One Week In Chongqing

Sorry for the delay in updating the blog - I know lots of you are furiously clicking refresh looking for more information. We have been spending time with Lexi, adjusting to the time zone and the sleep schedule, and trying to keep sane.

Chongqing (pronounced Chong-CHing - we have been doing it wrong for a while) is a very large industrial and somewhat ugly city. Karen has aptly described it as a cross between Detroit and Pittsburgh on steroids. It sits on the confluence of the Jailing and Yang Tse Rivers and is divided by those rivers - however unlike Manhattan or even Pittsburgh, there doesn't seem to be any real city plan. There are just skyscrapers on top of other skyscrapers piled on teeming streets that seem to wind their way among the buildings. The streets are so busy, they have built fly-over walkways for pedestrian traffic. The streets are covered with a layer of dirt and the weather is perpetually misty and damp - probably due to the smog. There are 31 Million people in this municipality - a number so large it is difficult to process.

We are staying at the Hilton, which is an absolutely fabulous hotel. It is nice to know that we have an American oasis in this huge city. Since we are practically living here for a week, I promptly upgraded our room to a large suite with executive club access. Both have been a godsend.

On Tuesday, we spent a large part of the day getting acclimated to Lexi and to our surroundings. The morning was spent at the China Communications Bank making our "donation". As the teller scrutinized every bill, I wondered why we couldn't have just wired the money in and avoided the exchange rate hit (the dollar continues to weaken against the Yuan). We then went on a shopping excursion to another part of the city to get diapers and formula.

Here are some pictures - we quickly got Lexi into her new wardrobe...






We were then on to the "shopping district" Liberation Square:

You just cant avoid Oracle!






The next day, we went to lunch and a Silk factory, where they showed us the silk worm cocoons and the process to make silk blankets.
A note about the food - as you can see from the pictures, they serve all of us around a large round table and put dished on the lazy susan. We change location and the guides tell us they are ordering "something different" but it has become all the same. The food is somewhat tasty, but it gets old quickly. I am brought back to college when we had Hunan Garden takeout three times a day, then I didn't eat Chinese food for three years. The same is happening here. We have been avoiding dinner - thankfully they serve french bread and cheese and other snacks on the executive floor (our dinners). Last night, we got the guides to bring us KFC to the hotel.




Thanks everyone for their emails - keep them coming! We are trying to respond to everyone, but know that you are getting them through and that we appreciate the contact.

We saw Panda Bears yesterday at the zoo. That is coming up in my next post - along with a dancing Tibetan Bear!

It's a Girl!

Even though I am ready to crash onto the computer, I wanted to shout out that we finally got our daughter, and put up some pictures. I'll do a more complete post tomorrow, but everyone needs to see Lexi. She is amazing - alert, resposive, and opionated. She has a cold and probably has an ear infection, but otherwise is perfect. And, as Darren so aptly put it this morning, Karen is in remarkably good shape for someone that "carried" a baby 10 months past due!

Here she is!

Karen at the Great Wall

As I posted yesterday, we discovered that our group tour was not going to the Forbidden City. I quickly got onto the phone (who said you didn't need a local cell phone?) and called Tony, who arranged a car and driver, and got Susan to come back on very short notice. If you are going to Beijing, Tony is the best - email me and I will give you his information.
Today we had six others from our group join us on the trip we were supposed to take with our pre-paid tour - to Tian'anmen Square, the Forbidden City, and up the Great wall. Of course Susan, our wonderful guide, painted a vivid picture the whole way through.
One of the things we have noticed coninually of Beijing is the massive scale of almost every building, monument, and temple. The buildings are enormous and sprawl along acres of land. We began our adventure walking through Tian'anmen Square past Mao's tomb (he is still lying in state - and the lines are constant to see him), past the Olympic countdown clock and under the portrait of Mao Tse Tung that adorns the entrance to the Forbidden City.

