Last day in Beijing!

We started the day by visiting Tiananmen Square. Quite a site. It was huge. Almost as big as St. Peter Square in Rome. Very Spartan looking. Just a large square surrounded by government buildings, the tomb of Chairman Mao and a monument to the fallen soldiers in the middle of the square. Chariman Mao's tomb was closed to the public on Monday so we could not visit it but apparently he was buried in a glass coffin and people can see his body. There are only three people that were buried in glass coffiins in the world. Lenin, Stalin and Mao. Interesting tid bit of information.

We did see increased security and guards, some of them armed. There were several standing guard at each corner of the square and they didn't like their picture to be taken. Most of the guards looked very, very young. It seemed like some of them were still going through puberty. There were several street vendors here but they were not as persistent or aggressive as they were yesterday. Maybe because of the guards presence, it was a nice break. I did buy a military hat from one of the vendors for about $2.50. My dad is really going to get a kick out of it. John wore it in one of the pictures, I didn't want my hairdo to get messed up ;)

Next, we walked inside the Forbidden City. Tiananmen Square is in front of it. It was very beautiful although not very well preserved which is something we noticed. It seems that many ancient monuments and buildings have been rebuilt throughout the years. Nonethless, it was quite a site. The best way I can describe it is to think of a Russian Doll. You take out the first piece and there's many other pieces inside. The Forbidden City had an outer layer and buildings, as we walked from one gate to the next there was another smaller set of buildings inside and it kept going on for many miles. As soon as we thought we were done, there was another inner court yard and residences.

We left the Forbidden City for an hour drive to the Great Wall after a small stop to a local restaurant.

The Great Wall was quite a sight. The beauty and the views from The Wall were breath taking and rivaled any we have seen. The section we went to was about an hour and a half from our hotel and was about 400 yards in lenght with a mid section at about 200 yards. Most visitors, like us climbed to the midsection which was a work out in itself. The incline had to be close to 65 degrees and the steps ranged from 2 inches high to 24 inches. It took about 20 minutes and

several breaks (our thighs were BURNING) but in the end we made it.

On the way back to the hotel Veronica, our guide for the entire trip gave us the official Travel Permission document with Annalisa's picture on it. I started to feel very, very emotional and started to cry. As she was explaining the events of the next day I could barely hold my tears back. This is it! We are done with the sightseeing and tourist phase and entered the Adoption Phase.

Tomorrow morning we'll leave the hotel at 10:20. Our flight from Beijing to Nanchang leaves at 11:40. We'll arrive in Nanchang around 2:00pm going straight to the Civil Affair Office. Our appointment to receive our babies is at 3:00. Our group has 12 families in it. Great Walls has 42 families that are travelling to Nanchang today to get their babies. They divided us into 4 groups. Each group's appointment is spread out about 1/2 hour.

I would have rather had a chance to check in the Hotel first and get a chance to settle our bags but we'll do our best and rely on the help of our guide and other Great Walls employees that are travelling with us taking care of everything. Our guides have been amazing so far. They are taking care of everything. When we got to airport on Friday, Veronica was there waiting for us, she took care of our luggage and got us to the hotel. She had already checked us in. We just picked up the keys at the front desk and the bell boys brought all our luggage upstairs. Hopefully they are getting paid well for all the work that they do.

Well, signing off for now! Next time I post we'll have Annalisa with us. I am a little (a lot) scared right now. I know that my whole world is about to change and I don't know what to expect. My only hope is that Annalisa is healthy, we can deal with everything else.

Love,

Rina & John!

The Great Wall!

The Forbidden City!

Tiananmen Square!