September 6, 2008

Today we visited the Great Wall and climbed a small section. The region was very mountainous therefore the climb was incredibly steep and made us appreciate the difficult accomplishment building the wall was. It was great exercise for anyone as we made our way up the mountainside, and the views were beautiful and spectacular--a memory we will always cherish.

We visited the jade factory and toured the Summer Palace. We have learned a lot, however, we are starting to feel like herded cattle going from place to place. Everyone is exhausted, and we wish we had a bit more flexibility to enjoy the hotel and rest up. We will soon meet our little Jade, and we need some energy quick!

We were able to do some shopping and purchase a few more Beijing Olympic souveniers. The opening ceremonies for the paralympics begin tonight, so Beijing is in a whirl of excitement for that.

Tomorrow morning we must be ready to leave the hotel by 8:30AM for an 11:30AM flight to Kunming. The flight is 3 hours in duration. Kunming is in the Yunnan Province. It is also called South of the Clouds. Kunming is where we will meet our baby.

I posted a photo of our group on yesterday's blog. We have a total of six families meeting six new family members soon. The babies are from 3 orphanages in the Yunnan Province. We will try to post from Kunming tomorrow evening.

Marble Boat at the Summer Palace

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