A final post from Beijing

Good morning (well, at least it should be morning for you when you read this)!

We've learned over the last few days that Kiyomi is definitely a morning person. She's in her best mood of the day throughout the morning, and will often wake with a great big smile on her face. Evenings, however, she can be a little cranky, especially if she hasn't gotten a proper afternoon nap. She also has no compulsion to temper her annoyance if you try to put her down when she has decided it's not bed time! The cute "umbas" of the first couple days are a distant memory, overshadowed by the more constant wail when she decides she is not happy with the situation. Luckily, those type of episodes are not regular occurences and sometimes all it takes is a hand off because she's decided she's had enough of you, and wants the other. Two weeks and this child already has us trained!

Our last day in Beijing was certainly interesting. As promied, we went on a rickshaw tour of a hutong. "Hutong" - a Mongolian work for "water well" - refers to a district of alleyways which form the older parts of Beijing. The name is derived from the fact that the hutongs were designed around a well at the end of every alleyway. In many ways these alleyways are exactly like your basic city street, lined with shops, restautant, bars and homes. There used to be many such districts in Beijing, but over the years they have been bulldozed to make room for high rises. The few ramaining are now apparently protected from destruction (although the other day, we did see what suspiciously looked like a hutong that was being bulldozed with a few stubborn residents still living in lonely standing homes surrounded by rubble).

While rickshaws are fairly commong sights in Beijing, the army of rickshaws that operate in the hutong district was more than a little surprising. Ours was also not the only hutong tour underway, as we passed a number of other groups clinging to their own rather precarious carriages. The drivers weave through the alleys expertly, peddlaling a bike carrying two bodies, plus baggage with a single gear. At times, they even race each other - our driver seemed to prefer being at the front, and there was some excitement when he pulled out to pass along narrow little alleyways - well peopled with residents going about their daily business. Once again, we were a bit of a spectacle with the babies in tow. We were also magnets for people selling trinkets and tokens such as stamps, Mao books, fans, etc. In one case, a woman road her bike along the various carriages looking to sell fans or purses.

The tour made two stops - the first at Opium Alley, a rather famous street from the late 19th century and a visit to one of the homes. Opium Alley, according to Marui, was made famous by the Empress Dowager Tzu Hsi, the woman responsible for picking the last two Emperors of China. It was indeed, as the name suggests, a street lined with opium dens frequented by the Empress. Today, it is mainly small tourist shops, a number of which interestingly, sell mainly Tibetan paraphenalia. There are also small street vendors which line the street in front of the stores.
There was a fair bit of excitement at one point when we stumbled on an argument between two of the vendors, who were yelling at each other in Tibetan!
The 2nd stop was to the home of the Qing family - an older couple whose sons have grown and who open their home to these tours. Their house is effectively a courtyard surrounded by 3 rooms. There was a feng shui reason for the placement of the rooms, with the parents being on the south side, the son to the east and the daughters to the west (I think). Mrs Qing told us that her husband's family were part of the royal family, and that their home had been taken away during the communist revolution and only returned to the family in the 1980s.


All in all, daily life goes on in a hutong in the same way it does anywhere else in Beijing. I was reminded of being in downtown Ottawa, wandering around at lunch time, and passing a bunch of tourists, realizing that you are part of their tourist experience.

For our last night in Beijing, the entire group went out for a traditional Peiking duck dinner - although it would seem that duck was only a small part of the menu. The food just seemed to keep coming - dish after dish. I should note that while there are some dishes that are similar to the dishes we are familiar with from Chinese restaurants back home, the scope of Chinese cuisine is far greater than anything we'd ever see in Canada. And even those dishes that are familar to us - such as sweet and sour pork - are world's apart in smell, texture and taste. Not sure what the difference is, but the food is way better over here.

