Saturday, February 24, 2007

Goodbye Beijing, Hello Changchun!






I’m writing this on the plane as we fly into Kate’s province of Jilin. We left Beijing about 45 minutes ago. I was almost sad to leave, there were so many more things I would like to have seen, but Changchun holds even more excitement for us. Oh, I now have the pronunciation down…she lives in the capital city of ‘chong-choon’ in the province of ‘jee-leen’
Right now two little tiny Chinese girls are running up the aisle past us. It’s hard to believe we are this close to getting our little Qiu Lu. We are so excited to be in her city and this close to actually picking her up!
Our last bit of time before we flew out today was spent walking down to Tiananmen Square, and outside of the Forbidden City. (Not enough time to go on the 2 hour tour, which we liked to have done) Again, the “vendors” see Kevin and I coming a mile away as if we have a big target on our chest. I don’t think we have passed any Americans…a handful of Caucasians, but the few we talked to were British, Swiss or German.
It’s pretty amazing standing in such a historical place…surreal. I have seen the picture of Chairman Mao Zedong so many times, and now I’m standing in front of it. (Mao Zedong was a leader from 1966-76, and was the founder of the People’s Republic of China.) You have to cross the street to get from the Forbidden City to Tiananmen Square and it is literally 8 or 10 lanes across the street. So you go underground in this big tunnel to go from one side to the other, and you can also get the subway there. There are guards everywhere here in Beijing, with fur hats and wool trench coats, including in the tunnel. (They all look about 19 or 20 years old. Not sure if they are local police or military.) The square was named for its Gate of Heavenly Peace (Tiananmen) and it holds the monument of the heroes of the revolution, the Great Hall of the People, the museum of history and revolution, and the Mao Zedong Memorial Hall…yet another place we liked to have had time to explore (with an English-speaking guide! :)
It’s a short flight and we will be there soon. The stewardess asked to turn off all electronic devices (at least I think that’s what she said!)




5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Innnnnnteresting...
[Raises eyebrow and taps fingers]

Anonymous said...

geez bryson, excited much?
don't be such a dork.
Changchun looks so cool!!
<3
Megan

Anonymous said...

ok, I understand it miiight be sort of difficult to get my bff (aka, the camel) through security and into your carry-on on the plane... sooo, I will settle for the little boy's camel hat instead. Just make sure that before you swipe it off his head and run, you give him a cookie or a balloon or something (maybe another hat???). Anywho, you guys look like you are having fun, Kate is BEAUTIFUL and i cannot wait to be her best friend!!!!!

Love KAYLA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

hahha i agree with megan..it does look cool. kayla..still stealin stuff from babies..lol. hope u all had fun

Anonymous said...

Lookie - there's a crib in the room that's never gonna be used because Kate's gonna be sleeping in the big bed with Mom and Dad!!!