Day 3 – We met the other adopting couple from the agency that we’ll be seeing here in Beijing and in Guangzhou later on. They are a young couple who are adopting their first baby! We really enjoyed spending the morning and lunchtime with them. We went to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City together with our adoption agency host as our tour guide. Both sites are very large – immense - and really felt surreal when we were walking through them. Tiananmen Square is adjacent to the Forbidden City. The large picture of Mao that we've seen on TV at the square is on one of the entrances to the Forbidden City. The square can hold up to 500,000 people at one time! The Forbidden City was a large, multi-layered palace that was occupied by 24 emperors up until the early 1900s. It has a beautiful garden – the imperial garden – with interesting rocks for decoration, which have many holes throughout them such that you can see faces, dragons, or whatever you imagine as you look at them (kind of like images in the clouds). The Forbidden City included a clock museum tour. The emperor was gifted clocks by various countries and provinces within China. The clocks had intricate details, rotating parts, and were often trimmed with gold and precious jewels.
Throughout the square and the city, we had many pictures taken – of us! The people were fascinated, in particular, with the girls’ long blonde hair. Hannah had many pictures taken of her, posing with Chinese girls of the same age. Lynette also had pictures with ladies of various ages. Micah and even Randy had their pictures taken. Nathan escaped by wearing his sunglasses and not smiling and trying to look invisible. He was quite pleased with himself as he succeeded in avoiding the cameras! The people would also inconspicuously include our family in pictures as they appeared to look a different direction, but would gradually turn the camera on us. Pretty funny. Hannah seemed to enjoy her temporary stardom! In addition to pictures, some people would reach out and feel the kids’ hair. We were amused.
We ate lunch at a good Chinese restaurant, and ordered a variety of things to share as a group. The table had a circular glass part in the middle that rotated, enabling us to obtain the food without lifting the serving plates. We ordered steamed fish for the boys, since they have allergy issues. The restaurant has a large tank in the back, where the fish was swimming less than 30 minutes before being served to our table! The boys were not very impressed when the WHOLE fish was served, with eyes looking at them! Micah did a good job of eating the fish after I put some on his plate. Nathan, on the other hand, did not want anything to do with the fish (he ate more food at the hotel when we returned). From that point on, the kids tended to rotate the center section of the table so that the fish wasn't looking at them! This was challenging, as the three of them were not sitting together! It was a constantly rotating fish!
We had our first “squatty potty” experience at the Forbidden City. It was interesting to say the least. Lynette thinks that they are technically more sanitary than western toilets, even in the USA.
Randy and Nathan took a trip to a Kung fu shop across Beijing. It was during rush hour traffic, and took about 1 hour each way. The shop was on a small side street near the Beijing Sports Academy (which we did not see), where Jet Li trained. The people were very nice and helped us go through the store. Many sharp objects for sale!
After having eaten out for so many meals, we decided to eat “at home” last night. Oatmeal can taste pretty good, especially after all of the complex, rich flavors from the various restaurants.
We were able to walk again last night, enjoying the evening activities as many Chinese people come out in the cooler weather, stroll the street, and eat (including the wiggling scorpions on a stick). We found a bookshop on this walk, and were able to obtain some children’s books and videos with both Chinese and English!
Please continue to pray for opportunities to witness to others as we spend time in China. We want them to understand that it’s not that we’re “good” people who want to care for and love these special children. The Lord is the only One who is good and that His love for the nations is what motivates us to share the good news as we follow His directions. We pray that adoption will provide opportunity to encourage believers and share the Lord’s kindness, love, and compassion with those who don’t know Him.
