May 16: Great Wall, Hutong Lane

Tomorrow they’re gonna hurt.

My legs, that is.

No one told me the Great Wall was that steep. My, oh my!

We began this morning with what was supposed to be an hour ride to the
Bodaling (sp?) section of the Great Wall. Happy told us that during
weekdays they’ve continued a system developed during the Olympics in which
car license plates ending in certain #s are only allowed to use the road
on certain days. But on the weekend, it’s a free-for-all. Everyone drives.
We certainly saw that today during our 2.5 hour trip to the Great Wall.

Apparently, all those people were headed to the same section of the Great
Wall. It was CROWDED. As we began our climb, we had a choice. Left or
right. Happy said that the right side was an easier climb but much more
crowded. One glance revealed that it was pretty much shoulder to shoulder
all the way up. I was thinking that if you just wedged yourself into the
crowd, the momentum alone might get you to the top. So we took the less
populated, steep side. “Less populated” might be overrated. “Steep” was a
huge understatement.

In several sections of our climb, we were ascending at about a 45 degree
angle. And then a few sections must have come close to 60 degrees…bend
halfway over at the waist, climb step that is as high as your shin, and
wonder how in the world your 44” child is RUNNING up the stairs. Well,
maybe not that section of stairs. But many sections. If you ask the
Chinese who they saw on the Great Wall today, they’d be able to identify
us by the woman bent over, huffing and puffing, and yelling to the kids,
“Wait for MOMMY!”

We went significantly further than anyone else in our group. Took us
almost 2 hours. When we got down, we bought “I Climbed the Great Wall”
tshirts. We deserved it!

About halfway up the wall, we ended up next to a group of young men from,
I assume, the U.S. They pointed at the ground in front of them, at the
feet of a woman. She was wearing SPIKED HEELS. I saw a couple of women in
spikes. Also saw a woman removed her spikes to climb. Saw a surprising
number of retired folks, both Chinese and foreigners, climbing. As
difficult as it was for me, I can’t imagine how hard it would have been
for them.

We had family style Chinese food for lunch. It was fine, though not nearly
as tasty as yesterday.

Speaking of family, we’ve now been joined by four other Holt families. The
one family that I mentioned earlier already has their daughter. The three
other families just arrived and are all awaiting their first child.
Interestingly enough, most of the folks are about our age—a few slightly
older, a few slightly younger. They informed me that I missed some rather
interesting emails from Holt that went out soon after we left. Apparently,
Holt has told those that are holding T.A.s (travel approvals) who don’t
already have confirmed travel (and I assume appointments) that they are
NOT traveling now. This is new and very different from what I heard on
Monday. So I guess things are changing quickly. Another email said that
folks who are traveling are required to wear masks at all official
meetings. Again, this all came out since we left, so they were trying to
fill me in.

One family said that they DID have someone on their flight with a fever.
Surreal experience. Medical personnel in full bio garb (right down to eye
goggles) came in to take away the feverish man. Then the 18 or so folks
around him were taken aside to be individually checked. They noted that
these people were later released as they saw them in the airport before
departing. I’m not sure which airport although I think Beijing. Another
family flew in through Hong Kong and were very surprised to not be
individually checked. They walked through the big heat sensing monitors
which, as I understand, have been in place ever since SARS. So no special
treatment there. As someone who’s been on the ground now for several days,
I find it odd that they are stopping adoption appointments as the whole
flu thing doesn’t seem to be that big of a deal on the street. But it is
in the adoption world. The family that already received their daughter
this week in Beijing said that in their meeting with officials, everyone
in the room wore masks and the officials wanted them out of there as
quickly as possible. I continue to wonder if we’ll be able to meet the
foster family as a result of flu scare.

