Thanks so much for visiting us during our journey, Steve, Patty, Caleb, Danae (daughter-in-law), Logan, Drew and Annika!
For this child I prayed, and the Lord has given me my petition which I asked of Him.
So I have also dedicated her to the Lord; as long as she liveth she is dedicated to the Lord. I Samuel 1:27 - 28
Today was packed full of sightseeing. We started out at 8:30 a.m. and headed to Tiananmen Square, The designs and relics that you see there are absolutely amazing. It is very cold in Beijing this time of the year, you have to have on scarves, gloves and whatever else you have or the bitter cold goes right through you.
The minute the street people see our bus coming they are waiting outside to sell you something. We have learned to say no in Chinese and we say it at least 100 times in an hour. If you even look the least bit interested in their item (pencils, hats, and Rolex watches) they will follow you for a very long time to make a sale. We were told to not buy anything from this area because they have a problem with us getting back counterfeit money for change.
We then went to the Forbidden City. This is where the Emperor and his family lived. It is absolutely awesome to see the throngs of people coming to visit this attraction in Beijing.
The Pearl Factory was also on our stop for the day. We did want to get Annika a pearl necklace and bracelet to have for her wedding day and after much thought and looking we both found the exact same one that we fell in love with for her.
The Summer Palace was on our schedule for the day. This was a place that the Lady Emperor built for herself. This was really neat to see. There is alot of symbolic items in China. You see alot of Lion sculptures in China. The Lion sculpture with the globe under his feet represents the male. Lions on top of drums signifies military relations. Alot of the places that we went to today you had to take a huge step to go up into the entrance way. The higher the sill, meant the wealthier the family. By lifting your legs up over the high sill was to ward off the evil spirits from hopping into the house.
We went to a real Silk Factory today. We decided not to purchase anything at this one. When we go to Annika's Province they will have the same silk dresses etc. for alot less money. It was really neat to see the eggs of the silkworms and then see the end result which was a silk comforter, tie, shirt or robes
We had a Peking Duck meal for dinner. Most of the meals we have went to, we sit down at a round table with 8 - 10 people and there is a glass round spinning lazy susan with lots of different foods.
I am still unable to eat anything but the plain rice. The smells are not agreeing with me and the taste is just not pleasant to me at all. Steve does not have a problem with any of the food here in Beijing.
We went past the 2008 Summer Olympics Stadium that they are building in Beijing. The Bird's Nest Stadium is something I always saw on other people's blogs, but can not believe I am seeing it in person.
We have 2 more days until we get Annika. I did have a wave of sadness today as we were at the Summer Palace. There were alot of little children there and every time I saw a little girl, it just in one sense broke my heart that we are going to be taking Annika from this homeland that she was born to. In my heart I know that this is the best thing that we will be doing for this dear child. She will have a family, she will have hope and she will have a future.
