Hutongs, Silk Worms & Tired Feet

Friday, February 27

We met the other adoption families for the first time today. It was funny walking into the hotel restaurant for breakfast and seeing multiple other Americans, including several children Ana's age. Ana immediately detected future friends. They'll be traveling with us most of the next two weeks as we all get our new babies.

The group spent the day sightseeing, starting with the Opera House (has to be the biggest in the world), and then onto the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, a silk factory and a hutong (Steve and my favorite). A hutong is a traditional Chinese home, surrounded by a wall connecting other hutongs. Traditionally, several generations of families all lived within the walls. We had lunch with one of the families in the hutong. The food was delicious. We took a rickshaw (a bicycle with a seat on back) to the hutong. Very cool. Ana particularly loved the silk factory, where she saw how the cocoons of silk worms became those gorgeous Chinese dresses and comfy silk linens. We were exhausted by the end of the day, but filled with more wonderful memories of Beijing.