Anyway, back to the day… After lunch we took another long ride back to
Beijing where we went to Hutong for a tour. Hutong is an old section of
the city with narrow alleys containing homes and businesses. We rode on
rickshaw-like bicycles and visited one woman’s home. The four room home
(bedroom, living area, kitchen, courtyard) was originally owned by her
grandparents. Homes are passed through the generations this way. The homes
have no bathrooms; the community shares one. LilDude enjoyed watching the
woman’s two little dogs that she calls “her daughters.” Happy explained
that the woman was retired and that Chinese women retire at 50; men at 55.
The homeowner’s niece invited us into the bedroom where she was at work
handpainting the insides of snuff bottles. Gorgeous artwork. We bought one
small bottle for 100 yuan (about $15.) She sells the bottles to hotels and
other tourist stops.

Tomorrow we begin the day with a Holt meeting in which we’ll receive new
photos and information about our child. Looking forward to it. And in the
afternoon we’ll tour Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Happy said
in the Forbidden City we’ll finally be able to learn how many concubines
the emperor had. Dying to know, aren’t you?

May 15: Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven

After another fabulous breakfast buffet we met Happy, our guide, who
happens to serve as both our Holt guide and our Lotus tour guide. It’s
really been nice to have the same person represent both places. We feel
very well cared for.

Happy and our driver took us first to the Summer Palace, former home of
the Empress or “Dragon Lady.” I enjoyed Happy’s stories of the cruel
Empress at least as much as I enjoyed touring the grounds. It was also
really nice to be able to talk with a Chinese National who could speak
English and answer a lot of our questions. One interesting tidbit that I
didn't know...she says that now if you and your husband are both the only
child of your parents that you are allowed to have two children without
penalty. I guess the idea is that one offspring for two parents and two
sets of grandparents is too big a burden for the child.

When we completed our Summer Palace tour, she explained that it was the
peak of lunch hour and suggested that we stop at a tea house first.
Definitely a highlight of the day. At the teahouse, our tea hostess taught
us about making various types of tea and made samples of 5 or so teas for
us to try. I now understand why other cultures drink tea. This stuff was
GOOD. Really GOOD. We bought some lychee and oolong (spelling?) teas to
bring home along with a cup depicting a Great Wall scene that changes
depending on water temperature. Oh, and we got a free “peeing boy.” She
demonstrated how to test water temperature by putting water in this little
clay figure that “pees” at the right temp. Seemed a little odd in a formal
tea room, but greatly amused the boys.

After tea, Happy took us to a Chinese restaurant and ordered lunch. Oh
boy! We had broccoli and beef, kungpao chicken, eggplant/potatoes, fried
sweet bananas, spicy cabbage soup, So, so good. We ate til we couldn’t
eat any more. (Seriously, the eating on this trip is not-to-be-beaten.)
Incidentally, I guess Happy isn’t too worried about catching swine flu
from Americans. As there were no serving spoons, she told us that we
should just dig into the dishes with our chopsticks. We had teeny tiny
little individual plates, so we refilled frequently. Speaking of swine
flu…according to her*, the quarantined Holt family made it to Beijing, but
were on a plane with someone with symptoms and as a result were
immediately sent back to the states without meeting their child. If that’s
true, I can’t imagine the stress and disappointment. Or sitting on another
15 hour flight without a rest in between. Which just goes to show that
it’s slightly important to not be on a flight with anyone with a fever.
Freaky. (*Later I learned that this probably wasn't true...that a family was quarantined in Beijing for a week, but they went on to join their original travel group and made it through the process.)

After lunch, we toured a silk factory…I think she said the oldest in
Beijing? They showed us the life cycle of silkworms, how the thread is
made, how the cloth is made, etc. Fascinating stuff. Lots of photos on the
wall of international dignitaries who’d visited.

Then on to Temple of Heaven. This is a place where the Emperor would go
three times a year to ask for good harvests. Now it’s remarkable for all
the folks that gather to dance, sing karaoke, play poker, etc. Lizzi
thrilled a Chinese man by agreeing to dance with him a bit. I’ll try to
load a video later. She was quite the dancer.

It’s been fairly cool here, btw. We’ve been wearing jeans or capris with
jackets. Perfect temps, really. I think it’ll get quite a bit hotter on
our next stop.

We made it back to the hotel by 5. We’re resting up in preparation to
visit the Great Wall tomorrow. Several other Holt families will accompany
us with Happy. We met one family briefly today, a mom, grandma, and
3-year-old girl they’d just received the day before from an orphanage in
Beijing.

