Xi'an

We made it into Xian around 11:30. At the Airport we met an American family originally from New York but now living in Chengdu. They have a 10 year biological boy and a 5 year Chinese daughter. They took a one year sabbatical to live in China to study the language. They had a few days off from school so taking a trip to Xian.

Xian is home of the first emperor who united the warring states of China. Xian was also the capital of China for hundreds of years until the 1400’s when another emperor moved the capital to Beijing and built the forbidden city. The people of Xian would like to move the capital but to Xian J.

We first went to a factory where they make and repair the terracotta soldiers, we bought a couple of smaller ones. The full size ones were a little too expensive. After the stop we went to lunch and then to the museum. There are 3 pits at the museum, the first is the largest and has most of the soldiers. They have found 7000 soldiers (or pieces of) so far. These were made to protect the emperor in the afterlife. The soldiers are 2200 years old and was first discovered in 1976 by a farmer digging a well. I asked if that farmer was paid for the discovery but it was government owned land. The farmer does work at the front of pit 1 signing autographs if you buy a book and postcards, so we did. The sites were just amazing. When the soldiers for first unearthed they had colors since they were originally painted. Once they were exposed the color all faded away fairly quickly.

It was about a 2 hour drive back to our hotel because of rush hour traffic. In every city they drive crazy and the yellow lines mean nothing to them. Our hotel is right across from the bell tower and just down the street from the drum tower. The picture of the bell tower is from our room window, just beautiful. We went to McDonalds for dinner and then walked some of the markets. The markets started at the drum tower and went on for several blocks. At the market we had some chops made (stamps with names carved on them), there is also a picture of that.

We do a city tour this morning then fly back to Beijing after lunch today. It is 7:00am here and letting Peiton sleep in for another hour today.

Jim

Shoes

Peiton is wanting everyone to see her new shoes that she was given!

Pandas!!!! in Chengdu

We got in Chengdu about 10:30 this morning. We first went to have an early lunch, there was a wedding ceremony going at the restaurant while we are there. Very common at nice restaurants on the weekends. After that we went straight to the Panda Breeding Center. They have about 50 pandas there and we were able to see them upclose in the nursery at two weeks old, 2 months old and 4 months old. We weren’t allowed to take pictures in the nursery. Peiton was able to hold (sit next to) a 1 ½ year old and she was very excited. They wouldn’t let me in the room, but took my camera and took several pictures for us. Tonight we are going to walk down to Pizza Hut. We have been craving that for a week.

Jim

The panda center was a big place, we did lots of walking. I had to wear medical scrubs to protect the pandas from germs. We went to the lake and fed fish and swans. We watched a movie on pandas. Then I got to sit by a panda. The panda was soft. He was eating an apple. I wasn’t scared, but he was bigger than me. It was cool and I am happy I got to do it. Daddy was nervous since he couldn’t be in the room with me. I know you are going to be jealous Chas!

Peiton

Last Day with Group in Wuhan

Yesterday we visited the Yellow Crane Tower. It was also the first day it rained while in China. After lunch we went shopping at Walmart and a large mall. We saw some new flavors of Pringles that we took a picture of for everyone: Seaweed and Crab. We can’t find those back home.

The orphanage director drove over from Huanggang last night during our dinner (a 2 hour drive) to give us a copy of the local paper we were in and two DVDs. One was a bunch of footage from the orphanage and the other was a news clip that was aired on CCTV. Last night we were also on CCTV news, there was at least a 5 minute segment that featured our group on our tour. Peiton and I are in it several times, and to think this broadcasted over all of China as well as cable around the world. The treatment of our families has been just remarkable. It was a real big event to for China to have their girls come back and visit, they really made a great impression.

Today the group splits up. Most are going directly home after going back through Beijing, some are going to Hong Kong and another to Shanghai. We will be heading to Chengdu to see the pandas.

Jim and Peiton

Last Day in Huanggang

From Jim:

This was the final day of being in Peiton’s home town of Huanggang. After breakfast we went back to the orphanage to take a tour of the facilities. We saw an older children’s room where there was a bunkbed where 4 could sleep. We saw a nursery which had about 15 cribs and a couple of play rooms. We went into a room with some handicap children from 3 to about 5 years old and spent a little bit of time with them. Next we went into a cafeteria like room where the had a ping pong table and a couple of boys playing. One of the boys was about 13 years old and could tell he had been badly burned earlier in his life. I play a few rounds of ping pong against him but he was much better. Some of the girls played and had fun for a few minutes.

The next room we went into had the files on each of our girls waiting on a big table. It had all Peiton’s original adoption documents, medical exam and pictures that we were given a copy of when we adopted her. There wasn’t anything new in the file. They also had all the photos that we sent the orphanage over the years including the ones we posted on the internet.

The next room was a presentation of certificates to each of the families for the donation we gave as a group that bought 2 air conditioners and 2 televisions for the new orphanage.