Karen under the Countdown Clock

Approaching Mao's Portrait

We learned that the Portrait is re-done every three years. Talk about keeping a fresh face!
This represents the entrance to the Forbidden City, which was used as the primary residence of 24 Emperors. To say this place is massive is an understatement. We walked through gate after gate only to see larger and larger "Halls" all along the same line with an innate symmetry that follows through the whole facility. Here is a sampling of the inside of the Forbidden City. Wach building has its own purpose, from State meetings to birthday parties. And it is all sponsored by American Express!

The Main Courtyard is still under renovation

China is truly commercializing!

The Chinese Characters above this throne say "Do Nothing"

After exiting the Forbidden City, we happened upon a group of old people taking their birds for a walk:

Then it was on to the Great Wall. After a 60 minute drive and a group lunch (all in, with beverages, $3 per person - in a private room), we arrived at the Great Wall and took a climb. Behold these pictures - they do not do the experience justice:

We made it up without much trouble - going back down was more of a task. Still, it was a spectacular view on a spectatular day - and there was even cell phone service! If it weren't 1 AM EST at the time, we would have made some calls, just to say we were on the top of the Wall. We did heed the posted warnings:

Finally, we headed back to central Beijing, and on the way back, passed by the construction of the new Olympic colesseum - which is meant to hold 196,000 people. Check out this design:

Tomorrow we will finally get to pick up Lexi in Chongqing. Our post tomorrow will show the joyous occasion and give everyone their first glimpse!

We have received all of your emails, and really like to hear from you - it helps us feel closer to home. Please keep them coming!

An Incredible First Day

Our first day in China started off very early. The time change wreaks havoc, so it was hard to sleep through the night, and we were up early. Our hotel is very nice (we upgraded to a suite at the Wangfujing Grand, which appears to have been necessary) and aside from the offer of "therapeutic silk worm excrement" pillows, we find the room to be comfortable. We had a big American style breakfast then met our guide Susan.
When we say that our travel day was one of the most extraordinary we have experienced, we are not saying that lightly. Having a private translator, guide, and historian in such an incredible city was amazing.It was dark and gloomy and snowing, but we didn't notice, and it didn't make any difference.

We started our day at the Temple of Heaven, used by the Emperors for thousands of years to worship the God of Heaven twice a year. This was an intricate, multi-building temple built manually out of marble and wood. Words cannot describe, so here are some pictures:









After we moved through the Temple of Heaven, We taxied to Hutong. Taxis in Beijing are very interesting - unlike New York, they tend to refuse to bring you where they don't want to drive. However, they are incredibly cheap - no ride cost more than $3, even when we seemed to be going across town!

Hutong (which literally means "narrow street" in a Mongolian language) is best described as a village within the city of courtyard style homes along very narrow roads. There is also a bar scene and nightlife in this area. The homes were originally built for official staff of the emperors and were given out in order of importance.
We took a rickshaw ride into Hutong and through the narrow streets:

Check out this sign from one of the bars. We need this at home - especially when we have contractors in the house! (you may need to click to enlarge the image)

We then proceeded to the Drum and Bell Towers, which represent the northernmost point of the line that goes through the Forbidden Palace and Tian'emman Square, and climbed to the top of the Bell Tower - 75 steep steps (an attraction that would never be allowed in our liability-phobic country):



We then went to a local market in the Hutong and saw the foodstuffs on "display". Anyone for a side of beef or a whole pig?



Next, Susan took us to visit a local family in the Hutong and to see how the Chinese live. We sat and talked to a local gentleman whose family had owned the "courtyard" for four generations. Each member of the family had a "house" on the courtyard (actually a room that opened onto open space) and shared kitchen and bath facilities. This house was a true anachronism - it was quaint and old with all of the technology you would expect in a modern living space packed in (computer, TV)And, since he owned the land (he had to buy it back in 1966 after Mao confiscated all the property during the cultural revolution) he didn't pay any taxes! Tell that to the Simsbury assessor!

Finally, we were ready for lunch at the Winter Palace - Be'Hai park. We ate in an incredible restaurant where the food was placed before us in dazzling presentation and array and the waitresses were decked out in traditional garb.




