More Beijing Pix

Street Scene #1


Street Scene #2


Street Scene #3

Having Fun At The Huiling School

Getting Crafty At The Huiling School

Some Are Craftier Than Others...

2008 Olympic Stadium

Ellie's The Leader!

The Summer Palace

Summer Palace - Looking For The 10 Monkey Kings

View From Summer Palace

Beijing Pictures

Prepping the Peking Duck

Yum-Peking Duck!

Traffic, traffic, everywhere!

Forbidden City Under Construction-Getting Ready For 2008 Olympics

Kiara & Lizzy Paddle Boating in Beihai Park

Beihai Park

Grand View Garden - Lots of Stairs!

The Girls and Tony & David, our Guides, At Temple Of Heaven

Kiara & John At Temple Of Heaven

Mission Accomplished

The "party bus" met us at Logan airport last night instead of a white stretch limo to give us more space and a greater weight capacity for the drive back to Cambridge. We returned exhausted but excited about our trip and the many memories and new friends that were made. Two days before, we had returned from Yibin to Chengdu in a pouring rain - finally the rain jackets were needed! The Longhis were still at Elizabeth's hometown in Yanghzhou and were due to meet us in Shanghai Saturday afternoon. Kiara and Em were looking forward to swimming in the roof deck pool, but with all the rain it did not look promising. Terry our tour guide assured us that it would clear up later in the day but that was looking more like polite Chinese optimism rather than reality. We requested a stop at McDonalds before dropping us off at our hotel, and we ate, relaxed, and wrote postcards while we waited out the rain. The girls and Barb and John went to the gameroom while Debbie rested in hopes of recovering from an upset stomach. The rain let up a little and the girls got their wish to swim in the cool pool. Dinner was takeout from Pizza Hut - yum! - which we walked to from the hotel passing by Gucci, Burberry, and Louis Vuitton stores. Chengdu has certainly gone upscale in the past 9 years. Later that night, Kiara sniffled in bed and said that she did not want to go home. Our trip had gone by so fast and she wanted more time in China. She decided to return with her friends in 2019 and would start planning as soon as she returned home. We could want nothing more than for her and the rest of the girls to feel the same way, coming away with a love for China their homeland and a desire to return.

The next day, we savored the wonderful Dynasty Hotel breakfast buffet after slim pickins in Yibin for breakfast. The girls and John did ok with mostly Chinese noodles and dumplings for breakfast in Yibin, but Debbie and Barb started the Yibin days with toast and lukewarm tea. Terry our guide picked us up for our 2-hour morning flight to Shanghai where we met Sue our local Shanghai guide and joined the rest of the tour.

We arrived at the hotel in Shanghai in early afternoon and oohed and aahhed at the beautiful lobby at the 5 star hotel. Only a few families from the original tour group remained. Our girls were happy to see Carly, Camille, and Molly, their new friends, again. We visited a beautiful garden and then went bargain hunting in the many shops outside the garden. It was hot, hot, HOT and even Sue the tour guide was dripping sweat. Sue treated the girls to Dairy Queen-yup, a DQ right there in Shanghai-and Starbucks was looking good but there was shopping to be done.

Afterwards, we made a quick stop to the Bund along the river for pictures. Beautiful views and turtles. Too bad we didn't have time to see more of Shanghai. Maybe next trip! :)

Some of our group went to dinner with Tony our OCDF guide, but the Burns, Longhis, and O'Rileys had had their share of Chinese food so we all went to the hotel buffet which was topped off by a white chocolate fountain for dessert. All the girls went for a late-night swim and closed the pool down. Molly, Carly, and Camille joined them the next morning for more pool time before we had to say goodbye.

Fun at the pool in Shanghai with Molly, Carly, Camille, & Kiara

We left for the airport around Noon Sunday and spent lots of time in lines before we boarded our plane for Chicago around 3pm. Long, long, LONG flight with little sleep had by the adults. Barely made it through baggage pickup and customs at O'Hare for the 6pm flight to Boston. We touched down in Boston around 9:15pm with thoughts of China and pizza in our heads.

Front Page News

Yibin Newstand

Today in Yibin, we returned to the huge food market outside the gate of the orphanage. All kinds of meat-dead and alive :) - as well as fruits, vegetables, assorted spices, and Yibin fire water. Lots of spicy Sichuan peppers.

We watched as two women rubbed the local fire water on a screaming baby trying to break the baby's fever. The orphanage director was pulling into the gate as we we walked through and seemed happy that we returned to explore more of Yibin. As we were meandering through the market taking it all in, we were approached by a local with a copy of the Yibin Evening News. The reporter that followed us yesterday posted our picture on the front page and again inside with an article about our visit to China. Our guide translated some of it - very positive words about how we were bringing our girls back to their hometown and how well our Chinese pronunciation of Ni Hao was. They were being very kind!