After dinner, we tried for a group picture of the babies. Wow, what an experience that was. Let me start by showing you the parents' picture:




Now, let me show you the picture of the babies:


Yup, every single one of the girls in this photo are wailing to beat the banshees. It was really impossible to tell which one had the loudest wail (although, Kiyomi does seem to have the most pained expression on her face). Despite the chaos, and the tears, I couldn't help kill myself laughing.

While I'm eager to be home, there is also a certain sadness in leaving China. I feel like I've only just been introduced, and there is so much to learn about her history, customs and people. I'm also a little sad to be taking Kiyomi away from her birthplace. No matter where she goes in life, this place will always be a part of who she is and what she will become. As such, it will always be a special place for our family.

The parting shots tonight (and there are a few as I feel it's warranted) are a farewell to this country, and her people, who make up her most precious spirit. A final good night from Beijing.

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.

Oh the hords!

Well, today we discovered just what happens when you take 18 little girls out into what can only be called a mass of humanity.

Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City were awash with people. We set out at 9:30, but didn't hit the square until well after 10, even though it's a 20 minute walk away. It takes the bus about half an hour to get through Bejing traffic and get anywhere near the Square.

From the second you step off the bus, you're approached by people selling hats, water, Rolexs, flags, little red books. And it isn't long until you join the throngs of people, Chinese and foreigners alike, who have come to step foot on one of China's most well known landmarks. Beijing is a popular tourist destination for Chinese tourists, including all the school kids on summer holidays. We saw dozens of school groups, many of whom stopped to peek in on the babies.

Tiananmen Square itself is indescribably huge. The pictures can't possibly give you a real impression of the scale of the place. Suffice it to say, I finally saw a portrait of Chairman Mao. Knowing the history of this country over the last 50 years, it was fascinating to see the pilgrammage to this place that so many Chinese make. Of particular interest was the huge queue of people streaming along to see Mao's mausoluem - where the Chairman himself lies in state - indefinitely- encased in a crystal coffin thanks to the wonders of modern preservation. Unfortunately, with the crowds, the heat and trying to steer strollers through the throngs, we didn't get enough of a chance to truely appreciate the magnitude (and message) of the place.

Interestingly, despite the surroundings, the babies still drew a lot of attention. Anytime we stopped with the stroller, you'd get a handful of people come up to play with the babies. It was almost hard to get moving again when Marui told us to "move out". It was particularly funny when Marui arranged to have a group picture taken in front of the famous Tiananmen facade. While we were being organized by the photographer, a group of Chinese tourist crowded around to take our picture (picture on the right). Guess we were quite the spectacle with the strollers all lined up in a row!

At the end of Tiananment Sqaure and underneath the massive portrait of Mao, is the entrance to the Forbidden City - the past home to the Emperors of China and their entourage, including Empresses and concubines. The name was taken from the fact that the common people were "forbidden" to enter the place, and it operated as its own little municipality within what was then known as Peking. However, following the communist revolution, the Forbidden City was opened to the masses, and today, is one of Beijing's biggest tourist attractions.

Once again, the scale of this place needs to be seen to be believed. Courtyard after courtyard, that seem to go on for miles and off-shoots of smaller courtyards that create a maze of courtyards. Walking through, it is easy to see why it's called a "city" rather than a palace. I'll post some of the more intersting pictures, but they don't really do justice to the scale and beauty of the place. Admittedly, we - once again - were in no position to truely appreciate the majesty and artistry of the place due to the crowds and our preoccupation with the babies in 30 degree heat. For anyone considering a trip to Beijing, I would highly recommend heading to the Forbidden City very early in the morning, to avoid the crowds (if that's at all possible).







Unfortunately, the bus was fairly late to pick us up and we all wound up waiting on an incredible busy sidewalk for 40 minutes with 18 hungry, thirsty and tired little girls. Probably fair to say that everyone was a bit of a wreck by the time we got back on that bus, and incredibly grateful for the air conditioning. As for Kiyomi, well, she just seemed to take it all in stride. It's amazing what that girl will put up with as long as she's out and about and has a cookie in her hand!