So that’s it for now. Hugs to all.

May 14: Shopping

Our second day, May 14, was a “free day.” We went to the “walking street”
or Wang Fu Jing. In order to get there, we had to cross the street. TWICE.
No small task. Anyone who has been to Beijing already knows this, but for
those of you who don’t,…understand that CROSSING THE STREET in Beijing
translates to "I HAVE A DEATH WISH…THE SOONER THE BETTER, PLEASE.”
Seriously, it’s scary. Cars, vans, and yes, BUSES, have the right away.
Always. Even when the pedestrian light is green. Your only hope is to find
a crowd of Chinese, try to get as close to them as possible, close your
eyes, and GO. We almost lost dh to a moped and Lizzi to a bus. The
people on the bus laughed at her. I didn’t think it was all that funny. I
told everyone we no longer cross the street without a ton of Chinese
people nearby.

So we survived. We first went to the mall where we were surprised by a few
things. First, the ratio of clerks to shoppers was often 1:1 or 2:1.
Clerks everywhere. Not that many shoppers. But with the prices, we weren’t
surprised. Stuff wasn’t cheap. It was really no different than being in
any N. American mall. Cleaner, maybe. I never did see a trash can in the
mall, so I wasn’t sure how it managed to stay so clean…except perhaps that
high worker to shopper ratio. The only thing we found to be cheap was
Cds/DVDs. The kids each bought a few. Lizzi got one for $2 that we
estimated to cost around $30 at home. I bought a couple kids’ Cds. I tried
to find some that were in Chinese and suitable for 3-year-olds, but the
clerks didn’t think they had anything that met the criteria. We looked at
the DVDs for a long time, but weren’t sure they’d work at home. They were
also inexpensive.

We walked through a lot of shops. And then cruised a side street where you
could buy scorpions on a stick. Yum. Apparently, it’s important to have them fresh, so they are
strung on the stick alive and then deep fried on the spot. We also saw
some sort of insect as well as sea horses for eating off a stick. As we
weren’t really all that hungry, we left.

We made a stop at a grocery store for bottled water to take back to our
room. And treated each kid to their own bottle of pop. Oh, incidentally,
we weren’t hungry mostly because the breakfast buffet in our hotel (Novotel Peace) is amazing. Oh, the FOOD. Some Chinese, some traditional breakfast stuff. Pot
stickers, fried noodles, fish, eggs cooked 3 or 4 different ways,
pancakes, waffles, miso soup, congee, pastries, yogurt drinks, 4 kinds of
juice, several kinds of fruit…and much, much more. It’s fantastic. We see
a lot of international travelers in our hotel. I guess the owners are
French; Air France uses the hotel as a travel base. But lots of other
international travelers as well.

But back to shopping… Although a few people approached us to buy things,
it was less than we expected. And we started to wonder about something. We
caught a lot of people staring at LilDude. Often staring from me to
LilDude and back. We think people were very confused by seeing an Asian
child with an Anglo family. Finally, one salesgirl directly asked, “Is he
Chinese?” And even after we said he was born in Korea she still wanted to
know if he spoke Chinese. She said he looked very Chinese. I think LilDude
confused people and made them a little unsure of where we were from and
therefore weren't as likely to give us high pressure sales pitches. I told
LilDude he was lucky. He could pretend to be Chinese or Korean or American.
As long as he didn’t speak, that is. He thought this was quite humorous.
Everywhere we go, we continue to get stares that seem to focus on how this
little “Chinese” boy could be with us. Some people assume that because of
his presence, we speak Chinese.

After shopping, we returned to the hotel to take a nap. Then a Thai meal
at the mall where all of us ate well for only about $20. The same meal at
home would have cost double. After dinner we caught a cab for what was
supposed to be a 20 minute ride to the Acrobat show at the Choayang
theater. But the 20 minute cab ride easily turned into a 40 minute ride.
Traffic here is incredible. Cars everywhere. Long lights. Bicycles,
pedestrians, cars, buses, everyone merging at once, all the time. We
entered the theatre with about a minute to go before the show. It was
amazing.

