Silk Factory and Forbidden City

Teresa has sent another report from Beijing. They fly home on Tuesday, so this is probably the final set of pictures, but I'll post a link so that you can follow their plane as they make their way from Beijing - Toronto - Halifax. Here's Teresa's post:

Yesterday was a silk factory, Tian’anmen Square and the Forbidden City. 

Mia loved the silk factory.  She was fascinated by the whole process of how they make the silk.  We were able to see the worms and the cocoons. A single cocoon with one worm can be unwound into a single thread.  The double pods are meshed together and so they are used for quilt fill.  Beautiful items!  You can see Mia holding a cocoon and helping to make a quilt.

Tian’anmen is the largest square in China.  It is surrounded by the government offices, the south gate, the National museum and to the north the Forbidden City.  Many soldiers and people in the square but Mia and her friend Willow were happy enough to skip.  

The Forbidden City is a 3 hour tour...in January...in the cold.  But we powered through and saw the offices, living quarters and Imperial garden of the Emperor.  Nina still needed to eat and so she had a bottle about midway through.  One is not a true China adoption parent until you have prepared a bottle at a tourist site, prepared a bottle on a moving bus and changed a diaper in a Chinese washroom at a tourist site.  

Today was a free day.  We went to a dumpling restaurant for lunch.  10 of us ate for 300 rmb (about $50) and it was delicious! Then off to the “New Market” where we found some great deals and some aggressive sales people trying to sell us tourist items and knock off name brands. Fun!!

Tomorrow we pack.  We need to leave the hotel at 12:30 to get the baby visas and get to the airport.  I hear snow is predicted for Tuesday in NS. 

Beijing - The Great Wall

 Here's Teresa's report on what they've been up to in Beijing. They are busy!

We have had a couple of busy days!  Our first full day in Beijing was spent between the Canadian Embassy and the SOS medical clinic.  We needed to complete the Canadian paperwork and drop everything off at the Embassy so that the baby visas would be ready by Tuesday. We left the hotel at 11:30 and the bus did not get back until 5:00.  A very long day at a clinic!  Nina actually had one of the first appointments and so after we were done we left Peter at the clinic so that he could follow up at the Embassy.  Nina’s weight is 8.25 kg, she is 72 cm long.  So length is great, weight is a little low.  All the paperwork is in so now we wait.

Yesterday was a big day...  a trip to the Great Wall!  Along the way we stopped at a government owned Jade factory.  If you buy jade here it is real, anywhere else you take your chances.  I have included a photo of a worker craving jade.  Peter wanted everyone to see the $350000 jade Budda, it was too heavy to get home so we did not buy it :)  

At the Great Wall Teresa and Nina stayed at the first tower while Peter and Mia set off for the top.  It was a beautiful day with no wind so we enjoyed exploring and enjoying the view.  Peter and Mia had a very steep hike up on very uneven steps.  They made it to the top!  You can see the pictures that Mia took from the top.  Teresa and Nina were waiting at the bottom with an “I climbed the Great Wall” medal for Mia and she had her picture taken.   

Our guide told us that Mao said anyone who climbed the Great Wall is a hero...so Mia and Peter now think they are heros. :) We had a well deserved lunch of Chinese food at the Friendshop Store (government run store).  On the way back we stopped at a spot where you can see the Olympic Bird’s Nest Stadium and the Water Cube.  It was quite smoggy as you can see so the photos were not that great.

                   

Mia Answers Questions

In the comments to Free Day in Nanchang, Mia's classmates sent her an update of what they've been doing in class while she is in China along with a few questions.

I've copied the questions below along with Mia's answers.

Mia: Thanks for writing, I have answered your questions.

 

Lucas wants to know if you are near the Great Wall of China? 

Mia: We are about 1 hour away from the Great Wall.  We are going to see it tomorrow.  I will post pictures.  

Andy wants to know what Mia’s favourite food that she is enjoying? 

Mia: I like the dumplings and steamed buns at breakfast.  We just had a great pizza from Pizza Hut!

Meadow had a question about animals in China and what animals do they sometimes eat. (I think that she means that perhaps they eat something that we would not consider eating.) 
 
Mia: There were live frogs in a grocery store and my friend Willow is going to try snake.  There is lots of dried duck hanging everywhere. So gross!!

Isaac wants to know if Mia can bring some chop sticks back. 

Mia:  Yes, we can!

Delana is anxious for you to return home because the class misses you. 

Mia: Thank you, I miss all of you too!

Caleb N-A wants to know what you like about China the best? 