As we learn more and more about Kiyomi, we learn more and more about the perils and challenges of parenting. One of our finer moments was when we picked up the cookie that Kiyomi has dropped on a Beijing sidewalk, reasoning that she only seemed interested in putting a cookie in her mouth on her own the day before, so she won't possibly try it on a bumby sidewalk... Fifteen minutes later we looked down to see cookie crumbs on her fface, and palming a half eaten cookie. It's ok though, because that was totally eclipsed by today, when I was giggling and playing with her on the bus, and she tossed her head backwards... against the window ledge! Sure hope our kid survives us!

Tomorrow is a bit of a rest day. There are a couple of shopping excursions planned, but being a little shped-out, we're planning on taking it easy. It will be a relief not to have to be up, fed, ready, and on the bus by a certain time. I tell ya, you start to develop a bit of a love-hate relationship with that bus on trips such as these.

Tonight's parting shot is, shockingly, not of Kiyomi! This one is of Hope and her dad, Dave. Seems to just be one of those shots that are worth a thousand words. Good night from Beijing!

Another Day in China

Actually a rather uneventful day today - but of course that didn't stop us from taking alot of pictures. The perils of travelling with a Suzuki, I tell ya!

We woke up early to head to the clinic for Kiyomi's medical appointment. It was a fairly cursory exam, aimed primarily at fulfilling the requirements for Immigration Canada. We're happy to report that all seems well. Given the wailing we heard from the other girls who went ahead of us, we were expecting a full out wail from the little nipper, but she mostly just looked puzzled!

We went back to the little Szechuan restaurant we discovered last week for lunch. Let me tell you, this time, we got a lot more attention. Well, ok, not "we" per sey, so much as Kiyomi. It would seem our little girl knows how to work an audience - she was making funny faces at the tables around us and at the wait staff (she and Alex will be able to put on some pretty impressive shows in the future). So much so, that when we got up to leave, we had 3 waitresses and the hostess crowd around us in order to hold Kiyomi. All I can say is that we are in such trouble. This one may just take after her uncle Brahm with that rare ability to charm the skin off a snake!

We then wandered a large shopping mall looking for some clothes for the little nipper (a performer after all needs her wardrobe and clothes/shoes here are really inexpensive), where she drew more attention. Just call us Kiyomi's sherpas - we carry the cookies. In fact, all the babies here draw a fair bit of attention. Chinese culture really seems to embrace their children, and it is not uncommon to have people come up to you on the street to coo or hold the girls. They enjoy their smiles and are always kind and gentle with the babies.

This afternoon, we actually ventured outside on our own and explored some of the streets around our hotel. Our hotel actually sits on a major road, with large government and financial buildings all along it. Other than the occassional more traditional Chinese architectural influences, it seems like any major big city anywhere. However, the streets behind the hotel are a little more what one would expect from a more typical Chinese city - small, narrow alleyways with scads of pedestrians and bikes, and the occassional car. There were homes, small shops, litlte markets, restaurants lining the small maze of alleyways, with people hurrying here and there. It looked like some of the local vendors had just set up shop in order to catch the afterwork crowd. Also, unlike in the hotel, I was the only white face around. Interestingsly, while there were a few smiles at Kiyomi, we drew less attention.

This evening, we headed out with some of the group to a local restaurant. Our guide ordered for us and we sat at one of those huge tables with the biggets lazy susan I've ever seen. Food kept spinning around, and it was an occassional challenge to keep up. However, it was all pretty good, and amazingly cheap. A full meal, plus drinks came to a grand total of about $7 Cdn each (and this was on the expensive side for a local restaurant).

By the way, Kohji tried to post a link to video on the previous post. We're not sure if it works or not. We're having trouble accessing it, but in theory, it should be accessible. If not, just ignore it. Also, we are still getting all the comments that you're posting, so keep'em coming (and for those of you who have asked Zumu and Zufu are my crazy parents!)