The last stop was meeting the foster parents. Peiton was foster cared by two different staff members of the orphanage. The first was the former Director of the orphanage who died in 2005 and the other was the lady that handed Peiton to us when we first got her in 2002. Her name is Zhou and is a doctor at the orphanage. She was also the foster mom of two other girls in our group after fostering Peiton. Zhou lives with her mother and also has a biological daughter. Her daughter was in one of the pictures that was given to us when we adopted Peiton, we often wondered who that older girl was. So Peiton had a sister, foster mom and a grandmother. While Zhou worked at the orphanage during the day the grandmother took care of Peiton. They gave the three girls each a pair of colorful tennis shoes which was very nice. You can tell they all missed the girls very much and were crying and hugging them for a long time. We got to spend about an hour with them. Zhou told me that when they took Peiton to us for the adoption that the older sister was crying and saying to her mom that she promised to stop fighting with her if she could stay, which was very funny. It was very emotional for all leaving the orphanage.

After leaving the orphanage we went out to lunch then to a beautiful park in Huanggang City. At the moment we are in the bus heading back to Wuhan for the next two nights.

Jim

From Peiton:

Today I got to go back to the orphanage and see where the kids live. I got to spend time with my foster mom, grandma and sister. They were happy to see me and kept holding me. They were very nice. My foster mom gave me a pair of really cool tennis shoes, I will be the only one back home to have these. It was sad waving good bye to them on the bus and I got teary eyed too. I am having lots of fun playing with the girls on my trip.

Peiton

The photos are of my foster mom, grandma, and sister.

Happy Thanksgiving, and what a Thanksgiving it was.

Each day seems to get more and more amazing. We arrived in Huanggang last night with a police escort, banners at the hotel and a wonderful ceremonial dinner. The children were given more gifts at the ceremony, beautiful red silk dresses to wear to the orphanage. After breakfast this morning we visited the orphanage and once again we were treated like royalty. As we pulled up in the bus to the orphanage you could here loud music being played and huge blown up decorations and banners welcoming us back to the orphanage. Many of the children and the workers were dressed up in performance outfits as we got off the bus. There were older girls in beautiful red dresses greeting our children with flower lays when they walked off the bus and giving parents flags of China and their own country. There were also dozens of bystanders outside the orphanage waiting to see us as we arrived. Once at the orphanage we were sat in the courtyard in the middle of all the buildings in front of a stage. All the government officials were present giving speeches and all the orphanage children and nannies were around. It was a little chilly as it started (close to 60 degrees), but warmed up through out the morning. After the speeches there were about 25 orphanage children doing different performances for about 45 minutes. About half the children were handicap or special needs ageing from 5 to 16. The performance was very good, but sad knowing all these children live in an orphanage. Between performances some of the children were interviewed on staged and asked questions like who is their mom and how is their life. There answers were all the workers in the orphanage were their moms and cared for them deeply and they want to do what is best for their country. It was very emotional as the kids don’t know what they are missing.

We saw the lady that handed Peiton to us when we first adopted her in 2002. I found out that she is a doctor in the orphanage. She came up to Peiton calling her Miao Miao (Meow Meow). We gave candy and suckers to many of the children as we watch the performances, most children were very excited to receive while others were too shy to accept. Leaving the orphanage was sad and there were even more bystanders outside as we left.

We came back to the hotel for lunch and then had an hour break, yes we had turkey but they cut it with bones still in the pieces. I asked the guide to take us to the shopping market where Peiton was originally left by her birth mother and William and the asst Director of the orphanage took us there. It is now converted to Mobile phone market but the area on the ground floor is like a farmers market and had many meat products displayed on stands outdoors. I took many pictures and had a good conversation with Peiton about this was the last place her birth mother was with her. It was great to be able to take her back to that spot on Thanksgiving Day. Many people were watching us and wondering why we were there.

I was able find out some information we never knew from the asst director through our guide. She has worked in the orphanage for 30 years since she was 18 years old. She remembers Peiton since they had to try to find special smaller spoons for Peiton due to her cleft lip at the time. She told us that Peiton was foster cared by the orphanage director (Director Yang) during much the first part of her stay at the orphanage. She said Director Yang liked to take care of the children with special needs herself until they got better then let others do the foster care. For Peiton she was with Yang for most of the time then with the doctor whom was the one that handed her to us at the day we adopted her in 2002. We will get to spend time with the foster families tomorrow morning and find out more.

After that visiting Peiton’s finding spot we visiting the new orphanage which is still under construction. The outside of the childrens part of the social welfare institute is mostly done and a few other buildings but still much work to do to finish the inside and other buildings. It will house abandoned children, handicap children and adults and elderly who have no family to take care of them. All 11 of our families help plant a special tree is each of our daughter’s name which was fun for the girls. Afterwards we went to an place to pick oranges. There were many cats, chickens, and dogs around. We ate many oranges and brought a couple bags back to the hotel. When we got back to the hotel we were taught how to make dumplings and sticky rice balls and had them and tons of other food for dinner. Looking forward to meeting foster mother in the morning.

Jim

Next part from Peiton:

I have been having lots of fun with the girls on our trip. Every day I keep receiving more and more gifts, my favorite so far is the red silk dress, then my book on Huanggang city second and then the panda bear stuffed animal third. I felt like a movie star at the orphanage today and had fun giving some candy to some of the girls. I liked picking oranges and eating them too, I ate 4 of them while picking them. We saw 5 cats, most of them were all white. I got to plant a new tree at the orphanage but my shoes got all muddy. This was the best day yet.