So, we were famous for the day, smiles everywhere we went from those that recognized us in the paper, and special discounts in the stores we visited. We strolled along the street and went in and out of shops. Kiara and Emily were thrilled there were so many stores with fancy shoes. Some day they will be wearing those like all the other Chinese women we see. The girls found a Claires-like store with lots of cool hair things and store clerks that were very cute and happy to see the famous Westerners. They had a very hard time choosing what pretty hair things to buy. Poor Terry, our guide, was being very patient as we went in and out of all the stores. We stopped at a grocery store to get drinks and snacks. Barbara and Emily picked out some candy. When they got to the cashier, she said they did not get enough to register on the scale so back they went for more. In an alley, we discovered pool tables and the girls played a game as the curious, friendly locals stopped and watched and chickens wandered around. Earlier in the day, we visited a bi-lingual kindergarten that was fun to visit. The children sang and played with their teachers while we watched and clapped. Oliver, one of the teachers, was there for a few months and then was headed back to the UK to study for his masters in international business. The school was brightly decorated and the children were so well behaved. Even the little one with a t-shirt that said "Scream if you want to go faster"...and scream he did every once in a while. Kiara and Em were very happy that the teachers let them play in the playground before we left-lots of fun on the trampoline!

We went back to the hotel mid-afternoon and then out to a hot pot dinner at a restaurant that Oliver recommended - everyone enjoyed that experience. We declined to order the real Chinese foods - pigs throat, fish heads, pig brain - and stuck to beef, meatballs, mushrooms. Lotus root was the closest we got to food that locals would eat. Debbie was very happy to eat white rice for dinner as she has had just about her fill of Chinese food - though it was still fun to watch! Went in search of a bank to exchange some money for Barbara. Finally found one that could but the teller refused to exchange it because she would need to charge a service charge because it was under $500 and that would not be "good thinking." Very thoughtful but..... All in all, Yibin has been a very positive experience. The girls (and the adults) have enjoyed their time here, but it is time to leave tomorrow morning for the 4.5 hour drive back to Chengdu for another overnight stay before we head to Shanghai and then home.

Pedicabs in Yibin

Baby In A Basket

Overlooking The City Of Yibin

Yibin Bridge Over Yangtze River

Orphanage Visit

3 Temples
2 pandas
1 orphanage visit...
PRICELESS!!!!!

We were greeted at the gate by the director and ushered into a conference room where the girls' nanny hugged the girls with tears in her eyes.

We were able to review the girls' files. The director presented the girls with necklaces with stones from the Yangtze River.

We saw the boxes that contained the washing machines we donated. The girl's Chinese names were posted on the outside of the boxes. The girls were very proud to recognize their own names.

The director seemed sincerely greatful that we had brought the girls back to their hometown to visit. He was thrilled to see how happy and healthy they are now. The nanny said that she still remembers June 22, 1998 when she brought the girls to us. She recognized each of them and made personal comments about each. She was thrilled with the photo album that we had brought with pictures of 12 children from Yibin. She was so excited each time she turned the page and saw another familiar face. We went on a tour and were able to see the baby room. The girls all want a little sister!

When we went into the crib room there were 3 more nannies that were able to recognize and call each girl by name... more tears-even our tour guide!

The director took us for a tour around town and showed us the finding places, showed us where the three rivers meet and recommended a wonderful restaurant where we were treated like royalty in our own private room. We seemed to attract attention whereever we went and a newspaper reporter appeared out of nowhere and followed us.
WHAT A WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE!

Overnight Train To Xian

We left Beijing Friday night and boarded an overnight train to Xian. We all had sleeper cabins - 4 to a cabin, 2 top & 2 bottom beds. The train station was crowded and chaotic but we all managed to get on the train together and to our cabins. The train left the station around 9:30pm and then the girls went cabin to cabin exploring and visiting. Our group is an interesting bunch and we all get along fairly well. Tony our tour guide took some of his "people" to the bar car while some adults stayed behind with the kids. Things quieted down somewhere around 10 or 11pm. Most of the kids slept but I think the adults had a harder time getting some shut eye. Around 5:30am, we passed by a village where there were caves carved into the hillside that people sleep in-cooler in summer, warmer in winter than their houses. We all lined up at 8am in search of Tony's cabin before we departed. Off we went to our hotel and breakfast before a quick shower and our next adventure. Boarded the bus to Wild Goose Pagoda with Buddhas and then to a Muslim market and mosque-beautiful and quiet. A slower paced day since we were all very, very tired and Jackie our Xian guide took pity on us. The girls went to the pool afterwards where the ceiling is covered in umbrellas. Then, John and Barbara went in search of Pizza Hut-a scary journey with more details to come on that later. Suffice to say that a guard followed them around the mall while Barb tried to hide the scissors in her pocket. Crossing the street was a whole 'nother matter. Pizza never tasted so good!!

Great Wall

My favoite thing so far was flying kites in Tiannamen square. EMILY



We went to the Great Wall on Thursday. It turned out to be a perfect weather day, sunny and warm but not unbearable. You could see for miles.The girls walked quite a distance. They could have gone further but we were only given one hour on the wall. Emily bought a kite on the wall and did a little bargaining. The venders were very persistant if you made eye contact they followed you. Emilyand Elizabeth helped me tell them no thanks in Chinese. I wasn't saying it right and the girls said it with such authority that they left me alone. After the wall, we did a little shopping instead of eating lunch. I can't wait to post pictures but we can't read theChinese directions. We will add them when we get home.
Sunday
Today we went to the jade factory. We saw a few men carving pieces and our guide told us how it is done. Then they let us loose in the shop. In all the shops they seem to assign one person that follows you around and helps or encourages you...