Tomorrow is Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. I think it will be the first time that I actually see a picture of Chairman Mao since I've been here. However, before I go, a parting shot:

Kiyomi's first online performance

And now for something completely different! Thanks to Kohji's family and their gift of a video camera, we bring to you our first boring baby video!

Just click on the link below. It'll take you to a site called "streamload.com" where the video is stored. You just have to click on "kiyomi.mpg". It'll take a while to load since it's 5MB in size.
http://mediamax.streamload.com/kojtam/Links/DBCFE136E1

Enjoy. 

Day (oh, I've lost count)

Climbing the walls - literarlly and figuratively - is the theme for today.

After a couple of great nights, where Kiyomi went down like a dream, tonight we learned that there's more than "umbas" to this little monkey. She was in full scale, man the torpedoes, all lungs on deck wail this evening. We think she may have been overtired as she really didn't get a proper nap today (more on that later). Worst of all, just when she had finally nodded off in her crib, we learned of a traitor in our midst. Seems "sheepy" (previously referred in this blog) has a little short circut. As some of you may know, "sheepy" baas when you squeeze his little belly. Well, I was ready to ring his little neck when he went off without prompting just as Kiyomi was finally snuffling to sleep. Sheepy, at the moment, has been banished to the little hotel fridge - we're hoping he'll either freeze or the batteries will conk out as the blasted thing keeps baaing every few minutes.

However, other than the occassional little meltdown (which we're starting to figure out are mostly a result of our errors), she's doing great. We're learning what she likes to eat (steamed egg - popular with all the girls - and noodles) and starting to come up with solutions to the liquid intake (other than watermelon). We've also started to see her less serious side, and killed ourselves laughing with her when she's in full funny-face mode. We've alos made the pleasant discovery that if she's gotten the requisite naps during the day, she will happily chortle herself to sleep in her crib for the night, giggling to herself and playing with her toes. Hope we can figure out how to maximize that, especially after having to have cold pizza on the floor tonight because we were too fearful of making any sounds that would stir her or get sheepy going!

Her referral also said she was a very active little girl, and today she proved it by climbing the Great Wall of China. Yup, the little nipper went all the way to the top with no complaints. It took a few pieces of cookie on the way down, but generally she was content the whole hour and a half up and down. She also drew a number of comments and cooes from other passers-by, including a couple at the top who asked to have their picture taken with Kiyomi. Here are a few pictures of the adventure:

On the way up

At the top

Coming down

As you can tell from the pictures, it was a fairly overcast and foggy day, so we didn't get much by way of views up there. However, the Wall itself in an engineering marvel. The stairs go on forever, and it was a particularly haunting effect when they dissapeared in the the fog. There were thousands of people climbing today, despite the damp and light occassional rain. Young and old alike scaled the stairs - some to the first few towers, others all the way to the top. It was particularly impressive to see an elderly Chinese woman make her way up. She was moving slow, and resting every few steps, but you could tell she was determined to make it. I think Kiyomi, and a little girl from our group, Jenna, were the youngest to make it to the top that I saw.

Yesterday, a few of us took a freelance wander over to an ancient observatory that's just a hop, skip and jump away from our hotel. It was an interesting place, and provided a calm oasis from the constant traffic noise of Beijing. The instruments, for the most part, seemed to have been crafted in the 1600s, and were beautifully intricate metal casts. Unfortinately, the guide there didn't speak English (and I couldn't wrestle the phrase book away from Kiyomi in time), so I couldn't find out is the instruments still worked. The girls were a little less impressed with the instuments, but Kiyomi seems to love getting out and about, so it was definitely worth the trip.

Well, blogger seems to be causing me some problems tonight, so I best post this before I loose it (I've already had to rewrite about half of it when the program crashed). Tomorrow, it's off to the Western clinic for medicals. Hard to believe that we only have 4 more days left before we leave for home. Good night all.

Airplanes and other fun things

Whew! In Beijing and back on-line.

