Friday, March 3, 2006

Our last full day in China we did history...and then glam history. We took a great tour of the Hutongs (ancient city alley or lane) once typical in Beijing, they surrounded the Forbidden City. Most were built during the Yuan, Ming, & Qing dynasties, and were originally constructed from wood, but have since been rebuilt/remodeled with brick. (The emperors, in order to consolidate power, planned the city and arranged the residential areas according to the existing etiquette systems, the center of which was the royal palace -- the Forbidden City.) The best thing about them in my opinion was the no-hi-rise community feel with narrow alleys and traditional styles.

Then we went to Gold One photo (a great and very well-priced place to get this kind of thing done) where Wenyan had her hair and makeup done for some glam photography.
Aside from some last minute gift shopping we spent the day outlining (through Rose - our fantastic guide/interpreter/friend) what Wenyan's life would be like once we got home. We wish we could spend most of our time meeting great people and touring historic sites the world over while staying in 5 star hotels, but that of course is not the case. We explained the house rules for schedule, chores, church, etc. Faith may be sad about leaving China but she's not showing it as much as I thought she might. She is enthusiastic about a different life, but scared about speaking English. She looks forward to meeting her sisters and we said that though we normally don't, they could sleep together...unless there was too much giggling into the wee hours.