The show was indescribable. Everything from people bending in ways that
look absolutely painful, to jumping through rings in crazy ways, to
loading one bicycle with about 12 people, to incredible balance tricks.

Very cool. But we were also feeling the effects of jet lag. I LOVED the
show, but caught my head bobbing once just because I was so tired. LilDude fell asleep on the way back. We all went straight to bed and slept well.
Great day.

May 13: Made it to China

May 13, 2009

We’re here.

In quarantine.

Just kidding. Hehe.

I’m typing on Word and will later try to upload to blogger. We have to try to access from the lobby, so it’ll be hit and miss. Which means we probably can’t Skype anytime soon either.

I’m really not sure what day it is or what time zone I’m in. We left at 2:25p.m.on May 12 and left the Beijing Airport for out hotel at a little after midnight on May 14. I think we completely skipped Anakin & Big Sis's birthdays. We did sing (quietly) to Anakin somewhere over the ocean and gave him a Lego Starwars game for the Nintendo.

But back to what I’m sure you’re interested in…the flu.

From the gate in the U.S., we knew things might be a little different. At check-in, the Northwest attendant indicated that things were definitely happening in Tokyo that were messing up Northwest; that their flight attendants were being held (I assume quarantined) due to people on flights with fevers. He strongly advised that people not go with fevers.

On the 10.5 hour flight to Tokyo we saw several Asian folks with masks on. As we got closer and closer to China, the number of masks exponentially increased in airports…but more on that later.

The flight to Tokyo was superb…or as superb as any 10.5 hour flight can be. Thanks to dh, we were seated in an area that wasn’t quite full. We were in the middle of the plane where there were four seats together. Lizzi, 'LilDude and I had one set of four seats, so he could stretch out between us and sleep for short periods of time. Anakin and dh were seated next to one masked young man with an empty seat on their other side, so they moved over, giving them an extra space. I highly recommend the Northwest entertainment system. We each had a screen and could choose from multiple video games that could even be played interactively with another seat on the plane; Lizzi even played games against dh, sitting in front of her. The movie choices included a list of perhaps thirty or so flicks, from new releases to classics. 'LilDude had at least 5-6 or more kid movies to choose from. I barely even broke into his rather full backpack, save a bit of time on Lisa’s Didj. At one point, dh and Anakin were watching a movie in tandem so that dh could stop Anakin and make him fastforward if anything was inappropriate. We were also fed well. A decent dinner and breakfast as well as the usual pretzels and the unusual ice cream sandwich. I thought the ice cream sandwich was their feeble attempt to lower our temps before we reached Tokyo. ;) We drank a lot of water on the flight, trying to stay hydrated. We also took preventative Ibuprofen. I did not want us to be the ones holding up the guys in the white bunny suits.

When we reached Tokyo we were told to remain in our seats as local health authorities embarked the plane. They had almost full surgical scrubs on, with masks. We were told that taking photographs could “slow the process” so we only have one distant photo of the initial process. First a guy went up the plane, row by row, and very quickly scanned the row with some sort of heat measuring device. We did not have individual temps taken, rather he seemed to mostly be looking for hot spots. Then we had individual interviews with authorities who reviewed health forms we’d filled out on the plane. We had to say if we’d been around pigs, been around sick people, had any of the following symptoms in the last two weeks (from sore throat to headache to nausea) and whether we’d taken some kind of meds (didn’t understand the term, but I assume it meant fever meds) any time in the last two weeks. I filled out the forms before we took Ibuprofen. ;) Although I’m not even sure that the form was referring to that. We also had to say exactly where we were going and how we could be contacted. So they can still come find us if anyone gets sick. They told us this process could take up to an hour but that all connecting flights would wait for us. They finished the plane and then all the health authorities seemed to disappear. After ten minutes or more they gave us the all clear.

