuits on and walked over to the indoor swimming pool. After swimming we turned on the TV and laid on the bed. Around 11:30 we all started to get hungry. We decided to get room service. A Chinese version of Western food was served to us. Hamburgers and spaghetti came to our room. Tomorrow we plan to meet Melody at a Beijing orphanage, visit a village in a rickshaw (a bicycle powered taxi) and see the acrobatics show. (Our plans have been changed from what was on our itinerary We will see The Great Wall on Wednesday).

Flying to China

We flew to Chiago from St. Louis at 9:00am on Saturday morning. When we arrived in Chicago, we found we had a 2 1/2 hour delay on departing to China. After waiting almost 3 hours, we boarded the plane in high hopes to quickly fly to China (in 13 hours). As we approached Beijing we found that there was a severe thunderstorm around the area, and the airport had been shut down. We circled the airport waiting for air traffic control to tell us we could land. Unfortunately we found ourselves on a 1 hour flight to Taiyuan about 300 miles away from Beijing. Instead of sitting on the plane for 13 hours, we were on the plane for 15 hours and hadn't even arrived in Beijing. After sitting in Taiyuan for over 2 hours, we were allowed to fly back to Beijing. We were on the plane for over 18 hours. After we went through quarantine, immigration and baggage customs, we met up with our CHI coordinator, Elsie. Because we were hungry, we quickly ran into a KFC only to find that it was closing and no food left. Next door, we found a Starbucks (my favorite) and ordered a sweet croisant, chicken sandwich and apple juice. Surprisingly, the apple juice tasted like watermellon jolly ranchers! After an exhausting day we arrived in our new home at midnight Beijing time.

Waking up to a new enviornment, we headed down staris to a western style breakfast buffet. After eating, we headed out to busy Beijing in search of clean water. We went to a 7-11 and stocked up on bottled water. After that we went into a Friendship store (like a Chinese mall).

Today we hope to visit the CHI Beijing office. Then we will be off to Tienamen Square and the Forbidden City. Later we are going to watch a Chinese Acrobatic show and have Peking Duck for dinner. Hope to be in contact the rest of our trip.

Legacy of an Adopted Child

When my adopted mom found out that I was going to be a part of her life she started to sew this for me...
Once there were two women who never knew each other. One you do not remember. The other you call your mother.
Two different lives shaped to make yours one. One became your guiding star. The other became your sun.
The first gave you life, and the second taught you to live in it. The first gave you the need for love, and the second was there to give it.
One gave you a nationality. The other gave you a name. One gave you the seed of talent. The other gave you aim.
One gave you emotion. The other calmed your fears. One saw your first sweet smle. The other dried your tears.
One gave you up, it was all that she could do. The other prayed for a child, and God led her straight to you.
And now ask me through the years. Heredity or Environment - Which are you the product of?
Neither my darling neither - Just two different kinds of love.

Returning to China

I am twelve years old and was adopted from Wuhan, China at four months. I have a ten year old sister that was also adopted from China. My sister, Rebecca, was adopted in Zhanjiang, China when she was nine months old. Growing up my parents always told us stories of adopted families that had adopted children just like our family. My mom and dad also told Rebecca and me that we would soon return to China to discover what our homelands looked like. In just two weeks I am planning to return to China with my family. In just two weeks we will get to go to the cities of Wuhan, Zhanjiang, Beijing, Guangzhou, and to Hong Kong. While we are in China we will get the opportunity to sit down with a Chinese family and have a full Chinese meal. We will also visit a Chinese school, an elementary school for deaf children and even visit Rebecca’s and my orphanages. To prepare for this trip Rebecca and I have organized a toy drive for our orphanages. Along with collecting toys my mom and grandma have been sewing tag blankets. Tag blankets are small pieces of cloth that are sewn together with pieces of ribbon in between. These tag blankets will be given to the small babies in the orphanages.