Christmas in Beijing - Day #3. Tomorrow Salem!

Riding through Hutong

Meeting Mrs. Zhang

Drew in Forbidden City

It was an interesting Christmas here today. We had to keep reminding
each other. Thankfully, my thoughtful and always electronically
prepared husband brought his battery operated Zune speaker for the van
which set the mood.

Driving into Tiananman Square was sobering. I wasn't sure how to
feel...it felt strange to be spending my Sunday Christmas there. The
weather was freezing and the seemingly endless walk through the
Forbidden City left my toes numb. A quick warm up in the van was just
what they needed before catching a rickshaw through Hutong. This was
my favorite tour of the day...an authentic look at the old city and
the average life of mixed class living together in such a beautiful
community. At one point we thought we passed a church...it sounded
like people singing to the Lord. At least that is what we hoped. We
were even invited into the home of a lady who had lived in Hutong for
30 years. She served us jasmine tea and peanuts and shared her
experiences living in Beijing and Nanchang. That was particularly
interesting to us as we will be traveling there tomorrow to meet our
daughter. She allowed us to ask her questions and thoroughly enjoyed
sharing her stories, as we did hearing them. At one point during the
day's tour, we passed a man with chestnuts roasting on an open fire.
We thought it quite appropriate for the day and snagged a picture.

We arrived back at the hotel earlier than expected which left room for
rest and an early crack at repacking our overstuffed luggages.
Although in country flights have more strict weight regulations on
checked luggage, as long as you can carry it, they are supposedly wide
open on the amount of carry-ons you can bring. After packing, the
three families shared Chritmas dinner together over three boxes of
Pizza Hut delivery and a can of Moravian Spice cookies. Yes, I
brought them all the way from home. Christmas just wouldn't be the
same without them:)

Now we try to sleep and wake up in time to check out and leave for the
airport at 5:40 in the morning. Tomorrw we meet Salem at noon. Four
days will be spent in Nanchang until we reunite with the other
families in Guangzou on the 30th. We will be the only Bethany family
in our province, however, there may be other agencies sending families
to meet their children alongside us. We will find out when we arrive.
Until then, we can only assume that we will be flying solo with our
guide, Mary. She will meet us at the ariport and escort us to the
hotel, then serve as our lifeline for the remainder of our time in
Nanchang. Bethany has taken wonderful care of us through these local
social workers and we are grateful! Though they don't know it now,
they will all be blessed to have their very own can of Moravian Spice
Cookies as a thank you...gotta share to love!

Good night for the last time in Beijing. Next time we post we will be
with Salem and will most likely have pictures to share. Here we go!

Chestnuts roasting...

Tiananmen Square