In the Tokyo airport we went through security screening like we were entering an airport. We didn’t have to take shoes off, but we were not to have ANY liquids. We didn’t want to lose our antibacterial lotion and no one confiscated it. I really don’t think they were checking things very closely. Although perhaps they knew that we’d already gone through previous security screenings in other airports? In Tokyo, as we left the plane, we passed a LOT of workers wearing face masks. They then handed out face masks to everyone as they left the breezeway. Quite a few Asian folks wore them; I saw almost no Anglo/N.Americans with them on. One family put them on for a photo op and then took them off.

In the flight from Tokyo to Beijing we had the same flight amenities. But after 10.5 hours, the entertainment systems were no longer terribly entertaining. We were mostly wiped, having been up for about a day by that time. Interesting thing about
LilDude…when he is exhausted, he gets wound. And I mean wound. Like a top wound up too tight. Or a pin ball on steroids. He gets loud, hyper, and generally difficult to rein in. (Our poor guide’s first impression probably wasn’t great last night. She kept watching him and finally said, “He has a lot of energy.” The understatement of the night.)

On the flight to Beijing, I felt a tad funny after eating dinner…which was an unappetizing chicken dish with all the fat/skin (dh and Anakin had the beef and it was better). I was also definitely feeling the effects of lack of sleep. So I wasn’t terribly surprised when LilDude mentioned in passing that his tummy didn’t feel that great, both on the Tokyo and Beijing flights. We had quite a bit of turbulence coming into Tokyo and a little bit between Tokyo and Beijing, so it was understandable.

But then, dh, who happens to have the “miracle touch” when it comes to sensing kid fevers, started saying that he wondered if LilDude had a fever. I wasn’t sure, but I’m not nearly as good at it as dh. He did feel warm. Kinda sweaty. So in addition to the second dose of Ibuprofen I’d just dealt out for Beijing, I also gave him Tylenol. And then a Pepto Bismal pill. About 5 minutes before landing in Beijing, he suddenly looks at me and says, “I feel something in my mouth.” That’s when Mommy experience pays off big-time. It took me about as fast as you can say “Beijing quarantine” for me to locate an airsickness bag, let him quietly dump the Ibuprofen, Tylenol, and PeptoBismal into it, roll it up, stash it beneath his seat, and turn to see if anyone noticed. Luckily, we were in a row of three and dh and I were on each side of him. No one saw. (In fact, when Lizzi and Anakin read this today, they said, "He threw up???? They were sitting across the aisle from us and didn't notice.)

LilDude felt better. And dh hoped that his forehead was a little cooler. But now came the big question…what to do with the evidence?

We could no longer access the bathroom. We were NOT going to tell the flight attendants who would obligate us to change our already filled out health forms which included “vomiting.” And we could not leave the evidence behind as the “local health authorities” would know someone on the plane was sick. And understand that this would NOT be a good thing. So we put the bag in a plastic bag we’d gotten in the airport when we bought neck pillows. Neck pillows out, evidence in. I simply carried it out like any other souvenir bag. And deposited it in a bathroom trash in the airport.

Upon landing, this time, EVERY PERSON had their forehead individually scanned. Two guys went through the entire plane and aimed their “gun” at each person’s head. We didn’t know if it’d help, but I did stroke his forehead with my freezing cold hand several times. Thankfully, we all passed. No one checked our health forms until we disembarked. Then we got in lines to have them checked. Then a final line for passports/Visa. After the lines, we easily got our luggage (no customs check…no different to get luggage here than at home) and met our guide who popped us in a van with a driver and took us to our hotel. We were in bed by around 1a.m. local time. BTW, we have not experienced the complaint that we’ve read on forums about rock hard mattresses. Lizzi commented this morning how comfortable her bed is…with about the same width as the one that held three of us in Atlanta.

But back to flu travel…

After going through health screening in both Tokyo and Beijing, here’s my analysis.

It’d be REALLY BAD NEWS if you were found to have a fever on a flight.
It’d be REALLY BAD NEWS to sit anywhere close to someone with a fever.
It could very possibly be bad news to have ANYONE on your flight with a fever.

Oh, and it’d probably be best to not throw up just as the health authorities are boarding the plane.

Other than that, travel is fine.

Today is a free day for us to catch up on rest and walk around local markets. We’ll update as we have time. Will also try to add a few photos.