When God called us to adopt we had no Idea of the journey on which He would lead us. What an exciting, blessed, scary adventure! (See Beginning Our Adoption Journey) After nearly two years of waiting, we finally had all of our final approvals to adopt our girls and could make plans for our China adoption travel.

We couldn’t wait to head to China for our girls, but we couldn’t fly to the other side of the world and miss the opportunity to see some of China’s most famous sites. We added two extra days at the beginning of our trip for some site seeing in Beijing. On the top of my list was The Great Wall (my husband had been there before) and The Forbidden Palace. Time for other sites near Beijing would be a bonus!

On a Wednesday morning, my husband, 13 year-old daughter, and I boarded a plane in Jackson, MS. After over 12 hours of delays in Dallas, and a 13 hour flight we finally arrived in Beijing around midnight on a Thursday night. Our guide met us at the airport and dropped us off at our hotel around 2 am.

We made our own reservations at a Marriott using points from a Mariott credit card. (This saved us a lot of money in Beijing and Guangzhou. Click here to apply and start earning points!) We were exhausted, but the late night did help with jet lag. We had no problem going to sleep and were ready to go by lunch on Friday.

(Click on the picture to enlarge.)

For lunch, we braved the streets of Beijing on our own. A few blocks from our hotel, an English speaking Chinese man approached us. He claimed he wanted to practice his English and offered to go with us to a nearby restaurant. He said he was an artist with a display at a nearby shop. He led us into a little shop and up the stairs to a small gallery. The artwork was beautiful, but we were in a hurry to eat and be ready to meet our guide. We soon realized he was just trying to sell art.

We thanked the man for his time, then went back to a restaurant we had passed down the street. Fortunately, the menu had English subtitles (most in Beijing and Guangzhou did), and we had our first authentic Chinese meal with little trouble. After lunch, we met our guide and headed out on foot.

We intentionally found a hotel near Tianamen Square and the Forbidden Palace, intending to save money by walking, but we underestimated the walk! We passed beautiful parks and busy streets through the huge city of Beijing. There was so much to take in . . . but on to the main attractions!

Tiananmen Square & The Forbidden City

Our first stop was Tianamen Square, sight of the historic communist shooting in 1989. We joined thousands of other tourists. People were everywhere. Although the site is full of history, there wasn’t much to see, just a huge open area with bricked pavement, Chinese flags, and lot of people. We walked around, took some pictures, and headed to the nearby Forbidden Palace.

(Click the pictures to see them enlarged.)

Huge doesn’t even begin to describe the Forbidden Palace. We joined thousands of other visitors, mostly Chinese, and walked around the place once open only to the royal family. A beautiful Swedish couple sat on resting near the entrance. We attracted some stare and not-so-subtle pictures, but this couple amazed the people. The Chinese kept taking pictures in front of them, so my husband did the same. They though it was hilarious!

The Palace has over 10,000 buildings. The Emperor had to have just a few more than his predecessor. The architecture and detailed artwork are amazing! We took lots of pictures and walked forever! My favorite spot was the huge garden in the midst of all of the brick. We sat down and rested, then were ready to see some more!

(Click the pictures to see them enlarged.)

Although we were tired, we wanted to see all we could, so we went on to another nearby attraction recommended by our guide, The Temple of Heaven. The main part of this attraction was on the top of a big hill/small mountain. We walked along a road that circled around until it reached the top. We loved the palace and the view, but should have opted for rest instead.

 

The Passing Crowds

By the time we headed back to the hotel, the attractions were closing and the crowds were almost crushing. I have never seen so many people in one place. Beggars gathered where they knew the crowds would pass. One man in particular stands out in my mind. He had one arm and no legs. He has a small radio and microphone and was trying to sing to encourage passersby to put money in his bucket.

Another site in the crowd caught my attention as well. I only saw them for an instant, but a mother and her teenage daughter passed us. The mother had a protective arm around her child who wore dark glasses and a hat covering her white hair. Whether they cowered from the bright sun, or the dark haired crowd, I couldn’t tell. I thought of our beautiful daughter who we would meet in a few days. I wondered if her beautiful white hair caused her to duck her head as well. (One of our daughters has albinism.)

After walking forever, our guide decided to hire an electric rickshaw to take us back to hotel. We were a little nervous, but glad to sit and rest our legs for a while before heading back to our Americanized hotel room. Everything was new and exciting, yet with a twinge of sadness. I could not forget that most of these thousands people were lost without gospel of Jesus Christ. All we could do was pray for them, and pray for God to send workers into His harvest (Luke 10:2).

Supper own our own meant another walk down the China streets trying to figure out where to go and what to order. We finally decided on a mall food court. Here, I ordered the cutest Panda Rice! The dishes in China are usually meant to be shared, and we ordered way too much food, but most of it was good!

We went back to bed hot, and tired. April in Beijing brings warm weather, but even many western style hotels do not have air conditioner. The staff brought us a small fan with a place in back for ice water that helped some, but I missed sleeping in the cool. Our China adoption travel started with a wonderful, exhausting day – the first of many to come.

My daughter, husband, and I all enjoyed a great first full day in China. If you have the time, I highly recommend taking a day to enjoy the Forbidden City during your China adoption travel. Adoption travel can be stressful, but starting with some fun can help ease the culture shock and transition before facing the joy and anxiety of adding a new child or children to your family.

I am already forgetting some of the details of our China adoption travel, but I want to remember all of it. One day telling our girls of our adventures and God’s faithfulness may encourage them through some of the hard adoption questions.

Are you considering adopting from China? Would you at least pray about it? We no longer qualify. Maybe it’s your turn. Remember, God calls us all to care for the orphan and widow. (James 1:27)