We woke up in Beijing for the first time this morning. I probably only slept a total of about 3 hours all night. I don't think my aunt faired much better! We met with our group at 8:30am and boarded a bus for Tian'an Men Square. It is called the square of the "Gate of Heavenly Peace" and it is quite impressive in size.

Next, it was the Forbidden City, where the Emperors lived. It was beautiful! Carvings on the buildings and the intricate detail were breathtaking. From there we traveled to a Jade Factory and were able to learn a bit about how jade is made. The group as a whole dropped quite a bit of money there!

We had lunch at a restaurant behind a government-run store, The Friendship Store. There were lots of adoptive families buying souvenirs there. We saw a whole French Canadian group who had just gotten their little babies....they were so cute!

Our final tourist destination of the day was to the Great Wall of China. WOW! It really does go on forever! Although Auntie Charlotte and I resisted buying the t-shirt that says it: "We really did climb the Great Wall!" It is amazing to think that this wall is thousands of miles long and was handmade. Some of the walkway is quite uneven, but we managed to make it without twisting our ankles.

We stopped for dinner on the way back to the hotel and were all delighted to meet Jane, the woman who runs the CWA China program. Jane is traveling to Shenyang with us and one other woman, tomorrow. She will be our guide while we are there. All of the families in the group head to different provinces at 8:45 in the morning, but we will all meet up on the final leg of our journey.

With prayers and luck, the next time I write we will have Frankie in our arms....