What a day! We finished up by going shopping at the Pearl Market, where we bought some lovely gifts and got to haggle for a fake pocketbook. You can get the fakes in New York, but they aren't prominently displayed for all to see (the vendor did get a little cautious with the fake Louis Vitton, but I could buy any number of fake iPods or Rolexes).

And so - we finished off our day just as the rest of the group arrived. With their entrance came the revelation that we would not see the Forbidden City on our group tour tomorrow!

I picked up the phone and called Tony - Susan is meeting us again in the morning with a car to take us to both the Great Wall and to the Forbidden City. We will be ready for another unbelievable experience!

Stay tuned.

Welcome to Beijing!

We made it! After a LONG travel day, we arrived in Beijing Friday afternoon (local time). The flight was long, but uneventful and fortunately pretty comfortable. United Airlines does a nice job, and it is good to have experienced flight attendants guiding you along (when they pull the shades and dim the lights, you pretty much know it is time to rest). We met another family traveling straight to Nanchang to pick up their daughter. They were upgraded with us, but left "empty seat" back in coach, which caused huge confusion for the folks at United. We hope they got that cleared up, even if they are Red Sox fans!

Here are some pictures from the journey:

United 851

Karen in her favorite place in the world - an airplane

Flying over the North Pole (or close enough)

Once we arrived, we were met at the airport and taken to the hotel. Our guide Tony then took us for Roast (Peking) Duck at a local restaurant - no english, just great food.

Getting Ready to Go!

Just a quick post as we finish packing up. Karen has been obsessive about bag weight, so we bought 2 rolling duffels from EBags which are downright huge and only 5 pounds each - absolutely incredible. Our bags are officially under the 44 pound limit (lets hope the others in our group are equally dilligent).

I have the laptop packed and the ipod filled and the pharmacy ready for our 20 hour expedition to Beijing tomorrow. Thank god for Business Class - I don't know how we would do this in coach! (I'll let you know when we get there if it was tolerable). We will be in Beijing at 3:05 AM eastern time Friday morning.

We will have my BlackBerry - dan.donshik@rollcagetech.com (or use the link on the page) - which will work, so feel free to send us emails, or use the comment function on the blog. I have figured out how to post video through Google Video, and will be posting pictures as we travel. We would love to hear from you!

Welcome to our Trip Blog

We will use this site to document our journey to Chongqing China to adopt our daughter Lexi.

Here she is:




She will be 10 months old when we pick her up.

While you are looking, here is a link to the rest of our family:

Our Family

Here is our itinerary (I will add it as a permanent link):

China 134--CWTS-FT061125A-Chongqing

Total Staying Days: 13
November 23: Leaving U.S.
November 24: Arriving in Beijing by United#851 at 16:05 staying in
Wang Fu Jing Hotel in Beijing
Tel: 011-86-10-6522-1188
Fax: 011-86-10-6522-3749

November 26: Sightseeing the Great Wall and TianAnMen Square

November 27: Fly from Beijing to Chongqing by HU8830 at 10:50, arrive Chongqing
at 12:50, stay in Hilton Hotel
Tel: 011-86-23-8903-9999
Fax: 011-86-23-8903-8600

Meet the children in the afternoon

November 28: Registration and notarization

November 29-12/2: local sightseeing

December 3: Getting legal documents, (Birth Cert, Passport, Adoption Decree and
Abandonment Decree, it is the responsibility of the adoptive parents to check on the accuracy of the legal documents and not to lose them)
fly from Chongqing to Guangzhou by HU7076 at 11:00, arrive
Guangzhou at 12:30, stay in White Swan Hotel
Tel: 011-86-20-8188-6968
Fax: 011-86-20-8188-2288

December 4: Photos for the babies, Physicals for babies

December 5: Visa appointment at 9:00

December 6: Swearing in ceremony at the Consulate, getting the visas
fly from Guangzhou back to Beijing CZ3195 at 19:35
arriving in Beijing at 22:10, stay in Sino-Swiss hotel
(closer to airport)
Tel: 011-86-10-6456-5588
Fax: 011-86-10-6456-1234

December 7: Return flight United#850 at 17:25