Mia: I liked the Tengweng Pavillion in Nanchang. I liked the shape of the building. I will bring in my keychain that I bought at the Pavillion.

 

Caleb D wants to know if you made any friends in China?

Mia: I have 3 new friends from Nova Scotia here to meet their new sisters. Willow, Cieara and Yulan are my new friends.

Madison wants to know how to say “Hello” in Chinese? 

Mia: Hello in Chinese is "Nihao".

Lindy and Makaila say Hi.
 
Mia: Hi back to you!

Tuesday in Nanchang

A few more pictures today, of Tuesday in Nanchang, with a blog report from Teresa:

We did not have any where to go or anything to do, a totally free day.  We decided to walk along one of the side streets up to Bayi Square and then to Starbucks for lunch.  There are a few pictures of the street.  We had to cross the street by ourselves (no guide) and we lived to tell the story.  The key is to find a local and move when they move and watch out for the electric scooters because you can’t hear them coming.   

We went to a local mall and the grocery store.  The bakery all looked yummy but the meat department was an adventure.  Lots that could not be identified and then there are the tanks of live frogs to chose from.  That is when we exited the store!  We made our way to Bayi Square (August 1^st Square).  It is the second largest square in China (Tiannamen is the largest).  The monument commemorates the revolution that started in Nanchang on August 1st.  

After crossing over the over pass that takes you over 10 lanes of traffic we stopped at Starbucks.  Now Nanchang is a city of 5 million people and who do we meet in Starbucks but a family from our travel group, I guess great minds think alike! We had lunch with them and as they are getting ready to leave another family from our group arrives.  Just as we are ready to leave 2 more from our group arrive.  I guess we were all desperate for a good cup of coffee!  Yes, the coffee tastes like home and the price is the same as home so by Chinese standards very expensive.  

Back at the hotel, Mia went for a swim with the other big girls.  There were 2 birthday boys in our travel group yesterday so we met up and had some wine/beer to celebrate.  Yes, the wine/beer tastes the same but it is very cheap! 

Wednesday we pack up and fly back to Beijing.  It will be good to change the scenery and have new places to explore.

Free Day in Nanchang

Today was a free day for us.  We slept in until 6:00 (yeah for us!).  The big girls (and one big boy) went for a swim in the pool and then we got ready to go to the giant ferris wheel.  It is called the Star of Nanchang and it is the largest working ferris wheel in China.  It is located in “New Nanchang” across the river from Nanchang.  

When we arrived after a very interesting taxi ride...there is no way to describe how they drive here...it was closed so the girls went on a few smaller amusement rides!  Beautiful views of the new city but too much fog/smog today for good views of the old city.  We then taxied back to Walmart.  Chinese Walmart is again something to be experienced not described.  Sensory over load, the noise level is very high! Items are not always cheap but they are all in one place so it makes it a good destination for us. 

Yesterday we visited Mia’s orphanage.  We went with a driver  and our translator Lily.  We were able to have a great discussion with Lily about China and learned a lot along the way. They welcomed Mia with fire crackers which she said was her favorite part of the visit.  They had signs welcoming us and presented us with a snack of tea, oranges and dragon eye fruit.  The best oranges we have ever had!  They loved seeing the new photos of Mia and looked at the group photos of all the girls in the travel group. They have all the photos we have sent over the years.  Fran and Mary, we delivered your photo album and the Vice Director was very happy to see it. The Director presented Mia with a jade necklace of a sheep because that is the year she was born.  They kept hugging her and holding her hand.  We were able to visit the old and the new orphanage buildings.  There are not babies at Shanggao now, they are all in foster care. The old building is a senior home.  They tried to talk Chinese to Mia and smiled at her alot.  They were concerned with Nina’s fingers in her mouth (a no-no in China).  We then went to the street where Mia lived with her Foster Mother.  We were able to meet the nurse from the orphanage there.  She remembered the girls that lived on the street.  We also met a man and women who remembered the 3 baby girls from Shanggao that lived there. 

Nina is doing well.  She learned to reach and grab her toys...the photo of her and Peter in the car is the first time she reached for a toy.  She is sitting up more and more.  She is saying “mama”, “dada” and “nannan”.  She laughs, smiles and “talks”.

Trip to Shanggao

Here's another set of photos from Teresa. These are from Sunday the 14th and show their trip to Shanggao, which is where Mia's orphanage is located. From the photos, it's clear that they received a nice welcome at Shanggao!

Here's a few great ones of Mia:

 A great one of the family, but you have to love the pink scooter in the foreground as well.