Off We Go

We're off... for our long awaited trip to China. I suppose this journey has been 11 years in the making, from when I first started the adoption process that ultimately united me with Alison (9 years ago) and Victoria (almost 6 years ago). It was inevitable that we would return to visit their homeland, and hopefully this will be the first of multiple trips to China in the coming years. 

On this trip, we will travel to Beijing, Xi'an, Chengdu and Guangzhou - a north to south route spanning 1,000+ miles.

 Birth cities will have to wait for a future trip, when the kids are older and feel more 'ready'. We are touring with a company that specializes in taking families back to China for homeland tours. While we do not know the other families who are also booked on this tour personally, from recent email contact, I was pleased to learn that all the children are in the same age range as mine, and of some additional commonalities - another mother who also works for IBM, and a girl the same age as Alison that lived with her in the same Social Welfare Institute in China, and now also resides in the DC area.

It should be a great experience for our family and of course I hope the kids love their homeland, despite how different it is from what they are used to. It will also be interesting to see their reaction to being in a place where most people look like them (although when we were in China last time, Alison could not understand how people knew she was Chinese). The kids have been taking a Mandarin class since the fall and we will see if they can put what they learned to use.

I will try to update this blog from China as I have the opportunity, but for those who are interested in following our journey at a high level, following is our itinerary:

4/7 Thurs             Depart Washington for Beijing (nonstop via the northern route)

4/8 Fri                  Arrive in Beijing

                                - Great Wall

                                - Tiananmen Square

                                - Forbidden City

                                - Summer Palace

                                - Hutongs (historic courtyard homes)

                                - Peking Opera

                                - Olympic Venues

                                - Acrobatic Show

4/14 Thu               Depart Beijing for Xi’an

                                - Terracotta Warriors and Horses

                                - Calligraphy Class

                                - Noodle Making

                                - Cycling on the City Wall

4/17 Sun               Depart Xi’an for Chengdu

    - Brocade factory 

    - Sichuan opera / mask changing show

    - Giant Panda Breeding and Research Center

4/19 Tue               Depart Chengdu for Guangzhou

  - Adoption related sites

4/21 Thurs            Depart Guangzhou for Washington (via Beijing)