I know you're probably all tuning in to find out how Kiyomi's first airplane ride went. Well, let me tell you, it was completely and utterly... uneventful. In fact, yesterday was her best day yet. She had no realy fussiness, napped well and was generally in a good mood all day, even on the plane. This, despite the fact that she had dinner of leftover egg and ham in the airport (waiting for our delayed flight) and didn't get to sleep until 11:30 at night!

Our morning started out pretty easy, although she gulped down a huge breakfast. We headed for the Security Office at 10:30 in order to pick up the girls' passports. Needless to say, given that it was paper, Kiyomi took a huge interest in the passport. It only took a few minutes to get all the passports, but we had to go as the officials needed to see us and the babies. With that, we had finally completed all the paperwork to get her OUT of China. Now, we need to do all the paperwork to get her INTO Canada.

At 3:30, we all met in the lobby in order to get to the airport for our flight to Beijing. In some ways, it was a little sad to be leaving Kiyomi's birth province. We didn't get to experience much of Nanchang, but we at least have some stories and photos to take away with us. Unfortunately, once we got to the airport, we found out our flight was delayed an hour. Let me tell you, killing time in a waiting area with 18 babies is an experience. Luckily, we had brought some dinner for Kiyomi, so we entertained her with food while we waited. It was really entertaining though, when some announcement was made in Chinese, and all the Chinese people in the waiting area started to scramble away. We were convinced the announcement said - "if you want to get away from the babies, head to gate 5 NOW!" We caught on though, so they didn't escape us.

Our guide, Marui (on the right), has taken a bit of a shine to Kiyomi. We think it's because Kiyomi tends to scrunch up her face at people to make them laugh. Kiyomi likes Marui too, and will reach out to her when she comes by to say hello. We got a picture of Kiyomi with both our guides, Jenny (Nanchang) and Marui (Nanchang and Beijing). They are very sweet ladies and try to make things as smooth and comfortable for us as possible. They are also trying to teach us a few Chinese words. One we've heard a fair bit is "piao- liarng". It means, "beautiful", and many Chinese have come up to Kiyomi to play with her a little and cooed "piao-liarng". She generally just stares at them or makes a funny scrunched up face!

We've also discovered that Kiyomi likes to dance and bite (although not at the same time). If you hold her under her arms, and stand her up, she'll shimmy like crazy and laugh while doing it. The biting was an accidental discovery. We'd notice she liked to nuzzle against our forearms, and kinda suckle, usually when she's getting tired. However, if you nuzzle into her neck, she reacts by laughing and searching for something to chomp down on. I've actually got a Kiyomi bite on my chin, when she grabbed my chin in her teeth and pulled. The little nipper's got a strong jaw I tell ya! We also heard her first laughs yesterday. She gets a big kick out of watching her mom and dad turn into blubbering idiots making faces and silly noises. She's also getting snugglier.

Once the flight finally left, she was tired and fed, so she fell asleep for most of it. Kohji had to quickly learn how to eat rice with his left hand. He didn't do too bad considering (only dropped a couple of mouthfuls on the sleeping baby). Kiyomi did take a souvenir from her first flight and it's become her new favourite toy (yup, that's a barf bag - nothing's too good for our little girl).

By the time we made it back it to the Beijing hotel it was almost 10 o'clock. Most of the babies were tired, but generally doing ok considering. I can't say the same for the parents. Watching our group walk in, I can honestly say, I've never seem a more wasted bunch of travellers in my life. What does it mean when our daughters are all better travellers than we are?

This morning, the Canadian paper chase has already begun. We took all the girls down to the lobby this morning to get their visa pictures taken and Kohji is in the process of doing immigration paper work with the group downstairs as I type (while Kiyomi naps here in the room). The visa shoot was hilarious - all the babies had to be held out against a white background, while about 12 adults stood around them trying to get them to look at the camera. I swear these kids must think we're all nuts.

We're planning on taking it easy today, as tomorrow is a big day - we head to the Great Wall. I've been looking forward to this, and Kiyomi seems to do better when we get her out and about during the day. I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow.

