Our past 24 hours in Beijing

It is hard to believe that it has only been a day since we got here.  We have squeezed so much in already that it feels longer, for sure!  Here is a highlight in pictures of our time so far.  :)

After dinner last night, we went to an acrobat show.  Of course the American stuck out like a sore thumb and I got pulled up on stage to drop a giant hammer of sorts to start the show.  ;)

Today we got to climb the Great Wall of China.  Kinda amazing.

See that tiny little dot at the top of the mountain?  Yeah, we climbed all the way up there.
This section is insanely steep.  We had to channel our inner mountain goats at times.  ;)

Breathtaking.

You can see more of the Wall in the background.

It was a little windy at the top.  :)




We also got to drive around Beijing some.  I seriously cannot believe the amount of people that live in this one city.   What amazed me the most, is that out of all the high rise buildings (and there are a lot of them) at least 80-90% of them were apartment buildings.  What is even crazier is that our guide told us that it is really hard to find an apartment to live in and they are so expensive because of the demand.  Beijing currently has a population of over 20 million.  In. One. City.  Compare that to the 9.5 million of Chicago (which is still a lot of people!).  It is staggering that so many people can live in one concentrated area.  

When you are used to high rises in cities being mostly business buildings, it was crazy to see building after building of apartment complexes.

Here are some other sites around the city.

Lots of pedestrians and bikes and motor bikes.  People everywhere.

The traffic is crazy.  Lanes are more of a suggestion and I still can't believe that more people aren't killed crossing the street on foot or bike.  I am also surprised that we didn't see more than just a couple of accidents.  (Thankfully, there is so much traffic that you often aren't going very fast so they weren't serious.)  Seriously.  It is crazy.

Street shops

                                               

                                               We also drove by the Olympic stadium. 

         Then we got to tour the Forbidden City.  I have a lot more cool pictures from inside but we are having some technical difficulties getting my camera to download to Marcus's computer right now.  

Sunset over the Forbidden City

                                                    

Pretty frozen at this point but enjoying ourselves.  :)

Whew.  That is a lot to have squeezed into 24 hours.  Tomorrow morning we get to experience the express train that will take us to Taiyuan which is the capital of Ellie's province.  Then Monday is our Gotcha Day and we get to see the face of our sweet little girl for the very first time!  We get to hold her and kiss her and start the process of teaching her what it means to have a forever family.  :)

           

          Oh, and in case anyone was wondering.... I have also mastered the art of the squatty potty.  ;)

Don't even ask about the smell.  It pretty much just slaps you in the face when you walk into the bathroom.  

  And here is one of my favorite shots of the day since I really can't bear to leave you with the image         of the squatty potty.  :) 

God's beautiful creation looking through a pretty amazing man made creation.