I miss everyone,

Peiton

Wuhan

More photos...

Video of Peiton

Here is video of Peiton doing gymnastics. I hope it works!

Wuhan/Huanggang-Peiton's Birth City

We flew to Wuhan, which is located near Peiton's birth city. It has been an amazing day! Our plane was delayed due to fog so we only had a few minutes to check into the hotel before we had to go down for the welcoming ceremony from the city government. Our bus stopped at the edge of the city of Huanggang and the mayor of the city came aboard the bus and welcomed us back to the city. We then had a police escort all the way into town. Wow! There were even some people there with cameras from a TV station.

The dinner was amazing, they kept bringing more and more food to our tables. They had everything from chicken, beef, lamb, duck, fish, hot pot, dumplings, soups, Chinese Merlot wine, etc. Most of the food was wasted, The orphanage brought the girls beautiful red Chinese sleeveless dresses and shoes that they are suppose to wear tomorrow. After dinner, the girls from Australia got on stage and song some English and Chinese songs for the government officials. After that Peiton got on stage and performed some gymnastic moves and everyone was very impressed and proud of the girls. After Peiton, the Dutch girls sung some songs in Dutch.

It was a remarkable day and evening. Tomorrow we head to the orphanage.

Jim and Peiton*

*You can click on the pictures to enlarge them.

Day #4 Beijing

Today we started out at CCAA and it was a great experience. We got to see several files in different stages. I saw AWAA files in the review room and even one file in the matching room of theirs. For those of you that don't know this is the agency that handles ALL chinese adoptions. AWAA is the organization we used to adopt Peiton, and GOL (Gift of Love) merged with them this last year.

Our Group was on Chinese TV and Sally from Indiana was told that someone saw it from the states when it was broadcasted on CCTV on cable. We will be getting DVD copies of that and pictures of our trip as a gift from CCAA.

We went to Forbidden City and the girls had a lot of fun running around. After that we went to the Pearl market and bought dresses and few other things at really good prices. We plan to go back when we get back to Beijing next week.

Tomorrow we head to Huanggang, the governor will be meeting us when we get there.

Jim and Peiton

Day #4 Beijing/Great Wall/Ceremony-More Pictures!

Here are more pictures from the Olympic Venues. Notice Peiton wearing her Chow's Gymnastics Shirt!

Day #4 Beijing/Great Wall/Ceremony

Today we met the whole travel group. There are 10 other families from my orphanage. First we went to a ceremony in the morning then we went to the great wall then to the Olympic site. The great wall was fun, we took a cable car to the top and walked down. The stairs were really steep in some places. After lunch we went to the Olympic site and saw the birds nest, watercube and the gymnastics place. There were many people trying to sell us stuff there, it was fun.

Peiton

At the Civil Affairs office Peiton was given a gift from the Minister of Civil Affairs. He is in charge of all the social welfare institutes in china as well as the CCAA. He really seemed to enjoy the children. There were many people taking pictures at the event. We made the CCTV news which is broadcast through out China. On the great wall Peiton hung out with Elly, who is from Indiana and 7 years old.

Jim

Day #3 Dinner with Nelson

We met Nelson for dinner tonight. He loved the photo album we presented him. He said helping with adoptions has provided a lot of meaning to his life. He was very happy to see how the children have grown up. We will see him again when we return to Beijing on December 1st before we head back home. Jim

Day #3 Beijing

Today we went to the drum tower and the bell tower. They are both over 500 years old. These were used so people could know the time of day. We had to climb 60 steps straight up to get to the top of drum tower and 72 steps for the bell tower. After that we took a rickshaw through some Hutongs. Hutongs are really old houses with small alleys. We saw the house where Mao used to live. He used to be the leader of China. Tonight we will have dinner with Nelson and tomorrow we will go to the Great Wall.

Peiton and Jim

Don't forget to send me Comments on the blog so I can read them... Peiton. I really like getting them. Abbey-thanks for your comments. The weather is like Iowa, but a little colder.

Day #2 More Pictures from this day

Some more pictures from our day.

Day #2 Beijing

We woke up very early and had a great breakfast at the hotel. I had hot chocolate, bacon and fruit were great. After breakfast we went swimming then took a cab to go shopping and we walked a very long ways. We took another cab to the zoo and saw a few pandas, tigers and lions. The weather has been cold outside. My dad bought me a panda hat.

After the zoo we took a ride on a bike to McDonalds for lunch. I had chicken nuggets and fries.

We will meet Nelson, our friend, for dinner tomorrow night. Nelson was our tour guide who accompanied our family on our trip to adopt Meilin. We love and miss everyone...Jim and Peiton

Arrived in Beijing!

We made it to China in time after a 2 hour fog delay in Des Moines. It was a long flight, but Peiton did get some school work done. It took an hour to reach the hotel due to rush hour traffic. The hotel is nice and it has a pool and a bowling alley. Check out the photo of the picture of the can of Pringles- yuck! Time to go to bed.