Its Good To Be The Emperor

Yesterday we met up with Anli, Trish and Jason at 9am and were off for a full day of sightseeing in Beijing. We started with the Temple of Heaven which was built about 600 years ago. It is an enormous park now with Beijingers milling around, doing exercises (different kinds of dance and tai chi, singing, playing instruments. None of them were out there asking for money for their performances, they were just doing it for pleasure. It was wonderful to see Chinese of all ages out and about in the park on a Sunday morning.

The building was used 3 times a year by the emperor – just after the first new moon, at spring solstice and at fall solstice. They made sacrifices to the god of heaven in the temple. Much of Beijing's significant sites are being refurbished so a lot is closed. Fortunately, at the Temple of Heaven, much has already been restored so we were able to appreciate all of its beauty.

The best part of our experience at the Temple of Heaven was seeing all the beautiful children with their parents and grandparents. Can you tell we are a little obsessed? They really still have amulti-generationall approach to raising children. The kids were adorable. They walk around in split pants (crotchless) as infants and toddlers so they can do their business whenever, wherever. Diapers are not the in thing here. Bare tushies are. It is just so cute to see everywhere you turn. We spent just as much time looking at the children as we did appreciating the history and architecture.

We then went to the Yuanlong silk factory and learned how silk is made. It is really cool! There were many beautiful silk duvet covers and silk comforters. Maybe we'll buy one the next time we are here.

We had lunch with Anli at a local Beijing restaurant then were off to the Summer Palace. It too is getting a face lift so we did not see some of the famous hallways that all the guidebooks talk about. Nonetheless, the setting is beautiful on a man-made lake and the grounds are lovely. It was packed with people! We walked along the lake and absorbed as much as we could of the architecture and spectacle of the buildings that were available for us to observe. A boatride across the lake to get a good view of the whole palace was a highlight for me. I am amazed at how big these emperors made things for themselves. I guess it is "good to be the king".

The last planned activity of the day was a Chinese acrobatic show, which was just amazing! The performer's strength and agility were beyond words. Andrew has the whole thing on video in case anyone ever wants to see it.

Dinner was in the hotel because we were all wiped out. Trish, Jason, Andrew and I met up with Colleen, our agency's director of international adoptions, and had a nice time before all of us went to crash. It is great to be busy during the day because it is keeping us distracted and makes us tired so we can, in theory, get a good night sleep. But really, who can sleep when you know you are going to be an instant parent in a couple of days?

Hopefully, we will be able to pay attention to Anli during our tours today of the Great Wall, Tiananmen Square, and the Forbidden City. Tomorrow morning we fly to Hunan Province to pick up Shu Fang.

Michelle