Today we started the day with a quiet breakfast by ourselves at our hotel in Beijing. The other three adoption families were traveling to their provinces, so we were left to ourselves to prepare to move on to Shijizhuang in Hebei Province.
Alison and I had a nice day of exploring the area surrounding our hotel in Beijing and made a stop at the local mall and a sushi restaurant before meeting up with the Smith Family (with their new addition, Chen), and we were then on our way with our new guide, Michael.
We had a very entertaining train experience, as they open up the flood gates approximately 20 minutes before the train departs, and everyone is constantly shuffling and weaving. There is zero personal space as you enter the train station and pass through security until you board the train, it is a crazy ordeal.
We were able to get a glimpse of Baoding (Bo's current city of residence) from the train about an hour into our two hour trip. There were some very new industrial skyscrapers in the city, but China has not explored the concept of urban sprawl - so you go from people everywhere to nothing but farm land rather abruptly.
We arrived at our hotel at around 7:30, and we quickly found out that we are definitely no longer in Beijing. There are some beautiful hotels (like ours that we are staying for the next two weeks), yet this city is relatively small by China's standards and we may have trouble communicating. We wanted a quick bite to eat this evening, and we discovered a Pizza Hut right across from our hotel. We were fascinated by the menu variation (Alison had a curry dish) while I chose the old personal pan pizza stand-by (tasted just like home).
10 hours from now we will be meeting Bo, so we will cut this short for the evening, but hope to have photos to share with everyone tomorrow. For now, enjoy a picture of Alison enjoying a refreshing Coke Light!
Ryan
Just finally caught up and got online tonight. Wow, you guys are really keeping up with the blogs! Good job! Love the photos. Doesn't look too dreadfully cold over there from the jackets. Continue having fun! Looking forward to when you post pics with you both and Bo. Enjoying the blog... Nile
ReplyDeleteI can't wait for tomorrow! You must be so excited.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Mom
Hi Ryan and Alison! We're thinking of you guys today as you prepare to meet Bo. We are less than four hours from meeting Wen----I am a nervous wreck!! I can't believe that I've prepared for this day for over a year, and yet feel so unprepared today!
ReplyDeleteWe wish you guys the best of luck today. I'm sorry we won't get to meet Bo in person. We look forward to reading your blog and seeing how things go!
Melissa and Brian Neyland