Oh did we sleep good!! Jonathan woke up from about midnight to 2am and Sophia woke up from about 2-3 but we all woke up refreshed. We packed our bags back up and grabbed another delicious breakfast before checking out of our room.
Tiananmen Square was our first stop of the day. It was crowded but always interesting to see the hallmark of another government system. We saw the building where Mao Tse Dung’s preserved body is displayed. Next door to that building is their “Congress” building and their “Square” where ceremonial parades take place.
The Forbidden City is across the street so after walking underground through a tunnel we entered into the former palace where the emperor would’ve lived along with their many wives. It is a huge place with many buildings, gates, and bedrooms. We mainly just walked through (or marathoned through as we tried to keep up with our tour guide😂) heard some of the history while taking some photos of the more scenic courtyards and buildings. The emperor has a sweet pad for sure!!!
For lunch we went to a Baozi restaurant, Baozi are buns filled with a specific meat. We had pork Baozi plus the usual rice and noodles but tried a special soup, dessert, and cooked bamboo too!
After lunch we went to the Summer Palace where the emperor would retreat during the hot season. It consists of many buildings around a hand-made lake (hand dug by 100,000 people 😳). We were a bit short on time and it was crazy crowded so it was a somewhat rushed experience but still neat to see again. Every van trip in Beijing seems to take an hour+ with traffic so we had to hurry on out to the airport to catch our flight to the next destination. First we dropped off the other adoptive family and then chilled in the parking lot for awhile before we checked in for our flight to Guiyang, Guizhou.
Guiyang is about a 3.5 hour flight from Beijing and is the capital city of Guizhou. The province of Guizhou is the poorest in China and is known for its beautiful mountains and waterfalls. Many different ethnic groups were driven into the mountains of Guizhou a long time back by the Han Chinese so there are some amazing cultural traditions and differences in the appearance, language, and customs of the people of Guizhou (like the minority populations of the Miao and Dong peoples).
We boarded an evening China Southern flight to Guiyang, arriving around 10:30pm. Jonathan enjoyed a nice Chinese movie but also got some good naptime in too. Brittney and Sophia got to spread out a bit more with an extra seat between them :) We ended up getting settled into our hotel room about midnight at the Howard Johnson Guiyang.
In about 12 hours we have our big day! We get to receive Mia around 2pm our time (2am ET) and we are thrilled. Please pray for Mia as this will be a HUGE transition for her. Also, pray for Sophia as she could see her new sister experience many emotions. This can be hard on an excited sister who in her own words “just wants to run up and squeeze her I love her so much”! We can wait to post pics of us all together tomorrow! Thank you so much for following us on this journey and praying all the way! We love you guys!
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