A few more

Sorry, but I've just discovered a much faster way to post pictures, so I'm testing it out. This has the potential to cut the time it takes me to blog in half! Very excited...
 

A few more pictures

As promised, here are a few more pictures of the little rugrat, including one where she is kinda smiling. Note the paper clutched in her hands while sleeping in the stroller.


 

Day four

It's hard to believe it's only been four days. Every day, there are huge gains, and some pretty noticeable challenges. I'm opening today's post with a picture of Kiyomi holding her latest favourite toy - we think she's trying to hint something to her new parents.

The little nipper's personality is coming out more and more every day. It's amazing the difference over the last few days alone. Initially, she was withdrawn and suspicious, but she's very slowly coming out of her shell. She reaches for toys and food easily now, although she's not exactly sure what to do with it once it's in her hand. She chatters away to herself happily and regularly, although she's still a pretty serious baby. It's a bit of work to get her to smile, and you're never guaranteed success. We were also pretty excited to see her imitate movements today - moving her head to copy Kohji or lifting a ball in the air after we show her how. She ate a good breakfast and lunch, but the drinking thing is still slow - so we made sure to include watermelon with every meal.

There were some challenging moments today as well. She had a major meltdown this afternoon/evening that lasted about two and a half hours. Everything we tried was fruitless. Finally, out of exhaustion, Kohji put her in the Snugli - first facing in, to no avail. But then we turned her so that she was facing out, and she started to calm. Needless to say, we've had every single meal in the room today. We suspect that part of the problem may be that she didn't really nap much today - she seems to like a couple of naps, 2 hours each, in the morning and afternoon. Today, we only managed half of that. By the time she finally feel asleep at 8:30, she was spent (and so were we).

This morning was a trip to a state-run porcelain store. Once again, we were quite the spectacle on the street when we all streamed out of the bus with babies in tow. JiangXi is known as the porcelain capital of China, and is promoted heavily in the area. The pieces ran the gamut from traditional Chinese designs, to almost modern colours and textures. The really fine China was lighter than air. I was scared to pick it up for fear that I would crush it. I didn't realize porcelain could be made so thin and delicate. I think every one in the group bought at least a few pieces, but we've become legends among the group for how much we picked up. We really wanted a few special things from Kiyomi's home province.

After the porcelain place, we stopped for a wander through the People's Park. It's a nice park in the heart of Nanchang. If it weren't for most of us being caucasian and the strollers (they don't seem to really use strollers here), we may have possibly blended in at the park. There were mainly families, with kids in tow, wandering the paths. Again, we drew many inquisitive looks and comments. One group of women started speaking to me, and I looked helplessly over at our guide, Jenny. She said that they were wondering whether Kiyomi was a boy or girl. Apparently, they thought she was very beautiful, but thought she might be a boy as I had dressed her in shorts! The drive back from the park was interesting as we drove past a market area. While some of the shops seemed pretty typical, I was intrigued by the people who laid down blankets or baskets literarly on the street and sold their wares - usually few. It reminded me that outside the city, th is province is primarily agricultural and poor.

The rest of the day was pretty low key. It was a bit cooler and overcast today, so I tried venturing out of the hotel. Everytime we got organized and I made it downstairs, it had started raining, so we had to abort. We need to get quicker on the draw apparently. I'm told that there will be a time when it doesn't take us half and hour to leave the room!

I was going to try to leave you with some extra pictures of Kiyomi as I don't think I'll be able to post much, if at all tomorrow, but blogger isn't cooperating right now and I'm too exhausted to wait it out. We get the girls' passports and leave for Beijing tomorrow afternoon. I don't expect we'll get to the hotel in Beijing until 9 or 9:30, so we'll probably all crash (or at least I hope we will). I'll try to add a few more pictures in the morning.

Good night, and wish us luck on Kiyomi's first plane ride. Should be a doozy, as she, and a number of the other babies, don't seem to know how to suck from a bottle (it's supposed to help with the pressure changes). I already feel bad for the other passengers on that plane!