Guangzhou-Day 1

Changsha-Day 5

Bowling in the hotel

Our favorite doorman which we called "Mr. Happy Man"

Hannah's first flight

We didn't do anything in the morning again, but watch more movies. We bowled in the afternoon. We left the hotel at 4:00PM and went to eat at KFC. Amy took us to the airport and we flew to Guangzhou and met some of or travel group and took a bus back to the hotel. Everyone was tired and so went to bed. The bellman in the picture was just hilarious, everytime we saw him he would greet us with a "HI HELLO", apparently he is know all over the area.

Changsha-Day 4

Hannah at her desk

Her teacher

The kids in her class
Jadyn was a celebrity at school

Hannah in front of her orphanage

Hannah on her old bed

Some of the kids

Supper was Yummy!!!!

We were able to sleep in a bit today as we did not have anything planned for the morning. Amy picked us up after lunch and we went to Hannah's school and her orphanage. You could tell that the kids are well cared for there and so that was neat to see. I loved seeing all the kids and we were there when some came home from school. It was hard to leave them all behind. We were able to see Hannah's classroom and her teacher. She was a good student and was well liked by everybody. We also were able to see an award that she was given on the wall in the orphanage. When we got back to the hotel we ordered pizza. We really enjoyed that!!! We fly to Guangzhou tomorrow!!!

Changsha-Day 3

Entrance to the park These kids were here with their school and they were all eating their lunch, so cute! The bungee ride Hannah & Jadyn went on

I went in this bathroom and you couldn't have paid me money to use it!!!! There were squattys lined up in a row with no doors, at least it was "free of charge"!!

Boat ride

The plants behind them are lotus and they have a beautiful flower

Embroidery factory

Bowling

Today we went to a park. It was very beautiful with lots of trees and flowers. There were people all over doing Tai chi, singing, dancing, and one man was even painting calligraphy on the cement with a giant brush and water. The park also was considered an amusement park and had quite a few rides. Jadyn & Hannah went on several including a roller coaster and a bungee type ride as in the picture above. The bungee ride shot them in the air and they just kept spinning and then stopped up high for quite a while before they were let down to the ground. Hannah was not such a fan of the ride afterwards but Jadyn sure loved it. We all went on a boat ride around the lake. After that we went to an embroidery museum & factory. It was so beautiful to see the women working. They use no knots on their pictures and there is so much detail. They are able to have 2 sided pictures with different pictures on both sides, it is so amazing to see. We stopped at McDonalds on the way home from the embroidery museum and that was wonderful. It was our first time at McDonalds and it tasted so good. We then went back to our hotel and watched a movie (with lunch) and then in the afternoon we went bowling. Our hotel had a bowling alley inside of it. Andrea was not able to bowl as her back was hurting her but Hannah, Jadyn and I bowled and had a lot of fun.

Changsha-Day 2

Our breakfast one morning Waiting to fill out more paperwork
Us with one of our guides, Anna
Riding the public transportation

Hannah's going away party with her friends

We started out each day with a really good buffet breakfast in each of the hotels, they all had familiar food such as french toast, omelets, etc. It was usually the best meal of the day, except for the peanut butter and honey sandwiches , right Andrea??!!

We went back to the civil affairs office and it was official this day that Hannah was now a Tweeten. We also were able to go to an electronics store and Andrea bought a translator which helped a lot. Jadyn also had made money from Lemonade stands and was able to purchase a Harddrive for the orphanage to put their pictures on. In the afternoon we went and did some shopping with Liz and rode on the public transportation. For supper we went to a restaurant that had a buffet for a going away party that Liz & Claire put on for Hannah. It was a fun time.

Changsha-Day 1--Hannah!!

Andrea & Jadyn at Beijing airport ready to fly to Hannah's province

Delicious breakfast on the plane!!! :) Actually only had the yogurt!! Doesn't that look yummy?

Hotel room in Changsha

Dolton Hotel

The first glimpse of Hannah

Hannah and her new family

Supper with Liz

We headed out from our hotel at about 4:30 AM to go to the airport to fly to Changsha, Hunan where Hannah is from. When we arrived we were greeted by Anna (Amy our guides helper) and she took us to the Dolton Hotel. We had 2 room in the Dolton not connected together but next door. We then got settled in the hotel and then about 2:30 PM we met our guide, Amy and went to the civil affairs office to meet Hannah. We were able to see her when she was getting out of the van. She was very nervous coming in to meet Andrea & Jadyn. I videotaped for Andrea so her family back home would get to see the first meeting. We then went back to the hotel and her and Jadyn played lots of games. It was hard to communicate but the games seemed to break the ice a little bit and playing games on the ipod with Jadyn. Hannah was in a big brother/big sister program in China and so her big sister, Liz came over in the evening and we went to supper with her. Liz is from Australia but can speak Chinese also so Hannah was very glad to see her.

Beijing-Day 2

Our church service

Lunch with our group
Tianamen Square

Forbidden City

Birds nest from the 2008 Olympics

Inside the birdsnest

The next day started with an international church service. It was really amazing to go and actually hear the word of God in China. We had to show our passport in order to get into the service. We then went to tour the pearl factory. They had a lot of beautiful pearl jewelry there. After Lunch we went to Tianamen Square and the Forbidden city. The forbidden city was where the emporers lived and nobody was able to go in there until now. It is now a museum. It went on for miles, building after building. The next stop was the olympic birdnest. We were able to pay to go in there and that was so fun to see. After that we went to dinner with the group and then back to the hotel. We packed for our trip to Hunan the next day. We will get to meet Hannah tomorrow!!!!!

Beijing-Day 1

Heather, Elaine, & I wearing our "husker" gear

Summer Palace

Longest Hallway

Marble boat

Jade Factory

Great Wall

All of us at the Great Wall

Love the sign

We met our group at breakfast and then we met our guide, Maggie, and we headed to the summer palace, jade factory, & the great wall. It was very beautiful and the buildings all had a lot of detail on them. After lunch at a chinese restaurant, of course, we went to the Jade factory. There were a lot of very large jade pieces that were very beautiful but very expensive. The man in the picture is carving the round ball in the next picture. They carve it from the inside out and each "layer" is moveable, they are pretty amazing. The next stop for us was the Great Wall. We only went to one tower, apparently there are quite a few different areas you can go to. The steps are very steep and uneven. I did not go up very far, as you can see, as I am very afraid of heights and even there was a little scary. I was just very fun to be there. The locks in the picture are all along the wall at the bottom and each time somebody gets married they put a lock on the chain and throw the key over the edge. Next we were off to the Peking Duck dinner. After a very long and stop and go ride on the bus, everybody was very tired and nobody was very hungry. It was very sad for all of us to see the food that was going to waste. I was not feeling the best during supper and the ride home and just went to bed as I think it was the effects of jet lag.