Well, we finally made it to China and we were very happy that our luggage made it, too! Our flights went smoothly until we were trying to leave Los Angeles. We boarded the plane on time; however, we sat on the plane for 1 hour and 40 minutes before taking off! We never did find out why we were waiting....they gave some vague excuse about waiting for documentation permitting us to leave. The flight was EXTREMELY long and the plane was completely full. Since we were late taking off, of course, we missed our connecting flight from Guangzhou to Changsha. Fortunately, they were able to get us on another flight to Changsha about two hours later.

We arrived at our Hotel, the "Grand Sun", in Changsha. We then went on a tour of the Yuelin mountain which looks out over the city of Changsha. The ride itself was quite an experience, as the road was packed with pedestrians, bicycle riders and vehicles all going different directions in the same lane! There is just no way to describe the driving experience in China....I don't think I will ever complain about those Wichita drivers again! The jet lag did Kira in, and she slept through the whole tour.

At the bottom of the Yuelin mountain we stopped at the Hunan University, which is one of the oldest Universities in China. It is in a wooded setting with a lot of beautiful architecture. We were able to listen to a performance by musicians performing on ancient bells, a dulcimer-type instrument, various wood-winds and what looked like chipped stones....it sounded amazing! We went on this tour on our first trip to Changsha with Kira and she was mesmerized by the music. She even woke up long enough to enjoy it this time, too.

After breakfast, we went on a tour of the Hunan Embroidery Institute. Embroidery is one of the things that Hunan is famous for, and it is breathtaking! They are able to do embroidery work that has the look of an oil painting! Another amazing thing that they do is an embroidery piece that has one picture on one side and the same picture is on the back, too, or sometimes a completely different picture on the back side! We were even able to watch some of the women working on pieces. One of the women gave Kira a piece of her grapefruit!

Following the Embroidery tour we went to visit the Changsha Social Welfare Institute #1. This is where Kira's orphanage moved to. Her actual orphanage is just a few blocks from our hotel and is now a senior living facility. We stopped and looked at the old building and took some pictures of it, too. The new orphanage is out in the country and was about an hour's drive away. The area around it is a farming community. Most of the original people who worked at the orphanage when Kira was there, have retired. Our guide, Jessie, is the Assistant Director of the orphanage and she was there when Kira was. The new orphanage is very beautiful. There is a circular area out in front with statues of all 12 of the Chinese Zodiac animals, We met the new director and he presented us with a gift of a hanging ornament that will be a wonderful keepsake for Kira. Of course, we wanted to take all of the babies home!

Tomorrow we leave Changsha at 4:50 p.m., and fly to Beijing for about four days. We will update you then!

Darrell, Holly, Kira and Grandma Morris