More Beijing

Ok, the first message was just to get something up to let people know we made it safe. And, I didn't really know if our posts were getting up... our blog is not available via regular means from within China. Our friends told us of a site we can use to reach our blog to make sure our posts get up, so I know now that I can post, which is good.

We are on our last night here and have a very rewarding couple of days. When we flew into the city it was night and as we flew over the city there were literally hundreds of fireworks going off everywhere - it looked like all the flashes going off at a rock concert in a stadium. The Chinese New Year celebrations were in full swing. It was a very cool final approach.

Yesterday we spent the day at the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square. It is cold here! The wind had a way of chilling us to the bone! We made it until mid-afternoon and then decided to head up for a quick nap. That evening Bart picked us up for dinner at his house... it was Chinese night and the food was better than a restaurant! Bart and Dierdre live here with their son David and adopted daughter Ashlynn. Jenna and Ashlynn hit it off quickly and were soon fighting like sisters.

Today they picked us up and we went to the Great Wall. It was a beautiful drive in the country side up to a section of the Wall that features chairlifts and a sweet toboggan run. I ended up pushing my speed a little too fast and ate it on one of the corners, but it was a blast. The girls all climbed up one of the high hills and checked out the guard towers. The local vendors had some great dried fruit that tied us over until lunch.

Lunch was at a rural roadside restaurant dining within view of another section of the Wall. This area included a large section they were rebuilding. We concluded the day with some swimming, a bit of walking around, and then dinner at the hotel.

To all, we haven’t had much luck connecting from our hotel room here in Beijing. We’re hoping Harbin will be better. But, thank you for the emails and we will try to respond to them once we get settled in Harbin. Tomorrow morning we fly out and we will be trying to catch the last of the Ice Festival tomorrow night. Then, the next day, we get Carli!!!