A rest day ... at last

Today has been the first real rest day since we started this little adventure. Marui had arranged for a couple of shopping excursions, but we're pretty shopped out, and wanted to spend the day just chilling. I think most of the folks in our group are of the same mind, so there were few takers on the tour of the silk factory this morning. It was nice to sleep until the Kiyomi alarm rung, and head down for a leisurely breakfast, without having to keep half an eye on the time in order to make the bus. So, alas, there is very little of interest to report (and few pictures).

Note the little chicken dress! I think there's supposed to be a t-shirt underneath, but I didn't really have one, and it was so hot today, I wasn't putting long pants on her. So, she went around showing her diaper off to the world today. I'm quite sure that the people looking and smiling at her today, were doing so and saying "what is wrong with that child's parents?" The whole ensemble was not helped by the fact that she likes to have her feet up on the cross bar of the stroller and slouch right down.

We went for a little excursion on our own to a children's department store about a 20 minute walk from the hotel. Pretty typical in many ways, except for the shoes! Really good quality leather shoes, for incredibly reasonably prices. I couldn't resist and bought a couple pairs for Kiyomi when she's older.

The afternoon was spent resting and relaxing. Kohji is coming down with a wee bit of a cold, and Kiyomi was a little bit out of sorts today, so we thought it'd be best to get a little r'n'r before the big flight the day after tomorrow. Given that we got Kiyomi's visa today, we are effectively now just putting in time until our flight on Friday anyway, so a little downtime was probably earned.

Kiyomi is doing amazingly well. She has her moments, usually when she's overtired, but I'm still in awe of the changes we've been seeing over the last two weeks. We believe that much of what we saw in her the first 2 or 3 days was likely a bit of shutting down as a defense mechanism. But, as she slowly gets comfortable with us, we are seeing a strength and resilience in this little girl (in all the girls here frankly) that is simply astounding. In a few short days, she has gone from watching silently from our arms (and clinging desperately) to sitting, feeding herself (if the cookie is big enough), babbling, standing with support, interactive play, mimicking movements and sounds, smiling and giggling. Who among us could have moved so quickly to that point if we'd just been ripped away from everything we've ever known? All I can say is that there girls are incredible!

Some of you have asked about whether China is fairly Westernized now. The short answer is that there is a Mcdonald's at Tiananmen Square (which actually surprised me). Beijing is as international a city as I've ever been too. It's got many Western businesses and retal stores - from high end designers to Pizza Hut - and all the typical conspicuous consumption of the Western world. However, the Westernized version seems fairly contained, as most of the country remains distinctly Chinese. China was only formally opened up to the outside world in the early 1980s, when the president at the time, Deng Xiaoping, introduced significant economic reforms, including allowing foreign investment. Apparently, there was significant resistence to the reforms at the time, and Deng faced an uphill battle in instituting economic change. Interestingly though, when our guide gave us a short history of this century (really since the Communist uprising) on the way to Tiananmen Sqaure, she noted that Mao and Deng Xiaoping were two of China's greatest leaders.

My, or rather, Kiyomi's, little phrase book notes that the Chinese like contradictions in their cooking – sweet and sour, for example. I’m beginning to think this is a land of contradictions - order out of chaos (in the traffic for example); extreme wealth and great poverty; 21st century construction and growth, but a value system and traditions routed thousands of years in the past; an unfathomably enormous population (1.4 billion), yet a palbable sense of community and family. Of course, for us, the most fascinating contradiction is the need to limit family size in a country that cherishes its children so much. All in all, a fascinating country to explore. I only wish we had more of a chance to understand its shadows and nuances - as hard to capture as the calligraphy practice with water on pavement.

Tomorrow is a hutong tour by rickshaw. A hutong is an older quarter in Beijing, where the homes are more traditional. From the experiences of others who have taken this journey, we expect to see the cricket man (more on that tomorrow). All in all though, we are ready to come home. It's been exilarating, exhausting, fascinating and terrifying (just try crossing a Beijing street with a stoller), but we long for the normalcy of home and not living out of a suitcase (or rather a number of suitcases). We also long for a nice, big, green, leafy salad (but that's a whole other story) and I would pull out my eye teeth for a slurpee.

Tonight's parting shot seems particularly apppropriate, given that it's now after 10 p.m., and I am zonked. Good night, from Beijing.