Seeing the Wall...and then hitting it!!

Hello to everyone back home. The Apollo mission team has safely arrived in Hero City, Nanchang.  A lot has happened since our last post, but things are also happening very fast without much of an opportunity to stop and write about it.  

Quick synopsis of our Saturday.  Unfortunately we have not yet adjusted to the time change, so we were all awake by 1am and watched some strange sheep-people cartoon for about 5 hours until the restaurant opened for breakfast. We were able to repackage our suitcases because the plan for the day was to check out of the hotel, go to the Great Wall, and then catch an overnight train ride from Beijing to Nanchang.  

 

After a lovely breakfast, we had about an hour to kill before our guide arrived so we hit the streets to try to find a Starbucks. The day was absolutely glorious. The sun was out, the sky was blue, and the temperature was about 70... a stark difference from the 60 degree, overcast and windy day from Friday. My phone said that there were multiple within a mile. I chose one and off we marched. Not for coffee to drink, but rather to buy gift cards to give as gifts (although I probably would have gotten a coffee to drink too).  However, after walking up and down the street where it was supposed to be, no Starbucks could be found. We did see some quaint little shopping streets. We hustled back to the hotel to grab our suitcases and check out. 

 

There was another adoptive family that is with the same agency staying at the hotel (not just by coincidence, our agency put us together for ease of coordination by our shared guide. We all piled into the van to head toward The Great Wall. The other adoptive family was represented by the Father and 14 year old daughter. They currently have 6 children (2 previous adoptions) and are in China to adopt 2 more! We really got to know them on the van ride and they are wonderful wonderful people!  We will see them again in about a week when we get to Guangzhou. 

This trip we have our same guide in Beijing that we had last year, Cindy. When we saw her we asked if she remembered us, she said "Oh yes, three girls, twins, panda stocking hat".  She was right on. This is how we looked last year.

 

On the way to the wall we stopped at the largest Jade market in Beijing. It is the same place we went last year and spent and exorbitant amount of money. This year we just browsed and bought a 3 yuan Fanta. 

 
 

After the jade market, we continued our drive northward into the mountains. We asked Cindy if we could go to a different place on the wall than last time.  So we went about another 20 minutes beyond the previous section and arrived at Badaling.  A few differences from last year.  This one had a cable car to take you up to a higher section (don't worry, there was still a plenty of climbing up there).  The biggest difference this time was the crowd. Here is last year's pic:

 

and this is this year's:

 

The Great Wall is truly a marvel of the world. The fact that it was built entirely by men's bare hands with no machinery still boggles my mind. Our guide said it has been called history's longest cemetery because the slaves that were used to build it would work to their death and then just be buried in the mountain right alongside.  

Magnus was more interested in taking on the wall using his own two feet than to be carried. 

      

After about 2 hours on the wall, we took the cable car back down to meet Cindy and the other family. We then went to lunch at the same place as last year. It doubles as a restaurant and copper factory (the metal, not what a 1920's gangster would call a doughnut shop)...insert Dana's eye roll at my humor here.

After lunch we had quite a bit of time left before we needed to be at the train station so the guide took us for a Chinese Tea Ceremony. It was really a neat experience. We were in a private room and a lady came in to make multiple forms of tea for us to sample.  Dana and I are not big tea drinkers, but after sampling some new types, we will definitely start!  The first one was called Ginseng Oolong. It gave one of the most refreshing after-tastes ever.  Even Magnus got in on the tea drinking.

 

After the tea ceremony, we drove by all the Beijing Olympic sites. Cindy said they have the 2022 Winter Olympics coming back to Beijing. 

 

Around 5:00 we arrived at the train station. The best way to describe Magnus at this point is somewhere between Fiery Exhausted Rage and Hangry Frustration.  We were "those Americans" with a screaming Chinese child that looked like he hated us.  When we finally got on the train I got a little confused by the numbering system and put all of our stuff in one of the sleeper rooms. A lady came to the doorway and just stared at us. After comparing the tickets, it was clear that I was in the wrong and we needed to move down a couple doors. Moving all our stuff with the lady refusing to step out of the doorway and Magnus screaming like a hyena was...fun. 

 

Now, after a semi-full night's sleep, we are ready to prepare for Family Day!  

 

 

We will go check in at the Shangri-La Nanchang. We learned that Apollo will be taking the train down Sunday from Beijing and he will come right over to us at the hotel.  This is the real reason we are here!! We are ready to bring Apollo into our family and show him the love and care every child deserves.