Yesterday, Saturday, was quite a day. We woke up early and had breakfast at the hotel. There were many things we didn't even want to try, but also many western-style foods. Amber was excited to find the fried potatos, and Steve and I were happy to get some eggs scrambled to your liking. We had them add a little cheese, and they were perfect! They also had toast and bacon and the boys both filled up on that. After breakfast we met up with the group at 8 am, and for us to be up, ready, and fed by 8 am is quite the feat for our family. We headed off for Tianneman Square and the Forbidden City. It was quite beautiful, and very large! On the walk there we were bombarded by people trying to sell us things, and not wanting to take no for an answer. We did let Paul buy a paper Chinese flag, for 1 rmb, which is about .15 cents USD. The boys were again very well behaved, though they got a little bored walking through the Forbidden City. The most exciting part for them was all the Chinese people wanting to take pictures with them. Paul, Zach, and Amber, all had their picture taken more then once with Chinese people. A couple of people would ask, others just took the pictures. We told Amber they thought she must have been an American celebrity, maybe one of the Olsen twins! She didn't agree! A couple of people would touch Paul's red hair, which he thought was strange, and didn't stray too far from us for a while after that happened. We also had our first experience with "squattie potties", something I would have gladly lived without. They were nice bathrooms, but no one waited in line, you just jumped in a bathroom whenever you could, there were no locks on the doors, so anyone could open to see if it was empty, there was basically a toilet type thing on the ground and no paper. There was also no soap at the sinks. It was quite an experience!After that we went to a Jade Factory, Paul thought it was interesting to watch them cut the Jade. The jade was I guess great prices, but I am not an expert! We bought a small jade pig for Molly, since she was born in the Year of the Pig. We were going to buy a pig pendant, but those were a little pricier then we wanted to pay. We were also able to get a snowglobe of the Great Wall for Morgan! We ate lunch at the factory, it was again a family-style meal. The food was actually pretty good and they even had french fries, the boys were so excited. They have been so good about trying the different foods. I can't even tell you what we have eaten! I know I had something that tasted like chicken and it was really good. There was another food that I think was chicken as well, and it was excellent with the rice! Steve has been the most adventurous of us all and tried just about everything.
After lunch we finally made it to the Great Wall. Paul was so excited! He has really been looking forward to this! We didn't realize how many steps we were going to have to climb. Zach was so tired, and wouldn't have been able to make it up many of the steps. The steps ranged it height from about 2 inches, to well over 20 inches. So, it was rough going. Steve carried Zach much of the way. Paul loved climbing up. Amber made it much quicker then the rest of us! We got to one tower and Steve, Zach, and I stopped while Paul and Amber continued on. Zach was very tired so we have pictures of him almost asleep on the Great Wall sitting in my lap, eating a banana someone had given him. Going down the wall was quite challenging as well, but we had a good time! On the way back to the hotel we drove through the area where the Olympics will be held. It was neat to see all the architecture. We got back to the hotel and had another family style dinner, this time there was not much of anything that I was willing to try. The boys ate a few bites when I fed them with chopsticks. Steve and Amber tried a few things. We are all so tired that we don't really feel much like eating! We all slept fairly well last night. The boys woke around 4:00 am and were hungry, so they had pop-tarts and went back to sleep until about 6:30.
Today we will head to Nanjing where Molly is. The plane leaves at 12:00 noon and it's about a two hour flight. We don't have anything planned for the evening. Hopefully relax. There is a possibility that they will bring Molly to the hotel this evening, but more likely we will meet her at the Civil Affairs Office in the morning.
