Today was our last day in Beijing. We met our guide at 9:00 this morning in the lobby of our hotel and started a day full of touring. First we stopped at the Jade factory. China is well known for their Jade. Jade comes in many colors: pink, green, purple, white, and yellow. As you may know, the medals used for the Beijing Olympics were made of Jade. We bought a gift made of Jade to give to Savannah when she is older. We hope it will have a special meaning to her, as part of her Chinese name means Jade. Oh, and by the way the Jade factory is where I had my first dreaded encounter with a squat pot!!! For those of you that don't know what a squat pot is, it is a porcelain hole in the floor that you have to squat over and most don't have toilet paper.
Next stop was at the Cloisonne factory. This factory uses copper to make vases, bracelets and anything you can think of. The copper is shaped, painted, and heated several times to get the final product. We bought Savannah a gift to give her when she is older. Next stop was The Great Wall, what an amazing site to see. The steps were very steep, some of the steps were 4-5 inches, and some of them were 18-20 inches, which made it very hard to climb. This was one tour that you had to work for.
Coming back to the Hotel our bus driver stopped by the Olympic Stadium (Bird Nest). It was huge. The Paralympics are still in progress, and the stadium is closed to the public so we got as close as we could to take pictures. We also see the water cube, but only as we were driving by. Once we got back to the hotel, we had to say good bye to Yen. What a big help he was. For dinner we went to Pizza Hut with Cheryl and John, another couple from Beckley, W.V. Tomorrow we meet our guide at 5:00am to leave Beijing for Chongqing, Savannah's Province. It's hard to believe in less than 2 days we will be holding our daughter. Six other families will be traveling with us to meet their babies. We miss everyone one back at home, and we are thankful for your prayers. We can't wait to bring her home to meet everyone.
Countdown to Savannah: 2 days
P.S. Jordan and Tannor, We love you very much!!!! Only 13 more days to go and we'll be home. We can't wait for you to meet your new sister!
