We arrived in Beijing late last night and were met (after some waiting) by our guide Lily. The interesting thing is that this Lily is the same guide as we had for our adoption trip for Katrine. It was really nice when she met us at the airport and remembered Katrine. It made Katrine feel so special. To top it off, Lily let our tired big girl wave her tour guide flag as we walked to the waiting bus. That was the cherry on top.
Today started off with us getting photos taken for immigration. Then after a brief trip to the local supermarket for water and supplies (we discovered that little Elspeth likes banana applesauce….anyone knowing where we can find that please let us know so gotta have that), I got down to filling in immigration paperwork while Glenn fed the kids lunch of instant noodles, crackers and things readily available in squishy packs. Squishy packs seem to be a big thing here. You get juice in them, jelly, yogurt, banana applesauce, weird pickled vegetable things. You twist off the lid and suck it back. Both kids seem to like them and its getting food into them so who can complain.
After nap, we headed back out to Wangfujiang for some more shopping. We were looking for shorts for Elspeth (size 12 – 18 months are too wide and fall down; learned that on the visit to the orphanage by making a great impression on the foster parents…can’t even dress the kid in proper fitting clothes), chinese barbies, chinese baby doll, souvenirs. Had a nice list going. Got the shorts after much pantomiming with the sales staff. I mean, the kid is right infront of you should I really need to tell you that the first pair of HUGE shorts are too big. Really? They were about the equivalent of our size 3s. Anyways, got it straightened out. Downstairs we go to toys (its a big kids shop with multiple levels). We are in China so they should have dollss that look asian right? Not a single asian doll of any type (Elspeth is fascinated by Katrine’s asian Cabbage Patch doll.) Sigh. On to the Barbie section which is large. White and blond, white and blond, oh look chinese!!!!! Crap, they now carry a new brand of chinese fashion doll not the one we bought. Okay, keep moving. Silk kites. Okay, getting somewhere. Chose a nice pink butterfly for Elspeth’s wall. It’s on display so they have it right? Nope. Do we want the giant angry looking dragon or the bright orange insect. Time to keep moving. We had luck with the souvenirs and ended up getting most of the stuff on our list. Plus, we discovered a nice dumpling show and ended up bringing pork and vegetable dumplings back to the room.
Tomorrow is going to be a busy day. We are heading to the Great Wall. Katrine was dancing around smiling when she heard. Just keeping our fingers crossed that it doesn’t rain. We will still be going but it would be more fun if it did not rain. Kids are in bed asleep and we are heading there shortly so you will need to wait until tomorrow for photos.